Chapter 3 - The Departure in GoldMy mind was a chaotic storm of shock, confusion, and terrifying thrill as Giovanni led me away from the stunned circle of my family.
Tyler stood paralyzed near the dais, his jaw working silently, his face paper-white as he stared at the five-carat diamond gleaming on my finger. Vanessa pulled frantically at his arm, but he didn't move a muscle, his eyes locked onto my back as Giovanni guided me through the double mahogany doors of the grand ballroom.
The moment the heavy doors closed behind us, sealing out the whispers of the reception, I pulled my hand back, staring down at the massive diamond covering my knuckle.
"Are you insane?!" I gasped, my voice echoing down the quiet marble hallway. "A civil ceremony in Manhattan?! A five-carat diamond ring?! Giovanni, I am a pediatric nurse who drives a ten-year-old sedan! What have you done?!"
Giovanni stopped near the grand arched windows overlooking the rainy Chicago skyline. He unbuttoned his suit jacket, placing his hands comfortably in his trouser pockets, looking down at me with an unshakeable, calm authority.
"I gave you protection, Jessica," Giovanni stated flatly. "And I gave myself an impenetrable shield against my aunt’s corporate marriage ambitions."
"By telling fifty people that I'm your wife?!" I argued, my chest heaving beneath my simple navy dress. "What happens when my family looks into this?! What happens when Tyler realizes there's no marriage certificate filed in Cook County?!"
"Your family won't find anything because my legal team filed the sealed international marriage proxies through our Liechtenstein trust two hours ago," Giovanni revealed smoothly.
I froze. My jaw dropped open. "You... what?"
"Your full legal name is currently registered as Donna Jessica Fierro," Giovanni continued, taking a slow step toward me, his amber eyes burning with an intense, unyielding light. "The documents are real, Jessica. The ring is real. And as of midnight tonight... your five-year-old daughter, Lily, is legally under the master protection of the Fierro Family Trust."
A cold, breathless sensation flooded my veins.
"Why Lily?" I whispered, my voice trembling with sudden, fierce maternal instinct. "Why bring my daughter into this?"
"Because three years ago," Giovanni explained, his baritone dropping into a low, raspy register, "Tyler’s current employer—Vance Logistics—attempted to secure a predatory lien against your late father's estate trust. The reason Tyler left you three days after you told him you were pregnant wasn't just cowardice, Jessica. He was paid one hundred thousand dollars by Vanessa's father to walk away so they could seize your family's port shares."
The marble floor beneath my feet seemed to tilt.
Five years of agonizing self-doubt—five years of believing I wasn't enough, that I was too poor, too plain, too much of a burden for Tyler to stay—shattered into a million sharp, crystalline pieces of pure, unadulterated rage.
May you like
"They bought him..." I choked out, tears of cold fury burning behind my eyes.
"They bought a weak man," Giovanni corrected gently, reaching out his broad hand to carefully, reverently wipe a tear from my cheek. "And tonight... we are going to make them pay for every single tear you shed in that one-bedroom apartment."
Related Stories
