Chapter 2

Natalie was the woman Luca dated during our first break. She had been a fashion communications freshman who genuinely believed she had found a new relationship.

When Luca returned to me after twenty-seven days, she learned that she had been a temporary part of our arrangement. He later secured her a publicity position with the racing team as compensation, and over the years, she unexpectedly became my friend.

A drunk teammate stumbled past us.

“Our future Mrs. Bellini must be praying no one steals Luca. He’ll come running back in thirty days, just like always. Right, Elena?”

Natalie shoved him away. “Go finish your drink.”

Then she leaned closer.

“If Luca gets to play around, so should you. Why are you always the one waiting? There are millions of men in New York.”

I swirled the ice in my glass.

“If you want to win big, follow my bet.”

Natalie turned sharply, but before she could question me, whistles erupted around the dance floor.

Luca was dancing with a slender redhead in a black leather skirt. One hand rested on his shoulder while the other pressed against his chest.

“It only took Luca five minutes to choose this year’s date,” someone shouted.

Another voice followed.

“Wait. Isn’t that Sienna?”

It was.

Sienna was the woman Luca had chosen during last year’s break—and the first woman he had ever chosen twice.

She was everything I was not. I helped Luca revise proposals and reminded him about project meetings. Sienna took him diving, skydiving, and racing through the city after midnight.

With me, Luca had to think about graduation and the future. With Sienna, he never had to think about tomorrow.

During the final week of last year’s break, she invited him to an illegal midnight race on an unfinished overpass in Brooklyn.

The road had sharp turns, incomplete barriers, and no medical crew. Luca had raced professionally, but he had never competed on the street.

I called him more than a dozen times.

He rejected every call.

Finally, I abandoned my work, contacted the racing team’s adviser, and drove to Brooklyn alone.

When I arrived, the Aston Martin’s engine was already roaring. I stepped in front of the car and forced Luca to stop.

“This isn’t a regulated track. If the university finds out, you could lose your place on the team, your sponsors, and your degree.”

Luca leaned against the car, turning the keys around one finger.

“You’re crossing a line, Elena. We’re on a break. You don’t get to interfere.”

“There are no safety measures here. You could be killed.”

“Sienna knows this place. She’ll protect me.”

Sienna sat in the passenger seat, chewing gum.

“Is your girlfriend always this anxious?”

Then she smiled.

“Sorry. You two aren’t together right now.”

Her gaze moved over me.

“Elena, you can’t control him because you’re scared. He’s an adult.”

She had turned my concern into jealousy. If I continued arguing, I would only prove her point.

I looked at Luca, but he avoided my eyes.

At last, I stepped aside.

The Aston Martin swept past me. Sienna lowered the window and waved, her laughter cutting through the roar of the engine.

As I drove away, I believed I had finally found the strength to leave him.

Ten minutes later, Luca caught up with me. He pulled over and knocked on my window.

“Elena, I dropped out of the race.”

He rested his forehead against the glass.

“Don’t be angry. I listened to you.”

That one sentence weakened my resolve.

I believed he had chosen me.

Later that night, Sienna entered the race alone. She lost control at the second turn and crashed into a barrier.

When Luca received the call, he looked at me.

“Are you happy now?”

He turned the car around before I could answer.

By the time I reached the emergency room, Luca was pushing Sienna’s stretcher. Her broken leg had already been secured inside a brace.

The moment she saw me, she grabbed my hand.

“Elena, I don’t blame you. You only wanted Luca to leave with you. I know you didn’t expect me to race alone.”

Her voice was weak but loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

“But you’re on a break. For these thirty days, could you please stop chasing him? I really don’t want to come between you.”

Contemptuous looks fell on me.

Luca and I had known each other for nine years and dated for four, yet somehow, I had become the other woman.

After Sienna was admitted, Luca found her the best orthopedic surgeon in New York and abandoned his classes and projects to stay beside her.

The thirty-day break ended.

He still did not come home.

For three months, I handled the racing team’s sponsorships, our graduation project, and every responsibility he had left behind. I attended my own classes while answering questions from his professors, investors, and teammates.

Eventually, exhaustion and sleepless nights caused severe gastrointestinal bleeding.

Natalie called Luca from the hospital.

He did not come.

A mutual friend later repeated his response.

“Since when did Elena start using illness to manipulate me? Besides, she has professors, classmates, and Natalie. Sienna only has me.”

Sienna had Luca, the best doctors in New York, and the entire racing team around her. But because I had always survived without asking him to save me, my strength had become his excuse to neglect me.

Soon, everyone at Westbridge was whispering that Sienna would replace me.

I believed it too.

Then Luca returned to my apartment one night.

He and Sienna had fought. She had threatened to drop out and posted messages implying she might hurt herself, but this time, Luca had still come back to me.

He wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“Elena, I only stayed because I felt responsible for her accident. It was guilt, not love.”

He kissed my hair.

“You’re the only woman I’ve ever included in my future.”

I noticed a fading scratch near his collarbone, and acid rose in my stomach.

“Then let’s stop taking these breaks.”

Luca stiffened.

I turned to face him.

“After graduation, we’ll move into the apartment we reserved and run the design studio together. We don’t have to marry immediately, but we can set a date.”

I held his gaze.

“If I’m truly the only woman in your future, stop suspending our relationship every year.”

The tenderness disappeared from his face.

He released me without answering, walked to the bar, and poured himself a whiskey.

Ice struck the glass.

In the silent apartment, the sound was deafening.