Chapter 4

Anna signaled to the two bodyguards behind me. They each grabbed a shoulder, holding me in place.

I struggled against them. "Leonardo, Anna, you can't do this!"

Leonardo looked down at me coldly. "I warned you, Julia. I love Anna. You let your jealousy get the better of you, and now look at you. You just don't know when to stop."

The guards held me down in the middle of the lobby and wrenched the ring off my right middle finger. Pain burned through it.

Leonardo glanced at the ring in disgust. "Throw it away."

"Yes, sir!"

The guard tossed it, sending the silvery band flying out of sight.

I lunged after it, desperate to see where it landed, just as the designer arrived with my dress.

"Ms. Amato... My God! What's going on?"

The Vaccaro family's personal designer saw me struggling in the guards' grip.

Horrified, he dropped the dress and rushed over to push them away. He knew that if my fiance found out, everyone here would end up in the ocean as shark bait.

Then Anna gasped.

"Why does that dress look just like mine? Mine was custom-made. I only posted one photo of it online."

She frowned and turned the dress over in her hands.

"There's not even a label. Julia, is this a knockoff? You'd actually wear a fake to something like this?"

People around us started whispering.

"Maybe the ring was a coincidence, but the dress, too?"

"She's only going to get hurt. Leonardo doesn't care about anyone but Anna."

Leonardo kicked the brand-new dress aside. "Burn it."

I snatched it up and clutched it to me. "No! This is my engagement dress. You have no right to touch it!"

Anna nestled into his arms, looking wounded, though her eyes mocked me.

"Is this what the Amatos taught her? To copy another woman's wedding ring and try to steal her fiancé?"

"It's alright, honey. I forgive her. She's so in love with you that she can't help being jealous."

Leonardo's face hardened. For the first time, he looked at me like an enemy.

"Maybe this will teach you."

He turned to the guards. "Take her to the Rossi estate and lock her up. She stays there until the wedding's over."

The guards reached for me. The designer stepped between us, trembling, but one of them kicked him aside.

They grabbed my arms and dragged me across the lobby toward the doors.

"Let go of me!"

I fought with everything I had until a hand clamped over my mouth.

No one came to help.

Just before they dragged me outside, a man appeared on the second floor. Heads turned as he strode down the stairs, his expression cold, his presence drawing every eye in the room.

A gunshot rang out. Someone hit the floor, and screams filled the lobby.