Semua Bab My Departure Made the Don Kneel: Bab 11 - Bab 19

[Vincenzo's POV]Claudia hunched over, coughing violently as the water dripped off her chin and onto the floor. She didn't dare meet my eyes.I guessed that her thoughts were racing as she questioned how this could have happened. Margaret was supposed to have been sent away by Fabian ages ago, so how could I have that recording? And the surveillance footage had been destroyed, so how did it end up in my hands?Before she could string anything together, I clamped her jaw in my grip. "Claudia, whatever you did to Isabella, I'll make you pay back tenfold. A hundredfold, even."Claudia knew she couldn't keep the lie going anymore. Still, she clung to a last shred of hope, her voice shaking as she said, "Vincenzo, I did pick up the call that day, but I thought Isabella was lying."She was always thinking about running, wasn't she? What if she were just colluding with Margaret to wreck our wedding? How was I supposed to know it was a real fire? I just wanted us to have a proper wedding.

[Vincenzo's POV]"Fabian! This is your payback!" Claudia gripped the window ledge and let out a shrill laugh as she looked down at Fabian, who was pinned beneath the column.Then, she braced herself and hurled her body out the window. When the chill of the grass wrapped around her, she lay there laughing until there were tears. She was giddy with the thrill of survival.Meanwhile, the room—and Fabian inside it—was quickly swallowed by a tower of flames.However, Claudia's joy didn't last. The pills kicked in, and she blacked out.When she opened her eyes again, she was already in the hospital. She exhaled in relief the instant she realized she was still alive, but a second later, a pain unlike being crushed surged deep inside her body.It was a dull, spasming agony that seemed to course through her bones. The slightest shift caused pain so sharp that she felt like she was dying.She called weakly for a doctor, and a nurse stepped into the ward, answering her call.Claudia took

[Isabella's POV]That night, Alexander spent the entire night digging up everything he could on Vincenzo and Claudia. By dawn, he had a detailed plan laid out.He could've just pulled me out by force, but I told him, "Do that, and he'll haunt me for life."So, Alexander swallowed his impatience and set things up piece by piece. That was when he realized the Cursley family's roots ran deeper than he had imagined.He pretended to want to marry Claudia to misdirect the Cursleys, but behind the scenes, he quietly placed people so that he could take me and vanish.Still, he came too late.By the time Alexander found me, my legs were badly damaged from the car crash. I couldn't carry on the family business, nor could I tear across the racetrack in my beloved car anymore.Back then, I was a shell—a ghost of my past self. My eyes had been so empty that they were scary.Thankfully, he hauled me back from the edge. He took me to the best rehab center and stayed with me as I got behind th

[Isabella's POV]A low, deep voice suddenly came from the side.Vincenzo looked toward it, and his jaw dropped in shock. "Alexander, what are you doing here?"Alexander wrapped an arm around my shoulders. When he didn't feel any resistance from me, his grip tightened slightly. "I'm her fiance. Why wouldn't I be here?"Vincenzo looked like he'd been struck by lightning when he heard that. His mind roared, and for a second, he couldn't hear anything at all. "Fiance? How's that possible? Isabella, how can he be your fiance?"His eyes reddened, and his lips trembled.I pulled Alexander's hand down, laced our fingers together, and raised our hands so that Vincenzo could see. "Why is it impossible? I'm single, and I don't have kids. Is it hard to believe that I'd have a fiance?"Vincenzo's lips worked soundlessly as disbelief filled his eyes. My words were like a dull knife that had slid into his heart. His Adam's apple bobbed. "No. I won't allow it. I love you, so you can only be min