The Don Hid Me for Seven Years

My fiancé was the youngest Don of Sicily’s Rina family.
After years together, he always told me, “No one gets to look at my woman. If a man stares at you for even a second too long, I’ll gouge his eyes out.”
That was why he almost never brought me along when he handled family business.
Until one day, I came across a rising couples influencer on YouTube.
In the video, a girl stood on a cliff overlooking the Sicilian coast, holding a selfie stick as the sea breeze billowed through her white dress.
Smiling, she turned the camera toward the man beside her, revealing only the sharp line of his jaw and the back of one hand.
Then he lifted his left hand, and a ring flashed clearly on his finger.
I recognized it instantly.
It was one of the matching rings William and I had custom-made.
I stared at the screen as the warmth slowly drained from my fingertips.
When I opened her profile, I found it filled with videos of the two of them together.
They had wandered through Venice, climbed snow-covered mountains in Switzerland, and popped champagne in private casinos.
So it wasn’t that he couldn’t take me with him.
He simply already had someone else by his side.
Without a word, I closed the video and sent an email to the Network, asking them to erase every trace of my old identity.
If he no longer loved me, there was no reason to stay.
Chapter 1
The moment the email confirmation appeared on my screen, William shared his location with me.
Because of who he was, he was always afraid someone might come after me, so he insisted that we share our locations every night to make sure I was safe.
His message came a moment later.
“Honey, are you asleep? Something came up tonight, so I’m running a little late.”
If I hadn’t just watched that YouTube video, those few words of concern probably would have made my heart flutter like they always did.
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I opened the influencer’s profile again and saw that she was livestreaming.
As usual, William casually shared pieces of his day with me.
“Honey, I’m on my way back now. Monaco is beautiful. I’ll bring you here someday when I get the chance.”
In the past, a promise tossed out so casually would have made me happy for days, and I would have quietly tucked it away in my heart.
Only now did I realize that everything I had treasured so carefully had already been given to someone else.
I typed a few words, deleted them, and eventually sent nothing.
The livestream loaded.
The influencer was sitting aboard a private jet, chatting about the details of their trip.
The camera shifted, and a familiar figure entered the frame, William.
The girl gave the camera a playful smile.
“My boyfriend doesn’t want his face on camera, so don’t go spreading this around, okay?”
I typed a message to William.
“You told me I’d be the only woman to ever call your private jet hers. Do you remember that?”
His reply came almost instantly.
“Of course, baby.”
The next second, the livestream camera tilted to one side.
William was sitting beside her, visible only from the neck down as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Soon, suggestive sounds came through the livestream.
Within a minute, the screen went black, followed by a notification saying the broadcast had ended.
I stared at the dark screen, feeling something inside me turn colder by the second.
William had never allowed me to accompany him when he left on family business.
He always said he was afraid something might happen to me.
That if I ever got hurt because of him, he would blame himself for the rest of his life.
So I never attended his family meetings.
I was never allowed to meet his parents.
Even his own men had no idea what their future Donna looked like.
But in the influencer’s videos, there was always a line of William’s personal guards standing somewhere in the background.
That was when I finally understood.
He had never been afraid to take me with him.
He simply hadn’t wanted me there.
My eyes burned as I opened her profile again with trembling fingers and kept scrolling.
Her earliest post was from five years ago.
It was a photo of a tiny kitten with the caption, “The stray we rescued together.”
I suddenly remembered asking William if we could get a pet.
He had refused, saying it would be too much trouble.
On my birthday, William had told me he was away handling family business.
That same period was when the two of them had first met.
I closed my laptop and shut my eyes, forcing myself, little by little, to accept the truth that I was no longer loved.
Another email notification appeared. “Welcome to the Network. Please arrive at the base in three days.”
Chapter 2
William came home the next morning and walked over to the bed, leaning down to kiss my forehead.
“Lilith, did you miss me?”
Even now, the tenderness in his eyes still made my heart tremble.
I remembered last winter, when he had taken a knife meant for me and needed seventeen stitches to close the wound.
I stayed beside him in the hospital for three days and three nights, and the first thing he said when he finally woke up was, “Don’t cry. I’m not going to die. I still have to marry you.”
Back then, I truly believed this was a man who would give his life for me.
William reached into his pocket and took out a gift box with a necklace inside.
“This would look perfect on you. Do you like it?”
I suddenly remembered the vlog the influencer had posted that morning, showing William shopping for jewelry with her.
The necklace he had brought me was the cheapest one they had looked at.
“Thank you.”
I took the box from him and casually set it aside.
Noticing my indifference, William frowned and seemed about to say something when his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen, and his expression shifted slightly before he got up and walked onto the balcony to answer it.
I heard him lower his voice.
“Give me a little while. I know. Don’t fuss. Be good.”
After hanging up, he turned back to me with an apologetic look.
“Lilith, something came up and I have a meeting to attend. I’ll come back and spend time with you later.”
“Okay.”
I nodded and found myself wondering how many times William had done this, coming home only to leave again almost immediately because something had supposedly come up.
I used to think he was simply busy, but now the whole thing felt almost insulting.
I waited until William left, then quietly got into my car and followed him.
His car eventually stopped outside a warehouse by the docks, and I followed him inside.
A formal gathering was already underway, with bodyguards standing in two orderly rows.
The warehouse was crowded and lively, while William stood on a raised platform beside a young woman with her arm linked through his.
A middle-aged man standing beside them appeared to be her father, and he addressed the guests below.
“Today is an important day, not only because it marks the beginning of our partnership with Mr. William, but because I also have some wonderful news to share. William and Laura will be getting married this October!”
Behind them, a large screen displayed photographs of William and Laura together outside Palermo Cathedral.
William assured the older man that he would treat Laura well and never disappoint her.
Four months earlier, I had asked William to go with me to Palermo Cathedral to pray.
He had refused.
“Honey, you know I don’t believe in that kind of thing.”
Now, surrounded by cheers, William dropped to one knee, slipped a ring onto Laura’s finger, and pressed an intimate kiss to her fingertips.
Every part of the scene hurt to watch, and I couldn’t stop myself from trembling.
I was about to turn and leave when the cold barrel of a gun pressed against the back of my head.
A chilling voice sounded behind me.
“Turn around.”
I slowly turned, only to find myself looking directly into William’s eyes.
The moment he recognized me, his eyes widened in shock.
Chapter 3
A flicker of panic crossed William’s face, and he immediately lowered the gun.
There was still a trace of concern in his eyes as he looked at me. “Honey, what are you doing here?”
I looked at him and forced the faintest smile, bitterness spreading through my chest.
“Shouldn’t you be explaining yourself first? Why is my fiancé standing here getting engaged to another woman?”
William didn’t answer. Instead, he instinctively glanced back at Laura.
Laura walked over and slipped her arm naturally through his, tilting her head as she studied me with open curiosity.
“Who are you?”
Before I could answer, Laura’s father approached.
His gaze swept over me once before settling on William. He seemed to have already sensed that something was wrong, and there was a clear warning in his voice.
“My daughter isn’t someone you can treat casually. You’d better explain this to me.”
William immediately smiled and stepped away from me.
“Please don’t worry. This lady is only a friend of mine. I’ll take care of it.”
A friend. Something in my chest trembled at those words.
After seven years together, after all the times I had helped him from behind the scenes, all I amounted to in the end was a friend.
I thought I would cry, but strangely, not a single tear fell.
William turned to Laura. “Go stay with your father for a while. I’ll handle this.”
Laura nodded. Before leaving, she even gave me an apologetic smile.
“Don’t take it personally. William is usually so busy that he hardly has time for anything else. When we get married, we’ll definitely invite you.”
Once she was gone, William grabbed my wrist and dragged me behind one of the nearby pillars, as though I were something that had to be kept out of sight.
When he saw how red my eyes were, he lowered his voice and patiently explained.
“Lilith, I was going to wait a little longer before telling you, but I desperately need access to Laura’s family port right now. I don’t have another choice.”
“I have too many enemies right now. If Laura is the one everyone sees beside me, you’ll be safer.”
He paused, and his tone softened.
“Be good and don’t make a scene here. Once this is over, I’ll cut ties with her completely, and then you and I will have our ceremony.”
I stared at him, my throat tightening.
Once again, it was supposedly for my protection.
For seven years, he had used those words to keep me away from every public occasion and deny me any recognized place beside him.
Now he was using the same excuse to justify getting engaged to another woman.
“Then what am I?”
William frowned. “You’re the most important person in my life. Isn’t that enough?”
He released my wrist and straightened his cuff.
There had been a time when William couldn’t bear to see me suffer even the slightest hurt.
When one of his enemies threatened me, he moved all of his men to protect me and stayed awake for three days and three nights.
Once, when I had nothing more than a low fever, he ended a family meeting immediately and rushed home to take care of me.
But now, every grievance I had was nothing more than unreasonable behavior in his eyes.
At that moment, several of William’s men passed nearby. They glanced at us and began murmuring among themselves.
“Who is she?”
“I think she’s someone William used to see. She never had any official place in the family.”
“The Don is about to marry Miss Laura. If she really cares about him, she should know when to step aside.”
“Exactly. She should know her place. The family never acknowledged her, so at the end of the day, she’s still an outsider.”
They kept their voices low, but not low enough to stop me from hearing every word.
William didn’t tell them to stop. He only looked at me with a detached expression.
“Go home first. I still need to explain things to Laura. I’ll come back and stay with you later.”
I forced down the discomfort twisting inside me and answered quietly.
“Okay.”
Then I turned and walked away.
Behind me, I heard William speaking to Laura’s father.
“It was just a misunderstanding. I’ve already taken care of it.”
The sea breeze hit me the moment I stepped out of the warehouse.
Throughout the years William and I had been together, whenever we argued, I would always go back to my mother’s place.
I hailed a cab and gave the driver her address.
Chapter 4
The car stopped in the old quarter, and the lights were still on inside my mother’s house.
I pushed the door open and called out before I had even changed my shoes.
“Mom.”
My mother rose from the living room, and the moment she saw my swollen, reddened eyes, she froze.
“Lilith, why are you back? Did you and William have another fight?”
Hearing his name made my nose sting.
“Mom, he lied to me.”
I walked over and grabbed her sleeve, telling her everything in broken fragments.
The couples influencer, the casino, the private jet, and every secret William had kept from me.
My thoughts were all over the place, and my voice shook as I spoke.
“William lied to me. He met that girl’s family, and they even held an engagement party. All of his men know her too. Do you know how ridiculous that makes me look?”
My mother said nothing, but there was something strange in the way she looked at me.
I thought she was angry on my behalf.
She remained silent for a long time before finally sighing and pouring me a glass of warm water.
“Drink some water first.”
I took the glass from her, my hands still trembling.
“Mom, what am I supposed to do?”
She looked at me with a complicated expression. There was concern in her eyes, but even more than that, there was a calmness I didn’t recognize.
“Lilith, stop making such a fuss.”
I stared at her.
“What did you just say?”
She repeated herself, sounding almost exasperated.
“I’ve known about William for a long time.”
The glass slipped from my hand, spilling warm water across the floor.
“You already... knew?”
I stood frozen in place as all the warmth seemed to drain from my body.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
My mother looked up at me, and to my disbelief, there was even a hint of reproach in her eyes.
“What good would telling you have done? What could you possibly do about it? William needs that port right now, and he needs Laura’s family behind him. You haven’t been formally recognized by the family, so if you make trouble, you’ll only be the one who suffers.”
“Not recognized?”
A dry laugh escaped me.
“Mom, I’ve been with him for seven years. He proposed to me, and you’re telling me I was never recognized?”
“So what?”
My mother raised her voice.
“You need to learn to understand him. William has his own difficulties, and he needs resources. Once he secures his position as Don, he’ll naturally give you the place you deserve.”
I stared at my mother and, for a moment, barely recognized the woman standing in front of me.
She was the one who had raised me to be strong and independent, yet now she was telling me to endure this.
Her voice softened as she looked at me.
“I’ve met Laura. She’s a nice girl, and she even brought me gifts. She won’t mind you being around.”
“And William has always treated us well. We’ve had such a comfortable life because of him, so what exactly are you still unhappy about?”
The absurdity of it all suddenly became overwhelming, and I slowly backed away until I reached the door.
She wanted to say more, but I no longer wanted to hear any of it.
I turned, pulled the door open, and stepped out into the night air.
My phone vibrated with a new email.
“Your identity cancellation is complete.”
I took a deep breath and sent a message to the Network.
“I’ll leave tonight.”
After his engagement ceremony with Laura ended, William returned to the home we shared.
He called my name, but no answer came.
Something tightened in his chest, and a bad feeling began to settle over him.
He searched the entire house, but when he still couldn’t find me anywhere, unease quickly turned into panic.
He immediately pulled out his phone and called me.