Chapter 3

The ashes in the whiskey glass have gone completely cold.

At eight in the morning, the school administration sends an ultimatum. We have to complete the mandatory in-person facial recognition for guardians today, or Lily gets expelled immediately.

I pick up my phone and dial Dante's number.

"The subscriber you dialed is currently unavailable..."

He blocked my number.

Last night he was screaming hysterically on the phone, acting like the world was ending over his "missing" Chloe. This morning, he cuts off his own daughter's last chance to stay in school.

I grab my car keys and look at Lily standing in the entryway. She wears her backpack in silence, her small hands gripping the straps tight.

"Let's go." I walk over and take her hand. "We're going to find him."

The Southside. The underground casino hideout.

The biting autumn wind whips through the streets. Lily's fingers turn red from the cold inside my palm.

"Hold it." The bouncer flicks his cigarette away and steps in front of me. He looks me up and down, eyeing my cheap trench coat with obvious annoyance. "Boss is doing business. Nobody goes in."

"I'm his wife. Tell him to come out and sign this." I force down the rage burning in my chest.

The bouncer sneers, his eyes full of open contempt. "Listen, lady. Miss Chloe went in half an hour ago. She has free access to the main office. You don't. Boss said he doesn't have time for family drama right now. If you want to wait, go stand on the corner."

I am the first heir of the Romano family. I hold enough power and resources to level this entire block in an instant. Yet here I am, blocked by a low-level street thug's watchdog, waiting for my husband's charity like a beggar.

I hid my true nature and swallowed my pride for years, only to be trampled into the dirt.

I reach out, snatch the gun from his waistband, and smash the grip hard into his jaw.

He lets out a scream and collapses to the floor, clutching his face.

I toss the gun into a nearby trash can, kick open the heavy steel door, and pull Lily into the smoke-filled hallway.

I push open the double mahogany doors to the main office. A thick wave of cigar smoke and cheap perfume hits my face.

Inside, dozens of gang bosses and enforcers instantly stop talking. Every head turns to look at me.

Dante leans comfortably against his leather chair at the head of the table. Chloe, the woman who was supposedly mysteriously kidnapped and missing last night, sits perfectly fine on his lap. She leans against him, her red-nailed fingers playing with stacks of cash just collected from the casino.

Dante's face darkens the second he sees me.

"Who the hell let you in?"

I slam the school documents down hard on top of the cash.

"Sign this. Then go to the school for the facial recognition."

"Lily is not getting expelled."

Dante does not even glance at the papers. He lets out a mocking laugh.

"Look at yourself, Serena. You look pathetic," he says, spreading his arms to mock me in front of his crew. "Dressed in cheap rags. You don't even own a decent coat. What, you have to use our daughter as a prop to come down to my turf and harass me? You think this makes me want to look at you?"

The room erupts in laughter.

Chloe shrinks back against Dante's chest. "Dante, she really terrified me last night," she says in a fake, helpless voice. "I actually thought she sent those kidnappers after me."

Dante gives her hand a comforting pat before glaring up at me. His eyes are dead cold.

"Apologize to Chloe."

"For your psychotic threats last night, and for disrespecting my office today. Otherwise, I'm not signing a damn thing. And Lily can just drop out."

My chest tightens. The blood rushes straight to my head.

I stare at this man.

I used to think he took that knife for me on that rainy night out of love. Now I realize it was just his pathetic need to feel superior, born from a deep-rooted inferiority complex. He never wanted a wife. He just wanted a punching bag who would put up with his abuse so he could feel powerful.

And for a few pathetic scraps of affection, I played along with his fantasy for seven years.

I am just about to speak when steady footsteps echo from the hallway.

"The registration paperwork is already handled."

A deep, authoritative voice cuts through the room's grating laughter.

Julian walks in.

He wears a sharply tailored suit, his tie knotted flawlessly.

As the chief enforcer for the Romano family, he carries the lethal presence of an apex predator. His aura instantly crushes the cheap, new-money arrogance in the room, turning it dead silent.

The enforcers instinctively back away. Not a single person dares to block his path.

Julian walks straight to my side. He does not even spare Dante a glance. Instead, he respectfully hands me a tablet displaying a document with the school board's official red seal.

"Ma'am, the school board has reassigned the guardianship. Miss Lily's enrollment is now entirely under your name."

Dante's face drops. He shoots up from his chair, glaring intensely at Julian before turning to me. Julian's absolute dismissal stings his fragile ego.

"Where the hell did you find this pretty boy?" Dante grits his teeth, raising his voice to mask his sudden panic. "Serena! You really think hiring some suit to play tough guy is gonna scare me?"

He storms around the desk and points a finger right in my face. "You can throw all the tantrums you want, but you still need me to survive! Without me, you and the kid won't last a day on the streets! You'll be crawling back on your knees begging for my help!"

I watch his pathetic, raging meltdown. The furious fire burning inside my chest suddenly goes ice cold.

I calmly pull a plastic bag from my pocket and unzip it.

I dump the contents out.

The black ashes of my cheap iron wedding ring, along with the old polaroids we took back in the slums, spill out across his desk.

The soot scatters over the crisp stacks of cash, a filthy contrast.

Dante freezes for a split second. Then he violently sweeps the ashes off the desk and points his finger at me again, roaring.

"Are you out of your damn mind?! You think this pathetic stunt is gonna make me cave?"

"I'm telling you right now, Serena. If you walk out that door today, don't ever think about coming back! I am done chasing after you!"

I just look at him.

Taking in this face I loved so deeply for seven years.

The boy in that leaky basement, the one who held his bleeding wounds and swore to protect me for the rest of his life, is completely dead. The man standing in front of me now is just a stranger, entirely consumed by his own ego and greed.

"Give it three days. You won't survive out there. You'll come crawling back in tears."

"And when you do, you're gonna admit you were wrong. You're gonna apologize to Chloe in front of everyone. Only then will I even consider letting you back in my house!"

I look down and squeeze Lily's freezing hand.

"Let's go," I whisper to her.

Julian steps aside and pulls the heavy door open for us.

Behind me, Dante is still running his mouth. He sits back in his chair, acting like a king, fully convinced I am just throwing a tantrum. He is certain I will crack and surrender the second I lose his protection.

He has no idea that the step I am taking right now crosses the point of no return. I am walking away from seven years of shared survival.

The door slams shut behind me, completely cutting off his arrogant threats and twisted charity.

Holding my daughter's hand, I step out into the freezing wind without a single backward glance. This absurd seven-year dream is finally over.