Chapter 3

One of the famiglia elders was the first to react, breaking the silence.

"Don Ricardo's prosopagnosia is getting out of hand if he's mistaking his own fiancée. Signorina Newton, you'd better make him sweat for a mistake like that. Don't let him off easy.

"We ought to pass this around the famiglia circle so everyone can have a good laugh at Don Ricardo's expense."

A few forced chuckles rippled through the room, trying to thin out the suffocating embarrassment.

Ricardo raised both hands in surrender. "I'm entirely at Emma's mercy. I'll take whatever punishment she gives me."

I stared down at the cheap, roughly made alloy bracelet resting in the box, finding the whole display hilarious.

That set of vibrant, luxurious diamond jewelry was entirely Ella’s taste. I had never liked that style.

What kind of prosopagnosia would cause that? It seemed that set of jewels was never meant for me in the first place!

I slammed the box down on the table. The cheap bracelet slid out, clattering loudly against the floor.

The awkward laughter in the room instantly died.

"I'm going outside for some air." I turned and walked out of the hall, heading onto the open terrace.

A message from Ella popped up almost immediately.

[Ricardo just has face blindness. Please don't be mad at him.]

I didn't bother replying, forcing myself to push down the turmoil inside me. Just as I reached to push the door open to go back in, voices from inside drifted out onto the terrace.

"Signorina Newton has far too much patience. If it were me getting mistaken in front of the whole famiglia inner circle and handed a cheap freebie on my anniversary, I’d never let it go!"

"What good does patience do? Look at Don Ricardo. It’s obvious who he favors."

"Honestly, I noticed something was off a while back. During that ambush down at the docks, Don Ricardo shielded Ella first in all the chaos, tossing his fiancée to the side. He used face blindness as an excuse back then, too. And he's still doing it."

"It's hard to imagine the fiancée of the Tucci famiglia Don having to stomach this over and over."

"Maybe she's just too deep in love with him?"

"Even so, you can't let someone walk all over you like that!"

My hand rested against the door handle as a bitter cold seeped through my palm. Then I pushed the door open, stepped back into the hall, and sat down as if nothing had happened.

Ricardo immediately leaned in close, offering a soothing tone. "If you don't like this bracelet, forget about it. I have another piece set aside for our engagement party, the day after tomorrow. It'll definitely be to your liking."

The rest of the dinner was heavy and muted. No one dared to crack another joke.

By the time the party ended, it was nearing midnight. We stood by the main gates of the estate, seeing off the remaining guests.

Ricardo personally escorted Ella to the door, instructing her carefully. "I need to stay behind with Emma tonight. She's in a bad mood, so I need to comfort her. Make sure you change your bandages on time and be careful on the way back. Don't get the wound wet."

When he walked back over, I carefully weighed my words before speaking. "Ricardo, we—"

"Oh, right," he interrupted.

"That antique diamond hairpiece you liked six months ago finally arrived. You can wear it to the engagement party the day after tomorrow."

The words stuck in my throat.

I remembered hearing that the royal antique piece had gone through multiple rounds of fierce bidding at the auction house before it was secured. I had only mentioned it in passing, never expecting he would actually win it for me.

So I bit my tongue and decided to give him one last chance.

However, on the day of the engagement party, an attendant led me into a bare, dreary dressing room and brought out a set of cheap, pieced-together diamond fragments.

This was nowhere near my antique hairpiece!

With staff outside constantly rushing me to enter, I swallowed my doubts, quickly got ready, and walked out of the room.

The moment I looked up, I saw Ella. Sitting right on top of her head was the exact headpiece that belonged to me.

"Why is my headpiece on your head?" I demanded.

Alfred rushed forward frantically to apologize. "I am so sorry, ma'am! The attendant got the dressing rooms mixed up!"

He immediately rounded on the staff nearby. "Apologize to Signorina Newton this instant!"

They shifted uncomfortably, muttering in a small, aggrieved voice, "But Don Ricardo explicitly told me it was her. He was certain that was his fiancée, so I..."

Ricardo hurried over to me, his face filled with regret. "Emma, I'm sorry. My face blindness got the better of me again. It's just a hairpiece. I'll find you an even more valuable treasure later, a hundred times better than this one."

Ella held up the hem of her gown and stepped over as well. "I'm so sorry, Emma. I really didn't know the truth. But I prepared a surprise for you, so won't you forgive us?"

My brows drew tight as a bad feeling pooled in my gut. "What surprise?"

A familiar, venomous voice echoed out from right behind me.

I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was—the one voice I had spent my entire life trying to escape.

"Emma, just because you climbed your way up to the Tucci famiglia and became Don Ricardo's fiancée, you‌'ve forgotten where you came from?

"Hosting an engagement party this big without bothering to inform your own family. It looks to me like you're planning to disown your own mother!"