"How could I have raised such a foolish daughter?" he roared, his voice shaking with anger and disbelief. "Why the hell would you give up everything for a man like him?"
He took a step closer, his gaze burning into me.
"You already gave up your position in the Family. You gave up your womb. You handed over the deeds to our territory like they meant nothing!" His voice cracked with a mixture of heartbreak and rage. "Seraphina, you're a disgrace to the Valente name!"
Around us, the murmurs grew louder, the weight of judgment pressing in from every direction. I could feel their stares, their silent verdicts, their curiosity feeding on the collapse of my marriage like it was entertainment. Capos who had kissed my father's ring were watching his bloodline unravel in real time, and not one of them moved to intervene. That was the code. Family business stayed Family business, even when it bled onto the floor in front of a hundred witnesses.
Slowly, I lowered my gaze to the severance papers in my hands.
No one noticed the faint curve at the corner of my lips.
It was subtle. Almost imperceptible. Not sorrowful. Not broken.
Almost amused.
"Seraphina," Nico said, his voice dripping with a faux gentleness that now made my skin crawl. He tugged his left cuff down over his wrist as he spoke, a gesture so practiced it had become invisible to everyone but me. "You can't blame me for this. I'm just a man."
He spread his hands slightly, as if explaining something obvious.
"You had your uterus removed. You can't have children anymore. What choice did I have?"
A dry laugh escaped me, hollow and devoid of warmth.
"You're the one who asked me to do it," I said, my voice calm but cutting. "So we could live a child-free life together. You told me we'd never regret it. You swore that if I gave up my ability to have children, you would stay with me forever."
For a brief second, silence lingered between us.
Then Nico shrugged, dismissive, as if none of that had ever mattered.
"Well, that was then," he said casually. "Things change."
His gaze hardened, his tone turning blunt and unapologetic.
"I want a family now. I want children. And since you can't give them to me, I'll find someone who can."