Chapter 2

Matteo had left the wedding early and made it home before me. When I unlocked the door to our riverside apartment, the first thing that caught my eye was the photo wall in the entryway.

Once upon a time, that wall was filled with photos of Matteo and me. There were pictures of us right after graduation, crowding into a cheap diner to split a single plate of spaghetti. There were pictures of him spinning me around in the rain when he got his very first bonus from the family. We had been together for five whole years, and five years of memories used to cover that wall.

Now, everything had changed. Every single frame that used to hold my face had been torn down. In their place were photos of him and Livia taken at a church. They were holding hands, embracing, and practically kissing.

Matteo walked over. “Don’t overthink it. The photos will be in our frames for a few days. I’ll take them down soon.”

I gave a soft murmur. “Okay.”

I pretended not to notice how his hand was holding Livia’s waist in the pictures, and I selectively ignored how close their lips were to touching. Silently, I took off my coat, hung up my bag, and opened the shoe cabinet to change into my house slippers.

The next second, a sharp screech echoed from the bathroom.

“Don’t touch those!”

Livia came rushing out, barefoot. She was wearing one of Matteo’s white dress shirts, the hem barely covering her thighs, and her hair was soaking wet. My orange blossom shampoo wafted off her skin. She had used my shampoo, my body wash, and my lotion.

Her eyes locked onto the slippers in my hand, and her voice instantly softened. “Serena, those are my slippers. Matteo bought me the real thing in Paris.”

She bit down hard on the words ‘the real thing.’ “I had mentioned in passing that your slippers looked nice, and Matteo went out of his way to buy me the same pair. He even went to the flagship store in Paris himself. He said my feet are too delicate to wear cheap knockoffs.”

After she finished, she covered her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… Serena, you shouldn’t wear fakes anymore. You should have Matteo buy you a real pair. He’s wealthy now, not the penniless kid he used to be.”

Those slippers were just a generic pair I had bought on a whim. I didn’t even know what brand they were, yet she was desperate to use them to humiliate me.

I looked up, but before I could say a word, Matteo playfully flicked her forehead. “Why do you think I was broke back then? It was because I spent every single penny I had on you.”

Livia gave his chest a playful punch and replied, “Stop it, you did that completely of your own free will. Besides, why aren’t you spending money on Serena now? Do you think Serena isn’t worth it?”

When the words ‘not worth it’ hit me, a flood of memories came rushing back.

For my father’s sixtieth birthday, Matteo had offered to host a celebration. In the end, he picked the cheapest restaurant down by the docks, choosing a set menu that cost fifty dollars per person. When I suggested switching to a nicer, more respectable place, he frowned and said, “Old people can’t eat that much anyway. It’s just a formality. Why waste the money?”

Later, when he became a capo in the Moretti mafia family, I attended a ball with him. I had put on a full face of makeup that day, but he took one look at my evening gown and his face hardened.

“You’re only wearing it once. Renting a secondhand dress would have been fine. We need to save money for the wedding. If you keep wasting money like this, how are we supposed to build a life together?”

Back then, I was too naive. I thought he was just naturally frugal, wanting to pool our money so we could have a better future after marriage. I never realized that he simply thought I wasn’t worth the expense.

Now that the person he actually deemed worthy was back, he could buy the pure gold chain with the ruby pendant for her without a second thought. Even for a pair of slippers that Livia would only wear once, he had to buy her authentic Hermès because he couldn’t bear to let her suffer. Compared to Livia, the last five years of my life truly felt like a joke.

Noticing my embarrassment, Livia punched Matteo’s chest again. “You’re a bad boy. You’d better buy nice, expensive things for Serena from now on. Do you hear me?”

Her gentle, teasing blows were like tickles to Matteo.

Matteo playfully dodged them with a laugh. “Alright, alright, I’ll do whatever you say.”

Finally, I spoke up. “Enough.”

I looked at both of them and said, “I have money, and I will buy the things I want myself. I don't accept charity, and I have absolutely no interest in watching you two flirt in front of me. Also, I don't like other people using my things.”

Livia lowered her head, nervously playing with the buttons of her shirt as she sniffled.

I added one last thing. “Of course, men are the exception. If you like him, you can have him.”

With that, I walked into the bathroom, grabbed the shampoo, body wash, and lotion that Livia had touched, and threw them all into the trash. The glass bottles hit the bottom of the bin with a heavy thud.

After I shut the door to the bedroom, it wasn't long before Livia’s muffled crying drifted in from outside. A moment later, Matteo burst through the door.

He stood at the door and snapped, “Serena, what the hell was that supposed to mean?”