Fake Death, Real Exorcist, Don Never Forgot Chapter 02

That night, Lysandra stayed at the Visconti villa.

For the next seven days, she never left.

During those seven days, Donovano didn’t contact me once. He also refused to let anyone enter that villa. No one knew what he and Lysandra talked about behind those doors.

But what else could have happened between them?

Wasn’t it obvious?

My husband’s betrayal shattered me. I couldn’t sleep at night.

So I contacted my brother and told him everything.

He said he was in pain too. But he had truly loved Lysandra, and he didn’t want to hurt her.

He told me he wouldn’t come back to New York. He would stay overseas and build a life far away from all of it.

I told him I couldn’t stay beside a man whose heart had already changed.

I had to leave Donovano.

And I had to do it in a way that would make him give up on me forever.

So I staged an accident and made it look like I died in the chaos of a gunfight. After that, I set a fire and burned away every trace I left behind.

Everyone believed I had died there.

In truth, I left New York with my unborn child and came to Los Angeles. Under a new identity, Jane Miller, I started over.

Los Angeles was always full of sunlight. The summer ocean breeze was soft, and even the winters were warmer than New York’s.

I opened a coffee shop here and raised my son alone.

I hadn’t been sick in a very long time.

Not until this. Not until I suddenly fainted and started waking up every day feeling like my body had been drained hollow.

I didn’t understand why.

Then a mysterious exorcist told me my soul was being summoned. Hard to believe, but too terrifying to ignore.

The only person who knew I was dead and had the power to summon my soul was Donovano.

But why would he do that?

Did he think I had died with his child and wanted to drag me out of hell just to condemn me?

It made no sense.

And even if he really was the one calling my soul, what then? Was I supposed to go see him?

I was only an ordinary coffee shop owner now. I had no power to fight a mafia Don with half the city in his grip.

I couldn’t gamble my life on his mercy.

I still had to raise my child.

“Mom! I got you cake!”

Cassian’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

He ran across the front lawn, pushed the door open, and carefully set the cake on the table.

“Eat it, Mom. You’ll feel better after you eat it.”

He looked at me with bright, hopeful eyes.

It was his favorite blueberry cake.

Whenever he got sick, I bought him one to cheer him up. So in his little world, blueberry cake could probably chase away any illness.

He didn’t know what was wrong with me.

But he cared.

He was the best, sweetest child in the world. I was lucky he had been by my side through the hardest years of my life.

“Okay, baby. I’ll eat it right now.”

For my son, I had to live. And I had to stay far away from Donovano.

I sent an email to Renaldi. He had been developing his medical business in Italy lately and had connections with plenty of officials. Maybe he knew a stronger exorcist, or a witch, or someone who could actually help.

After I sent the email, I headed to my coffee shop like I did every day.

Then I saw thick smoke pouring out of a window by the street.

A little girl was crying at the window.

A few good Samaritans had dragged over a mattress, but the girl was too scared to jump.

I kicked off my heels and climbed the outside wall to the fourth floor with practiced speed.

Five years of hiding hadn’t changed what I was.

I had still been trained by the mafia.

I carefully lifted the sobbing little girl into my arms and brought her back down to the ground.

The crowd broke into applause.

Someone raised a phone and snapped a photo of me.

“Don’t take my picture!” I said sharply.

But that person had already disappeared into the crowd.

Then the little girl’s mother rushed over.

It was Vera.

The mysterious exorcist.

“My baby!”

Vera hugged her daughter tightly, tears streaming down her face.

“I don’t even know how to thank you…”

Then she saw my face clearly and froze.

“It’s you.”

For a second, frustration flashed across her face. Then she exhaled sharply.

“Fine. I don’t have much confidence, but I’ll help you. I’ll find a way to clear the damage being done to your soul.”