Chapter 1

[Your travel documents will be ready by tonight. The private jet is scheduled to take off tomorrow at 11 PM.]

I, Isadora Moretti, lowered my gaze and switched off my phone.

Damiano Alberti was still standing by the doorway of the new bedroom. "What's wrong?"

His brows were slightly raised, and there was still a hint of amusement in his eyes. Clearly, he hadn't taken my feelings seriously.

I put my phone away. "Nothing. I'm just thinking about the wedding."

He didn't suspect a thing. He cupped my face and kissed my cheek. "Are you still upset?"

I turned my face away, refusing to look at him. Damiano let out a helpless chuckle. "Isadora, Julia will only be staying here temporarily. Once we've dealt with the people tracking her, she'll move out."

I fought back the sting in my nose. "You even changed the layout of the rooms for her. Even if she moves out for now, what happens the next time she needs something? She'll probably just move right back in."

Damiano didn't deny it. Right then, the butler came up from downstairs.

"Boss, the rooms for Ms. Romano's two bodyguards have also been arranged according to your instructions."

I had been walking forward, but my steps suddenly stopped. "Her bodyguards are staying here too? In the main house?"

Damiano frowned slightly. "She's in danger right now. She can't be left without protection."

A wave of bitterness washed through me.

Three months ago, I received an anonymous letter containing a bullet.

At the time, the mansion was still under renovation. I had asked Damiano whether the two bodyguards who had been with me for years could stay in the main house once we moved in.

He laughed and said, "This will be our home. There are already plenty of people guarding the grounds. Why would we need bodyguards crowding the main house too?"

In the end, their quarters had been arranged on the outer edge of the estate.

Yet now, before I had even spent a single night here, Julia Romano and her bodyguards already had rooms of their own.

I forced a smile. "So the main house can accommodate bodyguards after all."

Damiano furrowed his brows. "The situation is different."

"How is it different?" I asked.

He turned to look at me. After a moment, his expression turned into one of exasperation. "Why are you finding fault with everything Julia does today?"

I could no longer hide the hurt in my eyes, but in the end, I simply lowered my head to conceal my expression. "Forget it."

After the inspection, the butler held out a set of new keys to me. "Donna Alberti, the estate is officially ready for you to move in."

I glanced at the keys but didn't accept them. "Just keep them for now."

Damiano was on the phone and didn't notice.

By evening, we had returned to the mansion where we were currently staying.

There was a family meeting that night. By the time I changed and entered the study, several people had already arrived.

Julia was there too. There was a map of Catania and a stack of documents spread out in front of her, and she occupied the seat on Damiano's right.

That was the Donna's seat.

I stood in the doorway and subconsciously clenched my fists.

When Damiano looked up and saw me, a smile appeared on his face. "Come here."

The moment I approached, he casually said, "Sit over there tonight. Julia needs to brief us on the situation in Catania. It'll be more convenient for her to sit here."

After hearing that, Julia immediately began gathering the documents on the table. "I can move over instead."

Damiano waved a hand. "Don't bother. It's only a seat."

In front of all his subordinates, he was letting Julia sit beside him while making his future Donna sit off to the side.

The hurt in my eyes was becoming impossible to hide. I pulled out my own chair and sat down. "Move the documents."

Silence filled the study. Julia's hand froze in midair.

Damiano stared at me for a moment before his brows furrowed. The casual look disappeared from his face. "Isadora, what is it now?"

I tried my best to keep my voice steady. "She doesn't have a safe place to stay, so you gave her the new house I haven't even moved into yet. She needs protection, so you arranged rooms for her bodyguards too."

I glanced at the documents on the table. "Now even my seat has to be given up for her."

Damiano's expression turned helpless. "It's only a work briefing. You never used to make an issue out of little things like this."

I turned my face away while fighting the tears. "That was before."

I looked at him again. "Damiano, will there come a day when she'll need something, and I'll even have to give up my position as Donna for her?"