Fake Diamonds, Real Betrayal

After my 49th fight with my boyfriend, Stefano Conti, I take every luxury item he's given me over the years to a luxury consignment store out of spite. The employee examines them one by one, her expression growing darker with each piece. "Look at the stitching. It's crooked. This is obviously fake. And this isn't a diamond. It's not even moissanite. It's just cubic zirconia. Ma'am, are you messing with us?" I stare at the pile in disbelief, unable to figure out what went wrong. Then, I pack everything into a box and take it straight to Stefano. In the main hall, Stefano is feeding Martina Rizzo slices of bluefin tuna. "I paid two million dollars for this tuna at auction. It's the most tender meat," he tells her. "Consider it a little celebration for getting your latest arms shipment delivered safely." Martina beams. "But Stefano, this is way too expensive. I didn't even make that much from this shipment." "You're worth it." Just then, Stefano's Consigliere, Paolo Moretti, raises his glass. "Boss, you and Elena have been together for seven years. Are you really not going to propose to her?" Stefano takes a small sip of his wine. "Propose? A fool who can't even tell a knockoff from the real thing is not fit to be my Donna. Only an idiot like her would believe a lie like that." He's right. I really can't tell a counterfeit from the real thing. I'm the Principessa of the Santoro family, after all. No one has ever dared give me a fake, so I've never had any reason to learn how to spot one. At last, I understand. It isn't that Stefano looks down on me. He just doesn't love me. Chapter 1 Elena's POV Paolo Moretti, Stefano Conti's Consigliere, spotted me in the doorway. All at once, his face lit up. "Elena, look on the bright side. You gave Don Conti two whole days of peace." Martina Rizzo looked over with a knowing smile. "Elena, you really need to learn your place. You're nothing but a pet the Don keeps around. What makes you think you can pick a fight with him? You'd be better off keeping him happy." I walked over, dumped everything from the box onto the table, and said, "Every gift you've given me over the past seven years is right here. Who knew the great Don Conti had a thing for giving people knockoffs?" Martina winced when she saw the bluefin tuna buried beneath the pile. "Elena! How could you dump all this junk all over our dinner?" she snapped. " Aren't you afraid the Don's going to chew you out?" Just then, my boyfriend, Stefano, glanced up. A faint smile played at the corner of his mouth as he asked, "Feeling brave, are we? You're really going to break up with me this time?" At that, Paolo burst out laughing. "Seriously, Elena. It took you seven years to figure it out! Every time you went out with Don Conti wearing those knockoffs, I wanted to hide you before anyone noticed. The Don's girlfriend wearing knockoffs? How embarrassing for him!" Martina cleared the junk off the tuna, then speared a slice with a small fork and held it out to me. "Don't be upset, Elena. Here, have some tuna. The Don personally picked out the most tender cut for me." I didn't bother responding. Then, she feigned surprise. "Come on, Elena! Don't be grossed out by it. This is real bluefin tuna! Don Conti bought the whole thing at auction. Sure, your fake junk landed all over it, but at least the tuna is real." Paolo burst out laughing. Even the nearby staff covered their mouths, struggling to hide their amusement. Stefano swirled the wine in his glass, making no move to stop Paolo and Martina from mocking me. I took a deep breath, then fixed my gaze on him. "Stefano, did you deliberately give me fakes, or did your men screw up?" He scoffed as he continued to swirl his wine. "A two-million-dollar fish is sitting right here on my table. Do you really think I'd tolerate a subordinate who screwed up?" A bitter lump rose in my throat. I had given up my place as the Santoro heiress and spent seven years standing by Stefano, only to find out that all those years had been nothing but a joke. "So, you never thought I was good enough. You never intended to make me your Donna." He replied indifferently, "Obviously. Not just any woman gets to be my Donna. You kept telling me you were the Santoro heiress. But in all the years we were together, did anyone from the Santoro family ever contact you? So, I gave you what you were worth—fakes." My chest tightened, and the old wound I'd suffered saving him seemed to ache with it. "Okay. I understand." I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, then turned to leave. "Stefano, I don't want to be your Donna anymore." I was going back to my place as the Santoro heiress. Chapter 2 Elena's POV Tears streamed down my face as I wandered the streets, feeling like a shell of myself. Memories of the past seven years came flooding back. The 29th time Stefano and I fought, I sat by the side of the road and cried all night. By morning, he'd finally found me, a diamond hair clip in his hand. He tucked it into my hair and gazed at me with tenderness. "Elena, come on. Don't be mad at me. Let's go home," he'd said. The 39th time we fought, I packed a suitcase and spent the night away, planning to catch a flight out the next morning. Stefano had a whole lineup of designer bags brought to the airport and intercepted me outside the terminal. "Come home." I'd always thought he only picked fights with me because he had a bad temper. Even so, he'd always find some way to make it up to me. I'd convinced myself that he still loved me. Why else would he go to such lengths to get me these things whenever we fought? I never imagined those gifts were knockoffs he'd had his people pick out for me. I sank to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. For seven whole years, I'd never once doubted Stefano's love for me. He always looked at me with such tenderness, as though he could never bear to let me go. He used to tell me, "Elena, those things might seem dazzling to everyone else, but you'll always outshine them in my eyes." I had never questioned his love for me, not even after he picked fight after fight with me. … Once I'd cried myself out, I went home to pack my things. What I didn't expect was to find Stefano at home with Martina. They sat at the dining table, with an elaborate candlelit dinner laid out before them. Martina looked at me and said, "Elena, I thought you weren't coming back. You sure looked like you meant it when you walked out earlier. You ruined my dinner, so Don Conti said he'd make it up to me. That's why he brought me back." I ignored her taunt and went straight to my room to pack my things. But no matter where I looked, I couldn't find the bracelet my Madre had left me. It was a keepsake from her, a family heirloom passed down through generations of the Santoro family. I stormed back out and confronted them. "Did you take the bracelet my mother left me?" Hearing that, Martina lifted her arm, and there it was. The bracelet Mamma had left me was now wrapped around her wrist. "This one?" Martina asked. "I just said I liked the vintage style, and Don Conti decided to give it to me." I lunged forward, desperate to get it back. "Stefano Conti! How could you give that to her? That's mine!" But before I could reach Martina, Stefano caught me. "It's just some worthless little trinket. Martina landed me a huge weapons deal. So what if she wears it?" I yelled, "But it's mine! My Mamma left it to me! You had no right to give it away like it was nothing!" Stefano shoved me to the floor. "You just never stop lying, do you? If you really were the Principessa of the Santoro family, would you have put up with me testing you again and again?" So that was what all the fights and knockoffs had been about. He'd been testing me all along, trying to find out whether I was really the Santoros' Principessa. Even after he'd hurt me again and again, I had never reached out to my family. And once he decided I was a fraud, I was worthless to him. Suddenly, I remembered the first time we met. Stefano had walked toward me without hesitation and said, "You're beautiful. I promise, I'll always be the one who stands by your side." Now, he was loyal only to those he considered more valuable. Chapter 3 Elena's POV Martina stood behind Stefano, holding up the bracelet as she taunted me. "So, this is the Santoros' family heirloom, huh? Now that I'm wearing it, does that make me their Principessa?" She burst out laughing, and Stefano joined in. "Just admit it, Elena. You have nothing left." I let out a long sigh. There really was nothing left for me here. Seven years earlier, my Padre found out that I planned to leave him to be with Stefano. We had a huge fight. Papa had yelled, "I don't approve of you being with him! How could a small family like the Contis ever be good enough for you? "If you insist on being with him, don't blame us for cutting you off! From now on, you're on your own. You can come back when you finally come to your senses." Still, I chose Stefano and never went back to my family. After I got together with him, I helped turn the Contis into one of the most powerful families in the underworld. Two years ago, a rival crew came after us, and I was caught off guard. A bullet grazed my right ear, leaving me with permanent hearing loss on that side. When Stefano saw the wound, he looked genuinely shaken. "Elena, I don't want you out in the field anymore. Stay home from now on. I'll protect you. It kills me to see you hurt." By then, his business was already well established. So, I settled into life at home, taking care of the household for him. From then on, my entire world revolved around him. Every morning, I got up early to make him breakfast. Stefano had a sensitive stomach, so I made him easy-to-digest meals. I researched new recipes every day, always trying to prepare food that would nourish him. I thought he could tell how much I loved him and that he'd love me back. What I didn't realize was that, in his eyes, I'd become nothing more than a useless fool. At that moment, Stefano grabbed me and yanked me to my feet. "Look at you. You're so damn weak," he spat. "All I did was shove you, and you couldn't even get back up. If you weren't still useful as my free housekeeper, I wouldn't have kept you around this long. "Think about it, Elena. Once I throw you out, how long do you think you'll survive with all those rival crews coming after you?" Martina stepped over, patted my cheek, and said, "Take it easy, Stefano. She's so delicate. You might break her." She went on, "Elena, I suppose I should thank you for all your hard work over the years. Every operation you built for Stefano was rock-solid. Whenever I took one over, I could step right in and take control." Martina was about to leave when she stopped in her tracks, as if she'd just remembered something. "Oh! And those lunches you made for Stefano every day? They really weren't that good. Stefano and I never liked them, but my dog loved them!" I had painstakingly researched and perfected every one of those meals. Yet, Stefano had been feeding them to Martina's dog the whole time. It was only then that everything finally became clear to me. The love Stefano had shown me had never been genuine. It had all been manipulation and deceit. And like a fool, I'd handed him everything I had. He wasn't the right person for me, and he no longer deserved my love. With that, I packed my bags and left that house for good. Chapter 4 Elena's POV Later, I checked into a small motel and booked the earliest flight out. I curled up on the bed, waiting until it was time to leave for the airport. Suddenly, my phone rang. "Hi, I'm calling about the flowers you ordered. They'll be delivered around noon today. And you still want the ring placed inside the card, right?" That was when it hit me. It was Valentine's Day. I'd ordered the flowers in advance, hoping that today would finally be the day Stefano proposed. I kept picturing the look on his face when he discovered the ring tucked among the flowers. Then, I'd look at him in surprise and ask, "Stefano, is this the ring you got for me? Do you want me to be your Donna?" He hadn't brought up marriage much in the past few years. So, this time, I decided to make the first move. I'd arranged everything and wondered how Stefano would react. Would he be surprised? Would he be touched? Now, it seemed I was nothing more than a joke to him. "Never mind. Throw the flowers away. The ring, too," I answered. As soon as I hung up, Martina sent me an audio recording, followed by a voice message. Her voice dripped with contempt as she said, "Elena, you didn't honestly think your injury was an accident, did you?" I had only just managed to calm myself when the message sent another jolt through me. My hand trembled as I tapped on the recording. Then, I heard a voice I knew better than any other. "The ambush went perfectly. None of our men got hurt. She was the only one who took a hit. If it weren't for your idea, I wouldn't have known how to get the business back from her." "As your consigliere, it's what I'm here for," Paolo said, sounding pleased. "That way, Elena won't just hand over the business herself, but she'll be so swept up in you that she won't be able to walk away. She'll keep giving you everything she has and won't expect anything in return." My hand shook as I reached up and touched my right ear. Ever since the attack, I'd barely been able to hear out of my right ear. On top of that, it had left behind an ugly scar. Countless times, I'd caught sight of that scar while putting on an earring and blamed myself for not being more careful. Time and again, I'd asked myself the same thing. Had I expanded the business too quickly? Had I made too many enemies? And all along, the person who saw me as a thorn in his side had been Stefano. What a fool I'd been. Another voice message from Martina came through. "Oh, and there's something else. The doctors said your hearing could have been restored. "It would've taken multiple surgeries and a long recovery. But Stefano refused. He said you needed to live with the injury so he could keep you under his control." My eyes burned. I'd cried myself dry the night before, and now they were raw and stinging. I had given Stefano everything. I could've lived with the fact that he didn't truly love me. But he had actually plotted against me. He had trapped me in his cage, and I'd only fallen deeper into it. And somehow, I'd been foolish enough to stay trapped for seven years. … It was almost time for my flight. So, I gathered my things and headed for the airport. "Goodbye, Stefano. From now on, I'm going to live for myself."