Chapter 4

"Aria! Look at Instagram right now! That bitch Sienna is literally walking all over you!"

Late at night, my friend Chloe's screeching voice blasted straight through the phone speaker.

I had just folded my last stack of authentication papers into my briefcase. Hearing her, I just gave a flat response. "What did she post this time?"

"What else? Flexing, obviously!" Chloe was breathing hard, talking a mile a minute. "She just posted a top-tier custom Cartier high-jewelry diamond necklace! And her caption says it's a 21st birthday surprise from someone special!"

Hearing the words "21st birthday surprise," I pictured Dominic acting all impatient earlier at noon.

That black velvet box had sat hidden in the secret compartment of my vanity for a whole month.

When I first found it, I actually thought he bought it for me, since our proposal anniversary fell on that exact date.

Yet that night, no matter how hard I dropped hints, Dominic stayed totally quiet. He didn't pull out a gift, and he didn't even want to celebrate.

Even worse, in the middle of the night, a call from Sienna dragged him away. Before leaving, he even warned me, "Sienna put some exotic pet in your vanity compartment a few days ago. She wants to see how long the little thing can live. You hate creepy-crawlies, so don't go poking around."

I hated bugs. Normally, that would have turned my face white with terror. But once I knew the truth, I just found it painfully funny. To think he would go to such lengths just to hide a gift for someone else.

Ever since that day, my heart completely died. Dominic still thought I was throwing a tantrum and giving him the silent treatment, so he didn't even come back to the estate for days.

"That necklace is one of a kind globally! The pink diamond centerpiece alone is worth three million bucks!" Chloe's scream on the other end yanked me back to reality.

"What kind of spell did Sienna cast on Dominic? You've only been married for eight months! How dare he hand over high jewelry like that to a total home-wrecking leech? Where does he put you, his official mob wife?!"

"I don't care." I walked over to the window and looked down at the shimmering lake outside the estate.

Chloe sounded like she wanted to tear her hair out. "This has happened way too many times! Aria, are you just gonna let her walk all over you? What if Dominic actually falls for her and tries to divorce you?"

"He doesn't need to divorce me, Chloe."

"What is that supposed to mean?" The shouting on the other end cut off dead.

"Because our marriage... was never legally binding in the first place."

The overwhelming rage on the other end instantly melted into a dead, terrifying silence.

"...What did you just say?" Chloe's voice completely cracked, shaking with total shock. "What do you mean not binding? You guys threw a massive wedding eight months ago that shook the entire country! The whole social scene was invited! Everyone in Chicago knows you're the Don's wife!"

"The wedding was real, but we never actually filed our marriage certificate." I clicked the metal lock of my suitcase shut. "Every single time we planned to file the papers, Sienna had an emergency right on schedule."

"Asshole! Dominic is a total piece of trash!" Chloe's eyes went red, and she started screaming and crying through the phone. "How could he treat you like this?! Four years of love, you running the family's underground art assets for him, and this is how he repays you?!"

Listening to Chloe's raw heartache and rage, the old scars inside me felt completely numb.

"Aria... what are you gonna do now?" Chloe gripped her phone, her voice shaking with panic. "You can't just let them destroy you like this..."

I turned my head and looked at the packed 28-inch suitcase sitting quietly in the corner of the room.

"I have a flight to London early next Friday morning," I told her straight up. "I've already signed an offer with a top London gallery. I'm completely walking away from the Rossi family."

"What about Dominic? Does he know you're leaving? Did he agree to let you quit?!"

"He doesn't know, and he doesn't care." I let out a light laugh. "In his eyes, I'm just a sweet, obedient, on-call tool. Right now, he's probably busy cutting cake with his 'savior's daughter' at some fancy restaurant. He won't even notice I'm gone."

"Good! Good for you! Let that blind idiot and his little leech rot together forever!" Chloe slammed her fist on the table, her voice fierce and absolute. "I'm coming to the airport to send you off!"

"Don't worry about it. I'm taking a private jet, and someone's picking me up," I gently turned her down. "We'll catch up once I'm settled in London."

After hanging up, the room sank back into heavy silence.

I casually opened up the Instagram app.

Right at the top of the feed was Sienna's brand-new post.

In the photo, nine hundred ninety-nine top-tier pink roses surrounded her. She wore that insanely expensive pink diamond necklace, flashing a dazzling, gloating smile at the camera. Right at the bottom-left corner of the frame, a cuff of a suit jacket slipped into view. On it sat the limited-edition custom cufflinks I gave Dominic last year.

Her caption was pure arrogance and provocation: [The ones who are favored are always bold. Thank you to my guardian angel for giving me a once-in-a-lifetime 21st birthday gift. @Aria]

She even tagged my personal account on purpose.

This wasn't even subtle flexing anymore. It was stepping straight on my face. If it were the old me, I would be shaking with rage, waving my phone in Dominic's face to demand answers.

But now, looking at that blinding picture, not a single ripple stirred inside me.

I even found it kind of funny.

After a brief pause, I tapped the screen and hit the like button on her post.

Since she wanted my blessing so badly, I'd just count it as my wedding gift to the happy couple.