Chapter 1

I left the chapel while the reception continued. Guests gathered in the garden with champagne, as though the real bride had never arrived.

The DeLuca driver opened the car door without asking why the wedding had ended early. Everyone knew what had happened, and no one believed I deserved an explanation.

As we entered Manhattan, the sedative made the nausea worse. My hands turned cold.

Matteo knew I could not take sedatives. Two years earlier, I had suffered a severe reaction to anesthesia, and the doctor had warned him that similar drugs could cause breathing problems.

Today, he had only said the dose was small.

When I returned to the Upper East Side townhouse, the housekeeper looked surprised to see me alone.

“Miss Vale, is the reception over?”

“Matteo still has guests to entertain.”

I went upstairs and rushed into the bathroom. I vomited until my stomach was empty, but the cramping continued and red marks spread along my arms.

My phone kept vibrating.

Someone had posted a photograph in the private group used by younger DeLuca members and allied heirs. I stood at the chapel entrance, pale and unsteady. Sofia stood beside Matteo in my wedding gown, wearing the pearl tiara meant for me.

“She didn’t even say a word.”

“Matteo trained her well.”

“She was an orphan on a scholarship. Where could she go without the DeLucas?”

Someone reminded them that I was in the group.

Another message appeared.

“So what if she sees this? Does anyone think she would dare leave Matteo?”

I closed the chat without replying.

Matteo returned at ten. He entered the bedroom smelling of whiskey and leaned down to kiss me. When I did not move toward him, he stopped.

“Still angry?”

He sounded as though he were calming a difficult child.

“No.”

Matteo removed a velvet box from his coat. Inside was an antique sapphire necklace.

I had never liked sapphires.

Sofia did.

“It came from the DeLuca vault,” he said. “I planned to give it to you after the ceremony. Take it now, and let today end here.”

I thanked him quietly.

He fastened the necklace around my throat.

“There was no marriage license, and nothing was legally filed. Sofia only wanted to experience the ceremony in the family chapel. We will register our marriage next week.”

“She drugged me.”

“She used a very small amount.”

“You woke up and came home safely. Sofia was emotional today, and I will not humiliate the DeLuca and Rinaldi families over this.”

I met his eyes in the mirror.

“What if I hadn’t woken up?”

Matteo frowned.

“There were doctors at the estate. Nothing would have happened.”

He leaned closer, bringing the smell of whiskey with him. I raised a hand between us.

“You’ve been drinking. You know the alcohol on your breath makes me sick.”

Before he could answer, his phone rang. His expression softened when he saw Sofia’s name.

She was crying. Several elders had criticized her for wearing my gown and remaining within the DeLuca family.

“No one is sending you away,” Matteo told her.

He walked toward the study.

“Get some rest. I’ll come back after I deal with her.”

The lock clicked.

I removed the sapphire necklace and returned it to the box. The group chat was still discussing whether Sofia would spend the night at the estate and whether my registration with Matteo would proceed next week.

They all believed I would stay.

Matteo believed it too.

In his eyes, I had no parents, no family, and nothing that had not come from the DeLucas. He believed I would accept every humiliation to keep the life he had given me.

I called a number I had not used in years.

The phone rang once.

“Isabella.”

My aunt’s voice came from Sicily.

I removed my engagement ring and placed it beside the sapphire necklace.

“The wedding failed.”

She was silent for a moment.

“Are you certain?”

“Prepare the inheritance documents.”

I looked at myself in the mirror.

“I’m coming home to Sicily.”