Chapter 5

I was discharged from the hospital that very night. Riccardo personally drove me back to the manor.

He sat right beside me, thoughtfully handing me a cup of warm water, his dark eyes full of tenderness.

Sofia was sitting on the couch across from us, leisurely peeling an apple.

This whole situation was so absurd I wanted to sneer.

Right then, Riccardo's phone buzzed. He got up and walked toward the balcony to take the call.

As the glass door slid shut behind him, Sofia finally dropped her fake, sweet act.

She met my cold stare dead-on and asked in a provocative tone, "How do you still have the nerve to stick around?"

I merely looked at her coldly without responding.

She let out a scoff, the contempt in her eyes becoming even more evident. "Honestly, I've never met anyone more pathetic than you in my entire life. You know damn well he only loves me.

"And that stunt at the wedding was merely something I threw out as a joke."

I slowly raised my eyes to look at her. "So what? No matter who he loves, at least he and I are legally married. We are just short of the wedding.

"As for you, what exactly are you to him that gives you the right to come here and tell me what to do? All you've got is a relationship that has to stay in the shadows."

Looking like she'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, Sofia let out a low, uncontrollable laugh. A sense of unease crept over me.

She glanced over at Riccardo, who had his back to us on the balcony, before leaning in close to my ear. "Poor Elena. You really have no idea, do you?"

I pressed my lips together at that. Her voice was soft and gentle, yet every word cut deep.

"That marriage certificate you treasure so much is a fake. It's nothing but a worthless piece of paper Riccardo used to string you along."

My voice came out dry and hoarse. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Sofia raised an eyebrow before casually pulling out her phone. She then shoved the screen right in my face. "Stop kidding yourself. Take a good hard look at reality."

I stiffly shifted my gaze to the glowing screen.

In the spouse section of Sofia's marriage registration, Riccardo's full name was staring right back at me.

In an instant, a thunderous blast seemed to go off inside my head.

Everything I had sacrificed and held on for the past seven years was reduced to nothing but an absolute, utter joke.

At that moment, it felt like every drop of blood in me had turned to ice.

I turned my head to look at the man out on the balcony, the one who kept telling me he loved me.

"So, it was all a lie from the very beginning."

It wasn't long before Riccardo put his phone away and walked back inside.

When he noticed how pale I was, he frowned and tried to touch my face. "What's wrong? Do you still have a fever? Why do you look so pale?"

I avoided his touch. Riccardo's hand froze in mid-air. "Just stay here and get your strength back. Three days from now, I'll give you a wedding the whole city will be talking about."

Three days later, Riccardo showed up in the morning with an extravagant custom-made wedding dress.

He wheeled the clothes rack over to the bed before reaching over to stroke my face. "I had a top designer make this wedding dress. It's a little heavy, so you can change into it when we get to the venue. Let's head out together."

I turned my head slightly, avoiding his touch.

Closing my eyes, I feigned weakness. "My stomach feels a little funny. You should head over first."

He hesitated for a second, but eventually gave in, pressing a kiss to the back of my hand. "Alright."

The second Riccardo left, I smashed every single one of our keepsakes, scattering the broken pieces all over the floor.

I popped the SIM card out of my phone before tossing it into the toilet bowl. I then grabbed my modest suitcase and walked out of the prison that had held me captive for seven long years, never once looking back.

Meanwhile, inside the most luxurious cathedral in the city, Rosa demanded with a dark expression, "Riccardo, are you seriously going to marry that woman from a ruined family? What about Sofia? Where does that leave her?"

Riccardo's face twitched uncontrollably. His chest felt heavy, as if a boulder was on top of it, leaving him feeling restless and irritable.

He gave his tie a frustrated tug to loosen it. "I've made my decision. I'm going to live a good life with Elena from now on. As for the marriage certificate issue, I'll have someone take care of it."

He checked his watch, then turned to one of his men beside him. "Is Elena's car here yet? Go bring her in."

The man had barely turned to leave when Riccardo's butler burst through the doors, drenched in sweat.

He practically stumbled and fell to the floor, his voice trembling. "Don Mazzoni, something terrible has happened…"

Riccardo felt his temple throb. "Spit it out!"

The butler was trembling all over as he said, "In the bride's dressing room… Uh, you should see it for yourself, Don Mazzoni."

Riccardo's pupils shrank. He shoved the butler aside and strode toward the dressing room. The moment he saw what was inside, he came to an abrupt stop.