Chapter 7 He Called Me Stepmother in Public,Then Tried to Keep His Father Away From Me

Mireya's POV

Raffaele gave a short,bitter laugh and turned away.

He walked into the night without hesitation,leaving his question hanging between us like a blade.

Had I chosen Nerio?

The truth was,I had chosen nothing.

Every time the two of them closed in from opposite sides,all I wanted was room to breathe.

I took a step after Raffaele.

Nerio caught my wrist.

"Mireya,don't."

There was panic in his eyes.

"Can't you see what he's doing? He's trying to force you into chasing him."

I pulled against his grip.

Before I could say anything,a burst of white light exploded beyond the glass entrance of the hotel.

Then another.

And another.

Camera flashes.

Dozens of telephoto lenses were pointed straight at us.Shutters fired in a relentless storm.

It was not even eight in the morning,and the story was already out.

Raffaele's wife had spent the night at a hotel.

Her stepson had been seen outside her room.

The instant the press surged toward the entrance,Raffaele and Nerio both moved.

At the same time.

Each stepped in front of me,trying to shield me from the cameras.

Their shoulders nearly collided.

Security rushed in before either of them could turn the moment into another fight.We were separated,surrounded,and pushed into a waiting black sedan.

The doors shut,muting the shouting outside.

No one spoke on the drive to Valdieri headquarters.

The public relations director and legal team were waiting in the top-floor conference room when we arrived.

They looked grim.

"Mrs.Valdieri,the footage is everywhere," the PR director said."People are already speculating about your relationship with Mr.Nerio.The safest option is an emergency press conference.Mr.Nerio needs to state publicly that the hotel situation was innocent."

Nerio stood in front of the windows.

He barely glanced at the proposed statement.

"Fine.I'll hold a press conference."

The room went still.

Then he added,"And I'll tell them the marriage was never real.Mireya and I were together before she married my father.I'll tell them the truth."

I stared at him.

"Have you lost your mind?"

My voice shook.

"Do you understand what that would do to me? They won't romanticize it,Nerio.They'll call me an adulteress.They'll say I married your father and then slept with his son.You would be throwing me into the fire just so you could claim me publicly."

Raffaele finally spoke.

His fingers tapped once against the mahogany table.

"You keep saying you love her," he said to Nerio."Is this what you call protecting her?"

His voice was quiet enough to make everyone listen harder.

"You are thinking about what you want to announce.You're not thinking about what the world will call her afterward."

Nerio turned on him.

"And whose fault is that? If you hadn't forced her into that marriage five years ago,none of this would exist."

"Enough."

The word tore out of me.

I looked at both of them.

One furious.One cold.

Both convinced they knew how to protect me better than I knew how to protect myself.

"Nerio,follow the PR plan."

His face changed.

"You want me to stand in front of the world and deny what we were?"

"I want this to stop getting worse."

I swallowed hard.

"If you really want to protect me,then tell them I am only your..."

I could not finish.

Nerio did it for me.

His mouth barely moved.

"Stepmother."

The word cut deeper coming from him than it had from anyone else.

I nodded once and walked out before he could see how much it hurt.

By evening,we were back at the Valdieri estate.

The scandal had grown faster than anyone expected.The family council was already pressuring Raffaele to restore the appearance of a stable marriage.

He stopped me in the main hall.

"Move back into our suite tonight."

His tone sounded like a request only if you did not know him.

"If people see that our marriage is intact,the rumors about Nerio lose their force.My team will handle the photographs."

Nerio came down the curved staircase before I could answer and stepped between us.

"Do you really think putting her back in your bed fixes anything?"

That was it.

Something inside me snapped.

"Stop."

Both men looked at me.

"From the beginning,has either of you asked what I want? Or am I just useful? A wife when the family needs stability.A lost love when someone wants to prove a point.A trophy in whatever fight exists between father and son."

I pulled the sapphire ring from my finger and dropped it in front of Raffaele.

"I don't want to be your wife anymore."

Then I reached beneath the neckline of my dress and pulled out the chain I had worn for years.

Two old rings hung from it.

Mine and Nerio's.

His eyes widened.

I unclasped the chain.

"And we broke up five years ago."

Neither of them spoke.

I went upstairs and locked myself in a guest room.

For a while,I sat in the dark.

My phone lit up.

A message from Nerio.

Mireya,please believe me.I will never hurt you on purpose.

I don't want us to be over.

A second message appeared.

I'll stay.However long it takes.

I stared at the screen for a long time.

Then,against every sensible instinct I had left,I got up.

My hand shook as I turned the lock.

I opened the door just a few inches.