The Broken Signet Ring

The murderers of my son were inside.

My eyes bloodshot, I kicked open the villa's carved door.

Hearing the commotion, Salvatore instantly rolled off Carmela.

His neck was covered in bite marks, his body still hard with arousal.

The moment he saw me, consumed by rage, he began interrogating me before I could even speak.

"Lucia, where the hell have you been all night, dragging that little bastard around?"

"I came here tonight to inform you of something, as custom demands, so you can't say I don't keep you in mind."

"Tomorrow is my official wedding to Carmela, a proper church ceremony. My madre insists that you be there to witness it."

"It's so you can finally give up, in front of all of Sicily's nobility, and stop dishonoring the Benedetto name."

"So don't make a scene like a madwoman again tomorrow. Behave yourself."

"If you're good, once I have full control of the family winery, I'll arrange a suitable place for you and the boy."

I gently set down the file containing Giuseppe's death certificate, ignoring Salvatore's bullshit.

I walked straight to the bedside table, grabbed the Venetian crystal vase, and smashed it over Carmela's head.

If she hadn't blocked me, I wouldn't have lost so much precious time.

Giuseppe might have been saved from the clutches of death.

I threw her down onto the expensive silk sheets. The fire of my blood feud burned away all fear of consequence.

I brandished a sharp shard from the vase and slashed at her face and body, again and again.

Blood splattered across the white sheets like blooming poppies.

This terrified Salvatore. He grabbed my arm, trying to restrain me.

"Lucia, have you gone insane?"

"This has nothing to do with Carmela! It was my madre who demanded I marry her for the sake of the family's interests!"

"Once we're married and take over the winery empire, then we can deal with your situation."

"Stop it! Just stop!"

I couldn't hear any of his excuses. I only wanted to kill the serpent who had murdered my Giuseppe.

The Sicilian code of vendetta demands that the murder of one's child be paid in blood.

I would make her pay.

Seeing that I was unmoved, Salvatore snatched a leather whip from the wall and furiously lashed it across my back.

Blood instantly soaked through my black mourning dress. He kicked me down onto the marble floor.

"Is that enough?"

"When did you become this raving lunatic? I am one step away from controlling the entire family!"

He helped Carmela up, tenderly checking her wounds.

I endured the piercing pain and let out a wild, desperate laugh.

"Hahaha!"

I laughed until tears streamed down my face, my entire soul swallowed by a dark, all-consuming grief.

My body swayed, on the verge of collapsing completely.

"Salvatore, oh, Salvatore. For the power of the Benedetto family, you killed your own flesh and blood with your own hands."

"And you would even stop me from avenging him. Are you even human?"

Salvatore shot to his feet, forgetting Carmela as he seized me by the shoulders.

"What did you say? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"My Giuseppe is dead?"

His voice was shaking violently. His hands were trembling.

But a second later, he shoved me away and let out a cold, dismissive sneer.

"You're lying. You've cooked up this vicious lie to ruin my wedding to Carmela."

"You disappoint me, Lucia. To think you could utter such a curse against your own son."

"If you truly love me, you'll show up at the wedding tomorrow and stop embarrassing yourself like a shrew."

"Help me secure my full inheritance of the winery."

If he had said these things to me sooner, I never would have brought Giuseppe anywhere near the Benedetto estate.

But my Giuseppe was dead.

Forget his wedding. I never wanted to see this monster again for all eternity.

He put his arm around Carmela and left the villa without a backward glance.

The next day, I held a simple Requiem Mass for Giuseppe in the old stone church outside of town.

Not a single person came to mourn the innocent child.

Everyone I knew had gone to the grandest wedding of the season at the main cathedral.

After the funeral, I clutched Giuseppe's belongings.

Without an ounce of regret, I turned my back and left the cursed lands of the Benedetto family forever.

Meanwhile, at the wedding, Salvatore grew anxious when I failed to appear.

In front of hundreds of Sicilian nobles, he completely lost his composure.

He sent his men frantically searching for me, but I was nowhere to be found.

A panic, like a venomous snake, began to eat away at his sanity.

He barely registered the questions from Carmela and Rosaria, giving them distracted, dismissive answers.

It wasn't until the priest asked if he, Salvatore, was willing to take Carmela as his wife according to God's will, that his underboss, Marco, suddenly stood up from the pews.

"Don Benedetto, I must tender my resignation from all duties, as the family code requires."

"But before I leave, there is a brutal truth I must report to you."

"Your son, Giuseppe, is dead. And Lucia has taken his belongings and left Sicily forever."

"In her words, she will not be coming back."