Chapter 3 - Tearing the Contract
The hinges gave a faint creak. Alina flinched, wiping her wet cheeks with the sleeves of her sweater in a frantic, practiced motion. She forced a bright, polite smile onto her trembling lips before turning to face me.
""Dante,"" she breathed, her voice raspy from crying. ""You’re home early. I... I didn't hear your car. Did your dinner with the Japanese delegates wrap up already?""
The sight of her pretending to be fine—putting on that polished, obedient mask while her heart was breaking into a million pieces—tore through me like a physical blow.
I didn't answer. I walked into the room, my footsteps heavy on the hardwood floor, closing the heavy double doors behind me. I turned the brass lock with a sharp, definitive click.
Alina's eyes widened. She noticed the crumpled wad of thick legal documents in my right hand.
""Dante? What is that?"" she asked, her voice faltering. ""Is something wrong with the quarterly reports?""
I stopped two feet from where she sat. Without saying a word, I tossed the ball of paper onto the low coffee table between us. The bundle rolled onto the polished glass, unraveling slightly to reveal the bright yellow signature flags and the bold black lettering at the top of page one: AGREEMENT OF SETTLEMENT AND DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.
Alina’s face went entirely, devastatingly pale.
She stared at the words, her lower lip quivering uncontrollably. A single, heavy tear escaped her lash line and tracked down her cheek, landing on the glass table.
""You... you had them drafted,"" she whispered, her voice barely louder than the rain beating against the windows. ""I found the preliminary notes in your study, but I... I hoped...""
She stopped, pressing a hand to her chest, struggling for breath.
""It’s okay,"" she forced herself to say, bowing her head so I wouldn't see the depth of her agony. ""I understand, Dante. You fulfilled your promise. You saved my father’s business. You gave us three years of peace and protected our dignity. You don't owe my family anything else. If you want your freedom, I won't contest a single clause. You can keep the Evanston house. You don't have to give me twenty million. I never wanted your money.""
""Alina,"" I said, my voice thick and raw.
""Please don't make it painful,"" she sobbed, burying her face in her hands, her whole body shaking violently. ""Just tell your lawyers where to send the final papers. I will sign them tomorrow morning. I swear I won't cause a scene in the press. I will disappear, Dante. I promise you'll never have to feel trapped by me again.""
I dropped down onto both knees before her.
Alina froze, stunned by the sudden movement. A man like Dante Moretti never knelt—not to prime ministers, not to hostile boards, not to rival conglomerates.
I reached out and reached for the divorce papers on the glass table. With two violent, ripping motions, I tore the twenty-seven pages straight down the center.
Rip. Rip.
The sound of shredding parchment cracked like gunshots in the quiet room. I ripped them again, crosswise, until the legal contract was reduced to a shower of useless white confetti, which I scattered across the rug.
Alina stared at the torn fragments on the floor, her hazel eyes huge with shock and utter confusion. ""Dante... what are you doing?""
""I heard you,"" I whispered, reaching up to take her cold, trembling hands into mine. ""I heard everything, Alina. Every single word you said to your mother.""
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Her breath hitched in her throat, her pupils dilating in pure, unadulterated terror. ""You... you heard?""
""I heard that you love me,"" I said, my voice cracking under the weight of three years of unspoken truth. ""And I heard that Victor Sterling murdered my father.""
