Chapter 6 - THE DAY DANTE LEARNED THE TRUTH
Dante saw the hotel photograph three days later.
Matteo showed it to him.
Dante stared at the screen.
Then stood so abruptly his chair fell backward.
“Where did this come from?”
“Valentina sent it to Isabella.”
Dante's face hardened.
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
Dante looked again.
The photograph showed him asleep in a hotel room.
Valentina had taken it while he was unconscious.
He remembered that night.
The dinner.
The champagne.
The argument.
And waking up alone the following morning with a splitting headache.
He had never told Isabella because he knew how terrible it would sound.
Now he understood that silence had made everything worse.
“Find Valentina,” he said.
Matteo hesitated.
“Boss—”
“Not to hurt her.”
Dante's voice was cold.
“I want answers.”
An independent investigation later revealed that Valentina had deliberately staged photographs to make their relationship appear more intimate than Dante claimed it was.
But one fact remained unchanged.
Dante had chosen to spend the night away from his pregnant wife.
He had ignored her calls.
He had failed to return.
And whatever Valentina had done, Dante was responsible for those choices.
When Matteo explained this to him, Dante sat in silence.
Then whispered:
“I destroyed my marriage.”
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Matteo didn't answer.
Because there was nothing to say.
