His Signature, Her Exile
Three years ago, my fiancé, Lorenzo Gallo, handed me the glass of champagne he’d drugged himself. He orchestrated my public downfall, turning me into a spectacle for all of Chicago's high society.
That night, I was disowned, stripped of everything, and became the laughingstock of the Gallo family.
And my sister, Bianca Ricci, with her deceptively innocent face, nestled in Lorenzo's arms. A triumphant smirk touched her lips as she watched me fall into the abyss.
In the years of my exile, I slept in subway stations and fought over scraps of food with men who had nothing. I survived by clawing my way up in bloody underground fight clubs, all to earn enough to buy back the Michigan Avenue penthouse my father left me.
Three years later, Lorenzo found me, his eyes murderous. He pressed a gun to my temple and snarled, "You're coming back with me. And you're going to apologize to Bianca."
I answered him with a punch that sent one of his teeth skittering across the pavement. "Ten thousand dollars a punch," I told him. "If you're not satisfied, we can keep going."
When Lorenzo stood on the sidewalk below, holding Bianca’s hand and announcing that the apartment—my father's apartment—would be their new home, I finally sent a text to an encrypted number: "I need you."
When that man's private jet touched down in Chicago, a furious, red-eyed Lorenzo demanded to know when I’d run to him. I just smiled, brushing my fingertips across his lips. "The same night you personally pushed me into hell, he was the one who pulled me back."
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