Family Betrayal
Dante
I’m furious.
She actually went to my parents’ house like nothing had happened.
What the hell was she thinking?
She has no place in our family anymore.
“Dante, please…” Bianca says softly, her voice trembling. “You’re driving too fast.”
My eyes flick toward the speedometer.
Fifty-six in the middle of the city.
A curse slips under my breath. Guilt hits immediately, and I ease off the accelerator at once.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” she murmurs, resting a hand on my arm.
“I understand… This situation is overwhelming for me too.” She hesitates.
“But why would your parents invite your ex-wife? It’s…
honestly disrespectful to me. Keeping me at a distance is one thing, but this…
” Her voice tightens. “That crossed a line.”
I know she’s right.
But I still don’t like hearing her criticize my family, even after how unfair they’ve been to her.
“They’re not keeping you at a distance. They’re just… reserved. Give them time.”
The words sound false even to my own ears.
An image forces itself into my mind despite me.
Valeria standing in that same living room the day I introduced her to them. My mother’s smile. My father’s firm handshake. The immediate certainty of it all.
She fit effortlessly, as though she’d always been meant to be there.
I shove the memory away.
“I hope they’re not going to force her on us every Sunday,” Bianca says quietly.
I glance toward her.
“I thought you were happy she was alive.”
She holds my gaze for a second before looking away.
“I am. Of course I am. But…”
She hesitates, adjusting the sleeve of her coat.
“I don’t want her inserting herself into our family. That’s not her place anymore.”
No.
It isn’t.
Unless it is. I don’t know anymore.
Silence settles between us.
I say nothing. Not yet. Because this is a conversation I need to have with my parents first.
Then I remember her comment about the baby.
“What was that about earlier?”
She blinks.
“The baby comment.”
Her lips part, then close again before she suddenly blurts out,
“Wouldn’t that make you happy?”
“No. I already told you—it’s not the right time. I have no desire to start a family right now.”
She presses her lips together and turns toward the window.
I think the conversation is over when she speaks again.
“Why did she come back after all this time?” she asks, more tense now. “Do you think she’s trying to stop our wedding?”
My heart kicks hard against my ribs at the thought.
She turns toward me, her gaze sharper now.
“Can she do that?”
“No.”
The answer comes instantly. It just lacks conviction. Because my mind is already somewhere else.
“You said you caught a glimpse of her on the other side of the reception hall.”
She turns toward me, and a strange glint passes through her eyes. If I didn’t know her better, I’d say she was afraid. But that doesn’t make any sense.
“Oh yeah?” she replies. “I… I don’t remember anymore. Everything was such a blur that day. Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember seeing someone who looked like her. I… I thought it was her.”
I slow as we approach the parking garage entrance.
“I still have work to do. You should probably call your parents and your sister to check on the wedding preparations.”
“You’re right,” Bianca murmurs. “I can’t wait for next Saturday.”
Once we return to the penthouse, I lock myself inside my office.
The silence crushes me. So does the doubt.
The questions are multiplying, becoming harder and harder to ignore.
I stand motionless for a few seconds in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows before pulling out my phone.
My mother answers almost immediately.
“Dante? Did you forget something?”
“Why did you invite her?”
The silence on the other end is immediate. Heavy.
“Because she’s family.”
“No.” My voice cracks through the room, sharp and cold. “Not anymore. Not since she chose to disappear without saying a word.”
My mother waits two full seconds before replying.
“Did she really choose that?” she asks quietly.
I straighten.
“What does that mean? What are you implying?”
“If you want answers, Dante, you’ll have to ask her directly.”
A humorless laugh escapes me.
“I deal in facts, and the facts speak for themselves. She came back after two years in perfect health. And instead of coming to see me, she makes some dramatic public appearance in front of everyone.”
My grip tightens around the phone as I continue.
“One week before the funding round that’ll make her one of the richest women in the country.”
“Is that really what you think of her?”
Her voice is calm now. Almost saddened.
“Have you asked yourself why she acted this way? Whether she truly had another choice?”
I start pacing before answering.
“She could’ve come to me. Talked to me. Explained.”
“Why would she?”
I stop dead.
“Because I’m her husband.”
The silence that follows is deafening. Then my mother says softly,
“You’re not anymore.”
Each word lands like a verdict.
“You’re marrying Bianca.”
I close my eyes briefly. I have no answer because she’s right.
But she keeps going.
“Tell me something, Dante…”
Her voice changes: lower now, sharper and more lucid.
“Have you asked yourself why you’re so angry? Why you’re so lost?”
I don’t answer.
Because I know the truth, and I refuse to say it out loud.
Because this anger… isn’t directed only at Valeria.
It’s directed at myself. At what I still feel for her. At this crack inside me I can’t seem to seal shut.
And for the first time, I no longer know who betrayed whom.