Chapter 2 - The Ruthless Manager
Two hours before Dante walked into Bellanote, Maya’s life was falling apart in the restaurant’s back kitchen.
Maya was a hardworking young woman struggling to pay off her late mother’s staggering medical debts. She worked sixteen-hour shifts, enduring the constant verbal abuse of Victor, the greedy, arrogant general manager of Bellanote.
Victor was secretly embezzling cash from the restaurant’s payroll account and taking under-the-table bribes from high-society guests to secure private dining rooms. To cover up his missing funds, Victor docked Maya’s wages every week, falsely accusing her of breaking glassware and messing up guest orders.
"You're lucky I don't fire you and throw you on the street, Maya!" Victor had sneered earlier that evening, shoving a tray of heavy dirty dishes into her tired hands. "You're a useless nobody! You work until midnight tonight, or you don't get a single dime of your paycheck!"
Maya had quietly swallowed her tears, nodding her head as she scrubbed grease off silver platters in the sink. She couldn't afford to quit. Without this job, she couldn't pay the rent on her tiny studio apartment or buy food for the week.
Meanwhile, in the elite world of the Russo family, a dark betrayal had just taken place.
Dante Russo was not just a successful investor—he was the most feared power-broker in the city's underbelly, known for his uncompromising principles and fierce devotion to his daughter. Three days prior, his glamorous wife, Victoria, had abruptly packed her designer bags and vanished, taking twenty million dollars from Dante's private fund.
She left behind a cold, handwritten note stating she never wanted to be a mother and was starting a new life in Paris with her secret lover.
The sudden abandonment had deeply traumatized five-year-old Sophia. The child stopped speaking, refused to eat, and screamed in terror whenever any nanny or housekeeper tried to touch her.
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Desperate to comfort his grieving daughter, Dante had brought her to Bellanote, hoping the quiet atmosphere would help her relax. He never expected a penniless waitress to do what no doctor could.
👉 Click to continue reading and see how Victor reacted to Dante’s extraordinary offer.
