---- Chapter 17 Alex POV: As Aria lay weeping on the floor, the main doors of the ballroom burst open. Two large, menacing men walked in, followed by a smaller man in a cheap suit. He was a loan shark, the one who owned Rico's debt. He scanned the room, and his eyes landed on Aria. "There you are," he said with a cruel smile. Aria scrambled to her feet, her face a mask of terror. "Alex, please," she begged, her voice a pathetic whimper. "Help me. Don't let them take me." | stood motionless, watching her. This was the final act of my *Vendetta*. Cold. Precise. Unforgiving. "It was you, wasn't it?" the loan shark said, looking at me. "You told us where to find her." | gave a slight nod. It was a matter of honor. She had tried to steal from my family; | was merely returning her to those she had stolen from first. "No!" Aria screamed, a raw, animal sound of pure fear. She lunged for me, but my men intercepted her. She pleaded, she ---- begged, she promised me anything. | simply turned my back and walked away, letting the loan shark's men drag her, kicking and screaming, out of the ballroom. Her cries were cut off as the doors slammed shut. It was over. The filth had been cleansed. My parents came to my side. My mother placed a comforting hand on my arm. But my father's expression was grim. "It is done," he said. "But your greatest mistake remains." "What are you talking about?" "Katarina," he said, his voice heavy with disappointment. "She has formally separated from you. The papers you signed in my study... they were not for the union. They were for your divorce." The floor seemed to drop out from under me. "What? No. | never would have-" "| helped her," my father stated, his words hitting me like physical blows. "l helped her disappear. You were compromised, a liability. You chose a whore over a queen, and in doing so, you endangered this entire family. Your wife was the only one with the sense to see it. She is gone, Alessandro. And it is your own damn fault." | had been played. By everyone. By Aria. By my father. Even, ---- in her quiet way, by Katarina. The victory | had felt just moments before curdled into a sickening, overwhelming despair. She was the only one who had been true. The only one who had acted with honor. And | had thrown her away. | had let her go. An uncontrollable rage and a grief so profound it felt like it would tear me in half consumed me. | shoved past my parents and ran from the ballroom, from the whispers and the stares. | had to find her. | didn't care what it took. | would burn this city to the ground if | had to. | would find my wife. | would find my Katarina. Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!