2. Set up on the night of the engagement

"What happened to your face?" asked Emily when she saw Adrian's bruises.

"Luna's stupid bodyguard beat me up for no reason," Adrian lied, putting on an innocent expression, because there was no way he could admit to Emily that the bruises on his face were the result of him trying to kiss Luna, who was none other than Emily's half-sister. Emily would have been furious if she found out.

The man sipped the drink Emily had ordered a few minutes before he arrived at the café where they were now.

Across the table, Emily stared intently at her boyfriend's face. No matter how cold Matteo was, she didn't think he was the kind of mentally disturbed person who would attack anyone for no reason. Emily doubted Adrian's answer.

"You must be lying! You must have done something to provoke him," Emily insisted, her gaze full of suspicion.

Adrian took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before finally admitting his mistake.

"All right, I'll admit it." Adrian put down the cup of coffee he had just sipped. "I got hit when I was about to kiss Luna. And without me knowing where he came from, that stupid bodyguard came and immediately attacked me."

Emily's heart ached, and she stared at Adrian with a dazed look. The girl's chest began to tighten, tears welling up in her eyes. All this time, Adrian had always said that he only loved Emily, not Luna!

Now she felt doubtful about Adrian's love for her. Emily cried and thought that at that evening meeting Adrian would say that he had chosen to end everything and accept the engagement ceremony that would take place tomorrow night.

"If that's what you want to say, then you don't need to keep your promise to meet me!"

Adrian's eyebrows knitted together; he didn't understand where the girl was going with this.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you really love Luna, and you came here to say you want to end everything!" Emily covered her ears and kept shaking her head.

Adrian stood up and held the girl's shoulders to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Hey, Emily, wake up, you're just misunderstanding!" Adrian said in a voice several octaves higher, causing the other patrons in the café to look at the couple. "Listen to me, you're just misunderstanding. With that incident, won't it be easier to make your father think that there's something behind that stupid bodyguard's possessive attitude, isn't that right?" Adrian said, trying to manipulate Emily.

Adrian touched Emily's arm and looked intently into her eyes to convince her that what was in his head was not what Emily thought. And just like that, Emily believed what Adrian said.

"Are you sure you prefer me, even though your engagement party will be held tomorrow night along with my father's birthday celebration?"

"There are a thousand ways to get to Rome. The same goes for tomorrow night's engagement. There will be many ways for us to thwart it." Adrian hugged Emily to reassure her of his decision.

"Really?" Emily asked for confirmation.

"Of course. After meeting you, my love for Luna disappeared completely. Haven't I said that many times?" Adrian replied, then planted a kiss on the girl's cheek. "You are my temptress, Emily."

Once the atmosphere had calmed down, Adrian and Emily began to devise a cunning strategy to thwart Adrian's engagement to Luna tomorrow night.

..............................................

Attending Luna's engagement party was a foolish thing for Matteo to do. The man was willing to risk his heart, which would surely be broken when he saw the girl he secretly loved get engaged to the jerk who had tried to kill him in the park some time ago.

Dressed in a slim-fit suit and with his hair neatly combed, Matteo sat in one of the guest chairs early before the other guests arrived. His face turned up to the ceiling, his eyes closed, the man was wrestling with his thoughts; should he continue to be Luna's bodyguard, or resign and quickly forget the girl?

The presence of someone patting his shoulder broke Matteo's reverie. The man glanced at the person who had just patted his shoulder.

"Hey, Brother," Adrian greeted him.

Seeing the man beside him who was about to become Luna's fiancé, Matteo snorted softly.

"I'm sorry for what I did yesterday," Adrian said, showing remorse on his face.

"What for?" Matteo raised one eyebrow, pretending not to know what Adrian was talking about, when in fact he knew very well.

'It turns out Emily was right; the bodyguard Alex chose for Luna really is a stupid man!' Adrian cursed silently.

"Forget it, Brother. We can sit in the garden while we wait for the guests to arrive." Adrian smiled as he looked around; the hall was not yet crowded with guests. This was the perfect time to take Matteo away from there so that no one would know what he was going to do next.

Matteo really wanted to refuse the man's invitation. However, if Matteo refused, wouldn't that make Adrian wonder if he liked Luna?

After considering Adrian's invitation for a while, Matteo finally agreed to chat with him in the gazebo in the garden next to Lucia's house.

Upon arriving at the gazebo, Adrian handed him a glass of mojito that he had been holding in his right hand.

For a few seconds, Matteo just looked at it without any desire to take it, but Adrian managed to persuade him until the drink was in Matteo's hand.

"Thank you for agreeing to accompany me here. I just feel nervous and need someone to talk to to get rid of my nervousness," said Adrian, which Matteo did not respond to at all.

Matteo sipped the mojito in his glass. Occasionally, he responded to Adrian's conversation, which he thought was very unimportant and made him feel sick.

Adrian stole a glance at Matteo's face to make sure the psychedelic he had mixed into the man's drink was working. As agreed with Emily, he would sacrifice Luna and Matteo to break off his engagement to Luna in order to maintain his relationship with Emily, Luna's half-sister, with whom they had been having an affair without Luna's knowledge.

A few minutes after his efforts to prolong the conversation, it seemed that the results he had hoped for were beginning to show, as Matteo began to lose consciousness.

Adrian looked around to make sure that the situation allowed him to carry Matteo into the empty maid's room.

The man called Emily, and on the third ring, the girl finally picked up the phone.

"Emily, this stupid man is unconscious; where should I take him?" Adrian whispered, looking around at the situation where it was just him and Matteo.

"Take Matteo to the maid's room at the end of the hall," replied Emily, breathing heavily. Adrian knew that she must have just done some exhausting work herself: carrying Luna to the maid's room at the back of the house.

"Okay, I'll be right there," replied Adrian, then turned off the phone and put it in his trouser pocket.

With all his strength, Adrian carried Matteo, who was bigger than him, across the spacious garden, looking around expectantly.

His hard work paid off when he arrived at the maid's room at the far end, where Emily was now carrying Luna's helpless body, under the influence of sleeping pills.

"Sssst, Adrian," Emily whispered, looking around expectantly, to which Adrian quickly responded with a nod.

The man took a deep breath to regain his strength, which was almost depleted because Matteo's body was so heavy.

The situation was quite safe, as the servants were busy preparing for the birthday and engagement party in the hall.

"Quick, we just need to get Matteo into that room and leave immediately," Emily whispered again, moving restlessly, worried that someone might suddenly arrive.

"Don't just stand there talking; help me. This idiot's body is so heavy," moaned Adrian, feeling his shoulders were about to break.

Emily immediately walked forward and helped Adrian carry Matteo's body into the room.

"What about Luna? Have you checked on her?" Adrian asked, wiping his hands as if Matteo's body were dusty.

"Of course. I even took off the dress that was stuck to her body." Emily grinned slyly, followed by Adrian. "We have to get out of here quickly before anyone sees us," whispered Emily as she jogged, followed by Adrian.

The couple walked away from the maid's room, where they had slyly made Luna and Matteo victims of their selfishness so they could stay together.