Chapter 4

I regarded Bianca in silence.

"I'm sorry, Donna," she muttered, sounding anything but sincere.

I ignored her. I said I was tired and withdrew to a sitting room at the lakeside estate.

After the gala ended, I returned to our bedroom alone. Alessio didn't follow.

A light still glowed in the sitting room, and voices carried through the door. Anyone else might have heard only indistinct murmurs. I recognized both speakers immediately.

"You snapped at me in front of everyone," Bianca complained. "Didn't you think that would hurt my feelings?"

"I told you to be discreet. I didn't invite you to throw a tantrum."

Alessio sounded cold, with a distance I'd never heard in his voice before.

"But you promised you'd give me anything I wanted. The sapphire, the businesses, everything. And then, because of her, you wouldn't even look at me."

A pause. When Alessio spoke again, his voice had softened.

"Come on. When have I ever refused you anything?"

Bianca giggled.

"I know. But you said we'd see each other at the gala, and you spent the whole night fussing over the Donna. I was dying to get you alone."

Their voices dropped into intimate murmurs. I heard a chair shift and soft, unmistakable sounds of kissing.

The noise brought back an evening when Alessio had held me beneath the moonlight and suggested we try something adventurous on a chaise on the terrace.

I'd blushed and refused. I hated the thought of being intimate somewhere a servant might walk by, then becoming the subject of private gossip.

He'd laughed, kissed my fingertips, and promised there was no rush. He would wait until I was ready.

He'd finally found someone who didn't make him wait.

I went back to our room, turned off the lights, and slept alone.

At breakfast, Alessio poured my milk and smiled.

"Did you sleep well?"

I nodded.

"Sorry about last night, darling. Bianca and some family representatives stayed late. We were in meetings."

"I see."

I wondered how many of the people who called him their friend knew what he did behind closed doors. How many lies lay beneath the Donna's supposed dignity?

I no longer cared to find out.

That afternoon, I was walking through the garden when Bianca blocked my path.

"Camille, I've always wondered what it's like being the Bellandi Donna."

Her smile was pure provocation.

"It must be terribly stressful. All those years in that position, and you still haven't given him a child."

She stroked her swelling belly.

"The family needs an heir. Tell me, do you think Alessio prefers boys or girls?"

I tried to walk past, but she continued.

"Oh, silly me. You've never been pregnant, have you? How could you possibly understand?"

Alessio had always loved children. I knew that better than anyone.

But perhaps because my body belonged to another universe, I'd never conceived during our marriage. I'd worried about it for years, quietly researching fertility treatments and assisted reproduction.

When Alessio saw the long list of blood tests on one of my medical forms, his expression had changed instantly.

He'd pulled me into his arms and told me again and again that my health mattered infinitely more than producing an heir. With tears in his eyes, he'd sworn that as long as I was healthy and safe, the Bellandi bloodline meant nothing.

Yet he had gone and gotten another woman pregnant.

"One more thing," Bianca said brightly.

She pulled a stack of papers from her handbag and waved them in front of me.

"Last night, Alessio signed this entire estate over to me. The vineyards and woodlands, too."

"It's jointly held family property, and I only mentioned that I liked it. He gave me everything."

Her smile turned mocking.

"Imagine being the Donna and not even knowing when family assets change hands. I had to come tell you myself. You really do have an easy life."

For a moment, I was stunned. Bianca took it as encouragement.

"Everything in the Bellandi family belongs to Alessio, including your title. He can give me whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I hope you won't take it personally."

She stared at me, waiting for me to crumble.

I walked past without giving her another look.

"Take good care of it. In a few days, you might get even more."

With only eight days left in this universe, her smug little performance struck me as ridiculous.

But seeing the family seal had stirred an old memory.

Years earlier, on my first trip to the lakes, I'd told Alessio I dreamed of having an estate of my own. I'd grow grapes, make wine, and spend quiet afternoons playing music, far from the family's endless negotiations.

He'd refused.

I didn't understand property management, he'd said, and he didn't want to burden me. Besides, transferring jointly held family land involved complicated rules. You couldn't simply give it away.

He'd promised to buy me a different estate one day, somewhere I could perform whenever I liked.

That promise had never been fulfilled.

Apparently, the rules weren't so complicated when Bianca wanted something.