Caius’s hand mo
to the gun
at his waist.
The metal
cold
unforgiving.
“Caius!” The
out in terror. “What are you doing?”
“What I should have
long
time ago.”
His voice was terrifyingly
Livia saw the
ement,
and her face went chalk–white.
“You wouldn’t dare! I have evidence on the entire Falcieri family!”
“You think I care about evidence?” Caius laughed, a dead, hollow sound. “Alessia is gone. There’s nothing left to lose.”
Just then, Tony burst into the room.
“Don! A convoy
of FBI vehicles is approaching the estate!”
Caius’s hand froze.
He looked at Livia’s triumphant smirk and slowly withdrew his hand.
“You’ve won,” he said. “But it won’t last.“/
“Take her away,” he ordered the guards. “Give her some money and get her the hell out of New York.”
“And make sure I never see her again.”
Livia, clutching the child, was escorted out of the estate.
Before she left, she looked back at Caius.
“You’ll regret this.”
“I’m already living with regret,” Caius replied calmly. “But not because of you.”
For the next three months, Caius used every connection and resource he had.
Private investigators, intelligence networks, international trackers.
He had to find Alessia.
He had to apologize to her in person.
He had to bring her home.
Three months later, Geneva.
Du er
I stood on the stage at Christie’s, facing a room full of collectors and jewelers.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will start the bidding for this piece, ‘Phoenix Reborn,‘ at five hundred thousand euros.”
The auctioneer’s voice echoed through the grand hall.
Bidding paddles shot up across the room.
“One million!”
“One point five million!”
1/3
I watched my creation ignite a bidding
a
The numbers had lost all meaning for me.
but
I felt nothing.
All I wanted was to prove that no one could ever define my worth but me.
“Two million, going once! Two million, going twice!”
Just as the auctioneer was about to bring the hammer down, a commotion erupted at the back of the hall.
A familiar figure pushed through the crowd, staggering toward the stage.
Caius.
He looked terrible, his face unshaven and his eyes bloodshot.
The entire auction house fell silent.
“Alessia!” he called out, his voice hoarse. “I found you!”
Security guards immediately moved to surround him, but Caius waved them off.
“I am Caius Falcieri. I just want to speak to my wife.”
The Falcieri name still carried immense weight in the European underworld.
The guards looked at each other, hesitant to act.
“Continue the auction,” I said, my voice cutting through the silence. “We don’t stop for irrelevant interruptions.”
“Irrelevant?” The word seemed to hit him like a physical blow. He stumbled forward. “Alessia, I’m your husband.”
“No,” my voice was like ice. “You are the Don of the Falcieri family. Nothing more.”
“Alessia, please, just listen to me,” his voice trembled. “You were right about everything. The baby isn’t mine. Livia and Silas…”
“Enough.”
I stepped down from the stage and looked him directly in the eye.
