My Runaway Groom Came Back I Became His Aunt! novel Chapter 24

Chapter 8

The reek of alcohol hit me so hard my head throbbed. I stepped aside instinctively, but Leonardo blocked my path. He stared at me, eyes filled with a depth of emotion I no longer recognized.

“Sofia. I missed you so much.”

“Leonardo, we’re already divorced.” My tone was flat, my expression calm, as if I were speaking to a stranger.

But Leonardo shook his head again and again, holding the wedding ring out toward me like a dying man clinging to air.

“I don’t grant you a divorce. Sofia, I can’t live without you. While you were gone, I nearly lost my mind missing you. I never dared tell you, but I truly loved you. From the beginning.”

“The time we first spent together… those were the happiest days of my life. I thought someone finally loved me. I thought I finally had a real home.”

“But then you and my grandfather signed that contract. It shattered every dream I had. I couldn’t accept that the woman I loved married me for a transaction.”

“To get back at you, I did so many stupid things…”

Leonardo spoke while crying, as if he were the one who had been wronged by the world. I lifted my head and looked at him.

“Do you remember our wedding anniversary?”

He froze. His mouth opened and closed, but not a single correct date came out. A cold smile tugged at my lips.

“I remember it clearly. I’ll never forget it. Because your mistress told me that the first time she slept with you was on the day we got married.”

That girl was the bridesmaid he insisted on choosing. The so-called distant cousin. She confessed everything to me shortly after the wedding.

Of course, Leonardo lost interest in her quickly. Once a new favorite appeared, she was discarded even earlier than I was.

Leonardo had no defense. But years of my silence and endurance had taught him the wrong lesson that lowering his head for a moment would always be enough to win me back.

After that day, Leonardo tried to pursue me again as if we were still in the honeymoon phase, sending flowers, gifts, little gestures of affection.

But I was no longer the naive girl who believed in fairytales. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Just when I had resolved to never see him again, I received a call from my attorney, Old Mr. Mancuso was dying. He wanted to see me one last time.

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In the seven years I had been part of the Mancuso family, he had treated me with basic respect. For that

alone, I owed him a final farewell.

I put aside my resentment toward Leonardo for the moment and rushed through the night to the Mancuso

estate.

The old Don was already at death’s door, a faint spark of life flickering in his weary eyes.

“Sofia,” he whispered, “I wronged you. The Mancuso family wronged you.”

When I married Leonardo, I had been young and naïve. But old Mr. Mancuso had been in the business world

his entire life, he knew exactly how unfair that contract was.

He cut off every path I might have taken. He lured me into signing that agreement. He buried my life in a

gilded cage long before I understood what I was sacrificing.

I hesitated before answering.

“I don’t blame you. I made that choice willingly. I don’t blame anyone.”

“Leonardo was spoiled by my indulgence,” he said weakly.

“Whatever awaits him is of his own making. I don’t expect you to return to him. I only hope that when he falls

into ruin, you might ensure he doesn’t starve in the gutter.”

The lawyer stepped forward with another contract. Old Mr. Mancuso wanted to transfer most of his shares

and assets to me. He even planned to hand the entire company over for me to run.

What remained for Leonardo was a villa and a few minor shares, nothing more.

I shook my head with a soft, bitter laugh.

“Grandfather, that responsibility is far too heavy. I can’t bear it.”

“And besides… I’ve already wasted seven years on Leonardo. The rest of my life, I want to live for myself. I

don’t want to be tied to him ever again.”

The old man truly loved his grandson.

Even on his deathbed, he still tried to pave a future for Leonardo, even if it meant sacrificing yet another

woman’s life. But I was no longer someone who could be swayed by sweet lies,

And I wouldn’t let myself be bound by obligations disguised as kindness.

I had finally learned that every gift from fate came with a price written in invisible ink. Seeing how firm I was, the old man began coughing violently.

Leonardo’s eyes welled up with tears. He tried to speak, but the old man waved him silent.

I bowed to him and turned to leave. Just as I reached the door, I heard the weak, painful reprimand behind

Chapter 8

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“Let it go. All the wealth of the Mancuso family can’t bring her back. Leonardo, your sins run too deep.”

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