"Great," I said, smiling as well.
I had given them a chance. Even at the very end, I had hoped, just a little, that they might show a trace of humanity. A sliver of gratitude. Something.
But human nature is blinding. Like staring straight into the sun. Look too long, and you lose your sight completely.
Around us, people whispered in confusion, unable to understand how things had come to this. No one could quite grasp how someone like me, a Valente by blood, a woman who had built an empire worth billions through the Family's legitimate operations and the darker channels beneath them, could end up raising another woman's children like some tragic fool.
"Seraphina," Nico said coldly, his tone stripped of all pretense now. He tugged the cuff of his left sleeve down over his wrist. "This party has nothing to do with you anymore."
He glanced around as if already claiming everything in sight. The estate. The soldiers. The name.
"You can leave," he added. "And while you're at it, tell your parents to pack up too. The mansion is in my kids' names now."
I tilted my head slightly, a slow, knowing smile spreading across my face.