Chapter 4

When I handed the keys to the sled dog kennel to the villager taking over, he gave me a complicated look.

“Vera, you haven’t been online lately, have you?”

He showed me a video that I knew all too well.

The month before, Dolly had gone through a difficult labor while the vet was stranded at the foot of the mountain by a blizzard. I had no choice but to deliver the puppies with my bare hands. Quite a few people had filmed it, and some had posted the footage online.

When the video unexpectedly started getting attention, Vittorio offered to handle it for me. The next day, when I searched for it again, the only video left online was one where my face could not be seen.

Then Amelia claimed to be the rescuer in the video.

She opened a new social media account and started with the story of saving a sled dog. Step by step, she built an image as an animal lover who cared deeply about charity work. That volunteer image earned her a place in the family’s charity foundation events.

Once the video went viral, she breezed right into the foundation’s work and landed a position as project lead.

Afterward, she explained to me that since she came from a small village, she had to prove herself if she wanted a place in the mafia world.

Vittorio nodded beside her. “This is nothing to you, but for Amelia, it’s a rare opportunity.

“You never wanted the attention anyway, so why not let Amelia have it? Everybody wins.”

At the time, Vittorio had just promised me that he would be there for the third polar night. Caught up in that empty promise, I chose to go along with it and step aside.

I never expected a professional to post a video criticizing the delivery.

“This kind of primitive, outdated delivery method is extremely risky. It could easily kill both the mother and her puppies!”

The praise in the comments quickly turned into blame and abuse.

The villager spoke with pity in his voice. “Now people are saying that you’re actually the one in the video.”

My fingers trembled as I looked it up on my phone. In a new video, Vittorio self-righteously declared that the person in the video was me. He had even made my full name public.

At some point, Vittorio had come to stand behind me. He reached over and shut off the video.

I gripped my phone so hard that my knuckles turned white. “Why would you do this?”

I stared him straight in the eye.

He frowned, unbothered. “Amelia just joined the family, and she’s about to lead a charity project. Her reputation reflects on the entire family.

“Besides, it was you in that video to begin with. I’m only telling the truth.

“I can’t let Amelia and the rest of the family take the heat for you over these baseless accusations.”

I was shaking with anger.

It had been an emergency. If I had done nothing, Dolly and her puppies would have died. On top of that, when the video was being praised, he had made me hand the credit over to Amelia. Now that it had turned controversial, I was the one who had to take the fall for all of it.

I instinctively opened my phone, wanting to post something to set the record straight.

Vittorio pulled the phone out of my hand. “You’re barely online anyway. Even if people are saying awful things, you can just pretend you don’t know.

“Amelia still has her account to run. She can’t handle this kind of thing.”

I felt as though I had fallen through the ice, and the cold cut straight to my bones.

He wrapped his arms around me, his voice as gentle and patient as ever. “Vera, earlier I was just helping Amelia wash up since her ankle’s hurt and she can barely get around. Stop overthinking it.

“I’ll get the video to die down as quickly as I can. This will all blow over soon.

“Before we get married, I’ll clear things up with everyone in the family first, all right?”

He leaned in to kiss me, and I caught the scent of Amelia’s body wash on him.

Disgust surged through me. Almost on instinct, I shoved him away hard and went back to my own house.

Instead of dying down, the video only blew up further, and every detail of my private life was laid bare.

Even without opening social media, I was flooded with harassing texts and calls. Some people mocked where I came from, and the entire village became a target as well. Someone even posted the general location of my home and threatened to show up at my door.

I turned off the comments, saved every piece of evidence of the video and the harassment, and reported them to the platforms.

After that, I grabbed the suitcase I had packed long ago and headed to the airport.

Over those three years, I had canceled my plans for Vittorio again and again. This time, no matter what happened, I was not going to change them.

Before I boarded, my phone buzzed with a notification about Amelia’s latest post.

She wore an elegant gown and held Vittorio’s arm affectionately. The caption read, [Someone who truly loves you will never miss a single important moment in your life.]

Vittorio had even left a few hearts in the comments.

I quietly gave it a like.

A message from Vittorio popped up.

[Vera, I knew you’d come around. I knew you’d be willing to help Amelia.

[I’ve already arranged a family dinner, and I’m going to tell everyone that you’re my fiancée.

[Once the dinner’s over, we’ll fly straight to the Azzurra Islands the next day for our wedding.]

I felt nothing at all. I blocked Vittorio and Amelia on every platform, then turned and stepped onto the plane.

After I landed, I switched off airplane mode, and the abusive messages started pouring in again, along with countless missed calls from Vittorio.

I snapped my old SIM card in half, threw it away, and put in a new one.

In the distance, the deep blue sea sparkled under the sun.

From now on, the world was wide open, and I would never have to wait for anyone again.