Chapter 2

My name had originally been on the list. Why wouldn't it be? I was Matteo's wife! But as soon as Sophia showed up, he suddenly forgot all about our vows and chose her without batting an eye!

I set my knife and fork down and wiped my hands with a napkin.

My silence seemed to embolden Maria.

"Quit overthinking this already. You know a yacht can only accommodate a limited number of people, right? Can't you just be a little more understanding?" she said matter-of-factly. "Just do what you're supposed to do as Matteo's wife."

I nodded and murmured a placid "Mm."

My father-in-law coughed. "I'd rather not watch my family get into an argument right now. A vacation should be fun and relaxing, after all."

"Yeah. Don't cause a scene, Camilla. It's going to be Sophia's birthday soon, anyway, so this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate. Please be considerate!" Matteo added.

I could barely stop myself from snickering. My dear husband sure was happy to arrange such an extravagant birthday trip for Sophia—with my money!

"Honey, I'm the one who should be going. Did you forget that?" I asked.

He frowned. "As my wife, you should let Sophia go! Besides, how could you possibly measure up to Sophia? Don't you even know your place?"

Sophia sidled up to him and snaked her arms around him. She gave me a smug smile. "Are you upset, Camilla? Don't tell me you're jealous!

"Come on now. Matteo and I grew up together. If it weren't for you, we would already be married by now. Since you're his wife now, though, you should be the one to fulfill a wife's duties."

Matteo let out an approving chuckle.

I guessed he really thought I'd married into the Grieco family to be his maid. To him, all the money and energy I'd devoted to him, along with everything I'd done to help his career, must have proved how deeply I loved him. And now we had a child together.

Where could a woman with a child possibly go? I was sure he thought our child was the final chain that bound me to him. I could only ever be his wife for the rest of my life.

Matteo looked at me with scorn. "Your duty as a wife is to take care of the house and our child. Don't interfere in matters that don't concern you, especially my affairs with Sophia."

At that moment, any hope I still had for him died. I used to think we loved each other. That was why I'd been happy to sacrifice so much for him and bear his daughter.

But now, I realized how wrong I'd been. He had never respected me. His family and childhood friend had all treated me like a glorified maid.

Lucia slammed her spoon on the table in a rage. "How could you do this to Mom?! When Grandma broke her ankle last year, Mom took days off just to care for her.

"When Uncle Luca's kids needed to attend cram school, Mom was the one who footed the bill! I can't believe that after everything Mom has done for this trip, you guys think it's fair to leave her out!"

Luca's expression darkened.

Bianca quickly came to his rescue. "Hey, you can't put a price on the favors you do for your family! Besides, that cram school business was a while ago!"

I ignored her and showed them screenshots of all the expenses I'd covered. "I paid for all of this with my own money. The yacht charter, the hotel, and the plane tickets. I paid for everything!"

Maria softened her tone just a little. "Well, you're the most financially capable one among us. There's no question about that. We trust you."

Sophia let out a shrill laugh. "I agree she's amazing at making money, but she's such a miser! Oh God, do you keep receipts for every little thing? That's not good, ma'am!"

I turned to Matteo, hoping he would say something in my defense.

Unfortunately, he just frowned. "They're right, Camilla. We shouldn't put a price on favors we do for family. Can we all agree to put this behind us and end the discussion right now? I don't ever want to hear about this again."

Disappointment crushed me. This was his last chance to redeem himself in my eyes, and he'd failed.

Matteo earned only a few thousand dollars a month. His position as a capo could never sustain his family's collective spending.

I could only afford what he couldn't because I was the consigliere and had substantial savings from my own family. Yet he couldn't even bring himself to stand by me. Well, I guessed he'd forgotten who the real financial pillar of this household was.