Chapter 14 - They Offered Me Money to Leave Him, and I Finally Knew My Worth
The final threat arrived in a white envelope.
It contained a bank draft and a letter from a lawyer representing distant Moretti relatives.
The money was more than I had earned in ten years.
The letter called it a goodwill settlement.
Its conditions were simple.
I would end my relationship with Alessio and avoid public discussion of the family.
I read it twice.
Then I called the lawyer.
“I'm declining.”
“Ms. Romano, perhaps you don't understand the amount.”
“I understand it.”
“You have very little financial security.”
I looked around my apartment.
The secondhand sofa. The plants by the window. My father's photograph on the shelf.
“I have more than you think.”
When I told Alessio, he became furious.
“I'll make them answer for this.”
“No,” I said.
He stopped.
“I'm handling it.”
I hired my own attorney.
We returned the draft with a formal notice rejecting the attempt to purchase my silence.
The lawyer advised me to keep the correspondence.
I did.
I also went back to work.
For years, I'd repaired other women's dresses and accepted whatever they offered.
Now I rented a tiny studio and put my name on the door.
ISABELLA ROMANO — ALTERATIONS AND DESIGN.
My first client was a nurse who needed her wedding dress adjusted.
She looked in the mirror and began to cry.
“It's the first time I've felt beautiful in it.”
I smiled.
“Then we've done our job.”
That night, Alessio arrived with flowers.
He looked at the sign above my door.
“Your name,” he said.
“My name.”
He kissed my forehead.
May you like
“I like seeing it there.”
For the first time, I believed that a happy ending could begin before the story was over.
