Chapter 1

Ilaria's POV

The moment I was reborn, my fiancé, Enzo De Luca, walked in with his first love, Mia Conti. He stood protectively beside her, gazing at her, his smile warm. He didn't even look at me when he talked to me.

"Ilaria, this is Mia. She's a… close friend of mine, and she's practically my younger sister. Her parents have passed away, and now that she's pregnant, she has no one to look after her. From now on, she'll be staying with us, so make sure you take care of her."

Mia stole a glance at me before clutching the hem of Enzo's clothes, as though she was afraid I might do something to her right then and there. As soon as she raised her hand, a bracelet bearing the De Luca famiglia crest peeked out from under her sleeve.

That was the token of the famiglia's Donna. Enzo was supposed to slip it onto my wrist on our wedding day. Yet, it was now resting on Mia's wrist.

Enzo noticed my gaze and hastily shielded Mia behind him. He shot me a warning look. "Mia was just curious and wanted to try it on. Don't read too much into it. It'll eventually end up on your wrist."

In my previous life, the moment I spotted that bracelet, I assumed Mia had come to steal Enzo from me and demanded he send her elsewhere. Enzo had no choice but to send Mia away.

That was when a rival famiglia, believing Enzo was in the car, orchestrated a car accident. Mia miscarried in the wreck and could never conceive again.

Consumed by guilt, I believed it was all my fault. I took it upon myself to have her move in with us so I could nurse her back to health, and I personally attended to her every need.

From then on, Enzo seemed like a completely different person. He still honored our engagement and married me, but he treated me indifferently, only showing me a little warmth at night.

Later, when I became pregnant, Enzo was over the moon. I foolishly believed that one day, we would be able to put our past behind us and go back to how we used to be.

It all came to a head when I gave birth. Enzo took our baby right before my eyes and handed him over to Mia.

"This is what you owe Mia," he spat out, looking down at me as I lay on the delivery bed.

That was when it finally hit me—he loathed me. I was driven into despair and eventually died from depression.

Right before I breathed my last, Enzo was still threatening me. "Don't you dare die on me! If you do, I'll marry Mia right away. I'll protect her for the rest of my life and make it up to her."

Since that was how it was, I looked at Enzo, who was warning me, and nodded calmly. "Alright."

"What did you just say?" He was caught off guard for a moment.

"I said she can move in. I'll look after her."

Enzo's brows knitted as he stared intently at me. "Aren't you upset about the bracelet?"

As expected, he didn't believe me. After all, I used to be possessive of him. I couldn't bear the thought of another woman by his side.

But now, I simply smiled and answered, "She lost both her parents, and she's pregnant. She's already been through enough. How could I possibly get upset with her over something this trivial? Besides, it's like you said, that bracelet will eventually end up on my wrist."

Enzo believed me. His brows relaxed, and he stopped doubting me.

"However, I do have one condition." I pulled out a stack of bills. "You'll have to pay all my bills from the past month, or I won't take care of her."

He chuckled before taking them and signing every one of them. "You won't use my bank card, yet you keep making me sign the bills. Don't torture me like this after we tie the knot, Ilaria."

Without uttering a single word, I accepted the stack of bills and carefully placed them into my bag.

There was no future for us anymore, Enzo. Hidden among the bills he couldn't even be bothered to go through was an agreement to dissolve our engagement. Soon, we would be total strangers.