The Don's Frozen Donna

Matteo’s childhood sweetheart, Sofia, was trapped between the floors of an elevator for forty minutes. Convinced that I had been jealous of Sofia, Matteo personally locked me inside the family restaurant’s walk-in freezer. “The despair Sofia felt, you need to feel twice over.” My teeth chattered from the cold as I hugged myself and desperately explained, begging him to let me out for the sake of our marriage. But Matteo took the emergency key and locked the freezer door. “Only when you learn to behave yourself are you worthy of continuing to be my Donna.” With stiffened hands, I pounded on the door until my knuckles cracked, my blood freezing into dark ice on the floor. Six days later, he came to open the door with Sofia and issued his order as though bestowing charity. “The punishment is enough. Come out and apologize to Sofia.” But in the cold air that rushed toward him, there was only my purpled, rigid corpse. Chapter 1 My soul drifted out of the restaurant's heavy steel doors. I floated through the familiar halls of the family mansion and passed right through the solid oak doors of Matteo's study. Luca stood by the mahogany desk. "Boss," Luca said. His voice dropped low. "The Donna has been in there for six days." Matteo did not even look up from his paperwork. "She knows how to survive," Matteo said. "A few more days won't kill her." I hovered near the ceiling. I looked down at the man I had married. He wore a perfectly tailored suit. His hair was impeccably styled. He looked entirely unbothered. "Tomorrow," Matteo added. He signed a document and tossed it aside. "I will let her out tomorrow. She will clean herself up. Then she will kneel and apologize to Sofia. Only then will we move past this." The study doors clicked open. Sofia walked in. She was barefoot. A thick cashmere blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders. She shivered slightly. Matteo dropped his pen instantly. His cold demeanor vanished. He stood up and crossed the room in three long strides. He pulled her into his arms. "Why are you out of bed?" Matteo asked. He rubbed her arms through the blanket. "I had a nightmare," Sofia whispered. She buried her face in his chest. "I dreamed about the elevator. The dark. I couldn't breathe." Matteo gently caressed her face. His eyes darkened with anger. "I made her pay," Matteo said. "She is feeling a hundred times the despair you felt." I stared at them. I felt nothing. No cold. No warmth. Just a hollow, echoing rage. Sofia pulled back slightly. She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Six days is enough, Matteo," she said. She reached up and touched his jaw. "You should let her out. She will be really angry if you keep her in there any longer." Matteo frowned. He hated dealing with my anger. He hated the arguments. He hated the time it took to coax me back into a good mood. "Fine," Matteo said. He sighed. "I will let her out early." Sofia smiled. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "But she has to apologize," Matteo said. His tone hardened again. "She will come out and she will admit what she did. You love tomato soup, don't you? I will have Elena make you a bowl of tomato soup to apologize." Sofia sighed. She played with the lapel of his suit jacket. "Don't make it too ugly," Sofia said. Her voice was soft. Pleading. "You two are husband and wife, after all. I don't want to be the reason you fight." Matteo's eyes flashed with impatience. He hated when I caused trouble for Sofia. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "She brought this on herself," Matteo said. The memory of the freezer hit me. Six days ago. The restaurant kitchen. Matteo dragged me down the corridor. His grip on my arm bruised the bone. I stumbled over my own feet. "Matteo, please!" I screamed. "I didn't touch the elevator! I was in the trauma room!" He shoved me hard. I crashed into the steel wall of the walk-in freezer. "Sofia could have died in that dark box!" Matteo roared. He grabbed the heavy handle of the freezer door. "You need to learn what that feels like." He threw me inside. The temperature was twenty degrees below zero. The cold hit my lungs like shattered glass. I scrambled back to the door. I grabbed the inner safety latch. Matteo ripped the emergency key from the wall box outside. He slammed the heavy door shut. The outer lock dropped into place with a sickening clank. "Matteo!" I screamed. I slammed my palms against the freezing metal. "Please! Look at our marriage! Look at everything we have! Don't do this!" I heard his footsteps walking away. I panicked. I slammed my fists against the door. I hit the metal until my skin tore open. My knuckles cracked. Blood smeared across the frosted steel. The blood dripped to the floor and froze into dark, jagged ice. My teeth chattered so hard my jaw ached. I pulled my thin sweater tight around my chest. I huddled in the corner. The cold seeped through my clothes. It sank into my muscles. It chewed on my bones. I pulled out my phone. My fingers were stiff and purple. hey refused to bend. I fumbled with the screen. I dialed his number. It rang. He answered. "Matteo," I sobbed. My breath plumed in the freezing air. "I'm dying. Please." "Learn your place," Matteo said. His voice was ice. "Then you get to be my Donna." He hung up. I dropped the phone. The battery died a minute later. The screen went black. Hours passed. The shivering stopped. That was the worst part. My body gave up trying to generate heat. My blood slowed down. My vision blurred. Then came the warmth. The fatal, final hallucination. I felt a sudden, burning heat spread through my chest. I smiled in the dark. I closed my eyes. My heart stopped beating. I snapped back to the present. I floated in the study. Matteo released Sofia's hand. He smoothed his tie. "I will go get her now," Matteo said. Sofia smiled up at him. "I will wait here," she said. Matteo turned toward the door. He looked pleased with himself. He thought he had broken my spirit. He thought I would crawl out of that freezer and beg for his forgiveness. He thought I would make soup for the woman who ruined my life. He walked out of the study. Chapter 2 Matteo walked down the grand staircase. My soul drifted right behind him. He pulled out his phone and dialed his assistant. "Book the City Opera House for this weekend," Matteo ordered. He loosened his silk tie. "Sofia's birthday is coming up. Fly in that soprano she likes from Milan. And check on the custom dress from Paris. It needs to be perfect." He hung up. He smiled. He was planning a lavish party for the woman who ruined my life. I floated beside him. My ghostly chest heaved with a phantom ache. Just one week ago, Sofia returned from studying abroad. Matteo waited at the airport for three hours. He stood in the arrivals terminal with a massive bouquet of white roses. On that exact same day, a drunk driver smashed into the side of my car. The airbag deployed. Glass shattered across my face. Blood dripped into my eyes. I fumbled for my phone in the crushed wreckage. I dialed Matteo's number. My fingers shook violently. He answered on the fourth ring. "Matteo," I gasped. I coughed up dust. "I got hit. I'm bleeding." "Stop it, Elena," Matteo snapped. His voice dripped with disgust. "Sofia just landed. I know you hate that she is back. But faking a car crash for attention? You disgust me." He hung up. The paramedics pulled me from the wreck. They rushed me to the emergency room. The doctors ran tests. They bandaged my head. Then, the attending physician walked in with a chart. "You are lucky, Mrs. Vitiello," the doctor said. He smiled warmly. "And congratulations. You are six weeks pregnant. The baby is perfectly fine." I froze. A sudden, overwhelming joy burst through my bruised ribs. I touched my flat stomach. A baby. Matteo's baby. We had tried for two years. I grabbed my cracked phone. I ignored the throbbing pain in my skull. I dialed his number again. He rejected the call immediately. I called again. He turned his phone off. Matteo spent the next three days with Sofia. He helped her settle into her new penthouse. He ignored every single message I sent. On the fourth day, I walked out of the hospital. I took a cab to the family estate. Matteo sat in the living room. He swirled a glass of amber whiskey. He looked up when I walked in. He scanned my bandaged forehead and my pale face. He sneered. "Matteo," I said. I stepped forward. I gripped the hem of my shirt. "I wasn't faking. I was in a crash. But the doctor told me something else. I'm pregnant." Matteo froze. He set the glass down on the glass table. The heavy crystal slammed against the surface. He stood up. He walked toward me. His dark eyes locked onto mine. He didn't look happy. He looked murderous. "Pregnant," Matteo repeated. He let out a harsh, barking laugh. "You are pregnant." "Yes," I said. I reached out to touch his arm. He slapped my hand away. He grabbed my jaw. His fingers dug into my cheeks. "I have oligospermia, Elena," Matteo hissed. He leaned in close. His breath smelled of alcohol and rage. "My sperm count is practically zero. The doctors told me years ago. So tell me, Donna. Are you faking a pregnancy to steal my attention from Sofia? Or did you spread your legs for another man?" I stared at him. The room spun. "No," I choked out. Tears spilled over his tight grip on my face. "I swear, Matteo. It's yours. Only yours." He shoved me backward. I stumbled and hit the wall. "You look perfectly fine for someone who supposedly survived a car crash," Matteo snarled. He pointed a finger at my chest. "Do not try to compete with Sofia. If you pull another stunt like this, I will make sure your next car crash is real." He walked out. He left me sobbing on the floor. The next afternoon, Sofia showed up at my hospital. I was working my shift in the ER. She wore a designer trench coat. She clicked her heels across the linoleum floor. She cornered me in the breakroom. "I heard your little lie," Sofia said. She examined her manicured nails. "Pregnant? How pathetic." "Get out, Sofia," I said. I clenched my fists. She stepped closer. She lowered her voice. "Even if it is a miracle," Sofia whispered. She smiled maliciously. "Even if you actually managed to get knocked up by him. Matteo will never let you keep it. He promised me long ago. I am the only woman who will bear the Vitiello heirs." I raised my hand to slap her. Suddenly, the trauma alarms blared. The overhead speakers crackled. "Gunshot wound! Trauma Room One! We need an ER nurse immediately!" I dropped my hand. I turned and sprinted out of the breakroom. A teenage boy lay on the gurney. Blood soaked through his school uniform. I jumped into the trauma bay. I started applying pressure to his chest. I forgot about Sofia. I forgot about the argument. I just focused on saving a life. Sofia got bored and left. She stepped into the hospital's old South Wing elevator. The elevator stalled. The power flickered. She got trapped between the third and fourth floors. She panicked. She pulled out her phone and texted Matteo. The elevator is stuck. I can't breathe. Goodbye forever, Matteo. Matteo was in the middle of a multi-million dollar sit-down with the Russian syndicate. He flipped the table. He pulled his gun. He abandoned the meeting and raced to the hospital. The maintenance crew got the doors open thirty minutes later. Sofia was crying. Matteo held her. Then he turned his wrath on me.He drove me straight to the restaurant's freezer. I floated in the hallway of the estate. I watched Matteo walk toward the front door. Luca rushed down the hall. His face was completely drained of color. He held a phone in his trembling hand. "Boss," Luca gasped. He stopped in front of Matteo. "The restaurant manager just called. He checked the freezer camera feed." Matteo stopped. He adjusted his cufflinks. "Is she ready to apologize?" Matteo asked. "Boss," Luca swallowed hard. His voice cracked. "The Donna has no vital signs. She isn't moving. The thermal imaging shows no body heat." Matteo froze. An icy dread pierced his chest. His breath hitched. His hands actually trembled. "No body heat?" Matteo whispered. Raw panic flashed in his eyes. His heart hammered with sudden terror. Then, Sofia's voice drifted from the study. "Is she playing dead to make you guilty? She definitely bribed the manager to fake the feed." Luca shook his head. "Boss, the manager sounded terrified……" "Shut up, Luca," Matteo snapped. Sofia's words anchored him. The fear vanished. Cold mockery replaced it. He turned toward the study. "Sofia!" Sofia walked out. She wore a knowing smirk. "Come with me," Matteo said. He grabbed her hand. "You are absolutely right. Elena is just throwing another tantrum. She is pretending to be dead. Looks like this lesson wasn't enough. Let's go to the freezer and see her." Chapter 3 Five years earlier, I worked the night shift at a Brooklyn clinic. The waiting room was packed when Matteo staggered through the doors with blood soaking his shirt. Two men followed him, both carrying guns. “Move,” one of them barked. I looked at Matteo’s wound. “Put pressure on it and sit down.” His eyes sharpened. “Take the bullet out.” “You’re bleeding on my floor.” “I said, take it out.” I pulled on gloves and pointed toward the treatment room. “Then stop waving that gun around. You’re scaring my patients.” The room went silent. One of his men lifted his weapon. Matteo stopped him with a glance. For the first time, someone had refused him without begging. He sat on the table. I cut open his shirt, cleaned the wound, and removed the bullet while he clenched his jaw. “You’re lucky it missed an artery,” I said. “Lucky?” “You’re alive. Try sounding grateful.” His mouth twitched. “You talk too much.” “You threaten too much.” That was how we began. After that night, he kept finding reasons to return. Sometimes he came with fresh injuries. Sometimes he only stood outside the clinic after my shift, waiting beside a black car. I knew what he was by then. Matteo belonged to a powerful family that controlled half the city’s underground business. I should have stayed away. Instead, I fell in love with him. He never spoke sweetly in front of his men, but he remembered every detail about me. He knew I hated roses. He knew I took my coffee without sugar. He knew when my smile was forced. One winter evening, he handed me a small black pistol. My name was engraved along the grip. “Why are you giving me this?” I asked. “So you can protect yourself.” “I’m a nurse.” “You’re my woman.” I held the gun tighter. “I belong to myself.” His eyes stayed on mine. “Then keep it for yourself.” He kissed me before I could answer. Once, a blizzard buried the city under heavy snow. My shift ended after midnight, and my shoes filled with slush before we reached the car. Matteo stopped, bent down, and lifted me into his arms. “Put me down.” “You’ll ruin your shoes.” “I can walk.” “I know.” He carried me for three blocks, then four. By the time we reached the house, snow covered his coat and hair. My shoes stayed clean. That man loved me with the same intensity he used to control everyone else. I believed I would always be the exception. After the old Boss was assassinated, Matteo took his place before he had time to mourn. The family pushed him into power, and he accepted it with a cold face and a gun in his hand. Three days later, we held our wedding in the family chapel. The ceremony was private, but the entire organization attended. When Matteo placed the ring on my finger, he whispered, “You’re my Donna now.” I smiled through my tears. For years, life felt steady. He came home to me. I stood beside him during family dinners. When enemies threatened us, he kept one hand on my waist and the other near his weapon. I thought our marriage could survive anything. Then Sofia came home from overseas. Everything changed within a week. Matteo waited three hours at the airport for her. He forgot my calls. He ignored my accident. He dismissed my pregnancy. When I told him I carried his child, he laughed and accused me of betrayal. Sofia smiled while she watched him punish me. Then she ended up trapped in the hospital elevator. Matteo believed her story without hearing mine. He locked me in the freezer and left me there for six days. Now he stood outside the steel door with Sofia beside him. My soul floated behind them as Luca unlocked the outer bolt. Sofia clutched Matteo’s arm. “Be gentle with her,” she murmured. “She has suffered enough.” Matteo gave her a soft look. “She’ll apologize before she gets anything else.” He pulled the door open. A violent wave of cold air rushed into the hallway. Matteo lifted his chin. “Enough punishment, Elena. Come out and apologize to Sofia.” My body stayed curled against the wall. My skin had turned purple. My fingers rested beside the frozen blood from my split knuckles. Sofia’s breath caught. Matteo took one step inside. “Stop pretending.” He reached for my shoulder. My body tipped forward and struck the floor with a hard crack. Sofia screamed. Matteo froze with his hand suspended above me. For one second, his face held the same confidence as before. Then he saw my open eyes. They stared past him. Luca whispered, “Donna Elena is dead.” Matteo dropped to his knees and grabbed my wrist. The skin beneath his fingers stayed rigid and cold. “Wake up,” he said. My soul stood beside the door. He pressed harder. “Elena, open your eyes.” Sofia backed away, covering her mouth. Matteo pulled me into his arms, but my head fell against his shoulder without a response. The man who had once carried me through a blizzard held my frozen body against his chest. This time, he could not keep me warm.