The Rejected Principessa Returns novel Chapter 18

Chapter 9

I had barely stepped out of the venue and into my armored car when my secure line buzzed. It was Andrew.

“Piccolina, you missed quite a show. Lewis stormed out right after you left. Victoria ran after him, screaming like a banshee in the parking lot. It turned into a full-blown shouting match. He ended up shoving her to the

pavement-no regard for his Consigliere, no honor, nothing. It’s a good thing you saw the real man beneath

the silk suits.”

I kept my voice even, the image bringing me no pleasure, only a cold sense of closure. “Andrew, in your

professional opinion, how long does the Corleone Family have?”

He did a quick, clinical assessment. “A month, maybe two if he finds a miracle. The man has skills, but his

judgment is rotten to the core. Victoria’s betrayal is one thing, but his old guard? They’re vipers. She was at

least emotionally invested. The others? They’ll pick his bones clean and sell his teeth for scrap.”

I nodded to myself, the truth of his words settling in. That organization was a nest of sycophants and

opportunists. They were always going to be his undoing.

On the day of my university graduation ceremony, Molly showed up to collect her diploma. She looked haggard, shadows under her eyes-clearly, life within the crumbling Corleone empire had not been kind.

She spotted me across the campus lawn and tried to wave. I looked straight through her.

Undeterred, she stepped directly into my path. “Emily, I’m sorry. Truly. Please, you have to believe I never

meant to hurt you.”

I let out a slow sigh. “I accept your apology, Molly. But what we had before? That trust? It’s gone. It’s not

coming back.”

Her eyes welled up with immediate tears. The message was received.

Still, perhaps out of guilt or a need to unburden herself, she spilled everything she knew about the final days

of Lewis’s regime.

“The Corleone Family… it’s finished. The books are cooked, the debts are massive. His own Capos turned state’s evidence, cutting deals with the Feds to save their own skins. Turns out, they’d been leaking his routes and shipment schedules to the Gambinos for months, just to secure a place for themselves.”

She lowered her voice. “Now he’s completely exposed. And Victoria… she got what was coming to her. A group of the other Capos’ wives, the ones she’d always looked down on, they ambushed her outside the

social club. They worked her over pretty good.”

I was surprised, a morbid curiosity piqued.

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Molly went on, her voice a hushed whisper. “They say she’s got broken ribs. Her face is a mess. But instead of disappearing, she tried to force Lewis’s hand. Demanded he marry her to restore her ‘honor.”

I raised a brow. “I assume he declined?”

“Worse,” Molly said, leaning closer. “He released the security footage-the video of her with that Gambino Capo. She screamed that she only did it to secure the southern docks for him. He didn’t care. They had a massive blowout, right in front of what was left of the crew. She slapped him. He completely lost it, pulled

his gun

and shot the desk to splinters.”

I shook my head, a mix of dark amusement and stunned disbelief at the sheer chaos.

“After that, she was done. Gone. Lewis tried to take over her responsibilities himself, running around, begging

for sit-downs, but… no one would even take his calls. It’s over.”

She sighed, the sound full of exhaustion. “I’m out too. Got ‘laid off.’ No severance, nothing. I’m back to square

one.”

I reached into my purse and handed her a discreet, unmarked business card. “Go see this man. Tell him I

sent you. He’ll find a place for you.”

Molly looked at the card, then back at me, her gratitude so profound she could barely speak before she

hurried away.

After we parted, I felt a strange, contemplative stillness. Three months. That’s all it took for an empire to turn

to dust.

Three months later, it was time to make the divorce final.

Outside the nondescript office of the family-notary we used for such legalities, Lewis was waiting for me. He wore an impeccably tailored suit, holding a bouquet of expensive flowers, his eyes theatrically glistening.

He launched into a rehearsed apology, begging for one more chance.

I ignored him, walking past as if he were a ghost.

He hadn’t valued me when I was his. This sudden performance of the tragic, repentant Don was nauseating.

“Emily, I made a grave error. I didn’t realize Victoria had orchestrated everything. I swear, my heart has

always belonged to you.”

His words were cheap, hollow. They made my skin crawl.

From the day we signed the initial papers to this moment, there had been only silence from him. Not a single

call. Not one message.

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He had assumed I wouldn’t have the spine to leave for good. That I’d come crawling back.

He had taken for granted that I would tolerate his betrayals-past, present, and future.

Let’s be honest.

If his empire hadn’t crumbled and Victoria hadn’t betrayed him, he wouldn’t be standing here now, peddling this pathetic act.

He was the epitome of a selfish man, always his own first priority.

I took out a business card and handed it to him.

“This is for the daughter of one of my… acquaintances. Her father is a high-ranking city official, oversees all

construction permits and zoning. Could be very useful for a man looking to rebuild.”

I painted a picture. “She’s eighteen, impressionable, and has a thing for older, ‘mature’ men who know how to

treat a woman. I think you’re exactly her type. You should reach out.”

His eyes lit up with a faint, calculating gleam as he took the card.

“You… you think she’d be bothered by the age difference?” he asked, already mentally weighing the

opportunity.