Chapter 104
Stella
Looking up at Adrian, I feel nothing. Sure, there is a semblance of pity from behind my gaze, but it is more of condensation rather than any genuine affliction of wanting him to get better.
There is a look of disappointment on his face, one that is mixed in with denial and anger. Can I blame him, though? He has been so blind and oblivious to the fact that there are people with much different lives than him, including my own.
“What is it, Adrian?” I ask with a frustrated yet mocking groan. I shift my weight to my back foot. “Have you finally given up on the idea that I am this pure soul that you have some weird obligation to protect?”
What I asked is true. Ever since Clara woke up, Adrian has assumed a weird position of a guardian angel, someone who wishes to look out for me in my times need. I used to welcome it with open arms, the hidden part of my ego wanting to be taken care of, especially by the man who I have loved for so long, but now it feels gross and unwelcome.
Through all of the pain and angst and turmoil that we have gone through, the man that I am looking at right now is a shell of himself. He has peeled away the layers of being a highly sought after pharmaceutical CEO, taken away the layers of his ego and narcissism, and has made himself better but…he is truly broken.
A piece of my heart aches for him. I want to reach out and to try and comfort him as much as I possibly can, to ease the knot that has undoubtedly formed inside the pits of his stomach. But my mind is screaming at me to stop, to not give in to my old and outdated urges to be the wife I wanted so desperately to be.
“I need to ask you this one last time,” Adrian cooly responds. His eyes are glossy, pain written all over them. “Are you the mafia princess? Is what you are telling me right here, right now, the truth?”
“Yes,” I breathe out. I can feel the weight of hiding this identity from him slip free from my shoulders, the revelation finally making me feel lighter. “It is true. And these men behind me?”
I turn around and look at my brothers and Sebastian. Silas and Dominic have gotten out of the car while Matteo sticks his head out of the window, a glare written across his face.
I turn to look back at Adrian, a sense of pride and finality now seeping into my bones, making me feel steady instead of giving into the chaos that has plagued my mind for so long.
“These men, who you thought were my many boyfriends, are my brothers. If I am the mafia princess, then they are the mafia princes. They have done more for me in my life than anyone else ever will,” I state. I remain in my spot, my eyes never leaving Adrian’s.
His face contorts, twisting into a deeper look of disappointment. There is a hint of acceptance in his expression, though, which brings me some kind of relief. At least I know now that he will not try to change who I am, who I have become in these past couple of months.
We stand in an uncomfortable and ugly silence. It is bitter from things left unsaid, things that will forever be buried in the depths of our hearts, never to see the light of day ever again.
And yet…I feel a tinge of regret. I know that the choice I have made is the best one for me. After going through five years of countless surgeries and being berated by Clara and her parents, I finally have to put myself first in order to survive this cruel and twisted world that we live in.
“I am…I am so disappointed in you, Stella,” Adrian breaks the silence.
My heart snaps in two. I try not to show it on my face but I can feel my eyebrows weaken, the once angered look on my face resigning into sadness and rejection.
“You have fallen so far from the sweet and kind soul that I was once married to,” his comment slices me in half. It stabs at my chest, ready to rip my heart out at any moment’s notice.
“No, Adrian,” I finally respond, finding the strength from within myself to push forward, to not let a man like him win the war that has been waged between us. “I am finally who I am meant to be. I am finally in a place that I can call my home with people who actually care for me—”
“The mafia will never be a true family. They ruin everything. They have ruined my life, Clara’s, your foster parents, and even your own. You were kidnapped as a baby, Stella—”
“No!” I interrupt him before he can continue any further. “You have this sick and twisted idea of the mafia! The people who hurt you and Clara were not my family. They were a gang that you fucked with. You provoked them, Adrian, not the other way around.”
“Well, where do we go from here?” Adrian asks. He takes a step forward and I remain in my place. “How does our story end?”
“Here,” I state. “You clearly cannot even begin to comprehend my life with my mafia family and you can’t even get it through your thick skull that not all mafia people are bad. You just experiences the worst ones. I know that if you continue to be a presence in my life, I will regress into someone I do not wish to be. The same goes for you.”
Adrian shakes his head. He is still in denial, is he not? He is trying so hard to cling onto his old life where everything was sunshine and rainbows, a life where he was manipulated so easily by a woman who does not give a fuck about him and her equally as shitty parents.
“We can finally leave each other alone. We can live our lives in peace knowing that we are exactly where we need to be,” I continue to speak. “Have a great life, Adrian. I wish you nothing but the best for all of your future endeavors.”
I take a step back and turn around. My eyes land on my brothers. They move to Sebastian who nods at me with a small yet proud smile. They turn and move inside of the blacked out SUV with Sebastian remaining behind.
“Come on, Stella,” Sebastian says. He holds his hand out for me to take, “we can’t be late.”
I nod. I do not look behind me as I walk forward. I take Sebastian’s hand into mine and allow him to guide me to the car. He helps me get inside and sits beside me, closing the door.
The car is silent but there is a buzz of pride in the air, an unspoken confirmation that I have made the right choice in leaving Adrian behind.
