The Donna He Took for Granted Chapter 10
I pronounced every word clearly.
“Corrado, I truly don’t love you anymore.
“No matter whom I love in the future, it will never be you.
“Do you understand?”
Corrado’s legs gave way, and he crumpled onto the concrete in front of me. He forced his rigid
mouth into a smile more painful than tears.
“It doesn’t matter, Ottavia. My love is enough.
“You don’t have to love me. As long as you stay, I’ll do anything.
“I’ll surrender the inheritance, destroy every alliance, and break every Ventresca rule.
“If you come home, I’ll break every law and turn all of New York against me…”
My voice remained calm.
“I don’t need your worthless love.
“If you harass me again, I’ll call the police.”
Corrado blinked.
The bitter tears gathered for so long finally broke free and ran down his face.
“Don’t do this to me. I know I trampled on your love and ignored everything you did.
“Why can’t you give me one last chance to make amends?
“I swear I’ll prove that I can change…”
I cut through the desperate promises spilling endlessly from him.
“Corrado, it’s too late.”
Under Corrado’s hollow, lifeless gaze, I got into Ronan’s car and left.
On the way home, I apologized for turning him into my pretend boyfriend without warning and
causing him to take Corrado’s punch.
He smiled as though it were nothing.
“If you ever need someone for that again, call me first.”
After bringing me safely home, Ronan added,
“If Corrado bothers you again, call me. I don’t care what time it is.”
I nodded and agreed to have dinner with him the following weekend.
One ordinary night a month later,
an unfamiliar landline number called me.
It was Corrado.
He spoke with barely any strength, unable to stop coughing between his words.
“Ottavia, don’t hang up. I only have one question.”
“Did you ever love me?”
I did not even look away from the television.
“No.”
I ended the call, put down my phone, and continued watching the show.
Two days later, our college group chat reported that Ventresca Tower in Midtown had been the target of deliberate arson.
Corrado remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Tessa had started the fire.
Furious over being dismissed, she used the building credentials she had secretly kept after leaving
her position to lock the headquarters’ emergency doors, intending to die with Corrado.
I opened the NYPD case bulletin.
Only then did I realize that when Corrado believed death was only minutes away, mine was the
number he chose to call.
“What a curse.”
My mutter outside the movie theater caught Ronan’s attention as he bought our tickets.
“What did you say, Tavia? I didn’t hear you.”
“Nothing.”
I closed the group chat and leaned over to see his phone.
“Did you get the tickets? What time does it start?”
“We have them, and the movie starts in half an hour. That’s enough time to get the iced latte you
wanted.”
Ronan enthusiastically led me toward the shops on the floor below.
Along the way, he bought so many snacks, trinkets, and small gifts that it looked as though we were preparing for a holiday instead of a movie.
Afterward, Ronan asked me to open his trunk and get something before we left the garage.
Inside, I found an arrangement of flowers and balloons that had obviously been waiting there for
hours.
Nervousness showed across his face.
“Tavia, will you be my girlfriend?”
I smiled and took his hand without hesitation.
“Of course.”
Life was long, winding, and filled with turns no one could predict.
Even when one road came to an end,
the next person meant for you might be waiting just beyond the bend.
