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The Unseen Donna
Novelix
Completed
"The Romano family had one ironclad rule for Christmas dinner. Only those with a high enough contribution score earned a seat at the main table. I'd been married to Don Lorenzo for three years, and for all three of them, his Underboss, Sheila, and I had fought over the seat beside him. The first year, Sheila made Lorenzo's mother, Elvira, her favorite latte. Lorenzo gave her a 98. I'd spent two weeks preparing for that dinner. He gave me a 60. The second year, Sheila wrote a hymn, and Elvira praised her for knowing exactly what to say. Lorenzo gave her a perfect score. Meanwhile, I'd spent six months sorting through the family's books and collecting years' worth of outstanding debts. All I got from Lorenzo was, ""Good work."" And another 60. This year, I'd prepared eighteen dishes, making sure every single person's preferences were covered. But by the time I arrived, Sheila was already sitting in the place I'd failed to earn for three years. Lorenzo was cutting her steak for her. ""You're late. The rules don't wait for anyone."" The clock on the wall read 7:30. Sheila looked surprised. ""Chloe, didn't you know dinner started at seven this year?"" I'd been the Donna for three years, yet I wasn't even allowed at the main table. No one had bothered to tell me dinner had been moved up. Maybe there was no point fighting for a place that had never belonged to me."
Chapters (2)
第1章
The Romano family had one ironclad rule for Christmas dinner.
Only those with a high enough contribution score earned a seat at the main table.
I'd been married to Don Lorenzo for three years, and for all three of them, his Underboss, Sheila, and I had fought over the seat beside him.
The first year, Sheila made Lorenzo's mother, Elvira, her favorite latte.
Lorenzo gave her a 98.
I'd spent two weeks preparing for that dinner.
He gave me a 60.
The second year, Sheila wrote a hymn, and Elvira praised her for knowing exactly what to say.
Lorenzo gave her a perfect score.
Meanwhile, I'd spent six months sorting through the family's books and collecting years' worth of outstanding debts.
All I got from Lorenzo was, "Good work."
And another 60.
This year, I'd prepared eighteen dishes, making sure every single person's preferences were covered.
But by the time I arrived, Sheila was already sitting in the place I'd failed to earn for three years.
Lorenzo was cutting her steak for her.
"You're late. The rules don't wait for anyone."
The clock on the wall read 7:30.
Sheila looked surprised.
"Chloe, didn't you know dinner started at seven this year?"
I'd been the Donna for three years, yet I wasn't even allowed at the main table.
No one had bothered to tell me dinner had been moved up.
Maybe there was no point fighting for a place that had never belonged to me.
...
More than half the food on the long table was already gone.
I'd spent two weeks preparing for this dinner, only to find I didn't even qualify for a seat.
Lorenzo noticed I was still standing there.
"What are you waiting for? Don't you know where your seat is?"
Of course I did.
The folding chair beside the servants' table near the door.
The same place I'd sat for the past two years.
"Can't you add one more seat?"
Lorenzo set his dinner knife beside his porcelain plate.
"Chloe, the Romano family doesn't make exceptions for anyone."
I said nothing.
The Romano rules said seats at the table were determined by contribution scores.
Yet the scores hadn't even been announced, and Sheila was already sitting beside Lorenzo.
She proudly showed off the silver-handled knife in her hand.
A small "S" was engraved into it.
The Romano family's silverware was custom-made. Only people whose contribution scores met the standard were allowed to use it.
I turned toward the servants' table and waved over the butler.
"Pete, was any silverware prepared for me this year?"
Pete hesitated, then shook his head.
So even if I'd arrived on time, there had never been a place for me at that table.
Lorenzo frowned. He picked up a plate of obvious leftovers and walked over.
"We saved you some food. All the Capos are here tonight. Don't make a scene over the rules."
The rules again.
To follow the Romano family's rules, I had to wake before dawn to cook.
On the first Sunday of every month, I attended services at the family chapel.
I knew every Romano name, branch, and business relationship by heart.
All for those precious contribution points.
Sheila had done nothing, yet she got to sit in my place while Lorenzo cut her steak.
I didn't take the plate.
"If there's no place for me, then I'm not eating."
Lorenzo set the plate aside and rubbed his brow in frustration.
"Chloe, do you really have to start this now?"
I looked at him.
"None of you have ever treated me like the Donna of the Romano family."
Lorenzo didn't argue.
He simply dumped the food into the trash.
"Suit yourself. If you don't want to eat, then don't."
He returned to the main table and continued picking onions off Sheila's plate.
The room quickly filled with laughter again.
No one cared about me.
Just like no one cared about the plate of leftovers Lorenzo had thrown away.
第2章
I went upstairs to our bedroom and pulled the divorce papers from the hidden compartment in my closet.
When I'd married Lorenzo, a friend had warned me.
"Chloe, you and the Romano family come from completely different worlds. A Mafia marriage can't survive on love alone."
So I'd had divorce papers prepared long ago.
I just hadn't expected to need them this soon.
I was about to sign when Lorenzo pushed open the door.
He looked at the papers in my hands and frowned.
"Chloe, you're divorcing me over a seat?"
"It's not just a seat."
"Then what else are you unhappy about?"
I looked at him, but my eyes still burned.
"Lorenzo, have you ever really treated me like family? Have you ever given me the respect I deserve as your Donna?"
He was silent for a moment.
"You're my wife."
His wife.
Yet I wasn't in the family portrait hanging downstairs.
The day it was taken, Sheila said she needed to support Elvira and naturally stepped into the frame.
I'd been called away to deal with a customer causing trouble at the casino.
By the time I returned, the photo had already been taken.
I'd gone to Lorenzo.
"Can we take another one? I was just—"
He cut me off coldly.
"Chloe, I don't want excuses. All I know is that you missed the family photo."
"If you're upset, that's your own doing. No one else should have to pay for your emotions. That's the Romano rule."
That photograph had hung in the mansion for two years.
Every Capo who visited for the first time pointed at Sheila.
"That's the Donna, right? She and Lorenzo look perfect together."
Lorenzo never corrected them.
In private, he only told me, "Men can be careless. They mistook her for you. Don't take it personally."
Then there was the family archive.
I'd spent six months compiling it, traveling across half the country to fill in the missing information on every branch and ally.
The last page bore the signatures of every core Romano member.
Including Sheila.
Everyone except me.
All because the pen stopped working when it was my turn to sign.
Lorenzo didn't ask anyone to bring another one.
He simply closed the archive.
"The archive has to be inside the chapel before midnight. That's the rule."
"But I'm your wife! Leaving the Donna's signature out of the family archive—is that another Romano rule?"
After a long standoff, Lorenzo sighed and had a servant bring in a bowl of hot soup.
"Chloe, can you eat something before we keep fighting?"
Lorenzo was always the first to back down when we argued.
He worried I'd get too upset to eat and make myself sick.
When he pushed the soup toward me, warmth stirred in my chest.
"Tomorrow is the second day of the Christmas gathering. The elders from every branch will be there. Make sure you're prepared."
After finishing the soup, I walked into the dressing room and opened the cabinet in the center.
It was empty.
The evening gown Elvira had given me was gone.
The Romano family's dark-gold crest was embroidered into it.
It symbolized the Donna's status.
I hurried back out.
"Lorenzo, my gown is gone!"
He paused.
"I gave it to Sheila. Tomorrow will be her first appearance in front of those elders. She can't show up in something too casual."
I froze.
My hands and feet went cold.
"Lorenzo, only your wife is supposed to wear that gown."
He looked up, unconcerned.
"It's just a dress. It doesn't mean she's replacing you. I'll have another couture gown delivered. There's still time."
"Lorenzo, I'm your Donna."
He stood and tugged irritably at his tie.
"Then as the Donna, you should be more generous. Chloe, what exactly are you trying to accomplish tonight?"
I pointed at the empty cabinet.
"I don't want another couture gown. Tell her to give mine back."
Lorenzo was silent for a long time.
"She can't."
"The gown has already been altered to fit Sheila."
I stared at him in disbelief.
When Elvira first handed me that gown, I'd been too nervous to accept it.
Lorenzo had taken my hand and said, "From now on, you'll wear this to Romano family events. Everyone will know you're my Donna."
Now someone else was wearing it.
It had even been altered to fit her body.
Lorenzo was about to say something else when Sheila's voice came from outside.
"Lorenzo."
He stopped looking at me and walked out.
From the doorway, I watched Sheila twirl happily in my gown.
She stood in front of Lorenzo and smiled.
"How do I look?"
Lorenzo smiled too.
"No one suits that dress better than you, Sheila."
I stepped back into the bedroom and closed the door.
Then I picked up the divorce papers again.
This time, I signed my name.
