The Last Goodbye

PART 4 — THE PRICE OF REGRET

Three weeks after I left Diego Moretti, my life had changed completely.

I was no longer hiding behind the name Kora Martinez.

I attended Rosetti family meetings, reviewed business contracts, and began learning how to manage the empire my father had spent decades building.

But despite everything, I still hadn’t signed the final divorce papers.

Not because I wanted Diego back.

I simply hadn’t found the strength to close that chapter completely.

One afternoon, Marcus entered my father’s office.

“Miss Rosetti, there’s someone downstairs asking to see you.”

“Who?”

He hesitated.

“Diego Moretti.”

My fingers stopped moving across the documents.

My father immediately looked up.

“Tell him she’s unavailable.”

I shook my head.

“It’s fine, Daddy. I’ll see him.”

Five minutes later, Diego walked into the room.

He looked different.

His expensive suit was slightly wrinkled, his beard unshaven, and the confidence he once wore like armor had disappeared.

His eyes immediately found mine.

“Kora.”

“Mr. Moretti.”

He flinched at the formality.

“I came to talk.”

“Then talk.”

He placed a small velvet box on the desk.

Inside was my wedding ring.

“I found this beside your note. I thought you might want it back.”

I glanced at the ring but didn’t touch it.

“Keep it. I don’t need it anymore.”

Diego swallowed.

“I’ve been thinking about everything you said. About how I treated you.”

“And?”

“I was wrong.”

I said nothing.

He continued.

“I thought because I gave you everything, you would never leave. I thought you would always be waiting when I came home.”

A bitter smile crossed my face.

“That was your biggest mistake.”

He stepped closer.

“I’m ending things with Sophia.”

“That isn’t my concern.”

“She was never important to me the way you are.”

I finally looked directly at him.

“Diego, do you understand what you’re saying? You’re still making this about choosing between two women. I don’t want to be chosen. I wanted to be respected.”

His eyes became glassy.

For the first time, the feared mafia boss looked completely helpless.

“I miss you,” he whispered.

“I miss the man I thought you were.”

Before he could answer, my father entered.

“That’s enough, Moretti.”

Diego straightened.

“Vincent, I know I don’t deserve forgiveness, but I love your daughter.”

My father stared at him coldly.

“Love isn’t something you announce when you’re afraid of losing what belongs to you.”

Diego lowered his head.

Then he turned toward me.

“I’ll sign the divorce papers.”

I nodded.

“Thank you.”

He walked toward the door, stopping once more.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“What?”

“If I had known who you were from the beginning, would things have been different?”

I thought about the question for a long moment.

Then I answered honestly.

“I hope you would have treated me the same. Because I wanted a husband who loved Kora, not a man who wanted the Rosetti empire.”

Diego closed his eyes.

He finally understood.

And then he left.

Two days later, the divorce was finalized.

I signed my name as Kora Rosetti.

No more pretending.

No more waiting.

No more looking at the door every night, hoping someone would come home.

That evening, my father found me standing on the balcony.

“Regretting anything?” he asked.

I smiled faintly.

“Only that I didn’t come home sooner.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“Then don’t waste another day.”

For the first time in three years, I felt completely free.

Meanwhile, Diego returned to his penthouse.

The emerald necklace was still sitting on the table where I had left it.

He picked it up and stared at it for a long time.

Then he noticed something beneath the velvet box.

A photograph.

It was taken on our wedding day.

I was smiling at him as if he were the entire world.

Diego sank onto the sofa.

He had won businesses, defeated enemies, and built an empire.

But the one thing he had never learned was how to keep the love of a woman who had given him everything.

And now, even if he spent the rest of his life regretting it, Kora Rosetti would never be his wife again.