Page 49 of The Sicilian Billionaire's Neglected Wife
I stare at the older man in enraged disbelief. “She’smywife.”
“She is also my daughter-in-law and the only child of someone we considerfamiglia.What I care about is what’s best for Sienah—”
“And you think I’m not?” I explode.
“Weknowyou can be the best for her—” It’s Selena speaking again, and just like how it always with my stepmother, her few choice words are more than enough to knock me off my high horse. “But did you ever care to try? Were you ever the best for her, Aivan? Because all I remember from the past ten years was your wife doing everything she can to please you while receiving nothing in return.”
Every word she says cuts me to the core, and I just have no fucking way to defend myself because it’s true.
All of it is so fucking true, but...does that really have to mean I’ve lost her for good?
“She might never have said the words, butyouknew, Aivan.Weall knew that she loved you, but you never...” Selena’s voice falters as she struggles not to cry. “The wholeworldnoticed every time you broke her heart! She might not have ever said a word, but it is so easy to see how you’ve been taking her for granted.” Selena’s face finally crumples, and my father covers her hand with his in a protective gesture that makes me swallow hard.
Just looking at them makes me wonder if there were times when Sienah was the one who needed comforting.
But not once was I there for her.
Not once.
“I think it’s time we cut to the chase.”
I tense in my seat at the grimness of my father’s tone.
“Selena and I have discussed several options about what’s best for Sienah.”
What the hell does he mean by options, and why is my father talking about my wife like our marriage is truly done and over with? Does he really think I’d just roll over and let him—
“In the event that we see no evidence of you turning a new leaf, we will arrange to have your marriage annulled—”
Has my father gone mad?
“In fact, we already have someone lined up for her—”
Un-fucking-believable.
“And this time, we’ve made sure he’s your complete opposite.”
“Then you’ve just chosen a man who’ll bore her to death—”
“Better that,” Miguel retorts, “than someone who cheats.”
“Inevercheated—”
“There are many ways to betray someone,” Miguel says. “You may not have touched another woman, but you let them think you might. Let Sienah think she wasn’t enough to hold your attention. Do you have any idea what that does to a woman? To watch her husband entertain the flirtations of others while she stands there, invisible?”
Invisible.
The word Sienah used that last night.
I’ve been invisible for ten years.
The restaurant spins. Or maybe that’s just me, lost without my fixed point, the constant I never knew I was navigating by until she was gone.
“Please.” The word scrapes out of me, raw and desperate. “Just let me see her. Let me explain—”
“I’m sorry, son.” The gentleness of my father’s voice is worse than his anger, with how it makes me feel like I’ve lost all hope of getting my wife back. “She was yours for ten years. But you threw her away. What happens now is out of your hands, and you only have yourself to blame.”
I sit in that restaurant until the sun sets, and the waiters start stacking chairs, and someone gently suggests I might be more comfortable elsewhere.
