---- Chapter 20 Alex POV: | stumbled out onto the Paris sidewalk, the bell on the gallery door mocking me with its cheerful chime. | watched them walk away, Kat and him, their arms linked, their heads bent together in easy conversation. My queen. His. The thought was a physical blow, knocking the wind from my lungs. For days, | was a ghost haunting the streets of Le Marais. | watched her from a distance. | saw them sharing coffee, laughing in the park, him carrying her groceries. They weren't passionate in the way Aria and | had been. It was something quieter, deeper. It was real. It was everything | never was. | flew back to New York, a hollowed-out man. The fight was gone. | walked into my father's study and told him | was done. | was renouncing my claim as heir, stepping down as Underboss. The power, the money, the empire-it was all poison. It had cost me the only thing that mattered. | sold everything. The penthouse, the cars, the stocks. | gave most of the money to a women's shelter Katarina used to support. | kept just enough to rent a small, anonymous apartment downtown. | severed all ties with the family. | was ---- just Alex now. A man with nothing but his regrets. Months passed. | was sitting in a dark, quiet bar one evening, nursing a whiskey, when a man took the stool next to me. It was him. Julian. My fists clenched. "What do you want?" "Katarina sent me," he said calmly. He placed a small, velvet box on the bar between us. | stared at it. With trembling hands, | opened it. Inside, nestled on the worn silk, was the De Luca diamond necklace. The one she had left in a church donation box. "She bought it back from the church auction," Julian explained. "She said it belongs with your family. A final gesture. A way of saying goodbye." He looked at me, his gaze not triumphant, but something closer to pity. "She's happy, Alex. She's built a good life. She wants you to let her go. For good." The question tore from my throat, raw and desperate. "Do you love her?" Julian was quiet for a moment. "I respect her," he said finally. "| admire her. | make her laugh. And | would do anything to keep her safe and happy." He paused, his words a final, devastating blow. "That's more important than love, don't ---- you think?" He stood up, put a few euros on the bar, and walked out, leaving me alone with the ghosts of my past and a necklace that represented a kingdom | had willingly abdicated. | had lost my queen, my empire, and my soul. And | was finally, completely, alone. Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!