공유

Chapter 5

작가: Ethereal
One hour before the succession banquet, I finished preparing in a dark red gown with my grandmother's ruby brooch pinned over my heart. Two female guards waited outside, and every weapon in the room had been registered.

Bianca entered after the stylist left. She wore the black dress she had taken from my wardrobe. The removed crest had left a faint line of stitches at the waist.

She closed the door. Her usual timidity disappeared. "Why should you have everything?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You were born with the Romano name while I survived on your family's charity. I understand Luca better than you do, and I need him more. He only has to marry you because you are Vittorio's daughter."

"No one is forcing him to marry me."

"He will lose the council seat, the ports, and control of the armed division if he refuses you. You can pretend that he has a choice because you already possess everything."

"My family paid for your education and gave you a home and a career after your father died. You do not have to feel grateful, but you have no right to call that help a humiliation."

Her face twisted. "Do you think Luca loves you? He told me that he would take control of the council after your marriage. Once he rules the Romano family, you will never interfere with us again."

At last, I understood what Bianca truly wanted from Luca. Not only his love, but the Romano power he believed my marriage would place in his hands.

Bianca did not only want Luca. She wanted to use him to claim my name, my power, and everything that belonged to me.

"You should make certain that he will actually enter the council tonight."

Her smile vanished. "What does that mean?"

"Romano authority comes from blood and council recognition, not from a man's promises. Even even if I chose Luca, he would remain my deputy. He would never become the head of my family."

Bianca stared at my crest. Hatred gathered in her eyes. "If you refuse to give Luca what belongs to him, do not blame me for what happens next."

She pulled a compact pistol from her purse. I recognized the serial number. The weapon was registered to me and should have been locked in the room's safe.

Before I could reach her, Bianca pressed the muzzle to her shoulder and fired. The bullet grazed her flesh, and blood spread across the black velvet. She dropped the gun at my feet and screamed.

The guards rushed inside. Bianca covered her shoulder and stared at me in terror. "Miss Romano, I only asked you to release Luca. Why did you shoot me?"

Luca appeared in the doorway. He saw her blood and my gun on the floor, then tried to take the weapon from my waist without checking the cameras or questioning the guards.

"Have you lost your mind, Alexandra?"

I avoided his hand. My guards pinned him against the wall and disarmed him when he tried again.

"Take Bianca to the medical wing," I ordered. "Seal this room and retrieve the corridor and safe records. No one touches that gun without my permission."

"You shot her, and you still only care about an investigation?" Luca demanded.

"Someone stole a weapon registered in my name and fired it before the succession banquet. We will investigate regardless of who was wounded."

My father's security chief arrived and removed Luca from the room.

The banquet began on schedule. Allied families from New York, Chicago, and Sicily filled the ballroom. The nine candidates waited below the stage as my father prepared to announce my choice.

Luca stepped forward. "Please wait. Before Alexandra makes her decision, I require a guarantee from you and the council. Bianca will remain under my protection. Alexandra may not expel or punish her out of personal jealousy after the engagement. If you refuse this condition, I will not accept the marriage."

Even believing that I had shot Bianca, he was still willing to marry me. He did not want justice for her. He wanted Romano power strong enough to place her permanently beyond my authority.

Whispers spread through the ballroom. The guests looked at me, expecting me to surrender to keep him.

My father laughed without warmth. "Your condition has nothing to do with tonight's engagement because my daughter never chose you. Her fiancé and the future Don of the Romano family is Matteo Caruso."

Silence consumed the ballroom. Then every face turned toward Luca.
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  • He Left Me to Die, So I Made His Rival the Don   Chapter 12

    Three years later, Matteo and I married at the Romano estate in Sicily. Before the ceremony, my father placed the ring of the family head on my hand in the presence of all our allies.Among the congratulations from New York, Chicago, and Sicily was a letter from northern Italy. Luca did not ask to attend or seek my forgiveness again."I have spent these years confronting my choices," he wrote. "I finally understand that an apology cannot undo the harm I caused, and taking a bullet cannot erase the death I once left you to face. I no longer expect forgiveness. I hope you live the life you chose for yourself."I folded the letter and gave it to the steward for the family archive. The past had not disappeared, but it no longer controlled my future.After the wedding, Matteo and I returned to New York. I personally managed the Romano family's legitimate businesses, reorganized the ports, hotels, and foundation, and gradually withdrew from the operations most likely to provoke violence. Mat

  • He Left Me to Die, So I Made His Rival the Don   Chapter 11

    I shook my head and pointed toward Luca. "Save him first."Matteo immediately summoned the medical team. Our soldiers disarmed Victor and the remaining Santoro men. Two female guards dragged Bianca away while she screamed Luca's name, but he had already lost consciousness.In our previous life, Bianca had used her supposed suicide to turn Luca against me. In this life, she had returned to the same conspiracy. This time, the lies she prepared for me became the evidence that buried her instead.The medics stabilized Luca and transported him to the Romano private hospital. I remained at the terminal with my father and the council. We found records of Santoro weapons trafficking and the intrusion into our port system. The camera had recorded Bianca’s confession about the suicide she had tried to stage in our previous life. Her current messages with Victor also proved that they had falsified the port alert, attacked my guards, and abducted me in exchange for control of Pier Seventeen. We

  • He Left Me to Die, So I Made His Rival the Don   Chapter 10

    I woke tied to a metal chair inside an abandoned Santoro freight terminal. Water struck the docks beyond a rusted rolling door. Several men stood nearby, led by Victor Santoro, the head of a rival family that had spent years trying to seize control of the Romano ports.Bianca’s heels clicked across the concrete. She had lost weight, but excitement burned in her eyes.Bianca's heels clicked across the concrete. She had lost weight, but excitement burned in her eyes."You sent the false alert," I said."Luca never guarded his credentials from me. Copying his code was easy." She crouched in front of me. "I could not understand why everything changed in this life. You stopped fighting me for Luca and refused to choose him. Then I realized that you came back too.""You gave the Santoros our yacht route."She smiled. "I only told them the Romano heir would be at sea. Victor promised to take you away. Once you disappeared, Luca would inherit the family and eventually marry me. The explosives

  • He Left Me to Die, So I Made His Rival the Don   Chapter 9

    Luca stopped appearing after that day. Matteo and I began managing Romano affairs together, and he formally assumed control of port security and the armed division.We once argued late into the night about the rotation of guards at the port. Matteo followed my decision the next morning, but added a separate emergency unit. That unit later prevented a shipment from being stolen. He did not use the outcome to prove me wrong. Instead, he placed a revised plan on my desk."Your judgment was sound. My security plan lacked a sufficient contingency."With Luca, I had believed that love required endless surrender. I had accepted his suspicion, tolerated his favoritism, and constantly proved to Bianca that I was not abusing my position to separate them. Matteo showed me that a healthy bond did not require either person to diminish herself. We could disagree and retain our own judgment without allowing a third person to stand above my dignity or safety.On Matteo's birthday, I booked a private r

  • He Left Me to Die, So I Made His Rival the Don   Chapter 8

    After the succession banquet, my father revoked Luca's access to the estate and the armed division. Luca's car appeared across the road for several days, but he never tried to cross the security line. He watched from a distance whenever Matteo and I left together.My father also ordered an investigation into Bianca. Laundry room footage showed that she had entered the restricted cleaning area without instructions and deliberately soaked her hands in a solution containing bleach. Cameras near the docks proved that her supposed attempt to jump into the Hudson had been staged. She had disabled her location to lure Luca there, but never approached the water. Electronic records from my safe also showed that she had copied Luca's access credentials, entered my dressing room, and stolen the pistol used to wound her shoulder.The foundation suspended her, but she disappeared before security could bring her in for questioning.One afternoon, Luca stopped my car outside the estate as I prepared

  • He Left Me to Die, So I Made His Rival the Don   Chapter 7

    Matteo held my hand during the drive back to the estate. City lights passed over his face before he finally spoke."I have wanted to ask you something. You loved Luca for years. Why did you cross out his name so quickly this time?"The question returned me to my childhood. A fire broke out in an old wing of the Romano estate when I was ten. I had inhaled so much smoke by the time I was rescued that I barely remained conscious.When I woke, Luca sat beside my bed with a bandaged arm and soot on his face. Everyone told me that he had entered the burning building and carried me out through a window. I believed that I owed him my life.My mother died when I was young, and my father spent most of his time managing the family. Once Luca became a candidate, he often stayed at the estate.He taught me to shoot, escorted me to family events, and waited outside my room after nightmares. He treated me well, and I assumed that we would naturally marry when we grew older.Everything changed after B

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