Chapter 2

Chiara's POV

Alessio and I rarely ever rowed for more than five days. Either he'd come around on his own, or I'd find a way to give him an opening.

Even something as small as his passing me a glass of water at dinner was enough for me to take it as his apology.

So when I found a coffee sitting on my school desk the next morning, I took it as his way of saying sorry and didn't think twice about it as I drank the whole thing.

That was until I heard Vittoria and a group of girls giggling outside the restroom stall. Vittoria nudged one of them forward, who held out a few sanitary pads toward me.

"Toilet paper runs out eventually. These work just as well in a pinch," she said. "Three should be enough to get you through until you're home, though I'm not sure they'll do much about the smell."

Only then did it hit me that Vittoria and her friends had spiked that coffee with laxatives.

All day, I kept running back and forth to the restroom.

By afternoon, I was slumped over my desk, my knees weak, when Alessio tossed a sandwich in front of me.

"It's just a watch. I already said I'd buy you a hundred of them, so what's with the attitude? Eat something before you make yourself sick. I don't want Donna Moretti to hear about it and come after me."

A sharp, violent spasm racked my abdomen. Stumbling up from my seat, I accidentally sent the sandwich flying onto the floor.

Alessio's face darkened. He scoffed and forbade the servants from coming near me.

When I came back from the restroom, my legs were so weak I had to brace a hand against the wall just to stay on my feet.

Vittoria and her friends were leaning against the wall, watching me and fanning the air in front of their noses.

"Can you guys smell that? Why does she stink so badly? I can smell her from all the way over here."

"Maybe she soiled herself and didn't realize it. Chiara, why don't you just go home and take a bath? Stop polluting the air we all have to breathe."

I kept my face blank, walked straight up to Vittoria, and raised my hand.

She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut, flattening herself against the wall. But I merely grabbed the hem of her shirt and used it to dry my hands.

"Have you forgotten that you're standing right outside the restroom? It's bad enough your nose doesn't work, but is your brain fried as well? Should I mention it to Donna Moretti? I'm sure the family's best doctors would love to give you a full workup and see what else they find."

Vittoria stared at me, stunned. She clearly hadn't expected such a sudden, drastic shift in my attitude.

In the past, I'd let her humiliate me to my face more times than I cared to count, all to keep the peace with Alessio.

Now, I walked back to my seat and buried my head in my arms to rest.

It wasn't long before Alessio noticed Vittoria crying at her desk. He rushed over, pulling her into his arms to comfort her. All the while, his eyes kept darting toward me, boring into me with a fierce glare.

"Some people just can't stand seeing others do well. She doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy," Alessio remarked.

As it turned out, to be hurt by the person one cared about most was an agonizing, unbearable heartache.

My face went pale. I stood up to leave, but my vision suddenly blurred.

A sharp, gripping pain seized my stomach, and in an instant, I collapsed onto the floor.

"You're so dramatic. Can't you handle being called out? Funny how your mouth runs just fine when you're the one talking trash!"

Just before everything went dark, I thought I heard Alessio calling my name, his voice edged with panic.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in the school's infirmary.

The family doctor handed the medication to Alessio, who carefully helped me sit up, let me lean against him, and fed me the pills himself.

I stared at him. Seeing him turn to leave, I reached out and caught the hem of his jacket.

"Alessio, Vittoria put laxatives in my coffee," I said.

He went quiet for a moment before prying my hands off him.

"Chiara, stop accusing Vittoria of things. She wouldn't do something like that, and she has no reason to keep coming after you. Everyone knows how kind she is. Now that she's here, you're jealous of her because you see her as competition."

Enduring the ache in my chest, I closed my eyes, then opened them again to see the cold lines of his retreating silhouette.

"You don't trust me anymore. Alessio, we grew up together. We know each other better than anyone. You know I'm not lying," I said. "You know perfectly well that she's done this multiple times before—"

"That's enough, Chiara!"

He turned around, brow furrowed, glaring at me as he cut me off.

"Vittoria was just brought into the family. She has no friends, not even a single person looking out for her. She's already going through enough!

"All she does is joke around, but you always have to blow things out of proportion, like you can't wait for Don Moretti and Donna Moretti to expel her. If you feel like her jokes embarrassed you, then I'll apologize on her behalf, okay?"

I lay back down, turning my back to him.

Alessio scoffed, turned on his heel, and left.