The Mafia's Undoing-Chapter 105: Heartbreak

The lobby was elegant and expensive, with people in evening wear heading to the bar.

I’m crying in the middle of them and didn’t even care.

Security approaches. "Ma’am? Are you alright?"

"I’m fine, I’m leaving."

I push through the doors into the New York night, and it’s starting to rain.

I’m walking. Not sure where... just away.

I hear footsteps behind me. "Katherine!"

Tony. He followed me.

"Don’t walk away, please. Let’s talk about this."

"We’ve been trying to talk for months, but you’re never there!" I turned. "Do you know what it’s like? Coming home every night to an empty apartment? Eating dinner alone? Going to bed alone? Waking up alone?"

"I’m building a future for us-"

"No! You’re building a future for yourself! I’m just supposed to wait around until you have time for me!"

We’re in the street now with the rain falling harder and people hurrying past, staring.

"That’s not fair," Tony says. "You knew what I was trying to do-"

"I knew you wanted to legitimize the family business. I didn’t know that meant abandoning our relationship!"

"I haven’t abandoned-"

"Yes, you have!" I’m shouting now and don’t care who heard. "You’re doing exactly what your father did! Late nights, obsession with business, and neglecting the people who love you. You promised me you’d never become him!"

"I’m nothing like Thomas-"

"You’re exactly like him!" Tears and rain mixing on my face. "And it’s destroying us the same way it destroyed him!"

Tony’s face shows he knows I’m right. Hates it but knows it.

"Katherine..." His voice breaks.

"I love you." The words hurt me to say. "I love you so much, but I can’t do this anymore. I can’t watch you disappear into ambition and power and forget about me."

"I could never forget about you-"

"But you have! When’s the last time you asked about my day? My work? When’s the last time you actually saw me?"

He can’t answer because he doesn’t know.

I pull off my promise ring. The one he gave me after we survived Morrison; a proof we’d made it through hell together.

"What are you doing?" His voice is panicked now.

"I need space. Time to think about whether I can live with the man you’re becoming."

"Katherine, no-"

I place the ring in his hand and close his fingers around it.

"I’m sorry, Tony, but I can’t do this anymore."

I turn and walk away.

"Katherine!" He’s following. "Katherine, please!"

I don’t stop. If I look back, I know I’ll break.

A cab was pulling up, and I got in.

"Drive," I tell him. "Just... drive."

Through the back window, I see Tony standing in the rain. Holding the ring and looking completely shattered.

My phone was buzzing from him calling. I decline it.

It rings again, and I turn it off.

The cab drives through Manhattan with rain streaming down the windows like tears.

I’m crying so hard I could barely breathe.

Six months ago, we survived everything. We were happy and together.

Now I don’t know if we can survive us.

The cab stops at Susan’s apartment. I pay, get out, and buzz up.

"Katherine?" Susan’s voice came through the intercom. "It’s after midnight-"

"Can I come up? Please?"

She hears something in my voice. "Door’s open."

I take the elevator up, and she’s waiting in the hallway. She took one look at my face.

"Oh, honey."

I fall into her arms and finally let myself completely break.

"I left him," I sob. "I left Tony."

"Come inside. Tell me everything."

An hour later, I’m on her couch. Wrapped in a blanket with a cup of tea cooling beside me.

I’ve told her everything. The months of neglect, Vivian, the hotel, and our fight.

"Do you love him?" Susan asks.

"That’s not the question."

"It’s the only question that matters."

"Yes. I love him. But love isn’t enough when he’s choosing everything else over us."

I turned my phone back on, and it shows thirty-seven missed calls from Tony. Fifteen texts.

Please come home.

I’m sorry.

Let’s talk about this.

Katherine, please.

I love you.

I didn’t respond, and I turned the phone off again. I can’t deal with this tonight.

"What are you going to do?" Susan asks gently.

"I don’t know." My voice is hollow. "There’s a job offer in San Francisco. It’s a banking firm, and I’ve been considering it."

"San Francisco?" Susan’s eyes widen. "Katherine, that’s-"

"Far. I know, that’s kind of the point."

"Running away won’t solve-"

"I’m not running away, I’m protecting myself. Making a smart choice for once instead of staying in a relationship that’s destroying me."

Susan doesn’t argue. Just holds my hand.

"Sleep here tonight," she says. "Tomorrow, with a clear head, you can decide."

I nod. Too exhausted to do anything else.

She sets me up in her guest room. I lie there in the dark, staring at the ceiling.

My phone is off, and I’m alone, safe from more hurt.

But I’ve never felt more broken.

***

TONY’S POV

I’m standing in the rain.

Katherine’s cab disappeared five minutes ago, and I’m still standing here, holding her ring.

The woman I love just walked away.

And I let her.

My phone rings, and it’s Vivian.

"Tony? The buyers are waiting in the conference room downstairs. We only have twenty minutes to close this deal. Are you coming back?"

I’m staring at the ring in my palm and at the rain-soaked street where Katherine’s cab disappeared.

The deal - millions of dollars with everything I’ve been building.

Or Katherine - everything that actually matters.

"Tony?" Vivian’s voice is insistent. "The clock is ticking. This opportunity won’t wait."

I open my mouth to answer.

My phone buzzes. Call waiting from Bella.

"I need to take this," I tell Vivian.

"Tony, we have eighteen minutes-"

I switch lines. "Bella?"

"Tony, where are you?" Her voice is panicked and scared. "You need to come to Manhattan General. Now."

My blood runs cold. "What happened?"

"It’s Dad. He had a massive heart attack. They’re prepping him for emergency surgery, but Tony, it’s bad. Really bad."

My heart stopped.

"I’m coming. I’m coming right now."

I hang up and switch back to Vivian’s line.

"Tony?" She sounds annoyed now. "The buyers are leaving in fifteen minutes-"

"I’m out."

"What?"

"The deal. I’m out, find another investor."

"Tony, this is millions of dollars-" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"I don’t care." My voice is flat and dead. "My father’s dying. I’m done."

I hang up on her and stand in the rain for one more second.

Everything’s falling apart.

Katherine’s gone.

My father’s dying.

The business I’ve been obsessing over for six months suddenly means nothing.

I flag down a cab.

"Manhattan General. Fast."

As we drive through the rain-soaked streets, I stare at Katherine’s ring.

I chose wrong. For six months, I chose wrong.

Built an empire. Lost everything that mattered.

And now my father’s dying, and Katherine’s gone, and I’m completely alone.