The Don Who Never Meant What He Said

I watched Raphael's throat work up and down, and I smiled.

“Fine. I'm leaving now.”

I turned for the door, ignoring Serena and Ron as they tried to stop me.

I had barely taken two steps when a hand yanked my wrist.

[Is Scarlett actually angry? What do I do? I'm so scared. Does she really not want me anymore?]

[If she goes, I'm alone. What then?]

[No. I can't let her leave. Stay, Scarlett. I'm begging you!]

His thoughts wrapped around me in layers.

My feet stopped. I turned back to look at him.

His face had gone bloodless, which only made his eyes look redder, as if the blood in his chest had risen straight to them.

In that moment, his grief and his despair were so real.

My heart softened, and I was about to speak.

Then his words came down on me like a hammer.

“Leaving? Fine. Give me back everything I gave you first, then you can go!”

His red eyes raked over me. “Your clothes, your jewelry, your shoes. Take all of it off! If you're leaving, leave clean!”

The words I had been about to use to coax him froze solid in my mouth.

I forced them down, and the cold ran from my throat all the way to my heart.

I looked down at the couture suit I was wearing.

Raphael had bought it for me a year ago.

He had handed it over with a flat face. “Picked it up on the way home.”

But his thoughts had been like a child waiting to be praised.

[Scarlett, ask me about it! I spent a month on this. I had a brand designer make it just for you!]

[It was never mass-produced. It is one of a kind in the whole world.]

[I would never let my Donna wear the same thing as some other woman!]

The shoes and the jewelry he gave me were all custom-made.

Just as his thoughts said, only one-of-a-kind things were worthy of one-of-a-kind me.

But all of that ended a year ago.

A year ago was exactly when Daphne appeared.

I took off the sapphire necklace and dropped it in front of him.

“Fine. The necklace is yours again.”

I took off the custom Patek Philippe and dropped it in front of him.

“Take a good look. The watch too.”

Piece by piece, I stripped off everything he had given me.

Raphael's face had gone nearly transparent, and you could see the veins under his skin.

His fists were clenched white, as if he were fighting to hold back rage.

Serena rushed in to smooth it over.

“How did it get to this? Scarlett, ten years now. You know he's sick. You know he never says what he means.”

“He chose all of this for you so carefully. How can you bear to give it back? It was all just to keep you.”

“No need.” I cut Serena off and looked straight into Raphael's eyes. “Can I go now?”

“No!”

He roared at me as if something had snapped. “The clothes you’re wearing are mine too!”

I peeled off the jacket and threw it to him. “Should I keep going?”

He gripped the jacket, his body trembling faintly.

I gave a cold laugh and reached for the zipper at the back of my dress.

Smack!

Raphael's hand cracked across my face.

“Scarlett, have you no shame at all? You enjoy stripping in front of everyone? Get out! Get out!”

My face burned like a live flame.

The tears hadn't even fallen before the heat burned them away.

I looked down at the jewelry and the watch scattered across the floor.

All of it was Raphael's love gone rancid.

“Why are you still here?”

Raphael flung the jacket down hard and roared.

The jacket landed like a shroud, covering the scattered corpse of everything we had been.

The next second, his thoughts flooded in again.

[Scarlett looks so sad. She must still care about me.]

[Hitting her was wrong, but I couldn't help it. I have to keep her here!]

[If she'll just admit she was wrong, I'll buy it all back twice over, no, ten times over, to make it up to her!]

His thoughts were only noise to me now.

Ten times over, so what. I never wanted the things you could put a price on.

What I cherished was only his priceless love back then.

I turned and opened the door, and the wind cut straight through me.

In a thin dress, I walked out into the night without looking back.

No one came after me.

Behind me, Daphne laughed. “You're really not going to keep the Donna? She looks so upset.”

“Keep her?” Raphael called out loudly, on purpose. “Let her go. In half an hour she'll come crawling back to apologize.”

He didn't know that this time was different.

This time, I really was leaving.

I was going home, to my real home.