Too Late: The Don's Queen Is Not Me

For five years, I ruled the city's underworld as the Underboss, yet I hid in the shadows for Serena. I kept our relationship a secret because the blood on my hands was a source of shame to her.

When a family mandate forced me to take a blood oath of marriage, I hoped she would finally accept my name. Instead, I discovered she had commissioned a solid gold signet ring—not for me, but for Leo, a twenty-two-year-old rookie associate.

She had abandoned me on our fifth anniversary to flaunt her bond with him in Vegas. When I confronted her, she introduced me to her friends as nothing more than her brother's low-level lackey to maintain her clean image. She crushed the gold-leaf wedding invitation I offered her and threw it on the floor.

"You let the old men pull your strings. You’ll never be a true Boss."

Her mocking words echoed in my head. I had compromised my very nature, offering her the keys to the city three separate times, only to realize I had wasted my loyalty on a vain, cowardly girl who lacked the spine to stand beside a Don.

The grief in my chest withered and turned to ash, replaced by the cold, ruthless clarity of my station.

I burned every hidden memento of our affair, permanently blocked her number, and publicly announced my marriage to Elena Romano, the lethal daughter of the Consigliere.