The Unseen Donna

For three years, Chloe has been the Donna of the Romano family, yet she has never earned a seat at Don Lorenzo's Christmas table. Each year, contribution scores decide who sits beside him, and each year his Underboss, Sheila, takes the place Chloe fought for. This year Chloe prepares eighteen dishes, but arrives to find Sheila already seated, her steak being cut for her, while Chloe is offered leftovers and a folding chair by the servants' table.

When Chloe asks for one more seat, Lorenzo refuses. The Romano family makes no exceptions. She has cooked before dawn, learned every name and business tie, and still she is left out of the family portrait and the archive, her signature missing. The evening gown Elvira gave her, embroidered with the Donna's crest, has been altered for Sheila to wear before the elders.

Chloe retreats upstairs and takes out the divorce papers she prepared long ago, then signs her name.