Chapter 1

Through the narrow gap of the half-closed door, I heard a familiar female voice. "Elio, we're already at level 98. Just two more, and I'm yours."

Sofia Rossi's voice was saccharine sweet.

Elio Santoro lifted a brow and spoke lazily. "I told you from the start that finishing it was only a matter of time. If anyone's to blame, it's Isolde. She had the nerve to take the dress you picked out."

That was all it took for the people around him to pile on.

"She had it coming. Sofia's a rising designer. That dress actually means something when it's on her. What's the point of Isolde wearing something that expensive?"

My blood ran cold, and for a moment, I couldn't even think.

"Don Santoro has got patience, though. He spent seven years pretending to be in love with someone that dull."

Someone laughed. "Or maybe he just got tired of looking at her and came up with the amnesia excuse. Do you know what level 99 is? He's making her deliver condoms to the hotel. Do you think she'll actually show up?"

"She's obsessed with him. She even handed over her own blueprint. What wouldn't she do?"

"She practically throws herself at him. She's one step away from ripping her heart out and handing it over."

I bit down hard on my lip, forcing myself to stay silent.

Back then, when Sofia left for Calvarro, Elio fell apart. He drank himself senseless at the base and couldn't even be bothered with the family's core business proposals.

To secure his position as the future Don, I handed over the proposal I had spent three months completing. At the same time, I told the Consigliere our enemies had destroyed it.

The Consigliere valued my work and gave me seven days to redo it.

For those seven days, I slept barely two hours a night, fainted more than once from low blood sugar, and still managed to turn it in on time.

"What's a proposal worth?" someone scoffed. "When Elio needed money to expand his territory, Isolde sold off her Papa's estate without even blinking."

That estate held every memory I had of Papa.

It was the only thing he left me, and the only thing I had left of him. But when Elio looked troubled, I sold it for far below market value without hesitation.

Sofia continued smoothly, "Remember the time she got pregnant and wanted to surprise him? Elio pretended not to know, leaked her location, and let enemies come after her so she could take the hit for him.

"The baby didn't survive, and she still stood there with tears in her eyes, comforting him and blaming herself for not telling him sooner."

Elio let out a quiet laugh. "The way she clings to me is honestly pathetic. So this time, we'll have her go buy condoms."

Just then, my encrypted phone buzzed with a message. "Isolde, bring a box of condoms to Carnaby Hotel right now."

My hand trembled as I let go of the doorknob.

Every single word I had just heard felt like it had turned into a blade and was slowly being driven into my chest.

Terrified they would notice me, I fled in a panic.

But for some reason, Elio withdrew the message, and I didn't ask why. There had been too many moments like this, and I had already started to notice.

Last year, he proposed to me by the sea, only to say he forgot the ring and leave in a hurry.

The next day, he came back with reddened eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Isolde. There was a last-minute meeting. I'll make it up to you. I'll book an entire island and do it right."

I stood in the cold wind all night and ended up with a fever, but I still smiled and told him it was fine.

He then pulled out the ring from his trench coat and realized it didn't fit. "I must've gotten the size wrong. You're not upset, are you?"

But while he was in the shower, I saw his messages with Sofia.

"You should've seen her face when the ring didn't fit. She was trying so hard not to lose it. It was in your size, size 12. I'll put it on your finger once the game's over."

It wasn't that he remembered wrong, but that he had never been thinking of me in the first place.

I pulled out my phone and called Mamma, someone I hadn't reached out to in a long time.

"Mamma, I'm coming back to Valdoria," I said.

Mamma was the Principessa of an old mafia family in Calvarro. After Papa's death, she sold off everything and bought an estate in Valdoria, where she settled.

She had asked me to leave more than once, and I had always stayed for Elio. I thought that once he secured his position, he would finally see everything I had done for him.

Now, I realized that my devotion had only ever been seen as entertainment for his true love.

Upon hearing this, Mamma sounded so relieved that she almost cried. "You should've come back a long time ago. I can only breathe when I know you'll be here with me."

My eyes stung, and I tried my best to hold back tears. "Mamma, before I leave, I need you to help me stage a car accident."

I would fake my death and put an end to this seven-year relationship.

The name Isolde Genovese would be something Elio remembered for the rest of his life.

Mamma went silent for a moment, though she didn't ask why. She just agreed.

After the call, I deleted every post about Elio from my social media.

When I went home to pack, I found my design drafts and a locked journal in Elio's safe. They were the blueprints I had spent years working on for Astryx Tower, a landmark for Castellano.

It was also Papa's final wish. He had been one of the top architects in the country before he was killed in a feud between rival families.

I didn't expect Elio to have kept them so carefully.

There was even a sticky note on them. "She looks so cute when she messes up her hair while sketching."

Back then, when I stayed up late working, he would sit beside me and sometimes rub my shoulders while reminding me to rest my eyes.

"If you go blind, don't blame me for going behind your back."

Elio claimed the past seven years had been nothing but a game of revenge.

But when I mentioned wanting dessert, he would drive across half of Castellano in the middle of the night just to get it.

Even I wouldn't believe it if he claimed he had truly felt nothing for me.

That night, I lay in bed and heard him come home. I pretended to be asleep for the first time.

In the past, no matter how late he returned, I always left a light on for him. If he came back drunk, I would prepare medicine in advance.

This time, when he opened the door, all that greeted him was a dark and quiet living room.

Before long, a strong scent of jasmine drifted in.

Elio wrapped his arms around me from behind, his voice soft and coaxing. "Why didn't you wait up? Are you mad at me? The doctor already told you the memory loss was an accident and that it'll take time to resolve. I've already agreed to rebuild things with you. What more do you want from me?"

I didn't respond. He didn't know I had already learned the truth.

Even when I didn't respond, he wasn't mad and kept talking anyway, his voice low against my ear.

I pushed him away in disgust. "It's late. Go shower."

The smell of Sofia's signature jasmine scent clinging to him made me nauseous.

Elio froze where he stood, but I had already turned over and closed my eyes.