When Love Rebuilds From Frozen Hearts

On the night of my career-defining art exhibition, I stood completely alone. My husband, Dante Sovrano, the most feared man in Chicago, had promised he wouldn't miss it for the world. Instead, he was on the evening news.

He was shielding another woman-his ruthless business partner-from a downpour, letting his own thousand-dollar suit get soaked just to protect her. The headline flashed below them, calling their new alliance a "power move" that would reshape the city.

The guests at my gallery immediately began to whisper. Their pitying looks turned my greatest triumph into a public spectacle of humiliation. Then his text arrived, a cold, final confirmation of my place in his life: "Something came up. Isabella needed me. You understand. Business."

For four years, I had been his possession. A quiet, artistic wife kept in a gilded cage on the top floor of his skyscraper. I poured all my loneliness and heartbreak onto my canvases, but he never truly saw my art. He never truly saw me. He just saw another one of his assets.

My heart didn't break that night. It turned to ice. He hadn't just neglected me; he had erased me.

So the next morning, I walked into his office and handed him a stack of gallery contracts.

He barely glanced up, annoyed at the interruption to his empire-building. He snatched the pen and signed on the line I'd marked.

He didn't know the page tucked directly underneath was our divorce decree.

He had just signed away his wife like she was nothing more than an invoice for art supplies.

Chapter 1

Elara POV:

On the night my four years of work were finally hung on a gallery wall, my husband, Dante Sovrano, was on the news, his hand shielding another woman from the rain.

This gallery represented four years of my work-my soul-hung on these pristine white walls. Tonight was supposed to be the culmination of everything. The night I stopped being just Mrs. Sovrano, the quiet, artistic wife of the most feared man in Chicago, and became Elara again. Just Elara. The artist.

For four years, I had poured every ounce of my loneliness, my frustration, my quiet heartbreak into my canvases. I had worked in the sterile, soundproof studio Dante had built for me, a gilded cage on the top floor of his skyscraper. He called it a gift. I knew it was a place to keep me occupied, to keep me out of his way while he ran his empire of shadows.

I smoothed down the front of my silk dress, my hands trembling slightly. My gaze drifted to the empty space beside me, a void where my husband should have been. He had promised. "Of course, *cara*. I wouldn't miss it for the world," he'd said, his voice a low rumble that used to make my skin tingle. Now it just felt like another lie polished to a shine.

My phone buzzed in my clutch. A notification from a news app. I clicked it open, a knot of dread tightening in my stomach. The headline was stark. *"Dante Sovrano and Isabella Romano brave the storm for emergency meeting."*

There was a picture. Dante, his broad shoulders shielding a woman from the downpour as they rushed into a government building. His expression was grim, focused. Isabella Romano, the brilliant, ruthless underboss of the Romano family, looked up at him with an expression of complete trust. He held the umbrella over her, letting the rain soak the shoulders of his own thousand-dollar suit.

The caption beneath read: *"Sources say the meeting is crucial for the new Sovrano-Romano alliance, a power move that will reshape the city's underworld."*

A wave of nausea washed over me. It wasn't just a meeting. It was a statement. He was choosing his business, choosing *her*, over me, and he was doing it on the one night I had ever asked for. The one night that was supposed to be mine.

People around me started whispering. Phones were being discreetly lifted. I could feel their pity, their morbid curiosity. It was a physical weight pressing down on me. I was the Don's neglected wife, a public spectacle. My personal humiliation was now the gallery's main event.

My phone buzzed again. A text from Dante.

*Something came up. Isabella needed me. You understand. Business.*

My heart didn't break. It didn't shatter. It just stopped. It felt like a motor that had finally run out of fuel, sputtering into a cold, complete silence. This was Omertà, the code of silence, twisted into a domestic version. I was expected to see nothing, say nothing, and endure everything for the good of the family. His family.

All the air left my lungs. The bright gallery lights seemed to dim. I had spent four years understanding my place. I was a beautiful object he owned, a piece of art to hang on his wall, proof that the beast had a cultured side. My art, the very thing that saved my sanity, was just another one of his assets.

Julian, the gallery owner and my friend, appeared at my side, his face etched with concern. "Elara? Are you alright?"

I forced a smile, a brittle thing that felt like it would crack my face. "He's stuck in a last-minute meeting. You know how it is." The lie was automatic, a reflex honed by years of practice. The Supremacy of Loyalty. It was the first rule they taught a mafia wife.

"Of course," Julian said, though his eyes told me he didn't believe a word. "Well, your public awaits. You should say a few words. This is your night."

I nodded, my body moving on autopilot. I walked through the crowd, shaking hands, accepting congratulations from people whose eyes were full of pity. I talked about my technique, about the inspiration behind a piece depicting a lone bird in a vast, empty sky.

I explained how that bird represented freedom.

But as I spoke, a cold, hard clarity settled deep in my bones. He had never seen me. He had never seen my art. He saw only the value it brought him, the polish it gave his blood-soaked name. Dante Sovrano hadn't just neglected me; he had erased me. He thought he owned my soul because he'd paid for the canvas and paint.

A new feeling bloomed in the void where my heart used to be. Not sadness. Not anger. It was ice. A cold, sharp, unbending resolve.

He would not erase me. He would not break me.

I would break him first.

I excused myself, slipping into the quiet of Julian's office. My hands were steady now. I pulled out my phone and dialed my lawyer.

"Mark, it's Elara Sovrano. I need you to draw up the papers."

"The divorce papers?" he asked, his voice cautious.

"Yes," I said, my voice as cold and clear as glass. "But that's not all. I have an idea. A way to get him to sign everything without even reading it."

"Elara, that's risky. If Dante finds out-"

"He won't," I interrupted. "His arrogance is his greatest weakness. He's never once looked at a contract related to my art, he just signs whatever is put in front of him. He thinks it's beneath him."

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Send me what you need," I said, my gaze falling on the rain-streaked window. "I want him to sign away his marriage the same way he signs away an invoice for art supplies. Like it's nothing."