Chapter 1

The old Don was visibly stunned.

“Why? Vivian was the one originally meant to go to Sicily.”

That scene from my last life flashed before my eyes.

Marcus and Vivian lay together.

It was as if they had already completed the ritual of sharing the same grave.

“Uncle, I’ve made up my mind.”

I spoke softly. “Please arrange it.”

The old Don looked at me for a long time.

In the end, he sighed.

“Alright.”

I gently closed the door behind me.

As I walked out of De Luca Capital headquarters, I looked back at the towering skyscraper one last time.

But the moment the automatic doors opened, Vivian chased after me.

“Nerina, what trick are you playing now?”

Her eyes were red.

“The old Don suddenly said I’m marrying Marcus in three days.”

I answered calmly. “It’s not a trick.”

“Marcus loves you enough to die for you. You should marry him.”

“And you love him too. I’ll go to Sicily in your place.”

Vivian showed no gratitude.

“You know Marcus values promises more than anything.”

“Once he decides something, he never changes it.”

“You’re pretending to step aside now just to force him into feeling guilty toward you.”

I looked at her. “You’re overthinking it.”

“If you really want to marry Marcus, then be quiet.”

Vivian gritted her teeth.

“You’re saying you’ll go to Sicily on purpose first.”

“Then at the last second, you’ll make the Don change his mind and send me instead. Right?”

A cold male voice came from inside.

“Nerina. How can your scheming run this deep?”

The automatic doors slowly opened to both sides.

Marcus stepped out of the shadows.

He was dressed in black.

He stood at the doorway.

Behind him, the executives and bodyguards stopped at once.

Even the passing secretaries instinctively lowered their heads and moved aside.

My breathing caught.

I suddenly remembered how he looked before dying in my last life.

Blood had kept pouring from his chest.

Yet he still reached up to brush my hair aside.

Gentle.

Cruel.

“I’m going home,” I said.

But the next step sent me straight into Marcus’s chest.

His assistant stepped forward respectfully.

“Miss Nerina, this is the engagement ring the Don prepared for you.”

Inside the black velvet box, the diamond ring gleamed coldly.

Like the choice Marcus had personally made.

Marcus looked at me.

His tone left no room for refusal.

“Put it on. I’m taking you to pick your gown.”

Vivian’s eyes instantly reddened.

“Since Nerina and the Don need to prepare for the wedding, I won’t disturb you…”

“Stop.”

Then he grabbed Vivian’s wrist.

His fingertips brushed the red mark near her forehead.

“How did this happen?”

She bit her lip. “I… I’m scared to say.”

Marcus turned a cold gaze on me.

“Why do you always have to make things difficult for her?”

I said directly, “I didn’t touch her.”

“Don,” Vivian said softly, “Nerina didn’t mean it. She just…”

Marcus only looked at me.

His voice was an order. “Apologize to Vivian.”

“Or I’ll take back this ring.”

He waited two seconds.

When I showed no intention of apologizing, he instructed the assistant.

“Let Miss Vivian keep the engagement ring for now.”

Then he looked at me.

“She can have it returned when she apologizes to Vivian.”

Vivian took the ring box in surprise. “Don, I can’t accept this.”

“I’m leaving soon. I won’t even be able to keep it for more than a few days…”

He said flatly, “Take it.”

The scene was exactly the same as my last life.

Whether I spoke or not, the result would always be the same.

Vivian did not even need to finish framing me.

Marcus had already completed the story of how I must have hurt her inside his own mind.

In his heart, Vivian had always been the pitiful one.

The innocent one.

The oppressed one.

And I had always been the arrogant one.

The calculating one.

Vivian held the ring box.

She gave me a faintly provocative look.

I nodded politely. “Good. It should have been hers in the first place.”

Marcus said to Vivian, “I’ll take you shopping for some clothes.”

“Even in Sicily, you’ll still be my Rosa mia.”

Rosa mia - ROSE

Last life, whenever Marcus touched me in bed, he would murmur those words against my ear.

“My Rosa mia.”

I had melted beneath him.

I responded with all my passion.

I truly believed it was love.

Now I finally understood.

Other than in bed, he had never once called me Rosa mia.

But every time he looked at Vivian, that word came so naturally.

How slow I had been to realize it.

I watched their backs as they walked away.

And I found that I could not even cry anymore.

How had such obvious love taken me until the day they died together to finally understand?

I stood alone on the busy streets of New York.

Then I walked in the opposite direction from them.

The sunset sank into the skyline.

Marcus, in this life, both your love and the woman you love will finally be in the right place.