The Don Prayed for Me, Then Betrayed Me Chapter 03

The Don Prayed for Me, Then Betrayed Me Chapter 03

I couldn’t stand to listen another second.

A suffocating weight crushed my chest, every inhale sharp and sour with agony.

I refused to yank open that lounge door and let every wealthy family insider watch their Vitale Donna unravel into a pathetic, broken mess.

Instead, I leaned against the cold marble hallway wall and fled the gala one slow, unsteady step at a time.

Back at the Vitale townhouse, I began sorting through every gift Lorenzo had ever given me.

Each item I lifted sliced another thin, bleeding gash across my chest.

All those tokens I’d once clung to as proof of his love were nothing more than a bitter joke now.

I sealed the last cardboard box and called for the household staff to haul them out to the rear alley dumpsters.

The front door lock clicked mid-task. Lorenzo was home.

He clutched a tiny jewelry gift box in one hand, his expression soft and tender as if nothing devastating had unfolded that night.

“Elena,” he said, “I passed a jeweler on the way back and saw this necklace—knew it’d suit you.”

He stepped forward, reaching to pull me into his arms like he’d done a hundred times before.

But as he drew near, a cloying white gardenia perfume wrapped around me—Mara’s signature scent.

My gaze darted down to his neck, catching a faint pink hickey etched into his skin.

A wave of violent nausea crashed over me, and I shoved him away hard.

Lorenzo stared, stunned. “Elena, what’s wrong?”

I didn’t answer. I turned toward the kitchen, desperate for a glass of water to settle my churning stomach.

When I pulled open the refrigerator door, I locked up completely.

The jasmine tea I drank every day was gone, cleared off the shelves entirely.

In its place lined rows of Mara’s favorite coconut water, low-sugar yogurt, and the green grapes she couldn’t get enough of.

I gripped the fridge door frame, drowning under a tidal wave of sharp, burning heartache.

It wasn’t just Lorenzo’s heart that had been stolen from me. She had slowly, quietly colonized every corner of the home we shared.

My phone vibrated in my pocket right then.

I glanced down.

That anonymous couple’s shared account had a new post—Mara’s photo.

Rows upon rows of glittering jewelry boxes glinted harshly under overhead lighting.

Her caption read: [My husband spoiled me completely tonight. He bought every single piece of jewelry up for auction at the gala just for me. The event organizers tossed in piles of free little trinkets too, seeing how generously he bid.]

My fingers turned icy as I stared at the image, zooming in on the background.

Tucked in the far corner sat an unremarkable necklace box. Inside rested the exact same pendant Lorenzo had just pressed into my hands minutes earlier.

The necklace he’d claimed he’d spotted randomly on his walk home, thinking I’d adore it? It was just a throwaway free gift Mara hadn’t wanted.

Before I could lock the screen, a new comment from Mara loaded at the bottom of the thread, paired with a coy emoji.

[I picked up something special—scarlet silk lingerie. It’s the exact set he’s been begging me to wear for ages. Gonna surprise him with it tonight to thank him.]

Another surge of nausea burned my throat reading her words.

Lorenzo’s footsteps sounded behind me, finally picking up on how unraveled I was, his voice dropping to a gentle murmur. “Elena, are you worn out from tonight’s event? Let me carry you upstairs to rest, yeah?”

He reached out to steady my shoulders, the gesture warm and familiar, identical to every quiet evening we’d shared before.

If I hadn’t seen that hickey on his neck, the coconut water crowding my fridge, or Mara’s posts plastered across my screen, I might’ve fallen for his act all over again, convinced I was cherished beyond measure.

Before I could speak, Lorenzo’s phone lit up in his pocket.

He glanced down instinctively, and I caught a glimpse of the photo through the corner of my eye.

Mara draped in thin scarlet silk, a pale sliver of bare shoulder exposed, the image thick with unspoken seduction.

Lorenzo’s hand froze mid-air where it hovered near me.

He recovered fast, leaning down to press a light kiss to my forehead. “Elena, there’s an emergency shipment issue down at South Pier. I need to head out and handle it quick.”

I shot my hand out, wrapping my fingers tight around his wrist.

This was my final chance for him to choose me.

My voice came out faint, barely recognizable as my own. “Lorenzo. Don’t go. Stay with me tonight, please.”

He studied my face, a flicker of hesitation crossing his eyes. For one split second, a foolish spark of hope flared in my chest.

But his phone buzzed again seconds later.

A text from Mara popped onto the screen: [Baby, I’m all ready for you. Wearing it just how you like.]

Lorenzo’s eyes slid shut, like forcing himself to make an agonizing call.

He pried my fingers gently off his arm. “Be good for me, alright? This pier crisis really can’t wait. I’ll come home to you as soon as it’s sorted.”

I watched my hands slip away from his grasp, my chest going numb with pain.

He hurried to soothe me, voice soft and placating. “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Remember that amusement park you’ve been wanting to visit? I’ll rent the entire place out just for us, spend the whole day riding rides with you.”

I stared blankly at him.

I’d first mentioned wanting to go to an amusement park three years ago.

That same year, Mara had spent three full days at Disneyland, flooding her social media with a nine-photo carousel of snapshots.

One shot captured half of a man’s forearm holding Mickey and Minnie balloons above her head.

Her caption had said: [Someone treats me like a little kid to spoil.]

I’d looked at those photos back then and turned to Lorenzo, hopeful. “Once you’re finished with work, can we go to the amusement park too?”

He’d stroked my hair, tone warm and reassuring. “Of course. Once your health’s fully recovered, I’ll rent the whole park just for you.”

I’d waited year after year after that.

My health had stabilized long ago.

Spring turned to summer, summer faded to winter.

The amusement park had undergone three full renovations.

Lorenzo had never once taken me. Every time I brought it up, he’d kiss my forehead and brush me off.

“Later.”

“Once work calms down.”

“Be patient, Elena—there’ll be too many crowds, I don’t want you overexerting yourself.”

He’d never feared crowds or my fatigue.

He’d already lived that daydream with another woman, watching fireworks light up the castle beside her.

My quiet wish had just become a promise he could push off indefinitely.

And now, as he rushed out the door to Mara, he suddenly remembered it existed.

A strange, hollow calm washed over me all at once. All the sour grief, revulsion, and stabbing heartache sank to the bottom of my chest, gone cold and still.

I looked straight at Lorenzo—the man I’d once trusted with my entire life—and slowly pulled my hands free of his.

“Go ahead.”