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Chapter 4
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The Contract Bride He Left To Die Chapter 10
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer Isabella Caruso.The system gave me a new face, a new name, and a life with no connection to either family. My records identified me as Elena Marlowe, twenty-seven years old, with enough money to disappear wherever I chose.My memories remained.So did the cold beneath the clock tower.I left Chicago that week.Three years later, I owned a small botanical studio in Portland. I lived above the shop, worked without guards outside the door, and answered to no family.The Caruso and De Luca names still appeared in the news. Their alliance had collapsed after my death. Bianca survived, but Matteo never married her. My parents withdrew from public life, while Matteo continued searching for proof that I might still exist.He found me on a rainy afternoon.I was tying ribbon around a box of winter roses when the bell above the door rang.“Give me a moment.”The room went silent.When I looked up, Matteo stood near the entrance.He looked older. Exha
The Contract Bride He Left To Die Chapter 9
Matteo refused to let anyone take me from his arms.“Check again.”The doctor stood beside the open drawer. “Mr. De Luca, she has been dead for more than forty-eight hours. The baby did not survive either. There is nothing we can do.”Matteo looked down at my hands, still folded over my abdomen.“Our baby?”“I’m sorry.”Matteo gripped the edge of the drawer.“She told me she would die.”His voice broke.“She gave me the place and the time, and I left her there.”My mother entered and collapsed beside me.“Bella, open your eyes. Mommy’s here.”The moment she touched my frozen hand, she began to sob.“I didn’t mean it. I didn’t want you to lose the baby. I only wanted you to stop fighting the wedding.”My father remained near the door, unable to look at me.He had promised compensation, another future, another child—as though any of it could be replaced.My mother turned on him.“Why didn’t you send someone after her?”“You said she was making a scene.”“She was pregnant.”“And you told
The Contract Bride He Left To Die Chapter 8
No one spoke.The officer opened the sealed envelope and placed my phone, identification, and preliminary report on the front pew.My father stepped forward.“These can be forged.”“Documents can,” the officer said. “Fingerprints cannot. We matched them with Ms. Caruso’s medical records and the police database. The body was found near Northwestern’s old clock tower, and the estimated time of death matches when she disappeared.”Matteo remained at the altar.“Records can be altered.”Enzo entered through the chapel doors, his expression grim.“Don, it’s confirmed. The police call, the body, the fingerprints—everything.”The ring was still caught at Bianca’s knuckle. The priest closed his book.My mother rose abruptly.“No. Bring her here.”“Her body is at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office,” the officer said. “Your family was contacted twice.”“She isn’t dead. She’s angry. She wants to stop the wedding.”The medical examiner’s representative opened his file.“Ms. Caruso died from
The Contract Bride He Left To Die Chapter 7
By the morning of the wedding, security around the De Luca chapel had doubled.My mother checked the guest list herself and stationed Caruso men at every entrance. Her orders were clear: if I appeared, I was not to be allowed near Bianca.Matteo overheard her.“If Isabella comes, don’t hurt her.”“She had someone impersonate the police and report her death,” my mother said. “How far are you going to let this go?”“Keep her outside. Nothing more.”He entered the chapel and checked his phone. None of his messages to me had been read.Enzo approached through the side aisle.“The police call was real. Cook County received a body registered under Isabella Caruso’s name.”Matteo’s expression tightened.“Registered under her name doesn’t prove it’s her.”“Her documents and fingerprints match. They still need a relative to identify her.”“Records can be altered.”“They want someone there before noon.”Matteo looked toward the altar, where the priest and staff were preparing for the ceremony.“
The Contract Bride He Left To Die Chapter 6
The system pulled my consciousness back to the Caruso estate.My mother sat by the fire, calling me again and again. Each time the call went to voicemail, her expression hardened.“How long is she going to keep this up? Now she won’t even answer.”My father set a glass of whiskey in front of her.“Let her calm down. Once Bianca and Matteo are married, she’ll accept it.”“What if she still doesn’t come home tomorrow?”“She won’t leave this family.”Matteo stood near the fireplace, staring at our unanswered chat.Come home. We’ll discuss the baby tomorrow.Half an hour later, he sent another message.Hiding won’t change the wedding.My phone lay beneath the snow beside my body. The screen lit briefly, then went dark.“She only wants me to go after her,” Matteo said.My mother gave a cold laugh.“No one goes. She needs to learn that making a scene won’t force everyone to give in.”No one disagreed.The daughter they expected to return was already sitting beneath the snow at the clock towe
The Contract Bride He Left To Die Chapter 5
No one followed me when I left the Caruso estate.My mother stayed behind with the medical report, while my father returned downstairs to finish reviewing the wedding guest list. Through the closed door, I could still hear the doctor examining Bianca and Matteo answering in a low, urgent voice.The snow had already settled thickly.I did not return to my apartment. I went back to the old clock tower at Northwestern and sat on the same bench where I had waited for Matteo only hours earlier.The ache in my abdomen had not stopped.【Time remaining: 02:17:46.】During Bianca’s coma, my mother barely left the hospital, my father canceled every family meeting, and Matteo spent night after night outside the ICU.I handled the Caruso family’s legitimate business during the day, brought them food and clothes at night, then returned alone to an empty apartment.No one ever asked whether I was tired. They only said that if Bianca never woke, the family would fall apart.I had wanted her to wake to
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