Chapter--3

[Lena’s POV — Continuation]

Whether it was my previous life… or this one…i had finally realized something simple, Nothing ever changed for me, no matter how much I struggled.

No, matter how desperately I tried. In the end… everything always returned to the same place. So eventually...I stopped fighting.

There was no point anymore, I had already tried everything.

Running away, divorcing Salvatore, trying to win the Mancini family’s approval, even ending my own life.

Every path led back to the same moment, the wedding day.

The beginning of Lena Carter’s tragedy, and now…mine.

For a long time, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my expression calm in a way that almost felt empty. If the story wanted me to follow the plot…then fine.

I would follow it, quietly and silently. Just like the original Lena Carter had done, I would marry the enemy’s son, the man who despised me, the man whose heart already belonged to someone else.

How ironic, but then again… this entire story was ridiculous. According to the novel, the history between the two families went back years.

The Carter family had once been the most powerful and respected family in the city.

Rich, influential and untouchable. For decades, House Carter had stood at the very top of the business world.

Until the Mancini family appeared, unlike the Carters, the Mancinis had risen from nothing, but in only a few years, they surpassed everyone.

Their business strategies were ruthless, their decisions bold, Project after project succeeded under the leadership of the Mancini heir.

Soon, they became the most trusted and powerful business family in the entire city, and naturally…that didn’t sit well with the Carters.

Jealousy turned into resentment.

Resentment eventually turned into something uglier.

At one point, the Carter family even plagiarized a major project proposal created by the Mancini Group. A scandal big enough to shake the entire business world.

The conflict between the two families grew so intense that it eventually reached the courts, and somehow...the solution those so-called wise people came up with was even more absurd.

To maintain peace between the two families…they decided to bind them together, through marriage.

“…Honestly.” A small, dry laugh escaped my lips. “How stupid is that?”

Two families that hated each other, two people who didn’t even want to stand in the same room, and the court thought marriage would magically solve everything.

It sounded less like a solution…and more like the beginning of a disaster, but the story didn’t care about logic.

The story only cared about moving the plot forward, which meant one thing. I had been chosen as the sacrifice.

The Carter family’s daughter.

Marrying the Mancini heir.

The cold, untouchable male lead of the story.

Salvatore Mancini.

My fingers slowly lifted, my gaze dropping to the ring resting on my hand. The diamond caught the sunlight and scattered it across the room.

Shiny. Expensive. Heavy.

For a moment, I stared at it quietly, then a dry murmur slipped from my lips, “…Well, at least I’ll have wealth to use.”

If I was going to be miserable, I might as well be miserable with money.

Before I could think any further--Knock. Knock.

The door suddenly rattled as someone hit it impatiently.

“Lena!” A sharp, irritated voice came from the other side. “The car is ready. Get the hell out of the room, now.”

I sighed softly.

Of course.

That voice belonged to Marco Carter.

Lena Carter’s older brother, the so-called heir of the Carter family. I rubbed my temple tiredly.

“…Right.”

Let’s just go with the flow. I lifted the edge of my wedding dress and walked toward the door. The moment I opened it---Marco Carter was standing outside.

Tall, well-dressed. Handsome enough to charm anyone who didn’t know him well, but the moment his eyes landed on me, his expression twisted with clear annoyance.

“Tch.”

The sound of disgust escaped his tongue as if merely looking at me was unpleasant. Inside my mind, a thought surfaced lazily.

'This playboy bastard…'

Marco Carter was infamous in high society. He slept with two women before lunch, flirted with another at dinner, and somehow still believed himself to be the most brilliant man in the city.

The real reason the Carter family had begun collapsing wasn’t the Mancinis, it was him.

His reckless decisions, his childish business strategies, but somehow, their father still treated him like a genius.

I walked past him without a word. My heels echoed softly along the long hallway, behind me, Marco’s voice followed coldly.

“Make sure you don’t come back. If you do…” His tone grew darker. “You know what father will do.”

I kept walking, I had already heard this warning countless times, my voice came out flat.

“I get it.”

No anger, no sadness. Just empty acceptance. Marco scoffed behind me, but I had already stopped listening. Step by step, I walked through the mansion and toward the front gates.

Outside, the courtyard was filled with luxury cars, guests, the members of both families, and reporters standing at a distance.

Everyone had gathered to witness this political marriage, a wedding meant to “unite” two enemy families.

In reality…most of them were just here to enjoy the humiliation.

My gaze slowly lifted, tnd there he was standing beside the black Mancini limousine.

Salvatore Mancini.

Tall.

Imposing.

Cold.

Even among the crowd, his presence was impossible to ignore, his sharp blue eyes were already fixed on me, and just like every time before---They were filled with open hostility.

The moment he saw me approaching, his jaw tightened, not slightly, not subtly. His entire expression hardened as if he was forcing himself to tolerate my existence.

The car door stood beside him, according to etiquette, the groom should open it for his bride. Especially in front of so many guests, but Salvatore didn’t move.

Instead---his cold voice cut through the courtyard.

“I’ll take another car.”

For a moment…the entire courtyard went silent.

Then—

“Pfft—” A snort escaped from someone in the crowd.

“Bahahaha!”

More laughter followed.

“This is what that Carter girl deserves.”

“How humiliating.”

“She thought she could marry into the Mancini family and be happy?”

“What a joke.”

Whispers spread like wildfire, some people didn’t even bother lowering their voices and no family member tried to stop them. Their laughter echoed openly through the courtyard.

I stood there, Perfectly still. The wind lifted the edge of my wedding veil slightly as the limousine door remained closed beside me.

Salvatore had already turned away, without even looking back. He walked past the crowd and stepped into another car waiting nearby.

The door shut behind him, the engine started, and within seconds---the car drove away, leaving me behind.

The laughter continued.

For a brief moment, the entire world seemed to pause around me, but strangely…my chest felt completely calm.

No anger.

No embarrassment.

No pain.

Because this scene wasn’t new to me, I had lived through it before...many times. So without reacting to the whispers…without acknowledging the laughter…I simply reached out.

Opened the limousine door myself, and stepped inside, like nothing had happened.