Chapter 3

When I finally dragged myself back to the manor in my soaked wedding dress, I noticed that the living room was brightly lit.

Riccardo and Sofia were sitting side by side on the couch, looking awfully close.

The second I walked in, Riccardo tensed up, instinctively shifting to shield Sofia behind him. "Since the rain's really coming down tonight, Sofia will be staying here. You wouldn't have a problem with that, would you?"

He stared at me warily, probably because the old me, who was a pampered heiress, would have slapped her across the face by now.

But this time, I just calmly slipped off my soaked heels.

"There are plenty of guest rooms. She can stay here for the rest of her life for all I care."

Riccardo's grip on Sofia abruptly tightened, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

Sofia let out a soft whimper from the pain, but Riccardo didn't spare her a glance. His eyes stayed fixed on me.

Before he could say anything else, I walked right past them, heading straight to the bathroom in the master bedroom.

As the warm water washed the paint and rainwater away, warmth and feeling slowly returned to my numb chest.

A soft knock suddenly came from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Elena, when you're done, let's talk."

Riccardo's low, smooth voice filtered through the door.

I knew that for a high and mighty Don like him, this was already an unprecedented gesture of humility.

Instead of responding to him, I simply turned off the water and took my time wrapping a towel around myself. When I opened the door, sure enough, Riccardo was waiting right there.

He had another towel in his hands. "Sit down. I'll dry your hair for you."

He brought a chair over and firmly pressed me into the seat. I was genuinely exhausted, so I sat down without resisting.

As his fingers ran through my hair, he spoke in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"Let's just forget about what happened at the wedding today. From now on, let's live a good life together."

Looking at my own reflection in the mirror, I forced a smile. "Yeah. Let's do that."

Upon hearing that, Riccardo seemed to let out a breath he'd been holding.

His tense shoulders slowly relaxed. "That's my girl."

He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to the top of my head.

Through the mirror, I found myself quietly staring into those captivating eyes. Riccardo really did have beautiful eyes. They reminded me of the year we first met.

Back then, my family hadn't fallen from power yet, and I was still the pampered daughter of a Don.

During a chaotic shootout at an underground bar, I got cornered by a mobster from a rival family.

He hurled filthy insults at me, grabbed me by the hair, and slapped me hard. "Stop playing hard to get, you wench! I'm going to have my way with you tonight whether you like it or not!"

Right as the door to the private room was about to be locked, Riccardo stormed in, reeking of blood.

He grabbed the guy by the throat with one hand before kicking him away like he was nothing but trash.

That was the moment I hopelessly fell for him. I spent the next seven years relentlessly chasing after him.

I snapped back to reality and looked up at him. The face that once drove me crazy no longer stirred the slightest emotion in me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Riccardo furrowed his brows upon noticing my gaze, almost as if my calm expression had stung him.

"It's nothing."

I casually looked away.

He was about to say something when the bedroom door suddenly swung open.

Sofia stood in the doorway in a thin nightdress, barefoot and looking rather pitiful.

She clung to Riccardo's arm. "Riccardo, won't you stay with me tonight? The manor is so dark. I'm scared, and you're all I have here."

Riccardo instinctively glanced at me, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. "Not tonight, Sofia. I need to be with Elena—"

I cut him off flatly, "You should stay with her."

Riccardo froze up on the spot. He glared at me, looking completely enraged by my indifference. He then purposely intertwined his fingers with Sofia's.

"Fine, then I will stay with her! You'd better not regret this."

After spitting the words through gritted teeth, he slammed the door on his way out. I turned around, pulled back the covers, and got into bed.

In the middle of the night, a sharp, agonizing pain tore through my lower abdomen. I blacked out from the pain as blood slowly soaked through the sheets beneath me.