---- Chapter 6 Isabella POV: The taunts started after that. A relentless flood of messages from Sofia, sent to the burner phone | now kept charged and ready. Pictures of them together in the penthouse. Screenshots of Gio's texts promising to leave me. Each one was a deliberate, vicious twist of the knife. | read them all, my face impassive. The words and images no longer had the power to hurt me. They were just evidence. Ammunition. | met with my lawyer, a shark named Marcus who operated in the gray areas of the law, far from the Moretti family's sphere of influence. We sat in his sterile, soundproof office. "| want a divorce," | said. He nodded, unsurprised. In his line of work, this was a common Tuesday. He started talking about division of assets, about the fortune | was entitled to as the wife of Giovanni Moretti. | don't want any of it," cut in. "Not a single dollar." Marcus paused, his pen hovering over a legal pad. "Mrs. Moretti... Isabella. You are entitled to half of a billion-dollar ---- empire. You can't just walk away from that." "Watch me," | said. "| want to be free of him. Completely. Money is just another chain." He looked at me then, really looked at me, and saw the steel in my eyes. "Alright," he said slowly. "What do you want?" "| want the divorce papers drawn up and ready," | said. "But | don't want them filed. Not yet. | will deliver them myself. It's a gift he needs to receive in person." He understood. This wasn't a legal separation. This was a declaration of war. | walked out of his office with a thick manila envelope in my tote bag. It felt like the heaviest thing | had ever carried. Later that day, Gio called my actual phone, the one he knew about. His voice was smooth, charming. "Just checking in, my love. How are you feeling?" "Better," | lied. "Much better." "Good. Look, I'm so sorry, but this situation at the penthouse is more complicated than | thought," he said, the lie rolling off his tongue. "I'm going to have to stay here tonight. Make sure everything is secure." "| understand," | said. My voice was a calm, flat lake. "Do what you have to do." The line was quiet for a moment. All the pain was gone. All ---- the love had been hollowed out. | was an empty vessel, and it made me powerful. It made me fearless. "Gio," | said, my voice still quiet. "If you were ever unfaithful to me, | would leave. You know that, right? | would just disappear." He laughed. A low, condescending chuckle. "Where would you go, Bella? Everything you have, everything you are, is because of me." "Is it?" | asked softly. | had my own accounts, the ones he'd encouraged me to set up years ago for "estate planning," the ones his accountants didn't know | had been secretly funding. | had my new name. | had a plan. "Don't be silly," he said, his arrogance absolute. "You wouldn't last a week without me." "You want to bet?" | asked. He thought it was a game, a little bit of marital theatrics. "Sure, baby," he said, his voice dripping with condescension. 'I'll take that bet." A slow, genuine smile spread across my face. It was the first real one I'd had in months. "Good," | said, and hung up.