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Chapter 4

作者: Jasmine Flower
Viola POV

“Do you think I should blame you?”

Camilla’s expression froze for a moment.

“I never wanted to compete with you over anything.”

I tucked the handkerchief into my bag.

“Camilla, I came back to lay our father to rest. I have no intention of interfering in your marriage.”

Footsteps sounded on the stone path.

She glanced over my shoulder and smiled.

“Nicholas, why did you come up? I thought you were going to wait for me in the car.”

I turned around.

He stopped a few steps away, looking first at me, then at Camilla.

“It’s cold up here. We should head down.”

“I’m fine. I just wanted a little more time to talk to Viola.”

Camilla walked over and slipped her arm through his. As she moved closer, she smoothed the lapel of his coat.

Nicholas glanced down at her. He didn’t pull his arm away.

I looked back at my father’s photograph.

“I’ll be back for you tomorrow, Dad.”

Then I turned and walked down the stone steps.

“Viola,” Camilla called after me. “Let Nicholas drive you. It’s too late for you to be out alone.”

“No, thank you. I’ll call a car.”

Nicholas followed me.

“Your suitcase is still in the car.”

“I know. Please have someone open the trunk for me.”

At the cemetery entrance, he had one of his men take out my suitcase. I took the handle and booked a ride.

Nicholas stayed beside me until the car arrived.

I loaded my suitcase and got into the back seat. Before closing the door, I saw Camilla coming down the steps. She walked over to Nicholas, tilted her face up, and said something to him.

As the car pulled away, I looked away.

My phone rang a moment later.

Nicholas.

I didn’t answer.

When it stopped ringing, he sent a message.

“Our marriage three years ago wasn’t what you think. I want to explain it to you in person.”

He could have spoken at the airport. In the car.

But whenever he stood in front of me, he always began by telling me where to stay and who should drive me.

I didn’t reply. Instead, I opened my hotel reservation.

At check-in, the receptionist told me that the standard room I had booked had been upgraded to a suite.

“The Bellanti family office arranged it. The difference has already been paid.”

“Please give me the room I originally booked.”

She confirmed my request, made a new key card, and handed it to me with my ID.

The elevator took me to the eighteenth floor.

As soon as the doors opened, I saw an older man in a dark gray suit standing in the elevator lobby.

Antonio, the Bellanti family’s butler.

He put away his phone when he saw me and came forward.

“Miss Viola, Mr. Bellanti has asked you to return to the estate for dinner. The car is downstairs.”

“I’ll be at the ceremony on time tomorrow. Everything else can wait until afterward.”

“Your mother and sister will be there, too.”

He reached for my suitcase. I kept it beside me.

“Tell them I’ll see them tomorrow.”

Antonio withdrew his hand.

“I’m afraid it can’t wait, miss.”

“Why?”

He glanced down the hallway and lowered his voice.

“Mr. Bellanti asked me to tell you that tonight’s discussion concerns your arrangements after the ceremony.”

“What arrangements?”

“He says you won’t need to go back to Paris.”
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  • He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting   Chapter 54

    Viola POVAlessandro drove me to the airport.Before I got out, he handed back my father’s unsigned proposal concerning the transit rights.“This ends here. You don’t owe me any business rights, and you don’t owe me a marriage.”I put the document away.“Next time you’re in Paris, dinner’s on me.”He smiled.“That I can accept.”When the plane took off, I didn’t snap my SIM card or change my number.This time, I wasn’t afraid of anyone finding me. It was simply time to go back to work.On my first day back, a colleague had my locker key waiting for me. She asked how things had gone in Italy.“It’s all settled,” I said.She hugged me, then handed me a work schedule we needed to discuss. I hung up my coat and sat down at my familiar desk.The reports on my Italian assets arrived on time, handled by the manager I had chosen. Whenever a signature was needed, they asked me directly.I hadn’t returned what my father left me. I didn’t have to give up the life I had chosen to keep it, either.

  • He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting   Chapter 53

    Viola POVThat evening, Mother asked me back to the estate.There was chicken soup on the table, with only two bowls.“I’m going to Switzerland with Camilla tomorrow for her treatment.” She ladled soup into my bowl. “Before we leave, I wanted to make this for you.”I sat down without picking up my spoon.“When you were little, I made this every time she came home from the hospital. You wanted some, too. I always told you there was other food in the kitchen.”Mother looked down at the rim of her bowl.“I knew you were hurt. But whenever someone had to give in, I always turned to you first.”I waited a long time before asking, “Why?”Her fingers trembled.“Because you would agree. Later, when you stopped asking, I pretended you didn’t need anything.”I lowered my head. Tears fell into my bowl.She had known all along.I had tried so hard to be good, afraid of making things difficult for her, hoping that one day she would turn and see me without being asked.“I can’t tell you it’s all rig

  • He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting   Chapter 52

    Viola POVHis smile froze.After a long time, he asked, “Have you stopped loving me?”“When I heard you were hurt last night, I was still afraid. When I see you, I still remember what we had.”I tightened my grip on the tissue.“But I don’t want to wake up every day waiting for a message from you anymore.”“I won’t make you wait again.”“I believe you want to change. And these past few days, you have been changing.”His eyes reddened.“Then why…”“Because I’ve changed, too.”“When you used to say, ‘Leave it to me,’ I felt safe. Now, when I hear those words, my first thought is whether there’s something else you won’t tell me.”He looked at me without defending himself.“I don’t want to question you every time something happens, then force myself to trust you. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”“I can wait.”“But I don’t want you waiting for a future I don’t want to return to.”He couldn’t speak. I reached out, touched the back of his hand, then lowered mine.“I remember how you ca

  • He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting   Chapter 51

    Viola POVBefore the meeting ended, I confirmed the arrangements for my inheritance.My share would be entrusted to an independent manager, with statements sent directly to me. Anything requiring my consent could not be signed on my behalf by the family or a future husband.Alessandro also confirmed before everyone that there was no engagement between us that either of us was obliged to honor.My grandfather proposed no further marriage alliances.Nicholas walked to the head of the table, laid down the family signet ring, and handed over the documents he had already signed.“I’m stepping down as Don. The advisers will take charge during the transition. A successor can be agreed upon separately.”My grandfather’s expression darkened.“This has only just been settled, and you’re leaving?”“The accounts, personnel, and authority to be transferred are all listed.”“North Harbor is stable now. There’s no need for you to leave.”“But I don’t want to continue.”Nicholas spoke calmly.“I used

  • He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting   Chapter 50

    Viola POV“Then let’s go through all of it,” I said.Ricci looked at me, his smile disappearing.“I haven’t asked anyone to believe my father just because I’m Marco’s daughter. If you have evidence he was involved, bring it out.”He glanced at the people around the table without answering.“But you can’t use a single insinuation to leave that accusation hanging over him for another three years.”The bookkeeper was brought in. He admitted he had altered the summary figures on Ricci’s instructions. After discovering the discrepancies, my father had insisted on seeing the original records.“After Marco died, he told me to hand over the ledger. I was afraid I’d end up taking the blame, so I kept copies of a few pages.”“You’re lying,” Ricci said coldly.The adviser placed the verified payment records before him. One payment had gone to a maintenance worker at the warehouse.That man was called in, too.Nicholas had spent three years looking for him. He had refused to speak until someone wa

  • He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting   Chapter 49

    Viola POVAt nine that morning, we entered the estate.My grandfather sat at the head of the long table. The district bosses and advisers had already arrived. Mother and Camilla sat on the other side.Nicholas had arrived ahead of us, the bandages on his shoulder hidden beneath his jacket.He pulled out a chair for me instead of having me sit behind him.“Does it still hurt?” I asked quietly.“A little.”I nodded and placed my documents on the table.Victor Ricci was brought in shortly afterward. He looked at Nicholas, then at me.“Marco’s daughter has finally decided to come home.”He sat, his gaze settling on my folder.“I hear you intend to use a few old papers to accuse me of causing your father’s death?”“First, I’d like you to explain something.”I pushed the two records into the center of the table.“This receiving ledger was signed for after my father died and taken to your office. Why does the inventory your office later provided say it was destroyed in the accident?”The advi

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