Her Husband Left Her to Die—Then the Mafia Boss Made Her His Untouchable Queen
Chapter 3
Elena spent the next week recovering.
She refused to leave the clinic.
Not because she wanted to stay.
Because she had nowhere to go.
Her apartment belonged to Daniel.
Her bank accounts were nearly empty.
Her phone had been disconnected.
And when she finally contacted her lawyer, she discovered Daniel had filed papers to dissolve their marriage before the accident.
The date was two days before the crash.
Elena stared at the document.
“He planned this.”
Luca stood across the office.
“Yes.”
She looked up.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You weren’t ready.”
“I’m ready now.”
Luca placed another folder on the desk.
Inside were bank statements.
Daniel had transferred money from their joint account.
Large amounts.
Repeatedly.
Some had gone to offshore accounts.
Others had been transferred to companies Elena had never heard of.
She turned the pages.
“This isn’t possible.”
“It is.”
“He told me he was investing.”
“He was.”
“In what?”
Luca looked at her.
“Your death.”
Elena’s hands froze.
Daniel had taken out a life insurance policy.
A large one.
She was the beneficiary.
But three weeks before the crash, he had changed the beneficiary.
To himself.
Elena stared at the paperwork.
“So he wasn’t planning to leave me money.”
“No.”
“He was planning to disappear with it.”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
For years, she had thought she wasn’t enough.
Not beautiful enough.
Not successful enough.
Not interesting enough.
She had blamed herself for his distance.
Now she understood.
His betrayal had nothing to do with her worth.
It had everything to do with his greed.
Luca watched her silently.
Finally, Elena whispered:
“I feel stupid.”
“You aren’t.”
“I trusted him.”
“Trust isn’t stupidity.”
She looked at him.
“Then what is it?”
“Courage.”
The answer surprised her.
Luca walked toward the window.
“My mother trusted my father.”
Elena waited.
“He betrayed her.”
“What happened?”
“She died.”
Elena looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca shrugged.
“I learned something from it.”
“What?”
“Never mistake someone’s cruelty for your own weakness.”
Elena lowered her eyes.
For the first time since the accident, she felt something other than fear.
She felt understood.
But that feeling didn’t last.
That evening, Daniel called.
Elena answered.
His voice sounded broken.
“Are you alive?”
She stared at the phone.
“Yes.”
Silence.
“I thought…”
“What?”
“I thought you were dead.”
“You left me.”
“I panicked.”
“You left me.”
“I was scared.”
“You watched me trapped in that car.”
“I didn’t know what to do.”
“You knew enough to walk away.”
Daniel began crying.
“Please, Elena.”
She closed her eyes.
Then she heard another voice in the background.
A man’s voice.
“Tell her what you did.”
Daniel went silent.
Luca had entered the room.
Elena looked at him.
The voice on the phone spoke again.
“Your husband isn’t the only person who wants you dead.”
The call ended.
