Chapter 77 – The Woman He Chose

Chapter 77 – The Woman He Chose
Romeo took a step forward.
The officers shifted immediately, but he raised one hand, signaling that he wasn't going to do anything.
"You never loved me."
Pietra felt her chest burn.
"How dare you say that?"
"Because I know what love is now."
That sentence hurt worse than a slap.
Because she knew.
She knew exactly who he was talking about.
Mikaella.
Always Mikaella.
That damned Mikaella.
"Don't say her name," Pietra whispered.
Romeo arched an eyebrow.
"I didn't even have to."
Her face twisted with rage.
"She stole you from me."
"I was never yours."
"That's a lie!"
She screamed.
The cameras captured everything.
Her raised voice.
Her desperation.
Her fury.
Her defeat.
"You were mine before she came along!"
Romeo tilted his head slightly.
"I shared a bed with you.
Sometimes.
When it suited me.
When I had nothing better to do.
But I was never yours."
Every word was a knife.
And he knew it.
Romeo knew exactly where to strike.
Not because he enjoyed being cruel.
But because, at that moment, Pietra needed to hear the truth.
The truth she had refused to accept for years.
"You wanted to possess me," he continued.
"You wanted to trap me.
You wanted to use me as a trophy.
You wanted to beat Mikaella as if I were some prize."
She was breathing hard now.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Tears of hatred.
Of humiliation.
Of utter ruin.
"I did everything because you rejected me."
Romeo looked at her with nothing but contempt.
"No.
You did it because you can't stand losing."
Pietra opened her mouth.
But no words came out.
Because it was true.
Cruelly true.
"And now you've lost."
Silence.
The world seemed to stop.
Romeo took another step closer.
"You've lost your freedom.
You've lost your fortune.
You've lost your allies.
You've lost your image.
You've lost your performance.
And do you know what's even worse?"
Pietra trembled.
With rage.
With fear.
With everything.
"What?"
Romeo leaned in just enough for only her to hear clearly.
"Mikaella didn't even have to become someone else to beat you."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
For the first time...
Pietra looked small.
Truly small.
Not the seductive femme fatale.
Not the dangerous mistress.
Not the calculating villain.
Just an empty woman standing before the ruins of her own life.
"You'll regret this," she whispered.
Romeo smiled.
But there was no warmth in it.
"No."
He turned his head.
And then Pietra saw her.
At the far end of the hallway, away from the cameras, Mikaella stood silently, watching.
Pietra felt her blood boil.
"You brought her here?"
Romeo didn't answer.
Mikaella walked forward.
She wasn't dressed like a queen.
She carried no weapon.
She had no bodyguards.
No intimidating posture.
And somehow, that made her even more unbearable.
Because Mikaella didn't have to try to seem important.
Romeo looked at her as though she were his entire world.
And that was unforgivable.
"You came to watch me fall?" Pietra spat.
Mikaella stopped in front of her.
"No."
"Don't lie."
"I came to make sure it was over."
Pietra laughed.
"You think it's over?"
Mikaella met her gaze.
Steady.
Fearless.
That look irritated Pietra more than any insult ever could.
Because before...
Mikaella had trembled.
Before...
Mikaella had doubted herself.
Before...
Mikaella had been bleeding inside.
Not anymore.
Now she stood tall.
"For me, it is," Mikaella answered.
"You almost destroyed me.
You almost made me doubt everything.
Romeo.
Myself.
What I felt.
Even my own sanity."
Pietra smiled.
"So I accomplished something."
"No."
Mikaella took one more step closer.
"Because I'm still here."
Romeo moved to stand beside her.
Not in front of her.
Beside her.
And that, too, was an answer.
He wasn't protecting a helpless woman.
He was choosing to stand beside the woman he loved.
Pietra understood.
And she hated it.
She hated it more than anything.
"You don't deserve him."
Mikaella smiled faintly.
"Maybe I don't."
Romeo turned toward her, scandalized.
"Mikaella."
"But he chose me," she continued without taking her eyes off Pietra.
"And I chose him."
Pietra swallowed hard.
"It won't last."
Mikaella tilted her head.
For a brief second, something dark flashed in her eyes.
Something inherited from Don Aragão.
Something Pietra had only now begun to understand.
Mikaella could be sweet.
She could be funny.
She could be clumsy.
But she was still her father's daughter.
"Maybe," Mikaella replied.
"But do you know the difference between us?"
Pietra remained silent.
"If it ever ends...
I won't kidnap anyone."
Romeo let out a quiet laugh.
Almost involuntarily.
Even one of the officers seemed to suppress a smile.
Pietra's face turned crimson.
With hatred.
With shame.
With humiliation.
"You bitch."
"Original," Mikaella replied.
"I expected something better from you."
Romeo looked at her with shameless pride.
Almost too much love shining in his eyes.
Pietra saw it.
She saw everything.
And that was the cruelest punishment of all.
Not the handcuffs.
Not the prison.
Not the cameras.
But watching Romeo look at Mikaella as though she were the only woman alive.
"Take her away," Romeo told the officers.
Pietra struggled as one of them grabbed her arms.
"Romeo!"
He didn't answer.
"Romeo!"
Nothing.
"You'll come back to me!"
He simply turned his back.
Nothing more.
And somehow, that was worse than any response he could have given.
Pietra screamed.
She cursed.
She swore revenge.
She promised to destroy Mikaella.
She promised to destroy everyone.
But no one believed her anymore.
Not even herself.
The handcuffs locked around her wrists.
The metallic click echoed through the hallway.
The most humiliating sound of her life.
As she was escorted outside, the cameras rushed toward her.
Reporters shouted questions.
"Pietra, is it true that you kidnapped Mikaella Vergara?"
"What is your connection to Fercondiny?"
"Was Romeo Petraglia your accomplice?"
"Was this a crime of passion?"
Pietra lifted her chin.
She tried to maintain her composure.
She tried to smile.
She tried to look superior.
But the tears ruined everything.
Her makeup streaked down her face.
Her perfectly styled hair fell across her eyes.
Her expensive dress looked absurd beneath the handcuffs.
And in that moment, the woman who had always wanted to be unforgettable became nothing more than a headline.
The rejected mistress.
The kidnapper.
The criminal.
The madwoman.
Pietra climbed into the police vehicle without looking back.
Because she couldn't bear to see Romeo.
She couldn't bear to see Mikaella.
She couldn't bear to face the end.
When the vehicle finally drove away, Mikaella slowly let out the breath she'd been holding.
As though she had been holding it for years.
Romeo stepped closer.
"Are you okay?"
She looked at him.
"I am."
"Are you sure?"
"I am."
He narrowed his eyes.
"You just destroyed Pietra with pure sarcasm."
"Was it not enough?"
"It was magnificent."
She smiled.
A small smile.
A tired smile.
But a genuine one.
"I guess I'm learning from you."
Romeo placed a hand over his heart dramatically.
"My God.
Finally."
"Don't get carried away."
"Too late."
He slipped an arm around her waist.
Slowly.
Unhurried.
Without putting on a show.
Even with everyone around them.
"You know she was wrong, don't you?"
Mikaella looked up at him.
"About what?"
"About you not deserving me."
Her heart tightened.
"Romeo..."
"If there's anyone here trying to deserve someone...
it's me."
His words hit her hard.
Because he meant every one of them.
No sarcasm.
No charm.
None of the delicious arrogance he used as armor.
"You deserve far more than the man I used to be," he continued.
"That's why I'll never stop trying to become better."
Mikaella felt her eyes sting.
"Are you doing this on purpose?"
"What?"
"Saying beautiful things just to make me lose my composure."
Romeo smiled.
"Always."
She laughed.
And it felt good.
Laughing after Pietra's downfall felt good.
As though a door had finally closed.
As though a ghost had finally been driven away.
As though one chapter of their story had finally come to an end.
"Shall we go home?" Romeo asked.
Mikaella fell silent.
Home.
What a strange word.
For a long time, home had been a prison.
Then it had become a hiding place.
Then a place filled with fear.
But when Romeo said it like that...
Home sounded like him.
"Let's go."
And for the first time...
She wasn't afraid to walk beside him.