His hand came down hard across my face, the sharp sound cutting through the gathering like a gunshot. My head snapped to the side, and for a moment, everything went silent. Not a glass moved. Not a chair shifted. The entire room held its breath because no one had ever seen Don Salvatore strike his own blood heir.
"You're a disgrace to the Valente name!" he roared, his voice filled with fury and disappointment.
Even then, even with the sting on my cheek and the weight of my parents' desperation pressing down on me, I didn't stop.
I signed.
The moment my signature was complete, Nico's grin spread across his face, wide and unmistakably satisfied. And then, right there, in front of everyone, he turned away from me and walked across the room.
He wrapped his arm around another woman.
She was young, polished, and confident, with sharp, calculating eyes and a smile that carried a quiet arrogance, as if she already knew she had won long before this moment. Two fingers rested lightly against the hollow of her throat. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and tossed a set of severance papers at me like it was nothing more than a party favor.