Chapter 2

Before I could say anything, I froze at the sight of Laura's wrist. She lifted her arm, pointing directly at us. The diamond bracelet sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. I had seen that same bracelet in Aldo's shopping cart before.

If I hadn't noticed it today, I would still be foolishly waiting for his surprise.

"What's with the silence? Are you simply too scared to answer?"

Laura's dazzling smile seemed to pierce right through me.

I released Carla and slowly rose to my feet. Snow soaked my boots, chilling me to the bone, yet it wasn't nearly as painful as the pang in my chest.

"The reports said Aldo's wife's last name is Fontana. She has a beauty mark near her eye, and she doesn't resemble you at all," I said calmly.

Laura's smile faltered for a moment.

I stared directly into her eyes and continued, "How dare you, a mistress, act so arrogantly here? Call Aldo here right now. I want to hear how he explains this."

Her expression shifted entirely. It wasn't guilt, but pure, seething anger.

"What does she even mean to him?" Laura snapped, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Aldo loves me, not her!"

She snatched her phone from her pocket and swiped across the screen. "When he gets here, you can ask him yourself!"

She called him, putting on a sickly-sweet tone. "Aldo, I'm being harassed by two women at the ski resort. You need to come right away."

After hanging up, she raised her chin and looked at me triumphantly.

"He'll be here in half an hour. You're done for."

Carla saw the bracelet and immediately put the pieces together.

"Aldo is such a jerk! He's just like my awful father! Novella, don't worry! My mom will definitely teach him a lesson!" Carla said fiercely.

Years ago, Aldo's father had cheated, leaving Aldo's mother to raise both Carla and Aldo alone and build their family from the ground up. She despised unfaithful men above all else.

If she found out about this, Aldo would lose his position as the Don of the Rossi family.

I wanted to see what excuse Aldo would come up with.

Since Carla was trembling, I hugged her and headed for the locker room, only for Roberto to shove us both to the ground again.

We fell hard, landing face-first in the snow.

Laura scoffed and swung her ski pole against my back. "You can't even stand, and you want to ski? If you love skiing so much, just stay down there!"

She then turned to Roberto and said, "Roberto, take care of them. Make them stay down a little longer…"

Every time Carla and I tried to get to our feet, Roberto shoved us back down. The snow had sapped our strength, and our body heat was dropping fast. Carla's face had turned a dark purple, and her breath was short and rapid.

"Carla?" I called out softly.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She seemed woozy and weak all over.

"She's having an asthma attack! We need to get her to the hospital!" I shouted.

Roberto hesitated for a beat.

A cruel smile twisted Laura's lips as she raised an eyebrow.

"What's with the act? You were hopping around on the slopes a minute ago, and now you're playing dead? Roberto, take off her ski jacket. Let's see how long she can keep pretending!"