Chapter 205 I'm here to end it

Chapter 205 I'm here to end it
Serena’s POV

The air shifted before anyone spoke.

It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t sudden. But it certainly changed.

Dante’s body moved in front of mine fully now, standing solidly in the way and cutting off my view just enough to tell me that whatever was happening next wasn’t small.

The car doors opened and two women stepped out slowly.

They couldn't be guests, this would be a record time for attendance. But they didn't look out of place either.

They looked more in between.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, instinctively searching, trying to see beyond his large frame.

I turned and stretched till my eyes finally landed on her.

The younger looking one between them.

My breath hitched as I realized I knew her.

Something about her face pulled at a memory I hadn’t gone back to in a while.

The ball.

The conversation we shared. The smile that hadn’t quite reached her eyes.

And then it clicked.

Issabella.

The name settled tightly in my chest as it was followed quickly by something colder.

The memory of her words. Of the way she had talked about her and him, my husband now.

Of how wrong it had all felt now—even before I understood why.

My gaze lingered on her a second longer. And this time I wasn't seeing the lady that stood across from me in the ballroom.

I was not seeing that composed and confident version of her. I was seeing a more quiet and held back version of her.

Like something in her had been forced to sit still.

Then I turned my gaze to the woman beside her. She looked a lot older but had a similar face.

She had a way she carried herself, like most women I had seen tonight. Women that didn't need your attention to know they mattered.

She walked forward with measured steps and a few guards trailed behind her, not close enough to look like a threat—but close enough to remind everyone exactly who she was.

Dante didn’t move, didn’t step back either. He didn’t relax either.

If anything, he became sharper. Colder.

“Mr. Russo,” she called in the calmest voice I had heard all night.

Dante’s response came just as steady. “Mrs. Romano.”

I stepped back instinctively as that was the moment everything clicked into place.

My chest tightened slightly as the realization settled fully this time.

Romano?

I knew only one Romano. The head of the Romano family.

My gaze flickered back to her, sharper now, reassessing everything I had just seen.

Then—almost instinctively—I glanced behind me, like I expected something else to shift with that name alone.

It didn’t.

Dante didn’t give her time to settle into the moment. “What are you doing here?” He asked with his voice slightly strained but not raised.

She didn’t react to the tone. Didn’t take offense.

“I didn’t come here for a fight,” she said calmly, then her eyes moved briefly and landed on me.

Then back to Dante.

“I came to end one.”

Silence followed.

Then she let out a small breath.

“My husband…” she began, and for the first time, something faintly human slipped through the rock hard composure. “He made choices I could not control.”

Dante didn’t respond. Didn’t interrupt.

So she continued. “His association with Luca changed him,” she said with her voice tightening just slightly. “At first, I thought it was business. Just necessary alliances. But it didn’t stay that way.”

Her gaze dropped for a brief second before returning. “He became someone I didn’t recognize anymore.”

There was no unnecessary heightening in her tone.

No dramatics.

Just down to earth.

“I tried to stop him,” she added. “More times than I could count.”

A pause.

“He didn’t listen,” she continued, paused, then added. “And when I pushed… he turned on me.”

Issabella’s expression wavered slightly as her shoulders tensed up a bit before she let it drop.

“He stopped being a husband,” she said quietly. “Stopped being a father.”

The air grew heavier. “I’m not here to defend him,” she added and. Dante’s jaw tightened slightly. “I’m here to apologize.”

That got to me.

“For what he did,” she continued. “For what he allowed. For what he tried to destroy. I apologize on behalf of what used to be the Romano family.”

Her gaze shifted again, but to me this time. And she held it.

“I had no part in it,” she muttered with her hand on her chest, and something in my chest shifted.

Dante spoke up at that time. “It’s done.”

“That’s all in the past now,” he added.

Her lips pressed together briefly, like she accepted that—but didn’t entirely agree. “I wish I could say the same.”

A small silence followed.

Then she continued, quieter now. “There was a time… when our families were meant to be joined.”

My eyes flickered instinctively to Isabella.

“I planned it myself,” she said. “Years of preparation. Years of certainty.”

Dante didn’t react. At least not visibly.

“I knew things had changed,” she admitted. “Even before everything fell apart.”

Her gaze softened slightly—not going weak, but just dropped. “You had already walked away from her.”

“But what my husband did…” she continued with her tone tightening again, “he didn’t just damage that arrangement.”

She paused, then added. “He destroyed it.”

Silence followed.

And this time, she let it sit. “I don’t regret his death,” she added after a moment.

And that drew Dante’s attention fully.

“I watched the man he was becoming,” she said. “And I realized I would have rather lost an alliance than bind my daughter to something broken.”

Issabella stepped forward slowly then, and her eyes found mine. “I owe you an apology.”

She had a small smile on her lips, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

“I didn’t understand what was happening back then,” she continued. “I was told things… repeatedly. That Dante belonged with me. That you were taking something that wasn’t yours.”

My jaw tightened slightly.

“I believed it,” she admitted. “And I acted on it.”

She paused. Then her voice dropped just a little.

“What I did to you… the poisoning…”

She paused and the word lingered.

“I’m sorry,” she added without trying to soften it.

I didn’t move immediately, I didn’t respond right away. I just looked at her, studying her.

And this time—

I didn’t see any form of lies or deceit behind her eyes. Just regret.

“It’s fine,” I said after a while with my voice quieter than I expected. “I forgive you.”

I watched as her features dropped heavily and her shoulders sagged.

Then her mother stepped forward again. “And trust me, I wouldn't come to a wedding to serve an apology empty-handed.”

Dante’s gaze sharpened slightly. “What do you mean?”

She held his gaze. “I came to make things right.”

Then she made a small signal with her hand and one of the guards stepped forward, holding out a small, sleek case.

She took it and opened it to reveal a set of keys. All looking like the doors they opened the doors to heaven.

“I sold nearly everything I had control over,” she said calmly.

And that made Dante’s expression shift.

“Landed properties. Investments. Assets I accumulated over years,” she added and stepped closer..“And with it… I secured something worthy of the peace I’m asking for.”

She held the case up. “A new penthouse for the one my husband and Luca destroyed.”

Silence followed as I wasn't even sure Dante knew what to say to that.

“It’s the best money can buy around here,” she continued. “Private. Secure. Untouchable.”

Her gaze didn’t waver. “Far beyond what you had before.”

Dante didn’t take it immediately. He just stared down at it.

Then at her. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said slowly.

“I know,” she replied, then paused before adding. “But I did.”

Her expression softened just slightly. “Because peace has a price most times.”

And her hand remained extended with the briefcase. “I chose to pay it.”

The weight of that settled slowly as this wasn't just a gift, it was all she had given up. All she had to offer.

Dante let out a small breath before finally taking the briefcase with the keys and documents. “I’m not accepting this out of obligation,” he said.

“I wouldn’t expect you to. You can have your men run a check on it and the agent's number is on the papers. I haven't even stepped inside there yet,” she explained.

And Dante nodded, then closed the briefcase, looking down at it. “I’m accepting it,” he continued, “because you chose to end this the right way.”

She smiled and let out a quiet breath, like something in her finally eased.

Then—

“There is one more thing,” she added and Dante’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“What is it?” He asked.

Then a faint smile touched her lips. “This you'll like a lot,” she started, then paused before adding. “But you’ll have to come with me first.”