MY HUSBAND BROUGHT HIS MISTRESS TO SUNDAY DINNER

I drove back to the estate like a woman possessed.

The grand iron gates swung open, and I didn't wait for the valet. I parked on the front circle and marched through the double doors.

The house was eerily quiet. The dinner guests had fled, leaving half-empty wine glasses and cold pasta on the long dining table.

I headed straight for the east wing.

When I pushed open the double doors to my mother's old suite, I stopped dead.

The room was destroyed.

Drawers were pulled out and dumped on the floor. Mattresses were slashed. Books were torn from the shelves.

Standing in the center of the chaos, holding a pair of fabric scissors, was Vivian.

She looked up, her red silk dress wrinkled, her hair wild.

"Where is it?" Vivian hissed.

"Get out of my mother's room," I said, my voice dangerously calm.

"Luca told you, didn't he?" She pointed the scissors at me. "The diary. The proof that the boy is his. Dominic offered me two million dollars and a place in his new family if I bring it to him."

"You sold out the man you claimed to love for two million dollars?" I asked.

Vivian laughed bitterly. "Love? Please, Rose. Luca only kept me around because I knew his secret. But he was never going to leave you. He looks at you like you hung the moon. It was sickening."

That admission sparked a tiny, confusing warmth in my chest, but I shoved it down.

"Where is the diary, Rose?" Vivian demanded, stepping toward me.

My eyes darted to the large cedar chest at the foot of the bed. It was open. The heavy, patchwork quilt my mother had sewn was tossed haphazardly onto the floor, miraculously untouched by Vivian's scissors.

"It's not here," I lied smoothly. "My mother gave it to Nonna Adelaide before she died."

Vivian paused, her eyes narrowing. "Adelaide?"

"Yes. She keeps it in the vault in the library."

Vivian weighed my words, then dropped the scissors. "If you're lying to me, I'll tell Dominic you helped hide the boy."

She brushed past me, running down the hallway toward the library.

The moment she was gone, I dropped to my knees and grabbed the heavy quilt. I ran my hands over the thick squares of fabric.

Right in the center, beneath a patch of blue velvet, the fabric felt unnaturally stiff.

I grabbed Vivian's discarded scissors and carefully snipped the stitching.

I reached inside the lining and pulled out a small, leather-bound notebook.

Clara's diary.

I opened it. The handwriting was unmistakably my sister's messy scrawl.

August 12th. Luca is going to be a father. I have to leave before Dominic finds out. Mom says she can hide us. She says Rose will marry Luca eventually. Rose is strong enough for this life. I never was.

A tear fell onto the page. My mother knew. Clara knew. They had orchestrated my marriage to Luca to keep the family alliance intact and protect Leo.

"You found it."

I spun around.

Nonna Adelaide stood in the doorway, leaning heavily on her cane. In her hand, she held a heavy, antique silver rosary.

"Nonna," I breathed, holding up the diary. "It's all here."

"Good," Adelaide said. She walked slowly into the room, her eyes scanning the destruction Vivian had caused.

"Vivian is heading for the library," I warned her. "She thinks the diary is in the vault."

"I know," Adelaide said. She held up the silver rosary. "Do you know what this is, Rose?"

"A family heirloom?"

"It belonged to Dominic's father," Adelaide said softly. "He gave it to me fifty years ago. Before he died. He asked me to ensure his son took over the family."

I stared at her, uncomprehending. "But... Luca is the Boss."

"Because I made him the Boss," Adelaide said, her voice turning cold. "Luca is my grandson. Dominic is only a nephew. But Dominic is the rightful heir."

A chilling realization washed over me.

"You didn't want Luca to protect the boy," I whispered, stepping back. "You wanted to find the diary so you could destroy it. If the Commission thinks Leo is Dominic's son, Dominic has an heir. He takes the family."

Adelaide's eyes filled with genuine regret. "This life requires terrible sacrifices, Rose. Luca is too soft. He sold family assets to protect one child. He brought a mistress to Sunday dinner because he was too weak to kill her."

"He didn't kill her because he's not a monster!" I yelled.

"We are all monsters, child," Adelaide said.

She raised her hand. Two armed guards stepped into the room from the hallway.

"Take the diary from her," Adelaide ordered. "And lock her in the cellar. When Dominic arrives, we will hand over the boy."