Hello to all my dear readers. As you know, I always start my latest novels with this short chapter where I introduce the characters and address various topics to avoid any misunderstandings.

This novel contains:

☆ Physical and psychological violence.

☆ Inappropriate language.

☆ Drug and alcohol abuse.

It's very important that you know I do not agree with how the characters behave, but it's necessary for the plot.

The story is set to begin on January 2nd and end on February 20th. Chapters will be uploaded automatically every day. If time allows, I'll do marathons to finish before February 20th, but it all depends on how things go with my work schedule. If you'd like to start reading once it's complete, don't forget to add it to your library so you'll receive the notification when the story is finished. If at any point I can't upload a chapter, I promise the next day I'll upload two in a row to make up for it.

The goal is to keep it under 45 chapters so the reading doesn't feel too heavy, but I'll figure that out as I go. Thank you so much for all the support you always give me — it's a pleasure to write things I enjoy and especially to share them with you.

Some chapters will contain photos, mainly so you can picture the places the characters will visit and let your imagination soar.

Now then, let's introduce the characters. Remember, these are the main ones — there will be others included in the story whom I'll introduce as the chapters unfold.

Melany and Lyon Green. They both live in Italy alongside Ignacio, Melany's best friend. She is 30 years old, and her son is 8.

Santiago Bruce. Owner of a luxury automobile company, he lives comfortably in a mansion in Los Angeles. He is 32, though he was 21 when he married Melany.

Rosa Bianchi, an international model, in love with Santiago.

Ignacio Montero, nephew of an Italian mafioso, rejected by his family and banished to another city in Italy because of his personal life. He is Lyon's godfather and Melany's best friend.

I hope you enjoy the story, and as always, I ask for respect in the comments. Any resemblance to real events is purely coincidental. I repeat — I do not agree with the actions of certain characters, but some things are essential to the plot.

Enjoy the read, and I invite you to check out my other published works on my Noveltoon profile.

Before we begin, I also want to thank everyone who always supports me and let you know that my previous novel, The Moon of the Twins, won an award in the 2025 annual tournament — and that was only possible thanks to all of you who encourage me to keep writing.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so, so much.

Pitufina 💕

Snow falls on the other side of the glass while I wait for the speakers to announce the boarding call for the flight to Italy. By now I know it's impossible that he'll come looking for me — and honestly, I doubt he would. He's probably already read the divorce papers and gone straight to his mistress to make her his legal wife. It hurts. God, it hurts down to my soul. But it's for the best. I couldn't keep living inside a marriage where there was never any love on his end. Naive and stupid — my two new favorite adjectives to describe myself.

Let me tell you a bit of my story while I wait to board. My name is Melany Bruce — no, sorry, it's Green. My maiden name. I need to get used to hearing it again. Anyway, my parents died when I was fifteen, and I was placed in the care of their best friend, since they were originally from Italy and my whole life had been in the United States. Marcos Bruce — that was my guardian's name. He passed away a little over two years ago, but before that, he arranged for me to marry his son so I wouldn't be left on my own. Now that I think about it, I laugh, because I actually did love Santiago. But to him, I was a living death sentence. He loved Rosa — a stunning model who'd been his girlfriend in high school but left him to chase her dreams in Europe. Anyway, we got married, and I swear I tried to make the best of it. Today I regret it. He never loved me, and every chance he got to meet up with her, he took.

He owns a hugely successful luxury car company. His bank accounts have more than ten zeros, and he owns more properties than I ever knew about. None of that ever mattered to me, but according to my former mother-in-law, that was all I wanted from him — and she convinced him of it. I could tell you how many times he humiliated me, or how many times I humiliated myself for him, but I'd spend the rest of my life reliving the past. So I'd rather you just know what finally shattered me. Three days ago was our wedding anniversary. Two years of trying to be the perfect wife — learning his favorite meals, wearing gorgeous gowns to his networking events with high-powered executives that I always hated but navigated like I was born for them, all just to make him look good, so everyone would see the woman by his side. A woman he would never see. Two years for nothing, because I was the only one in love. It was never mutual. But maybe I deserved it. Anyway, that night I prepared a dinner, set candles on the table, and put on a provocative dress — just for him. I had to tell him we were going to be parents. I foolishly hoped that would make him see me differently. But he never came home that night. Instead, my phone lit up with photos of him and Rosa at a luxury restaurant, in an obscenely expensive hotel room, and the last one — him asleep in her arms after what was surely an excellent round of sex. It finished breaking me. I ran to the bathroom, vomited everything in my stomach, and cried for what must have been hours until I fell asleep on the floor.

The next morning brought a decision. I wanted the divorce. I'd set him free to be with whoever he wanted, and I'd go to Italy, where my best friend lives, and rebuild my life — whether that meant staying alone with my baby or finding someone who'd value me the way I deserve.

My sister-in-law Magdalena, who always knew the truth and was my best friend, quickly got me the divorce papers on one condition: she had to know where we were going, and I couldn't cut her ties with her future nephew. She promised never to tell her brother the truth and to help me with whatever I needed.

And that's my sad story — though I'm taking two very important things with me. The first is my baby. The second is the clear conscience of knowing that at least I tried.

"Passengers traveling to Milan, Italy, please proceed to the boarding area." The announcer's voice comes through the speakers.

I grab my suitcase and drag it behind me toward the gate that will carry me to a new destination. Ignacio, my friend, is the son of Sicilian mafia bosses who cast him out of their circle for being gay. According to them, he's the family's disgrace. But he took that rejection and built a technology company that's now ranked number two in the world. He got me a position in his company's administration department. He's the only person besides Magda who knows my situation, and he promised me that no one would ever bother me. The truth is, Santiago never knew about him — because he never cared who I associated with.

I wonder if Santiago's already gotten home. And if he has, whether he's found the folder with the divorce papers and the printed photos of his affair with Rosa. Will he feel any kind of remorse for hurting me so badly, or will he be happy to finally be rid of me? No, Mel. Don't think about that now. Keep moving forward. Just like he made his choice, you made yours — even if your chest aches and you're starting to run out of air.

"May I see your documents, miss?" The flight attendant's voice just saved me from crying like a fool.

He's probably happy. Maybe he's already moved her into the house, and they're sleeping together in what used to be our marital bed. Maybe he's already planning the wedding with his mother, and I'm just an ugly, dirty memory. Damn it — tears are pooling in my eyes. I have to stop thinking like this. I need to focus on us and forget him, no matter how much it still hurts.

"Everything looks good, miss. Please follow the attendant to your seat, and have an excellent flight." I nod, because I don't have the strength to open my mouth.

I look back one last time and think: Tonight I'm setting you free from this loveless marriage, and I wish you all the happiness in the world with the woman you could never forget. I'm carrying in my womb the gift I was going to tell you about on our anniversary. I hope she loves you as much as — or more than — I have. The last tear I'll ever shed for him slides slowly down my cheek.

It's time for a new life — one where the Bruce name only stays with me through Magda.

"Blessed are the eyes that behold you, Mother." My son's voice greets me the moment I come downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. It's incredible to see how much he's grown, and with his eighth birthday right around the corner, I'm a bundle of nerves.

"Oh, but my nephew is quite the charmer — or could it be that he's buttering up his mother to score a special present?" Magda is in the kitchen finishing up the pancakes for breakfast.

"I can't believe you'd think that of me, Aunt Magda. I'm offended," he replies, feigning hurt but unable to hide his grin.

"Is that so, Lyon? Are you paying me compliments in exchange for something?" I ask, laughing as I sit down across from him.

"Of course not, Mom." I watch him blush. "It's just my way of thanking you for letting me have my friends over to celebrate here at the house," he says, looking at me with those same eyes his father has.

"Lyon, you know I don't mind that you decided to have a sleepover here with your friends. You don't need to flatter me — though if you want to give me lots of kisses, I won't object." He jumps off his chair, throws himself into my arms, and covers my cheeks in kisses.

Despite his young age, Lyon is very smart and also very guarded. He only shows his feelings around Magda, Ignacio, and me. With everyone else, he's serious and standoffish. In many ways, he reminds me of him — but in others, he's my mirror image.

Magda moved in with us over four years ago. She didn't tell me everything, and I can only imagine how much it hurts her just to remember. But from the little she did share, she told me Santiago destroyed some of the furniture in the house when I left. He tried to start a relationship with Rosa, but she cheated on him shortly after, and Magda couldn't help but laugh in his face for being an idiot. So out of spite, he cancelled all her credit cards and fired her from her job. She called me that same day, and I told her to leave everything behind and come without saying a word to anyone — her mother had never cared about her anyway. She didn't hesitate for a second, and three days later she was knocking on my door with three suitcases. Now she worked with me in the administration department, and even though she'd been thinking about buying her own place, Lyon had convinced her not to so she'd stay with us and keep cooking for him and spoiling him the way she already did.

"Today's the meeting with the Japanese investors. Do you think Susan remembered to bring the folders?" she asked when she sat down to have breakfast with us.

"She knows everything has to be in order. If she drops the ball on this, she can consider herself fired. Ignacio won't tolerate another mistake — remember, she's already failed twice before," I said, sipping my coffee.

"Why would Uncle Ignacio fire her?" Lyon asked before biting into his pancake.

"Hmm, maybe because two weeks ago she drafted a contract wrong and we nearly lost a multimillion-dollar merger — if your mom hadn't corrected everything and landed the account. Or because she botched a slide deck for a meeting and almost embarrassed the company, if Ignacio hadn't managed to salvage it." She shrugged while Lyon's eyes grew wider and wider.

"She doesn't know how to do her job?" he asked, astonished.

"She thinks she's a big deal because her brother sits on the board of directors. She does things wrong and then blames other people, but her brother doesn't want her as his secretary because he knows how useless she is, so he shipped her off to our department," Magda explained, draining the last of her cup.

"Honestly, I think Ignacio only keeps her around because of his friendship with Leo," I said, finishing my breakfast.

"But business is more important than friendships, especially when one person starts bringing the whole thing down." Those were the kinds of observations from my son that amazed me for someone his age — and every word he'd said was true.

"If anything goes wrong today, I doubt your uncle will care about the friendship," I said, grabbing my bag from the chair and getting ready to leave. "Remember, Magda — you start at nine, straight into the meeting." I kissed them both and headed to my car to drive to work.

Normally the commute was about twenty minutes, but with the road work and the detours, I'd had to leave earlier these past few days and let Magda take Lyon to school.

I parked in my reserved spot and walked toward the tall glass doors of Ignacio's tech company.

"Good morning, Jacob! How are the kids and Juana?" Greeting the security guard was part of my daily routine. He'd always shooed away the creeps for me, and we'd ended up building a genuine friendship. His kids went to the same school as Lyon, and during the summers we'd get together at his house or mine to enjoy the pool and a good barbecue.

"The kids are fine, but Juana asked when you all are coming over for dinner. I think she wants to talk to you about something and she's looking for any excuse to see you and Magda," he said, smiling.

"Well, we're free on Saturday. Why don't you all come to our place for dinner?" I said.

"Sure thing. I know I'll end up on babysitting duty while you three gossip in the kitchen." His booming laugh made more than a few people turn to look at him.

"Saturday at seven, then. Magda will probably make lasagna," I said, giving him a pat on the back.

"Great, I'll let her know, and we'll be there. I'll bring a nice bottle of wine so you ladies can enjoy tearing us men apart while I beat my kids and yours at motorcycle racing," he said, heading back to his desk.

"Good morning — where are we meeting up?" Ignacio's voice comes from behind me, and I turn around.

"Obviously, Saturday at my place at seven, and you'd better be on time," I answer as we walk toward the elevator.

"It wounds me that you'd question my punctuality." He clutches his chest dramatically, and I can't help laughing.

"We all know that if some guy gives you the time of day, you vanish. And since I was under the impression you're currently chasing after Elias, I have no doubt that if you get a text from him, you'll ditch us." I pout, knowing him sometimes better than he knows himself.

"Ouch — you just stabbed me right in the heart, sis." He lowers his gaze with a mischievous grin that proves my point.

"We'll be expecting you," I tell him, leaving him alone in the elevator as the doors open on my floor.