Annulled Love, Mafia's Fall: She Bulldozed All

k. "If you ever betray me," I whispered, "I will vanish from your life as if I

blic humiliation. His mistress, Ava, sent me photos of herself in my places, wearin

umphant, pregnant Ava, in front of his inner circle. He was choosing her, his p

my own marriage, I was a prop. The l

of an ultrasound captioned "Our baby," and another

en he planted for me, and served him divorce papers. Then, with a new identity, I walked out of the service e

pte

a P

one we exchanged before God and our families. It was one I whispered to him later, in the dark

e, a mirror of the one on my own. The kidney he'd given me-the blood debt that bound me to him. "But if you ever

then, a deep, possessive kiss that tasted of power and forever. He thoug

ong. It w

astic cool against my skin. The city glitters below me through the floor-to-ceili

y, Mami," I say, my

voice comes back, steady and calm. She'd made her own escape from a powerful,

st to the world. He's standing at a podium, handsome and charismatic, the perfect picture of a phil

cates i

ile so convincing it almost makes me doubt my

rough me. It's all a lie.

n the marble countertop. I don't need t

ous kind of disrespect. Photos of her in his cars, at his private clubs. Territories reserved for t

is lett

is the "Maya's Dawn" necklace. A cascade of blue dia

neck in a text from three weeks ago. He hadn't commissioned it for me

ship, passed from one

ide a leather-bound copy of The Count of Monte Cristo are the divorce papers. My la

rsary is i

o him then. A forma

omise. It was a prophecy. A