The Don's Favorite lover Vanished (by Melissa Z) novel Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The melodic chimes of the Holy Name Cathedral reverberated through the air, creating a haunting symphony that filled the sacred space.

I stood there, rooted at the altar, my gaze fixated on the grand oak doors that loomed ahead.

This was far from a wedding; it felt more like a twisted performance, a grotesque spectacle unfolding before my very eyes.

“Boss,” Marco’s voice broke through the tension, a whisper barely audible over the ringing bells. “Something doesn’t feel right. Dimitri’s men… they’ve tripled their perimeter outside.”

A chill coursed through my veins, as if ice had replaced my blood.

“Keep your eyes on them,” I ordered, my voice steady despite the tempest brewing within me.

Just then, the oak doors swung open with a creak that echoed ominously.

Katerina emerged, draped in a gown that could only be described as priceless, her steps graceful and deliberate, as if she were a saint gliding toward her martyrdom.

Yet, I felt nothing but a heavy weight in my chest, a cold premonition gnawing at my insides, like a condemned man walking toward the gallows.

As she reached me, she took my arm, her touch both familiar and foreign. “Darling, you look nervous,” she remarked, her voice laced with feigned concern.

“I’m not,” I replied, my words clipped, betraying a tension I couldn’t shake off.

The priest began to recite the vows, but I barely registered his words. My attention was laser-focused on Dimitri Petrov, seated in the front pew, his presence a dark cloud looming over the ceremony.

A smile crept across his face, and I could see it in his gray eyes—the glint of a predator watching its prey, savoring the moment before the strike.

During the toasts, Dimitri stood up, his voice booming through the cathedral like thunder.

“Today marks a historic moment,” he proclaimed, his tone dripping with mock grandeur. “For our great alliance, and for the… obstacles that were cleansed for its sake.”

When he uttered the word “obstacles,” his gaze pierced through me like daggers, sending a jolt of dread coursing through my body.

I forced myself to lift my glass in a toast, even as alarms blared in my mind, warning me of the impending doom.

The priest continued, his voice a monotonous drone. “Katerina Petrov, do you take…”

“I do,” Katerina interjected, her blue eyes locked onto mine, shimmering with an unsettling, icy light.

“Vincenzo Russo, do you take…”

Suddenly, in a swift motion, Katerina’s hand shot to the garter resting on her thigh.

A diamond-studded dagger glinted in her grasp, a cruel reflection of the betrayal that was about to unfold.

“I do,” she cooed, her smile sickly sweet, a mask hiding her true intentions. Then, with a feral lunge, she aimed for my heart, her voice slicing through the air, “Take you to hell!”

Instinct kicked in, and I recoiled, the blade slicing across my chest, pain blossoming like a dark flower on my pristine white shirt.

She reveled in the horror that spread across my face, a cackle of victory spilling from her lips.

“Can you guess, Vincenzo? When you pushed her toward that explosion with your own hands, can you fathom how much she hated you?”

My world crumbled around me, the reality of her betrayal hitting harder than any physical blow.

Not because of Katerina’s treachery.

Not even because my family was under siege.

It was the stark realization that washed over me like a tidal wave: I hadn’t just lost a tool in my arsenal; I had lost my shield. My only salvation.

And I was the executioner who had pushed her away.

“Chiara…”

A raw, primal roar erupted from my throat, not born from the pain in my chest, but from a regret so profound it threatened to tear me apart.

Katerina’s laughter grew wilder, echoing off the cathedral walls.

“Too late, husband,” she hissed, her nails digging into my arm with a vice-like grip, her voice dripping with a venomous satisfaction.

“It’s too late.”