Chapter 2

Three minutes later, Damian came through the door with the cold still clinging to his coat.

The living room was dark. When he saw me by the entrance, guilt crossed his face.

“Sorry. I helped Sofia move this afternoon and fell asleep downstairs. Have you been waiting long?”

“Where did she move?”

Damian paused.

“Downstairs.”

I had already guessed, yet hearing him admit it still felt absurd. One floor below the home Damian and I had shared for seven years was the home he had prepared for his future Donna.

“The Bellinis entrusted her to me. I promised I’d look after her. Having her close makes things easier.”

Easier.

He could give her the public title, the wedding, and now a home directly beneath mine, all for convenience.

Damian noticed my expression.

“Don’t keep dwelling on this. I’ll take you for wedding photos tomorrow. You used to ask me about them.”

He had spent the day choosing a wedding dress with Sofia, and now he was offering me photographs that could never be shown publicly.

“Forget it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want them anymore.”

The next morning, Damian brought several bridal magazines. He had barely set them down when the doorbell rang.

Mr. and Mrs. Bellini stood outside carrying gifts. Their smiles vanished when they saw me.

Sofia’s mother noticed my pregnancy first.

“What are you doing here?”

Recognition hardened her face.

“You again? Sofia is about to have her Donna ceremony, and you’re pregnant and still living in Damian’s home. What exactly are you trying to do?”

I said nothing.

“You’ve followed Damian around for years. Now Sofia is about to marry into the Valenti family, and you’re still here. Do you have no shame about chasing another woman’s fiancé?”

Her husband looked me over coldly.

“Clinging to a man for years, getting pregnant, and moving into his home is humiliating.”

My hand tightened around the door handle, but I felt strangely calm.

So this was who I had always been to them.

Damian came out of the bedroom before I could answer. He slowed when he saw the Bellinis.

Sofia’s mother pointed at me.

“Damian, why is she living here? You’re about to marry Sofia. What do you think people will say about our daughter?”

Damian’s jaw tightened.

I watched him without asking for an explanation. He had had seven years to tell people I was his wife. I had already decided to leave, so I no longer needed a late defense.

“Say something,” Mrs. Bellini demanded.

“Elena has her reasons for staying here.”

“What reasons?”

Damian fell silent.

Mr. Bellini frowned.

“We trusted you with our daughter because we believed you would give her the respect she deserves. She will soon be Donna of the Valenti family. We won’t have rumors before the wedding.”

“There won’t be,” Damian said quickly. “Sofia’s Donna ceremony will not be affected.”

That was enough.

Mrs. Bellini looked at my stomach.

“And her? Are you planning to let her stay after you marry Sofia?”

I lifted my eyes.

“You’ve always believed I’m Damian’s mistress?”

She gave a cold laugh.

“Aren’t you?”

“Then perhaps you should ask whether the man Sofia plans to marry already has a wife.”

Both Bellinis froze.

Mr. Bellini’s expression changed.

“What does that mean?”

“It means—”

“Elena.”

Damian cut me off.

I turned toward him. His face was tense. He was afraid I would tell them the truth and destroy Sofia’s Donna ceremony.

Mrs. Bellini immediately looked at him.

“Damian, what is she talking about?”

The room stayed silent for several seconds.

Damian looked at me, then turned away.

“Elena will not affect Sofia.”

Mr. Bellini’s voice hardened.

“That isn’t what I asked. Who are you marrying?”

Damian’s fingers curled at his side.

“Sofia.”

One name was enough.

Mrs. Bellini’s expression relaxed as she turned back to me.

“You heard him. He’s getting married. How long do you plan to keep humiliating yourself?”

I looked at Damian.

He knew I was the woman whose name had been on his marriage certificate for seven years. He knew the child I carried was his. Still, in front of the Bellinis, Sofia was the woman he chose to call his bride.

Damian avoided my eyes.

“Elena, that’s enough for today. Don’t make this uglier than it already is.”

Mr. Bellini looked at me coldly.

“Have some dignity and walk away.”

I nodded.

“All right.”

Damian’s head snapped toward me, but I was already done.

He had just told everyone in that room exactly who he intended the world to see as his wife.