Chapter 3

The Bellini family estate was never short on excitement.

Carlo's mother was in charge of all social affairs at the estate.

Every month, the long table was filled with esteemed guests, men in sharp suits and women in gold and diamonds mingling about.

And every time, Ava was the guest of honor.

As for me, the fiancée in name only, I was only summoned to make a token appearance on certain specific occasions.

By the time I stepped into the dining room, the meal had already begun.

The table was filled with the family's inner circle, and Ava was sitting right next to Carlo.

Carlo was turned slightly towards her, a silver knife in hand, patiently cutting her rare filet mignon.

His movements were so natural, I almost forgot this was a man who usually couldn't be bothered to tear his own bread at the table.

Hearing my footsteps, Ava looked up, her eyes crinkling in a smile.

"Lindia, you're here! We were all waiting for you."

I knew "we were all waiting for you" was just a formality.

I was invisible, basically nonexistent. Why would anyone be waiting for me?

I said nothing, just walked to the far end of the long table and took my seat.

The table was laden with expensive ingredients, most of which were to Ava's taste.

I, with my allergies, couldn't touch any of them and could only pick at a small side dish of roasted asparagus.

Halfway through the meal, Carlo's mother suddenly spoke with a smile.

"Lindia, has the wedding banquet menu been finalized?"

Before I could answer, she turned to Ava with another smile.

"Why don't we add that special seafood soup from your hometown? And that truffle risotto, Ava misses that flavor the most."

Ava lowered her head at the perfect moment, demurely.

"Madre, I just mentioned it casually. You don't have to go to all that trouble."

"If you want to eat it, we'll add it," Madre said in a doting tone. "It's a wedding banquet, after all. What's most important is that our own people enjoy themselves."

The bite of asparagus in my mouth turned to ash.

It was supposed to be my and Carlo's wedding.

It was bad enough that Carlo had been a completely hands-off groom from the start, but now even the menu at our wedding reception had to be tailored to Ava's palate.

But it didn't matter anymore.

This wedding wasn't going to happen anyway. What menu was there to even talk about?

I took a sip of red wine and just gave a soft "Mm."

The meal was as tasteless as chewing wax, and I could hardly wait for dessert to be served.

Carlo's mother smiled and beckoned me to the sofa for a cup of coffee, then turned to Ava with a laugh.

"Ava, go to the kitchen and prepare some tea for us."

Just as Ava was about to get up, Carlo frowned and pressed down on her wrist.

"Madre, Ava just got her nails done this morning. She can't get her hands wet. Lindia can go."

My fingers, holding the coffee cup, trembled slightly.

So Carlo did remember things like that.

But in the five whole years I had been with him, he had never remembered a single small detail about me.

Just last month, one of the family's establishments was attacked. In the chaos of the gunfire and alarms, I was so scared that my hand was cut by shattered glass.

He had only glanced at it and said coolly, "Don't be so delicate."

Madre put down her coffee cup and gave Carlo a disapproving look.

"Lindia is the future lady of this house. We can't have her doing chores the moment she arrives."

She stepped in to preserve my dignity. "In that case, Carlo, you go and prepare it. You and Ava bought this tea together, so no one knows it better than you two."

Carlo didn't object and headed to the kitchen.

Ava followed, leaning against the doorframe, watching the scene with an amused smile.

I was left alone in a corner of the sofa, holding a cup of cooling coffee, feeling like an extra who had stumbled onto the wrong set.

After sitting for a while longer, Ava yawned and cast a lazy glance at Carlo.

He noticed immediately, stood up, and casually picked up his car keys from the coffee table.

"It's getting late. We're heading out."

On the way back, Carlo drove. As usual, he dropped Ava off first.

Ava's place was only a few blocks from our apartment. Carlo had picked out the building himself.

The entire building was occupied by people the family trusted, with a twenty-four-hour watch at the entrance and a private elevator from the underground garage straight to her floor.

Downstairs was the bakery she loved, and around the corner was the pub she frequented.

"If anything happens to Ava, I can be there in three minutes."

And "things happening" to her were quite frequent.

A broken faucet, a blown fuse, a nightmare, being too scared to sleep alone after watching a horror movie.

He handled every single one of these things, big and small, personally.

The car stopped in front of Ava's apartment building. She leaned against the car window and waved at us.

"Carlo, Lindia, drive safe."

Carlo watched her until she walked through the lobby door and it clicked shut before he put the car back in gear.

The laughter in the car faded, leaving only the low thrum of the engine.

We drove in silence. As we neared home, I turned to look out the window and broke the oppressive quiet.

"Carlo, don't you think you baby her a little too much?"

He seemed to be in a good mood.

He chuckled and, for the first time in a long time, reached over to cover my hand with his. His thumb stroked my knuckles, as if calming a skittish animal.

"Overthinking again?"

"Ava and I have known each other since we were kids running around the estate in diapers. If there was ever going to be something between us, you wouldn't even be in the picture."

"Besides, you're the one I'm marrying. You have the family's approval. Isn't that enough?"

Of course, it wasn't enough.

But I didn't dare to say it out loud. I just slowly pulled my hand back, placed it on my lap, and sighed softly.

I looked ahead. "I need to talk to you about something."

Carlo's brow furrowed instinctively.

"Does it have to be face-to-face? Just say it now or on the phone..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

He must have finally remembered.

I already knew that for six months, the person on the other end of the line had been nothing but cold code.

The car was silent for a few seconds before he changed his tune.

"Fine."

"I'll clear my schedule tomorrow. I'll make time for you."