Chapter 3

Alessandro pushed open the door just in time to see Daisy lying on the floor.

"Alessandro."

She looked up at him pitifully.

"Olivia attacked me because of the ring. She said she still wouldn't let me have you, even after the divorce."

Alessandro's face darkened.

He gathered Daisy into his arms, then turned to me.

"Olivia, I've given you more than enough money. Why would you hurt her?"

The handprint on my left cheek was impossible to miss, but Alessandro didn't even seem to see it.

I should have realized long ago that whatever feelings he had for me were never real.

There wasn't a trace of warmth in his eyes. I swallowed the words on the tip of my tongue.

"Because she deserved it!"

Alessandro's eyes narrowed, his expression turning deadly.

As the Don, he'd spent his whole life surrounded by people who obeyed his every command. No one dared speak to him like that.

And I certainly never had. For five years, I'd done everything I could to please him. I'd always been gentle, obedient, and careful never to show my temper.

Alessandro didn't bother arguing with me. He raised a hand and summoned his men.

"Lock this madwoman in the basement. Don't let her out until after the wedding!"

One of the larger guards shoved me so hard that I stumbled and fell.

Alessandro didn't even look back.

The day after tomorrow, while he stood at the altar with Daisy, I'd finally walk away without looking back.

The basement was dark and damp. I curled up in a corner and waited.

In the middle of the night, the door swung open.

Daisy walked in wearing her wedding dress, her chin held high.

"This is the wedding gown I'll wear when I marry Alessandro tomorrow."

She strode toward me in her heels. Before I could move, she kicked me hard in the stomach.

Pain tore through me, and I doubled over.

"Olivia, you should count yourself lucky you're not carrying Alessandro's child. If you were, I'd have killed it first!"

I lifted my head and glared at her, hatred burning through me.

One day, I'd make her pay for every bit of this.

"Keep glaring at me, and I'll gouge your eyes out."

She yanked off one of her shoes and swung its pointed heel at my face.

I dodged just in time. Daisy lost her balance and fell hard to the floor.

"You idiot. Marrying Alessandro doesn't mean his family will accept you!"

The commotion soon drew Alessandro downstairs.

The moment he saw Daisy on the floor, anger flashed in his eyes.

I've put up with everything for five years, and now he's marrying another woman.

Why the hell should I keep holding back?

"Don't put this on me, Alessandro. You know what Daisy is like better than I do. She isn't the type to take a beating without fighting back. We've been married for five years. When have I ever gone looking for trouble?"

That stopped Alessandro cold.

"Alessandro, she's done this twice now. She gets hit, throws herself on the floor, then blames me. We've lived together for five years. Do you really have that little faith in me?"

The anger faded from Alessandro's face. He hesitated, finally giving my words some thought.

"Olivia, I-I only acted on impulse."

Before he could finish, Daisy tore off her veil.

"Alessandro, you're about to make me your wife. If you believe her, then we might as well call off the wedding!"

She threw the veil onto the filthy basement floor.

Alessandro's expression immediately tightened again.

"That isn't what I meant, Daisy!"

Daisy pointed to the tiny scratch on her forehead and burst into tears.

"If you really want to make it up to me, lock her in the cottage across the garden. I want her to watch our wedding with her own eyes!"

The cottage was where I'd lived before marrying Alessandro. He'd always kept it well maintained.

He once told me we'd made some of our happiest memories there.

But Daisy liked everything to be grand and expensive, so she'd had the main house redecorated and moved the wedding there instead.

"All right. I'll do it."

With those words, my last bit of hope vanished.

Late that night, I got a message from Nina.

"When the ceremony starts tomorrow, we'll get you out while everyone's distracted."