A Donna Unclaimed chapter 08

A Donna Unclaimed chapter 08

The glass in my hand slipped.

It hit the floor with a sharp crack.

I turned slowly toward my mother in disbelief.

“She said… Rosa is dead.”

My voice shook, “Why would Rosa be dead? You told me she went to prepare the wedding.”

My mother’s face went completely pale.

Vivian rushed to me immediately, grabbing my arm tightly.

“Griffin, I’ll explain everything later. Right now we’re in the middle of our wedding.”

I looked at her, stunned, “You knew?”

Her expression froze.

Across the room, my old classmates’ table also went deathly silent. Every face had changed.

Then I laughed. And as I laughed, tears fell.

So everyone knew Rosa was dead.

Everyone.

Except me.

A sharp, suffocating pain spread through my chest.

I don’t remember how I left the wedding venue.

Everything around me turned muffled, like I was trapped behind thick glass. The music, the guests, the whispers, even Vivian’s voice calling after me.

All of it faded. Only one sentence remained in my mind.

Rosa is dead.

The woman I believed had betrayed me, abandoned me. Dead.

And I never even saw her one last time.

I lost control completely.

I rushed out of the hotel and used every connection I had to find her.

For the first time in my life as the heir of a mafia family, my power felt meaningless.

I could make an entire city bow. But I could not find the one woman I needed to see.

Hours later, I finally located Rosa’s mother.

When I pushed open the hospital room door, I froze.

A woman lay on the bed, pale and still.

It was Rosa.

But she was alive.

For a second, my legs almost gave out.

I walked to her side, staring at her closed eyes. My hand trembled as I reached out, but I didn’t dare touch her.

I was afraid she would disappear if I did.

“Rosa…” My voice broke, “I’m here.”

She didn’t respond. The doctor told me she was only unconscious, not in danger.

For the first time, I felt like the world hadn’t taken her away from me completely. I refused to leave.

Even just sitting beside her and watching her breathe felt like I still had a right to exist near her.

But her mother looked at me coldly, “Don Delarosa. What do you want now?”

I stiffened, “I just… want to stay with her.”

“Stay with her?”

Her eyes were red, “Do you know what she went through all these years? Do you know how many times she waited for you to come back?”

“And now that she’s like this, you finally show up?”

Every word was a blade.

I opened my mouth to explain, but realized I had no right to say anything. In the end, Rosa’s mother drove me out.

I stood outside the room for a long time. I didn’t leave until night fell.

When I finally returned home, I stopped at the door. Voices came from inside.

I was about to enter, but then I heard Rosa’s name.

“You can relax. It’s all over now.”

My mother’s voice.

“Griffin is married to you now. The family alliance is stable.”

“That Rosa… she’s just a commoner, and she had cancer anyway. She was never going to last long.”

My breath stopped. I stood frozen outside the door.

“Six years ago, if I hadn’t hired someone to fake that man, Griffin would never have let go of her.”

“He’s the heir of the Delarosa family. How could he ever marry a woman with no background?”

“Rosa was never worthy of him.”

My mind exploded.

Fake. All of it. The man. The betrayal. The proof.

Everything was fake.

Vivian’s voice followed softly, “About her wedding… you said she was really getting married?”

My mother laughed, “Of course it was fake. I only wanted Griffin to give up on her completely.”

“As long as he believed she chose someone else, he would accept you.”

“Now the alliance is secured. The business empire will expand. Everyone wins.”

Ice spread through my entire body.

So all these years… I had been hating the wrong person. Hurting the wrong person.

The one I pushed away had never betrayed me.

And the one I trusted most… had destroyed her.

I pushed the door open. Vivian turned pale the moment she saw me, “Griffin—”

I didn’t listen. The next day, I had my lawyer prepare divorce papers.

Vivian cried and begged, but I gave no response. This marriage had been built on lies from the very beginning.

I would not continue it.

Then I called a family meeting. I stripped my mother of all authority within the Delarosa family and expelled her entirely.

Everyone who had helped her cover up the truth was removed.

In the mafia world, betrayal always comes with a price. And I made sure they paid it.

People said the old Griffin was gone. Only the heir remained.

Cold. Merciless.

After everything, I returned to the hospital. Rosa was still there. Lying still, as if she were only asleep.

I sat beside her and took her cold hand, “Rosa…”

My voice finally broke, “Wake up… please. I was wrong.”

All these years, I thought she had left me. But now I finally understood.

The one who had been reaching for me… was her. The one who had waited… was also her.

And I…had destroyed her with my own hands.

“Rosa… please wake up. Give me one chance.”

“Let me love you properly this time.”