Chapter 6 - THE FIRST TIME I SAID NO
Marcus appeared at Romano's on a Friday evening.
I wasn't there.
Giuseppe called me afterward.
“He asked for you.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did you say?”
“That you're taking time off.”
“Did he get angry?”
Giuseppe hesitated.
“He tried.”
I closed my eyes.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't apologize.”
His voice hardened.
“He doesn't get to frighten my staff.”
Marcus left behind an envelope.
Giuseppe gave it to Elena.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Marcus claimed he loved me.
That he was under stress.
That he'd made mistakes.
That I was destroying our marriage by listening to strangers.
At the bottom, he wrote:
If you come home, I can make the financial problem disappear.
Elena read the sentence twice.
Then looked at me.
“Do you understand what he's offering?”
I nodded slowly.
“He wants me to stop talking.”
“That's how it reads.”
I stared at the letter.
For years, Marcus had convinced me that everything wrong in our marriage was my fault.
Now he was offering to fix a crime I hadn't committed.
As though forgiveness were another signature he could demand.
I picked up a pen.
Elena watched.
“What are you doing?”
“Writing something.”
I turned the letter over.
Then wrote one word.
NO.
I didn't send it.
I didn't need to.
It was enough to see it on paper.
That afternoon, Dante called Elena.
He wanted to know whether I was safe.
She told him she would pass along the message.
I asked her to tell him I was fine.
Nothing more.
I wasn't ready to forgive him for withholding the truth.
And I didn't want gratitude to become another obligation.
Three days later, Rebecca published the first article.
It exposed the network of shell companies linked to the redevelopment project.
She didn't name me.
But she described a pattern of allegedly forged signatures and unauthorized loans.
Within hours, the story spread.
By evening, Marcus's consulting firm had issued a statement denying wrongdoing.
Then an anonymous source sent Rebecca another document.
A transfer authorization.
Signed by Marcus.
And countersigned by a senior executive at Castellano Development.
The executive's name was Adrian Bellini.
Dante's closest business partner.
When Dante saw the document, he went silent.
Marco stood beside him.
“Boss?”
Dante stared at the signature.
Adrian had worked with him for twelve years.
They had built companies together.
Survived hostile takeovers.
Weathered lawsuits.
Shared holidays.
Dante trusted him more than almost anyone.
And now Adrian's signature appeared on a transfer that might connect the entire scheme.
Dante looked up.
“Find out what Adrian knows.”
Marco hesitated.
“Quietly?”
May you like
Dante shook his head.
“No more secrets.”
