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Seven Years as the Don's Secret
Novelix
Completed
" The night before we were supposed to get legally married, my fiancé, Dante, looked at me just after I'd gotten out of the shower and suddenly spoke. ""What was it like being Julian's mistress? Exciting?"" My head was ringing. When I answered, my voice didn't sound like mine. ""You know perfectly well I had no idea he was already engaged."" He came over and gently dried my hair. His words sounded innocent, but each one hurt. ""You may not have known you were his mistress, but the story has already made its way through several families."" ""As my wife, you'd represent the entire Valenti family."" ""Everyone in our world knows about your past. If I marry you, what will they think of me?"" ""But don't worry. I can give you everything except the right to call yourself my wife."" Tears welled in my eyes, and I could barely get the words out through the shaking in my voice. ""Why... why all of a sudden? We're supposed to get legally married tomorrow."" He gave a soft laugh and pressed a light kiss to my forehead. ""Elena, you need to understand. In our world, marriage has never been just about two people."" ""Being together is one thing. But when it comes to choosing a wife, I need a woman with no scandal attached to her."" Suddenly, I couldn't bear to look at the framed wedding photo on the nightstand. My fingers trembled as I slipped the pregnancy test results back into my bag before I could show him. ""Dante, let's end this."""
Chapters (3)
Chapter 1
The night before we were supposed to get legally married, my fiancé, Dante, looked at me just after I'd gotten out of the shower and suddenly spoke.
"What was it like being Julian's mistress? Exciting?"
My head was ringing. When I answered, my voice didn't sound like mine.
"You know perfectly well I had no idea he was already engaged."
He came over and gently dried my hair. His words sounded innocent, but each one hurt.
"You may not have known you were his mistress, but the story has already made its way through several families."
"As my wife, you'd represent the entire Valenti family."
"Everyone in our world knows about your past. If I marry you, what will they think of me?"
"But don't worry. I can give you everything except the right to call yourself my wife."
Tears welled in my eyes, and I could barely get the words out through the shaking in my voice.
"Why... why all of a sudden? We're supposed to get legally married tomorrow."
He gave a soft laugh and pressed a light kiss to my forehead.
"Elena, you need to understand. In our world, marriage has never been just about two people."
"Being together is one thing. But when it comes to choosing a wife, I need a woman with no scandal attached to her."
Suddenly, I couldn't bear to look at the framed wedding photo on the nightstand.
My fingers trembled as I slipped the pregnancy test results back into my bag before I could show him.
"Dante, let's end this."
He paused for a moment, then let out a quiet laugh.
"Elena, you don't have parents. You don't have a family to fall back on. If you leave me, where exactly do you think you'll go?"
The pain in my chest made it almost impossible to speak. Even drawing a breath hurt.
It took me a long time to force the words out. When I did, my voice was painfully hoarse.
"So... You want me to be your mistress, is that it?"
Dante toyed with my fingers, his gaze still tender.
"Does it matter? Besides, it's not like you haven't done it before."
I yanked my hand away, fury surging through me.
"You know Julian lied to me! He told me he didn't have a fiancée! I was the victim! You know all of that!"
Dante's smile gave nothing away, but he didn't get angry.
"Who cares whether you really knew or not?"
"People in these families believe only what they see."
"Back then, Julian's fiancée chased you with a knife in front of everyone and humiliated you at that party."
"They all saw it with their own eyes."
The love in Dante's eyes still looked too deep to be an act. As though he hadn't just casually told me he couldn't marry me.
I closed my eyes in pain. It felt as if a hole had been torn through my heart and icy wind was rushing straight through it.
Dante spoke again, his voice close to my ear.
"Elena, don't blame me. With a past like that, you can't become the wife of the Valenti Don."
I stared at him.
Suddenly, the face before me seemed to belong to a stranger.
Five years ago, when Julian's fiancée cornered me with a knife, Dante was the one who stepped in and saved me.
By then, he was already the most powerful man in the Valenti family. No one dared defy his orders.
After that, we fell in love naturally.
He had once solemnly sworn to treat me well for the rest of his life and never betray me.
He was also the one who said he would never bring up my past again for as long as he lived, and that he would never let anyone use it to hurt me.
"Elena, if I ever hurt you—if I ever hold your past against you—may I die a horrible death!"
It was a solemn vow, and I believed him for all those years.
But now, the scar from my past had become the blade he was using against me, cutting me open until I bled.
A shrill ringtone suddenly shattered the tense silence.
A girl's sweet, flirtatious voice came through the phone.
"Dante, didn't you say you were coming to see me right away?"
"I even put on that kitty outfit you like. Why aren't you here yet?"
"I'm coming."
Dante smiled indulgently, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him like that.
I couldn't say when it had changed, but the man who had always initiated sex now left it to me to make the first move.
Dante got up and fixed his hair in the mirror. As soon as he mentioned the girl, he couldn't keep himself from smiling.
"Her name is Bianca Romano. She just graduated from college."
"Her father is a powerful figure in the Romano family. Our two families have done business together for years."
"She grew up sheltered by her family. There aren't any ugly rumors about her."
"Grandfather likes her, too. She'll be my wife someday. Don't make things difficult for her."
The door slammed shut, the sound landing like a hard slap across my face.
It was an early-summer evening, yet I felt as though I'd been dropped into an ice-cold cellar. The cold crept up from my feet to my head, and I couldn't stop shaking.
I felt like the biggest fool in the world.
A few years ago, one man had deceived me. Now another one had done the same.
With trembling fingers, I sent a message to someone I hadn't contacted in a long time.
[Claire, you once said that if I ever wanted to leave, you'd take me with you.] [Does that promise still stand?]
Chapter 2
Dante didn't come back until early the next morning.
The moment he walked in, he noticed me curled up on the bed.
"Elena?"
I let out a weak whimper when his cool fingertips touched my burning forehead.
He looked alarmed.
"Elena, you have a fever. I'm calling the doctor right now."
I shook my head and murmured that I wanted the chicken soup from my favorite little place in Brooklyn.
It was a small restaurant Dante used to drive me to all the time when we first got together.
Without stopping to worry about anything else, Dante gave me some fever medicine, grabbed his car keys, and left at once.
When I woke again, still dazed, it was evening outside.
On my phone was a message Dante had sent ten hours earlier.
[Elena, Bianca insisted that I have lunch with her. I won't be coming back today.] [I had the driver bring the soup back. Remember to eat it.]
The chicken soup had been sitting in the sun on the porch all day. It had already spoiled. It smelled sour and rotten.
It reminded me of what Dante and I had become.
Even something beautiful couldn't withstand the slow damage of time.
The tears came without warning. By then, I'd been hurting for so long that I felt numb.
This was the second time Dante had abandoned me for Bianca. There would only be more after this.
I looked at his photo and gave a quiet laugh.
Dante, you lied. You said you could give me everything except marriage. But now even your heart doesn't belong to me anymore.
That night, the moment Dante came home, he saw the soup I'd thrown in the trash.
He frowned, a trace of impatience flashing in his eyes.
In the end, though, he said nothing.
He lay down beside me, and I caught the scent of another woman's perfume—one I didn't recognize.
My stomach churned, and nausea rose in my throat.
This man had once belonged only to me. Now he carried traces of another woman on him.
Knowing the man beside me had just been with another woman brought wave after wave of sickening emotion.
I got up to go to the guest room, but Dante caught me by the wrist.
He seemed to understand what I was thinking and gave a soft laugh.
"This is all it takes to upset you? There'll be a lot more of this from now on. You'd better get used to it."
His expression suggested he thought this was perfectly reasonable. His words were poison.
Still, I had to admit he was right.
Dante seemed pleased when I didn't argue. He reached for my cheek, but I turned my head away.
His gaze darkened, and he spoke slowly.
"Elena, there's no need to act like this. I haven't done anything wrong."
When I still didn't respond, Dante finally lost what little patience he had left.
He picked up his car keys and headed out, throwing one last remark at me as he passed.
"You know the biggest difference between you and Bianca? Bianca never tells me no. She's always finding ways to make me happy."
He hesitated for a long moment at the door before finally speaking again.
"The Valenti family is holding a private dinner tomorrow night. Come with me."
The door slammed shut, and the room fell silent again.
The cloyingly sweet perfume still hung in the air.
I sprayed air freshener like I was losing my mind.
I didn't stop until I started dry-heaving.
Time really could change everything.
Even Dante, who had once said he loved me more than life itself, had changed without my noticing.
My phone lit up with a message from the old friend I hadn't spoken to in so long.
[Of course it does.] [It'll take some time to prepare the necessary paperwork. Hold on a little longer.]
Chapter 3
The next evening, I entered the banquet hall slowly in my formal gown, greeted by a chorus of "Mrs. Valenti."
Along with the Valenti family's core members, representatives of several closely allied New York families were there that night.
Many of them knew I'd been at Dante's side for seven years.
At events like this, he'd never denied my status before.
But tonight, perhaps things were different.
At that moment, the lights over the central stage suddenly came on.
Bianca Romano came down the stairs with a bright smile, her arm looped through Dante's.
"I have some good news to share tonight."
Dante held the microphone, his face bright with happiness.
"I've decided to get married. My fiancée is Bianca Romano, right here beside me."
The crowd erupted.
Countless eyes immediately turned toward me.
Whispers rose from every direction.
"So someone else is going to marry the Valenti Don? Then what does that make Elena Bennett?"
"You didn't know? Elena used to be Julian's mistress over in the De Luca family. Then she latched onto Dante."
"I heard Julian's fiancée even exposed her in front of everyone back then."
"How shameless. First the De Luca family, now the Valenti family. She really knows how to pick her men."
Each malicious remark pricked like a needle, sending pain through my heart.
Humiliation washed over me. Without thinking, I looked to Dante for help.
But he watched me without expression and let them ridicule me.
Seven years ago, when people had insulted me the same way, Dante had planted himself in front of me and shielded me from every hostile stare.
"Watch your mouths. Elena had no idea Julian was engaged! Who gave you the nerve to slander her when you don't have a shred of proof?"
"She's my woman. Anyone who says another word against her is taking on the entire Valenti family."
Back then, he would hold me tight and patiently reassure me over and over, his voice gentle.
"Don't be afraid. From now on, I'll always have your back."
I could still hear his words from all those years ago.
But he was no longer the man he'd been then.
To escape the vicious comments and stares, I hid in a lounge.
Then I heard someone outside teasing Dante.
"Seriously, Dante. You brought the Romano girl, but you still made Elena come. Why humiliate her on purpose?"
"She's been with you for seven years. Have you really made up your mind to marry Bianca?"
"We all know the Romano family can bring you plenty of advantages. But if Elena really leaves one day, won't you regret it?"
My heart tightened, but Dante let out a soft laugh.
"I want her to see what happens without the Valenti family's protection. She'll be the same woman anyone could push around back then."
"Without me, she doesn't even have a place in our world. She won't leave. I'm all she has left."
"Don't worry. Whenever I turn around, Elena will be there waiting for me."
I laughed bitterly at myself. Somewhere in the middle of it, I started to cry.
I bit down hard on my lip to keep from making a sound. Even when I tasted blood and felt sick, I didn't stop.
I stared at my disheveled reflection, humiliated, and wiped away the last tear.
Dante, you're wrong this time. The woman you think would be nothing without the Valenti family won't be waiting for you anymore.
A woman's clear voice suddenly came from outside the door.
"Come out. Stop hiding. I know you heard everything."
