Chapter 4

The day before the induction, everyone at the Bellini estate was run off their feet.

Father spent the morning confirming the guest list. Mother went through Bianca’s gowns, jewelry, and ceremonial gifts again and again, terrified that the slightest oversight might spoil her precious daughter’s big day.

Marco was at Bianca’s beck and call—collecting her friends from the airport, speaking to security, personally inspecting the ballroom.

No one asked whether I was ready.

On the console table by the front door lay my MIT acceptance package. I had deliberately left it where no one could miss it.

No one had opened it. No one had even asked why it was there.

They were so busy preparing Bianca’s future that they never noticed I had already chosen mine.

I changed my shoes and left without telling anyone where I was going.

Before leaving New York, there was one last thing I wanted to take with me.

The sapphire bracelet my grandmother had left me.

It was one of a matching pair that had belonged to the Bellini women for generations. In her will, Grandma had divided them between her twin granddaughters.

Bianca had received hers years ago.

Mine had remained in the Family’s private vault until I turned eighteen.

I wanted to wear it on my first day at MIT. It would be a piece of my family history I could carry into the life I had chosen for myself.

But when the vault attendant returned, his hands were empty.

“I’m sorry, Miss Bellini. The bracelet was removed yesterday.”

I stared at him. “By whom?”

He hesitated, then turned the withdrawal ledger toward me.

My mother’s signature appeared at the bottom of the page.

Beside it, under REASON FOR WITHDRAWAL, she had written:

Bianca Bellini’s induction jewelry.

“There must be a mistake,” I said. “Bianca already has the other bracelet.”

“Mrs. Bellini said Miss Bianca would be wearing them as a matching set.”

Of course. One bracelet wasn’t impressive enough for Bianca.

Just as one diamond hadn’t been enough for her crown.

I went back to the estate.

When I entered the drawing room, Bianca was standing before the mirror in her induction gown.

Both sapphire bracelets glittered on her wrist.

Mine rested above hers as if the two had always belonged together.

“You took my bracelet?”

Bianca caught my gaze in the mirror and smiled.

“Don’t they look better as a set?”

“You took it without even asking me?”

Mother adjusted the sleeve of Bianca’s gown.

“They were made to be worn together, Elena. There was no point leaving one locked away in a vault.”

“Grandma left one to each of us.”

Mother turned to me. “Bianca is only wearing yours for the induction. Must you turn everything into a fight?”

She continued. “You already agreed to support your sister on her induction day. I didn’t think lending her a bracelet required a family crisis.”

I looked at the two bracelets, then at the two diamonds set into Bianca’s crown.

Apparently, anything that came in pairs belonged to Bianca.

Even when half of it had been left to me.

Marco exhaled impatiently. “You’re really going to cause a scene over a bracelet the day before the induction?”

“You gave her thirty million dollars, an estate, shares, a board seat, and half a million of my money.” My voice remained steady, though my hands had begun to shake. “Was that still not enough?”

Mother’s expression hardened.

“You’ll spend your life in this Family. You’ll have access to everything in the Bellini vault whenever you want it.”

“And Bianca?”

“Bianca may marry into another Family one day. She needs something of her own to take with her.”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

“So you gave her something that belonged to me.”

I crossed the room and reached for my bracelet.

Father caught my wrist before my fingers touched it.

“Leave it.”

“Grandma left it to me.”

His grip tightened.

“I said leave it.”

Bianca turned away from the mirror.

“Elena, you can have it back. I don’t want everyone fighting because of me.”

Yet she made no move to take it off.

Marco seized my arm and pulled me away.

I lost my balance and struck the corner of the marble table. Pain tore through my hip, and favor boxes scattered across the floor.

Bianca gasped. Mother rushed forward.

Not toward me.

She grabbed Bianca’s wrist and examined both bracelets for damage.

“Do you have any idea how old these are?”

I stared at her. Something inside me went quiet.

Not broken. Not shattered.

Simply finished.

“I only want back what belongs to me,” I said.

“You’re tearing this family apart over a piece of jewelry,” Marco snapped.

“Enough,” Father said.

The room fell silent immediately.

“The bracelet stays with Bianca. This conversation is over.”

Just like that, everything had been mine ceased to belong to me.

I looked at each of them once, then walked upstairs.

I packed my passport, laptop, and a single suitcase.

No one stopped me as I left.

I spent the night at an airport hotel.

No one called. No one asked where I was or whether I would come home.

The first message arrived the following morning.

Mother: Where are you? We are at the venue.

It is the induction day.

My phone kept vibrating as I handed my passport to the gate agent.

“Miss Bellini?” the gate agent said. “We’re ready for you.”

I switched off my phone and walked onto the plane.

By the time Father realized I wasn’t coming, I would already be on my way to MIT.

From that moment on, the Bellinis were no longer my family.