The Forgotten Donna: A Second Chance

Half of my room had already been cleared out. Serena's champagne-colored gowns hung in the wardrobe, and her perfume bottles sat on my vanity. My books, photographs, and old coats had been thrown into cardboard boxes in the corner.

This bedroom had a new mistress before the old one had even left.

I opened my suitcase and packed what was left. Five years of marriage fit into half a case. That was almost funny.

The moment I zipped it shut, the door opened.

Damian stood in the doorway in a black three-piece suit, silver wolf cufflinks at his wrists, his expression sharp enough to cut. His gaze dropped to the suitcase, and his face darkened.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Before I could answer, Serena slipped out from behind him and grabbed my wrist.

"Eve, I only came home to see Mom and Dad. Are you really leaving because of me? Do you still blame me for not marrying Damian back then?"

Damian gave a cold laugh. "I didn't know you had it in you to throw a tantrum like this."

I looked at him. This was the same man who had once stayed up all night when I had a fever. Once, when a branch wife mocked me under her breath, he made her kneel on a dock until dawn while the sea wind tore through her coat. He had not always been cruel to me.

That was why I had mistaken scraps of warmth for a lifeline in my last life. I had clung to them until they strangled me.

Damian lifted his hand, and his underboss took my suitcase from me at once.

"Tonight is Serena's welcome party. You are her sister, and you are not going anywhere. Change your clothes and stop embarrassing the Vegas and the Luccheses."

Serena touched his sleeve. "Don't be so harsh. Eve is still your wife."

The word wife fell into the hall, and everything went quiet.

Damian glanced at me as if he wanted to explain something. In the end, his voice only hardened. "Go inside."

I didn't argue. I took another document from my bag and handed it to him.

Serena's face changed.

Before she could speak, I said, "Serena just came back. She doesn't have anything strong enough to get her a seat on the Vega board. I want to transfer my shadow shares in the port to her. I need your signature to confirm it."

Damian frowned. "Do you know what those are worth?"

"I do."

"Three shadow shares, two shipping routes, and at least two billion in clean value."

"Yes."

He stared at me, and for the first time that night, something moved in his eyes. "And you're willing to hand them over?"

"There's nothing I can't let go of."

After all, I was letting go of him too.

Damian picked up the pen and signed without reading at all. The real divorce agreement was tucked between the authorization papers, and now his signature sat on the final page.

I put the folder back in my bag and turned to leave.

Behind me, Serena asked sweetly, "Damian, aren't you being too cold to her? She has been married to you for five years."

After a moment of silence, Damian said, "She was never supposed to be in that position."

My steps paused.

He used to say he kept me hidden because his enemies would target me. I believed him. I had even been grateful for his protection.

So it had never been protection.

I had simply never deserved to stand beside him.

Back in my room, I locked the door, slipped the signed divorce papers into my bag, and tucked the pregnancy report beneath them.

"Baby," I whispered, resting a hand on my stomach, "we're leaving soon."