Chapter 3

I walked nearly forty minutes in the rain before I reached the visa center.

My hair was soaked, my skirt clung to my legs, and my documents were nearly ruined. A staff member handed me hot water and asked if I needed to rest.

I shook my head and handed over the documents one by one.

Stamp. Confirm. Sign.

When the last form was taken away, I stared at the small blue stamp and felt my heart go strangely quiet. Now, only one ticket stood between me and the Moretti estate.

The rain still hadn't stopped outside. I couldn't get a cab, so I had to walk back along the street. Rain dripped from my hair into my collar, cold enough to make my teeth chatter.

By the time I returned to the estate, it was already dark.

I didn't go to the dining room or alert anyone. I simply went back to my room and changed out of my wet clothes. But even a hot shower couldn't drive away the chill, and soon I started to burn with fever.

When my mind was at its blurriest, I dreamed too many things. I dreamed of the crash, blinding headlights, and Luca saying in that careless voice that he hadn't decided how to deal with me yet.

When I opened my eyes again, I thought I was still dreaming.

Luca was sitting by the bed, one arm around me and the other holding a bowl of medicine. His shirt sleeves were rolled to his elbows, and rare anxiety sharpened his face. "Be good. Open your mouth."

My throat burned too badly for me to resist. I could only let him feed me spoonful after spoonful.

The medicine was bitter. He lowered a glass to my lips. "Drink some water. Once the fever breaks, you'll feel better." His voice was gentle enough to sound real.

If I hadn't died once, I probably would have wavered again. I closed my eyes and let myself sink back into sleep.

When I woke again, only one wall lamp was on. The fever had broken, but my body still felt weak.

No one sat beside the bed. Only a phone on the nightstand kept vibrating.

It was Luca's private phone.

I shouldn't have looked. But the group chat name popping up on the screen stabbed straight into my eyes.

[North Shore Club]

That was Luca's private chat with his closest men. In my last life, it was in front of those same men that I had heard the joke that destroyed me.

I reached out and picked up the phone. Messages kept appearing.

[Luca, hell of a performance today. Heard Elena had a fever, and you ditched a shipment worth nine figures at the docks, then blew through a dozen red lights to get back to the estate?]

[Be honest. You're not actually into the little sister, are you?]

[Same here. If this is just for fun, who gets that worked up?]

A few seconds later, Luca's reply appeared at the bottom of the screen.

[Into her?]

[I'm just selling the act. The more she believes me, the more Grace hurts when it blows up.]

My breath stopped for a second. Then another message jumped out.

[What about the engagement? Sophia's side is ready. Are you really going to keep Elena in the dark?]

Luca replied fast.

[At my birthday party, I'll announce my engagement to Sophia in front of everyone.]

[As for Elena, it's time she woke up.]

A few short lines crushed the last ridiculous bit of hope inside me.

So his plan for us, his future, his promise that I was the only one, all existed so I would fall harder at his birthday party.

I held the phone until my knuckles slowly turned white. At that moment, the bedroom door opened from the outside.

Luca walked in carrying a glass of hot water. When he saw the phone in my hand, his steps stopped dead. All color drained from his face.

"Elena. What did you see?"