Chapter 3

I braced myself against the table, got to my feet, and went back to packing.

Amelia leaned against the doorframe and eyed my open suitcase with disdain. “Vera, are you planning to run away from home? You think this is going to scare Vittorio?”

“No. I just want to see the ocean.”

The next second, someone shoved the suitcase aside.

Vittorio wore that familiar look of exasperation and disappointment. “Vera, you can’t threaten me like this every time you’re unhappy.”

“I told you, this isn’t a threat.”

I stopped looking at him and lowered my head to sort through my wallet.

Vittorio snatched it out of my hand and yanked it open, and my ID and cards scattered across the floor.

“I’ve spoiled you, and now you don’t know where to draw the line anymore!”

I crouched down to pick them up. “Vittorio, let’s end this.”

“What do you mean?”

A flicker of panic crossed his eyes. “Vera, don’t say things you don’t mean just because you’re upset. Once you calm down, you’ll regret it.”

“I’m not saying it because I’m upset. We’re breaking up.”

I looked him straight in the eye, my voice firm and final.

Amelia gently took hold of Vittorio’s arm. “Vera, aren’t you being a little selfish? Saying things like that will only hurt Vittorio!

“Vittorio, give Vera some time to cool off. She’s obviously just saying it on impulse!”

Vittorio stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

Amelia scoffed. “Vera, do you really think Vittorio can’t live without you?

“Time and time again, he’d rather miss your wedding than let anything get in the way of what I need. He takes me along on jobs and business deals, and I’m the one on his arm at family gatherings. You wouldn’t even understand half of it.

“You’re an orphan from some backwater village. Other than raising a few dogs in the snow, what can you possibly do for him?”

I looked at Amelia and could barely remember how close we had once been.

She wore the same patient, forgiving look I had always known, but now it felt foreign to me. Every word that sounded caring carried a contempt she could not hide. I had every reason to be hurt, yet she still acted as though I was throwing a tantrum.

“You just think you’re better suited for Vittorio than I am.”

The absurdity of it suddenly struck me. “You’re going after your best friend’s fiancé. Don’t you find that disgusting?”

Amelia flushed with humiliation and anger. “Vera, I’m only looking out for you! How could you think so little of me?”

Looking out for me apparently meant calling Vittorio away during the polar night again and again. Whether it was her graduation ceremony or a job for the family, she always insisted, without a hint of shame, that it mattered more than my wedding.

She clearly was not going to let it go, so I reached out to pull her out of the room.

She suddenly stumbled back a step with a startled cry.

Before I could react, Vittorio rushed in and caught her.

Amelia’s eyes turned a little red. “It was my fault. I lost my footing. Don’t blame Vera. She just got carried away in the moment.”

A chill slowly crept into Vittorio’s eyes. “Vera, apologize.”

He gripped my shoulder hard. My already injured knees buckled, and I hit the floor with a heavy thud.

The pain made my whole body tremble, and I clenched my teeth. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?”

Vittorio looked at me with disappointment, and the words came out before he could stop them. “Vera, I used to think you were just naive and immature. Now you don’t even have basic manners!

“Does growing up without parents give you the right to be this rude?”

The color drained from my face, and tears spilled over before I could hold them back.

Vittorio realized he had gone too far. He opened his mouth guiltily, but in the end he said nothing and left with Amelia.

Losing my parents as a child was the deepest wound I carried. When he first found out, he held me and cried, his heart aching for me.

“From now on, I’ll be your family. I’ll always be by your side.”

Now he was using that very wound against me.

The pain in my knees was nothing compared to the ache in my chest. I sank to the floor and let the tears fall.

I used to love Vittorio deeply. I loved how attentive and caring he was, and how he accepted everything about me.

Only now did I understand that his love and affection were more like an owner’s indulgence toward a well-behaved pet. He liked that I listened to him and depended on him, yet he had never once seen me as his equal.

Over the next few days, while I went around the village handing over my guide duties, I could still hear people whispering behind my back.

“Amelia only sprained her ankle, and Vittorio moved right into her house to take care of her. Vera got hurt too, and he didn’t even look at her. Did she really think saving his life meant she could marry into the mafia?”

I had expected those words to hurt, yet I felt completely calm.

I had not planned to see Vittorio again.

When I packed the very last of my things, however, I came across the engagement ring.

He had slipped the ring onto my finger and told me solemnly that it was a family heirloom passed down for generations. He said it meant as much to him as I did, and as much as his family did.

Now that we had broken up, something that important belonged back with its rightful owner.

I texted and called him, but he never answered.

It was getting dark, so I decided to go to Amelia’s house to find him after all.

The door was unlocked, and heavy, suggestive breathing drifted out from inside. Through the gap in the door, I saw Vittorio holding Amelia in his arms. She was soaking wet and wrapped in nothing but a towel, her bare shoulders pressed tightly against his chest.

Vittorio was gazing down at her intently, completely unaware that someone was at the door.

I froze where I stood.

Amelia suddenly looked up, and our eyes met. She gave me a taunting smile and deliberately pressed herself even closer to him.

Vittorio frowned slightly, yet he did not push her away.

The love I had once tried so hard to prove was shattering right in front of me. Strangely, I did not feel angry at all. If anything, it felt almost laughable.

In the past, I would have stormed in and demanded answers from Vittorio through my tears. He would have coaxed me gently as always, then sighed and told me I was too sensitive and did not trust him enough.

Now I did not even care to hear his explanation.

It turned out that once I had been disappointed enough times to leave, there was not even any jealousy left.

I gently set the ring on the cabinet beside the door. Without another glance at them, I turned and left.