Chapter 3

By the time I returned to the Romano estate, Luca’s signature was already hidden inside the dissolution papers.

He sat beside me in the car, silent all the way back from the clinic. Smoke still clung to his coat, and every turn of the road pulled at the wound beneath my bandage.

When the gates opened, he finally spoke.

“My parents asked us to join them for dinner. My mother had the kitchen make what you like.”

Before I could answer, one of Celeste’s men crossed the drive and bent close to Luca’s ear.

Luca’s expression changed.

“Celeste is still shaken from the fire,” he said. “She can’t stand the smell of smoke. I’ll check on her first.”

He left before dinner began.

The Romano dining room was quiet without him. Donna Sofia sat across from me, her eyes fixed on the empty chair at my side until her face slowly hardened.

“He went to Celeste again.”

I lowered my fork.

The old Don said nothing, but the look he gave her was warning enough. Donna Sofia ignored it.

“That woman has never been as helpless as she pretends. If Luca knew she was once promised to Matteo Vitale, he would not keep rushing to save her.”

“I know,” I said.

Donna Sofia looked at me.

Celeste had once been promised to Matteo Vitale, heir to a rival family. The Romanos had kept it from Luca because they feared he would cross into Vitale territory and start a war for a woman who had already chosen another house once.

In the last life, I had used that secret to comfort myself. I told myself Luca only mourned Celeste because he never knew the truth.

This time, the truth no longer helped me.

Donna Sofia’s voice softened.

“Elena, we thought Luca felt differently about you. That was why we accepted this marriage.”

I looked at the empty chair beside me.

“If he did, he would be here.”

The old Don finally looked up.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m leaving him.”

The room went still.

I folded my hands in my lap and kept my voice calm.

“The dissolution papers are signed. Once the family lawyer files them, Luca and I will no longer be married.”

Donna Sofia’s eyes widened. “Luca signed?”

“He thought it was another sentimental promise.”

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Ash drifted against the windows, and far beyond the estate walls, sirens still echoed from the docks.

“Please don’t tell him yet,” I said. “Let the lawyer file it first. After that, whatever he chooses will no longer trap me.”

That night, I returned to my room early.

The wound at my side had started to throb, and I had just taken off my coat when the door was pushed open.

Luca stood outside, soot on his coat and anger hardening his eyes.

“So you did complain to them.”

I looked at him. “What happened?”

“My mother went to Celeste. They argued. Bianca ran out during the shouting and disappeared.” His voice turned cold. “Are you satisfied now?”

For a moment, I said nothing.

Then I reached for my coat.

“I’ll find her.”

Luca gave a short, bitter laugh.

“Don’t pretend to be kind. If Bianca is hurt, that is on you.”

I walked past him without answering.

Celeste had been placed in the guest house near the lower garden. The lights were still on when I arrived. Through the smoke-stained window, I saw Luca holding her while she cried against his chest.

I looked away and kept searching.

The fire crews had left the garden paths slick with water and foam. My side hurt with every step, and the night air worked through my dress, but I checked the hedges, the fountain, the servants’ path, and the storage rooms behind the kitchens.

Near dawn, I heard a faint cry from the ruined greenhouse beyond the lemon trees.

Bianca was trapped beneath a fallen shelf, soaked and shivering. A pale ribbon was tangled around one paw.

It was the same ribbon Celeste had worn earlier.

I freed the cat and carried her back against my chest.

Celeste rushed out as soon as she saw us.

“Bianca!”

She took the trembling cat from me, then turned to Luca with fresh tears in her eyes.

“She’s freezing. Luca, please, we have to take her to the family vet. Cats can die from shock, can’t they?”

Luca looked at me then.

For one brief second, his gaze stopped on my face, then moved to the blood seeping through my bandage.

I held the doorframe and said, “I’m fine. Take them.”

Celeste sobbed his name.

The hesitation in his eyes disappeared.

Luca took Bianca from her, helped Celeste into the black SUV, and left without another word.

When the car disappeared down the drive, the strength I had been holding together all night finally broke.

I woke in the clinic after sunrise.

No one from the Romano family was beside the bed.

I did not call Luca, and I did not wait for him to remember me. I signed the discharge papers myself, returned to the estate for my passport, the dissolution papers, and one small suitcase, then left before anyone came looking.