He Put Another Woman's Daughter First, So Ours Stopped Calling Him Daddy

The day my mafia husband, Vincent Colletti, chose his subordinate Serena Vega and her daughter Daisy over us yet again, I began teaching our daughter not to expect anything from him. One stormy night, our daughter was too scared to sleep. Vincent hesitated, then went to comfort Daisy instead. I took a storybook and a stuffed animal to Eve's room and sat on the edge of her bed. "It's okay. Don Colletti has things to take care of. Mommy's here with you." Vincent bailed on the family trip Eve had been looking forward to for two weeks, all because Serena said Daisy wanted to go to an amusement park. I held Eve's hand as we boarded the plane. "Baby, Don Colletti isn't coming, but we're still going on our trip." Every time Vincent chose them over her, it took Eve a long time to get over it. It went on like that until Vincent finally woke up to how long he'd been neglecting us. He kissed Eve's cheek, eager to make it up to her. "Sorry, sweetheart. Next week, you'll have the grandest baptism ceremony the family has ever seen." But at the Blood Oath Baptism, the Colletti family's ceremony to formally acknowledge and protect a child, Vincent got a call from Serena. She sobbed into the phone. "Daisy's getting teased at school for not having a dad. Could you come pretend to be her dad?" Vincent barely hesitated. He turned to Eve with a coaxing, apologetic look. "Eve, Daddy has something urgent to take care of. I need to leave for a little while." Eve stood there. She didn't cry or make a fuss. Before he could even finish, she quietly nodded. "It's okay, Don Colletti. I have Mommy, and that's enough." Chapter 1 Vincent froze. He stared at Eve, his expression conflicted. Eve forced a smile. "Bye, Don Colletti. I have Mommy, and that's enough." I stood nearby, heartbroken for her. Ever since I'd realized Vincent was favoring Serena and her daughter, I'd been teaching Eve to call him Don Colletti instead of Daddy. But Eve was too young to understand why she had to call her own father something as cold as Don Colletti, or why he loved a child who wasn't his more than he loved her. Every time I called him Don Colletti, she'd ask me why, tears in her eyes. But today, she'd said it herself, as if she were finally cutting ties with Vincent. She stepped aside and smiled up at Vincent. "Go ahead, Don Colletti." She took my hand and said firmly, "I have Mommy, and that's enough." I was the only one there who understood. She wasn't just accepting one more absence from Vincent. She had finally realized she would never beg for her father's love again. Vincent was about to speak when Serena's hesitant voice came through the phone again. "Vincent, am I making things hard for you?" He looked from Eve to me, torn. In the end, he said into the phone, "I'll be right there." I squeezed Eve's hand, my heart aching. Again. Six months ago, Serena had saved Vincent's life in a gang shootout. Afterward, he moved her and her daughter onto the estate and took care of them himself. Ever since, he'd made one exception after another for them. At Eve's birthday party, Serena called to say she'd seen someone suspicious outside her building, and Vincent walked out on a room full of family elders to rush to her side. When Eve woke up burning with fever in the middle of the night, Serena called in tears to say Daisy was crying for her daddy in her sleep. Vincent left Eve without a second thought and stayed with them all night. I told myself Vincent was only repaying a debt, and I swallowed the hurt every time. Then one day I asked the estate's medical team to do Eve's monthly checkup, and they looked at me helplessly. "Donna, all our records and equipment have been set up to care for Miss Daisy." I nodded without a word and got ready to take Eve to Mount Sinai for her checkup. But Vincent had taken the entire motorcade to escort Serena and Daisy on a drive along the Gold Coast. Vincent and I had the worst fight of our marriage that day. He demanded to know why I kept making things hard for the woman who saved his life. I laughed. I'd never mistreated the woman who saved his life. I just couldn't stand by and watch her and Daisy take Eve's things, one by one. Vincent said he was only repaying her. I looked him in the eye and said slowly, "Vincent, you are Eve's father." Vincent's gaze fell on Eve, pale and huddled in the corner of the couch, clutching her stuffed animal in fear. His anger drained away. At last, he backed down. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again." But he never stopped putting them first. I couldn't take the chance that Vincent would hurt Eve again in the name of repaying a debt. But I couldn't force Eve to leave, either. She was her own person, and the choice had to be hers. That night, I asked Eve, "If Daddy did something that made you sad, how many times would you forgive him?" Eve held back her tears. Clutching the stuffed animal Vincent had given her, she counted carefully on her little fingers. "Seven times." And today was the seventh time. Eve had made her choice. But I took no joy in it. All I felt was a dull ache spreading through my chest. I held Eve tight and said it again. "It's okay. Mommy's here with you." Just as we walked toward the baptismal font, Vincent suddenly came after us. As usual, he seemed ready with another grand, empty apology. Then Serena's flustered voice called his name over the phone, and he stopped in his tracks. He sent an attendant after us instead. He said he'd take Eve to Margarita's, a family restaurant on the Upper East Side, that night. Eve had begged him for two weeks to go there with Mommy and Daddy. It didn't cheer Eve up. Vincent should have been the one to give Eve the family crest pin. When I pinned it to her collar myself, her tears finally spilled over. She tugged at my shirt and whispered, "Mommy, I don't want Daddy anymore." Chapter 2 When we got back, I started packing. My phone buzzed. Our tickets to Atlanta were confirmed. Atlanta was home. I'd once told Vincent that if he ever betrayed me, I'd go to the city he couldn't control and never see him again. I was a Rosati. Over the course of a century, my family had united the scattered Southern mafia into a force no one could break. Not even the Five Families, the Colletti family included, dared to go head-to-head with us. I'd believed he would never give me a reason to leave. I was wrong. The divorce agreement had already gone into effect without Vincent knowing. Three days after Vincent first put Serena and her daughter ahead of us, I slipped the divorce agreement in with Daisy's medical forms and sent them over together. Vincent was in such a hurry to check on Daisy that he signed the first few documents without even looking at them. I could have left long ago. I'd only waited so Eve could gradually let go of her hope that her father would love her. Just then, I got a video from Serena. Daisy was sitting on Vincent's shoulders, showing off to the classmates gathered around her. "This is my daddy!" Right after that, Serena texted, "Adela, did you see? Vincent takes such good care of us. He says we're the people he'll never forget as long as he lives." I didn't send Vincent screenshots as I used to. He'd only accuse me of faking them to make Serena look bad. All I needed to do now was finish packing and take Eve away from here for good. I'd just closed my suitcase when Vincent came home with a lopsided homemade cream cake. Eve looked at me, bewildered. Vincent was strict about what he ate, and he especially hated sweet, creamy desserts. Eve had a sweet tooth like me, and every year Vincent made an exception and got her a birthday cake. But when she was four, she noticed he didn't like cake. From the following year on, she refused to have one. Eve stared at the cake, hope rising in her eyes. Vincent handed Eve the cake. "Daisy and I made this at a family event at her school. She didn't like it, but I remembered you two like cake, so I brought it home." Eve's face fell. Don Colletti had already missed so many of her school events. Then Vincent noticed the suitcases behind me. He frowned and asked, as if it were an afterthought, "You two going on a trip?" I didn't want anything to go wrong before we left. "It's the mother-daughter trip Eve and I take every three months." Vincent used to come too, but after he'd stood us up last time, I'd stopped inviting him. Vincent looked guilty, but relieved, too. He crouched down in front of Eve. "I missed today's ceremony, and that was Daddy's fault. But Daisy was being teased, and I had to take care of it. Eve, you're a good girl. You understand Daddy was in a tough spot, right?" He patted Eve's head. "Daddy already booked the family restaurant for tomorrow. Do you want to go with Mommy and Daddy?" Eve hesitated, torn between longing and worry. She opened her mouth, then stopped. I knew she was afraid Vincent would leave her behind again. I sighed softly and made the decision for her. "Okay." At least Eve could leave without regrets. Just like that, Eve perked up and ran happily back to her room. Vincent watched her go fondly, then slipped an arm around my waist. The smell of his cigar lingered on him. He rested his chin on my shoulder, but there was a probing note in his voice. "Adela, Eve called me Don Colletti today. Did you teach her to do that?" My heart started pounding. I admitted it outright, then asked him, "Do you want to know why?" He missed my point. He just held me tighter. "Adela, give me a little more time. Serena's husband saved my life. I can't just stand by and let anything happen to her or her daughter. Once I've dealt with their problems, I'll arrange for them to leave." His heart was racing as he waited for my answer. The last time I'd seen him like this was six years ago, the day he found out I was pregnant. Back then, his hands had shaken as he'd promised, "I'll protect you and our child for the rest of my life." My resolve wavered. Leaving without saying goodbye suddenly felt unfair to him. "Vincent, I need to come clean with you..." Chapter 3 "Oh, right, Adela. Where's the child-size crest ring I had made for Eve? Daisy saw it last time and threw a fit because she wanted it. There isn't time to have another one made, so I'll give Daisy this one for now and have a new one made for Eve." Vincent changed the subject so quickly I couldn't answer. He rushed into the room, found the ring, and carefully put it in a gift box. As he was leaving, he finally glanced at me. "Honey, what were you going to say?" I froze. The words I'd meant to say died in my throat, and anger surged through me. "That's Eve's ring, Vincent. How can you give her things to someone else?" That ring symbolized the highest authority in the Colletti family. Only the head of the family and the heir he chose had the right to wear it. Vincent had a child-size ring made especially for Eve's fifth birthday. Vincent's face darkened, and his voice turned hard. "Adela, don't be so selfish. It's just a ring." Just then, his phone rang. Vincent glanced at the caller ID, threw on his coat, and hurried out. He didn't even see Eve standing in the doorway with her stuffed animal. Eve stood frozen, her eyes brimming with tears. This was my husband. He claimed he was repaying a debt, but he kept abandoning Eve and me for them. He'd even take things his daughter treasured and give them to Daisy without a second thought. The house fell quiet again. Long after Vincent left, I stared at the closed door and said softly, "Vincent, Eve and I have both decided to give up on you." I turned to Eve. "Let's go back to your room. Mommy will read you a bedtime story." Eve nodded without another word. She set her stuffed animal on the floor, her eyes red, and came with me. Vincent had given it to her long ago, and she'd never gone anywhere without it. Thank goodness we were leaving soon. If we stopped expecting anything from him, he couldn't disappoint us anymore. Vincent texted me. "Adela, Daisy's so happy. Serena said she'll have Daisy give it back as soon as she can." I texted back, "No need," and turned off my phone. When I woke up the next morning, Eve was still asleep, so I went to warm up some milk for her. That was when I ran into Vincent coming home. He looked as though he'd hurried back, still chilled from the morning fog. Vincent asked nervously, "Adela, you booked tickets to Atlanta? Why do you suddenly want to go back?" Then I remembered that Eve was on his family account. Buying the tickets would have sent him a text alert. Eve hugged me and said sweetly, "I want to go to Atlanta. I want to see where Mommy grew up." Only then did Vincent relax. He brought up the restaurant reservation himself. "Sweetheart, Daddy even got your favorite Disney characters to come. Tonight, you're going to be the prettiest little princess." Eve's eyes lit up. My heart ached for her, and I reminded Vincent not to be late this time. Vincent agreed, then hesitated. "Sweetheart, Daddy has to take Daisy to the hunting estate outside the city today so she can try shooting a gun. Let's meet at the restaurant at seven tonight, okay?" My heart sank. Vincent had given Eve that hunting estate for her fourth birthday. The deed had come with a beautiful Beretta pistol. Back then, he'd crouched in front of Eve, held her little hand, and taught her how to pull the trigger. "Eve, you're Daddy's daughter. Remember, you have to learn to protect what's yours." But now he was promising his daughter a perfect night while letting another child use her private estate as if it were his to offer. He always gave Eve just enough to get her hopes up, then took something that belonged to her. Eve hung her head and sniffled. But Vincent didn't notice. He was still making excuses. "I already promised to take Daisy hunting. Otherwise, the kids at school will laugh at her tomorrow." After a suffocating silence, I nodded. "Fine." Vincent kissed me and hugged Eve. Before he left, he said, "My two princesses, see you tonight." Once he was gone, Eve's voice broke into a sob. "Mommy, let's leave tonight. I miss Grandpa and Grandma." Chapter 4 I called my father and asked him to send our people to pick up Eve and me without Vincent knowing. He texted back right away. "Seven tonight. Teterboro Airport." I breathed a sigh of relief. Nine hours before takeoff, I gave my lawyer the divorce agreement and all the evidence of Vincent favoring Daisy and failing Eve as a father. I gave him full authority to handle any remaining divorce matters after I left. Meanwhile, Eve was staring blankly at her phone. Daisy had posted something. In the photo, her freckled face was beaming as she shared a horse with Vincent, who held her protectively in his arms. In the comments, someone had asked, "Isn't your daddy busy with work?" She'd replied, "Daddy says nothing else matters today. Taking me hunting matters most." I was about to comfort Eve when she yanked the crystal hair clip out of her hair, the one Daisy had given her the first time they met, and threw it in the trash. Eve said quietly, "I thought we were friends. Last time, I even gave her half of my secret candy stash." She pressed her lips together. Her eyes were red, but she didn't cry. "But she just wanted to steal my daddy." Three hours before takeoff, my daughter and I took one last look at what used to be our home. She suddenly remembered something and hurried back inside. She returned with a few things and threw them into the trash one by one. First was the tiny ornament Vincent had made the year Eve was born. He'd shaped it from a branch of the cedar planted at the old estate the year he himself was born, and on the back he'd carved "My Little Princess" in crooked letters. Next was the bracelet he'd had made for her first birthday, engraved inside with all three of our initials. Last was a photo from the day Eve first called him Daddy, with Vincent holding her up and showing her off. Her little hands were shaking the whole time. Eve was too young to make sense of it. All she knew was that the daddy who used to lift her over his head now held another child. But she was smart enough not to cling to something that was no longer hers, even her father's love. I stood quietly beside Eve while she said her goodbyes. With nothing left to hold her back, Eve said calmly, "Mommy, let's go." At seven that night, the plane took off. I got a voice message from Vincent. "Adela, where are you two? Why aren't you at the restaurant? Did you go home?" Eve looked out the window. She heard Vincent's voice but didn't turn around. I didn't reply. I pulled out my SIM card, snapped it in two, and tossed it. Vincent, this is goodbye for good.