Chapter 3
Three weeks of waiting were finally about to pay off.
I sat in the living room, pretending to focus on a gardening magazine, but my attention was completely fixed on the sounds from upstairs. Dominic had complained about physical discomfort again this morning when he woke up–fatigue, nausea, and those symptoms he thought I hadn’t noticed.
When he came downstairs, his face was dark, that face that had once struck fear into countless enemies now written with
confusion and anger.
“Valentina, I’m going to see Dr. Carlo.” His voice was low, carrying a dangerous unease.
“What’s wrong?” I put down the magazine, feigning concern.
You don’t look well.”
11
“I’ve been feeling off lately.” He grabbed his car keys. “Probably
too much stress.”
I nodded, though my heart was celebrating. “Should I come with
you?”
“No. Stay home.”
Watching him leave, I almost laughed out loud. Three weeks of careful planning, adding those colorless, tasteless powders to his evening wine with every dinner we shared, were finally
about to show results.
Two hours later, Dominic returned.
The sound of him kicking open the door echoed through the entire house like thunder. I heard him roaring downstairs, the
sound of breaking things continuing non–stop.
I slowly walked down the stairs to find him standing in the center of the living room, eyes bloodshot, fists clenched tight.
“Dominic? What happened?”
He turned around, his face twisted beyond recognition.”
Someone wants to destroy me! Someone wants to wipe out the
Corleone bloodline!”
“What do you mean?” I stepped back, putting on a frightened
expression.
“Carlo says my fertility is finished!” His voice roared like a beast’ s. “Permanent damage! Someone’s been poisoning me!”
in my eyes. “That’s
I covered my mouth, tears welling up in my eyes.
impossible… you’ve always been so strong…”
“That idiot doctor tried to explain something about
environmental toxins!” Dominic punched the coffee table, the glass surface instantly cracking. “I broke his arm with a baseball
bat!”
“Can we… can we still have children?” I asked with a choked
voice.
His eyes became even colder. “Never again. Unless I find the bastard who poisoned me and make him pay.”
I walked toward him, carefully touching his arm. “Who would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” He gripped my hand so hard it
nearly crushed my bones. “Valentina, from now on, everyone in this house is a suspect.”
In less than an hour, the entire house had become a battlefield.
Dominic had summoned all his men and ordered a thorough search. I stood at the meeting room doorway, watching those
burly men ransack everything, secretly delighted.
“Search every room!” Dominic paced back and forth by the long
table. “Vases, drawers, under mattresses–anywhere something
could be hidden!”
Antonio–one of Dominic’s most trusted men–was directing the
search operation. “Boss, we found nothing unusual in the
kitchen. The wine cellar’s been checked too.”
“Keep looking!”
I knew they wouldn’t find direct evidence because I had already
destroyed all the poison containers. But I had prepared a special
‘discovery‘ for today.
Thirty minutes later, Antonio hurried into the meeting room,
holding several torn pieces of paper.
“Boss, we found these in Miss Isabella’s room.”
Dominic snatched the papers, and I leaned in to look. These were diary fragments I had carefully forged last night, written in Isabella’s handwriting.
“Marco contacted me again today… he promised me enough money and protection… as long as I could provide information about Dominic’s daily habits…“” Dominic read aloud, his voice growing angrier.
I pretended to step back in shock. “My God, is this Isabella?”
“That bitch!” Dominic slammed the papers down on the table. ” She wants to sell out our family!”
Antonio frowned.
“It has to be!” He grabbed the heavy crystal ashtray from the
table and hurled it against the wall, where it shattered into a
thousand pieces with a thunderous crash. “They want to destroy me through Isabella!”
“And Isabella has been acting strange lately.” I added fuel to the fire. “She often takes phone calls late at night, and she’s asked a lot of questions about your daily eating habits.”
“When?”
“About three weeks ago.” I pretended to recall. “I thought she was just concerned about your health…”
“Damn it!” Dominic slammed his fist on the table.
I said, “If that’s true, we should deal with her immediately.”
“No.” Dominic waved his hand. “If she’s being threatened, killing her outright won’t benefit us.”
I rejoiced inwardly while maintaining a worried expression. “So
what do we do now?”
“Starting today, secretly monitor Isabella’s every move.” Dominic gave his orders.
“Yes, boss.” Antonio immediately responded.
Deep in the night, I returned alone to the basement.
In that room I called the ‘memorial chamber,‘ photos of the children quietly watched me in the dim light. I walked to the mirror, looking at my reflection, finally showing my true smile.
“The first step is complete, my children.” I gently touched the mirror. “Daddy will never have other children again.”
I pulled open the drawer and took out the remaining poison powder. The transparent little vial reflected dangerous light
under the lamp.
‘This is just the beginning. Dominic, do you think the pain is
over?‘
I thought of his angrily twisted face today, his violence toward the doctor, his suspicion of Isabella. Everything was proceeding
according to my plan.
“Next,” I said to myself in the mirror, “we’re going to make him lose more. Lose trust, lose sanity, lose everything he thinks is
important.”
I put the poison away and turned off the light. In the darkness, I took one last look at the children’s photos.
“Mommy won’t let you die in vain. I promise you that.”
From upstairs came Dominic’s angry roaring as he made phone
calls to his men, issuing new search orders.
I smiled as I walked toward the stairs. Tomorrow there was still
much work to do, and I, Valentina Corleone, was savoring every
bit of sweetness that revenge brought.