4

Back at the hotel, I got a text from my bank about a charge.

My card had just been charged 50,000 euros.

The charge came from the most exclusive jewelry store in Palermo.

I remembered Avery saying the day before that she wanted a one-of-a-kind tiara to go with her gown.

I looked at the text and couldn't even summon the energy to be angry.

I'd given that card to Luca myself.

When we first got together, the Lorenzetti name was so big that everyone thought I was a gold digger.

I didn't want Luca to think so too. So I did the dumbest, most sincere thing I could think of: I handed him the savings I'd built up over the years.

I was so nervous when I told him, "Luca, it's not much, but it's everything I have."

Luca had been deeply moved.

He'd locked the card in his safe and never touched it.

Now he'd deliberately used that card to buy another woman a custom tiara fancy enough to upstage the bride.

I didn't call Luca or text him to demand answers.

I just waited quietly for the final rehearsal.

Three days later, I showed up at the church for the rehearsal right on time.

Avery was already there.

She was wearing that silver couture gown, standing at the altar and talking with Luca about where to put the flowers.

The lights caught the exquisite diamond tiara on her head. It was worth a fortune.

When Luca saw me, his relaxed expression turned into a scowl.

"What you said that day was way out of line. Avery cried all night! That tiara will count as your apology to her."

He came over as if there were nothing to discuss.

I said nothing. I just looked around the reception hall. The decorations weren't what I'd agreed on with the wedding planner.

"Avery has good taste, so I had her change a few details," Luca said. "The whole setup looks much classier now."

I nodded like I didn't care. Then I picked up the seating chart Avery had put together.

The front row on the right was for Luca's family.

The front row on the left, which was supposed to be for my family, listed Avery and her family instead.

When Avery saw me staring at the chart, her eyes filled with tears.

"I... I just wanted to be close by to help Luca with the older relatives. Chloe, don't be mad. I'll change it right now."

As she spoke, she hurried over to take the chart from me.

Before I could react, she grabbed my hand and used it to slap herself across the face.

"Ah!"

Avery screamed, clutched her face, and collapsed to the floor.

"Avery!"

Without thinking, Luca shoved me hard out of the way to get to Avery.

"Chloe! Have you lost your mind? Avery already apologized. Why would you hit her?!"

I didn't see it coming. I fell backward and slammed into the champagne tower behind me.

Crystal glasses crashed down. Shards cut into my back and palms, and blood streaked my long white dress before spreading across the carpet.

Luca gave me a cold look. Without a word, he picked Avery up and walked out of the church without looking back.

The staff and Lorenzetti family members milled around in confusion, but nobody dared help me up.

I sat there in the broken glass, looking at the blood all over my hands.

The strange thing was, it didn't hurt at all.

For seven years, I'd worn down every sharp edge of myself to fit into his world and endured every slight.

Now these shards had cut through the last of my illusions.

I took out my phone and called my wedding planner, Paul Morrison.

"Hello, Mr. Morrison?"

"Ms. Russo, how's the rehearsal going? We're doing the final lighting checks..."

I looked at the wreckage in the hall and spoke slowly, one word at a time.

"Cancel everything for tomorrow. The wedding is off. Take down all the decorations except the welcome poster."

"What? Does Mr. Lorenzetti know?"

"He doesn't need to know."

In the ER, a doctor was cleaning my wounds.

While I was getting stitched up, my phone buzzed. It was Luca.

"Take some time to calm down. Avery's parents are sitting in the front row tomorrow. If you can't accept that, I guess the wedding's off."

Even now, he was still using the wedding to control me.

He'd always known how much I was looking forward to it.

I looked at the screen and let out a soft laugh.

Then I turned off my phone without replying.

After stitching me up, the doctor told me to keep the wounds dry, avoid lifting anything heavy, and have someone stay with me if possible.

I nodded, left the hospital, and went straight to the hotel.

My suitcase was already packed.

At one in the morning, I dragged my suitcase into the airport.

While I waited in line to check in, I scrolled to Avery's page.

Her latest photo showed two hands, fingers laced together.

The diamond ring on Avery's slim finger stood out in the shot.

The caption read, "Thank you for always being here for me."

I saved the photo, then blocked her.

The next day, Luca arrived at the church, stone-faced, surrounded by the Lorenzetti family.

The moment the doors swung open, everyone froze.