Chapter 1 - The Christmas Gift She Left Behind
Grace Bellandi placed the wine glass on the table and whispered: "Go spend Christmas with her."
Alessandro Bellandi arrived at the private dining room and found a broken wedding bracelet beside the empty gift box. Four words were carved inside the box: "I waited long enough." For the first time, the Mafia King realized Grace had already left him before she walked away.
The wineglass trembled once in Grace Bellandi’s hand.
Not because she was weak.
Because she had spent three years learning how to hide pain from the man she loved.
Across the private dining room of Alberto’s, Alessandro Bellandi was laughing.
Not with her.
With another woman.
The Christmas lights reflected against the crystal glasses and expensive decorations, creating the illusion of a perfect night.
Anyone looking from the outside would have believed they were witnessing the life of a powerful couple.
A billionaire mafia king.
His beautiful wife.
A luxury dinner before Christmas morning.
But Grace knew the truth.
A beautiful room could still hold an ugly betrayal.
She stood silently beside the table, watching Alessandro lean closer to the woman sitting beside him.
The same woman who had been appearing in his phone messages.
The same woman whose name Grace had seen written again and again.
The same woman Alessandro claimed was "only business."
Grace remembered every excuse.
Late meetings.
Secret phone calls.
Sudden trips.
The endless nights when he came home after midnight and kissed her forehead like that could erase everything.
She had believed him.
Because loving Alessandro meant believing the impossible.
The entire city feared him.
People whispered his name carefully.
Enemies disappeared after crossing him.
Business partners never dared challenge him.
But Grace had always seen the man behind the reputation.
The man who brought her coffee every morning.
The man who held her hand when she was afraid.
The man who promised her on their wedding night:
"You will never have to wonder where you belong."
That promise was now sitting across the room, laughing with someone else.
Alessandro finally noticed her standing there.
His smile faded slightly.
"Grace."
Just one word.
Like he was surprised she had appeared.
Like she was interrupting something.
She walked toward the table slowly.
The other woman looked uncomfortable.
But Grace didn't look at her.
She only looked at her husband.
The man who once told her she was the only person in the world who could make him feel human.
"How long?" Grace asked.
Alessandro frowned.
"What?"
"How long have you been lying to me?"
The room became quiet.
The woman beside him looked away.
Alessandro leaned back in his chair.
His expression changed.
Not guilt.
Annoyance.
"You are making this bigger than it is."
Grace almost smiled.
That sentence hurt more than any confession.
Because it meant he still didn't understand.
It was never about one dinner.
One woman.
One mistake.
It was about every moment she stood alone while he chose everyone else.
"You know what hurts the most?" Grace whispered.
Alessandro said nothing.
"I wasn't angry when I found out."
Her fingers tightened around the wine glass.
"I was just tired."
For a moment, something changed in his eyes.
A small crack.
A sign that maybe he understood.
But then his phone vibrated.
He looked down.
Grace saw it.
She saw the name.
The other woman.
And something inside her finally went silent.
Not broken.
Silent.
She reached into her purse and placed a small Christmas gift box on the table.
Alessandro stared at it.
"What is that?"
Grace looked at him.
"The last gift I ever bought you."
His face hardened.
"Grace, don't do this."
She opened the box.
Inside was a simple silver watch.
The same watch she had bought months ago.
The one she planned to give him on Christmas morning.
The one engraved with a sentence only he would understand.
Alessandro picked it up.
His eyes moved to the engraving.
His expression changed.
Because those words were not romantic anymore.
They were a goodbye.
"I loved you before the world knew your name," Grace said quietly.
The mafia king looked at her.
"Grace..."
But she stepped back.
"I loved the man you were when nobody was watching."
Her voice shook.
"But I don't recognize the man standing in front of me now."
Alessandro stood.
The chair moved loudly against the marble floor.
"Where are you going?"
Grace looked at him for a long moment.
A thousand memories passed between them.
Their first meeting.
Their wedding.
The nights she waited for him.
The promises.
The lies.
Then she answered.
"Somewhere I don't have to beg someone to choose me."
She turned away.
Alessandro's voice became sharper.
"Grace, stop."
She didn't.
For the first time in three years, Grace Bellandi walked away without looking back.
Outside the dining room, she stopped near the elevator.
Her hand touched the wedding ring.
The ring she had worn through every storm.
The ring she thought meant forever.
Slowly, she removed it.
Then she placed it inside the small empty gift box she carried.
The elevator doors opened.
She stepped inside.
And before the doors closed, she looked back one last time.
Alessandro was still standing there.
Still frozen.
Still unable to understand that the woman who always stayed had finally decided to leave.
The next morning, Alessandro woke up expecting the same routine.
Grace’s coffee.
Grace’s voice.
Grace waiting beside the window.
But the apartment was silent.
Too silent.
He walked toward their bedroom.
The door was slightly open.
Something felt wrong.
He pushed it slowly.
The room was empty.
Her clothes were gone.
Her jewelry was gone.
Her side of the closet was completely empty.
Only one thing remained.
The small Christmas gift box.
Alessandro picked it up.
His hands stopped when he noticed something underneath it.
A handwritten note.
Three words.
Not goodbye.
Not I hate you.
Something worse.
May you like
He turned the paper over.
And the moment he read the first line, his phone suddenly rang from an unknown number...
