Requiem for the Godfather Chapter 3

We parted on bad terms that day.

Julian stopped coming home entirely.

The only way I knew his whereabouts was through Scarlett bragging on social media.

Under the immense pressure, I decided to go down swinging.

I posted my marriage certificate online, exposing their affair to the world.

But before the story could gain traction, Julian made his move.

He used his connections to control my mother's attending physician. He forcibly transferred my mother to a hospital overseas.

Then, he forced me to clarify that the marriage certificate was a fake.

When I heard the news, the blood drained from my face.

I didn't even notice Scarlett's triumphant smirk in the background.

I screamed in despair, "Julian, you know she can't wait! You know the travel will kill her!"

"How can you be so cruel?!"

Julian remained unmoved, calmly smoking his cigar.

When I collapsed on the sofa, exhausted, he finally put out the smoke.

"Ava, don't expect me to show mercy," he said slowly.

"Go clarify it. Don't ruin her."

In that moment, I felt a suffocation I had never known before.

Like a fish out of water, thrashing in pain on the shore.

I couldn't believe this man was once my lover.

That was the day I finally decided to end it.

But the humiliation didn't stop there.

My mother's illness couldn't wait. I had to compromise.

I personally admitted that the marriage certificate was forged. I said it was all because of my jealousy and delusion.

The comment section of that post is still filled with filth directed at me.

"This woman is crazy for a man, isn't she?"

"Psychopath. How dare she call my Queen a homewrecker? She has no shame."

"Who wants to slap her awake? Crowdfunding, I'll pitch in five bucks."

"I'll give ten."

For a while, I walked around like a zombie.

I hid by my mother's hospital bed.

Even without the internet, my mother sensed something was wrong.

She sighed and talked about the past, about Julian and me.

Young love is always the purest.

In high school, Julian liked me but was too inferior to say it.

He just walked me home, day after day.

Until one day, some thugs targeted me.

To protect me, Julian got three ribs broken. But he gritted his teeth and shielded me beneath him the whole time.

Naturally, we fell in love.

Back then, the Moretti Family hadn't officially acknowledged him.

He was just a street kid living with his grandmother, owning nothing.

It was my mother who helped him.

She even paid for his tuition.

But now, my mother's past kindness had become a knife stabbing her in the heart.

She didn't know what her daughter was facing.

I looked at my mother's haggard face.

It’s fine, I thought.

At least I still have my mom.

At least I haven't lost everything.