Chapter one

They say love can mend a broken man… but no one ever warned what happens when the one doing the mending ends up shattered instead.

For six years, Lucia poured everything into a family that wasn’t hers by blood, yet felt like hers in every way that mattered.

She gave her heart, her youth, and pieces of dreams she never got to chase. She rebuilt a home from ruins. She held two children against her chest until their cries faded.

She stood beside a man who only seemed to remember her existence when it was convenient.

But tonight—under the blinding lights meant to celebrate the rise of the Marchesi family—she learned a truth she had never prepared for: sometimes the deepest betrayal didn’t come from enemies… it came from the people one loved the most.

And when a stepmother finally decided to walk away, the world she held together with her bare hands began to crumble… just not fast enough to drown out the pain.

In a world that valued blood over loyalty, she had never been enough.

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Evening in Milano

The celebration was in full swing when she arrived. Laughter echoed through the hall, glasses clinked, and compliments floated like confetti.

At the center stood Leonardo Marchesi—her husband.

The man everyone celebrated. The man who had dragged a fallen empire back to glory with sheer will.

He deserved the praise. Every bit of it.

“Congratulations, Mr. Marchesi. Truly young and accomplished.”

“Your family life looks perfect too. You’re a lucky man.”

Lucia watched the admiration on their faces, the envy in their eyes.

Of course they were envious.

She had become a stepmother far too young and had raised his two children as if they were her own.

What man wouldn’t admire a woman who stood by him through every fall and rise?

Whenever they mentioned his wife, Leo’s eyes searched the hall—for her.

Lucia stood across the room in a black evening gown, the very one he said made her look like she “belonged beside him.” She had spent weeks planning every detail.

Even with all the stress, she had never neglected Nina or Nico. She thought he saw that.

When she walked toward him, the twins at her side, he smiled. She wrapped her arm through his, and the crowd swelled with compliments.

“Mr. and Mrs. Marchesi and their adorable twins… a perfect family.”

“Truly blessed!”

Lucia smiled politely. “Thank you all. And thank you for supporting Leonardo all these years. We hope to—”

Before she could finish, a voice sliced through the air.

“Lorenza? You’re Lorenza Taddei, right?”

Her heart dropped. That name… the one she had prayed never to hear again.

Before she could breathe, Leo’s arm slipped away from hers.

He moved fast. Too fast. His face tightened with a raw anticipation she hadn’t seen in years.

At the entrance, a guard gripped a woman’s arm.

“Who are you? Do you have an invitation?”

“Let me go!” the woman snapped.

Leo’s voice boomed. “Leave her.”

All eyes turned instantly.

They all knew that name—Lorenza Taddei.

Leo’s childhood sweetheart. His once-fiancée. The biological mother of the children Lucia had raised.

“Lorenza? Is it really you?” he whispered, grabbing her as if she were some miracle.

Lucia’s chest tightened painfully.

“I just missed the kids,” Lorenza said, lips trembling. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

She looked broken—red eyes, simple clothes, trembling hands. And Leo stared at her as though she had been carved from his memories.

“Where have you been all these years?” he asked.

Whispers spread like wildfire.

“Is she his mistress?”

“No, that’s Lorenza—the twins’ birth mother!”

“And Mrs. Marchesi…?”

Every eye turned to Lucia.

She held Nina and Nico’s hands tighter, feeling the world tilt as her husband forgot she was even there.

“I was sick after birth,” Lorenza whispered. “I didn’t want to drag you down. I know I was wrong… but please take care of the kids.”

Her words suggested that Lucia hadn’t already done that.

She pulled away. “I should go. Leo, let me leave.”

“Stay,” he said immediately.

Lucia swallowed the pain burning through her chest.

Nina tugged at her dress. “Mummy, who is that lady Daddy is hugging?”

Nico frowned. “Why is Daddy holding another lady?”

Their innocent voices echoed across the hall.

Leo finally realized what he had done. He turned to the guests.

“Everyone, thank you for coming. It’s late. I’ll invite you again.”

When the room emptied, he wiped Lorenza’s tears with a tenderness he had never shown Lucia in public.

“Don’t cry. If you want to see the kids, stay the night.”

Her eyes widened. “I can really stay?”

She looked at Lucia next. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Marchesi. I only want to see my children. I hope you don’t mind.”

What could Lucia say? How could she deny a mother the chance to see her children?

She lowered her gaze. “Of course not.”

Leo looked relieved. Relieved.

He turned to the butler. “Prepare the best guest room. Lorenza is particular about cleanliness.”

He still remembered her preferences.

Lucia said nothing.

Inside, when Lorenza tried to touch the twins, they shrank back.

“Leo… do they hate me?” she whispered.

Leo rushed to defend her. “Nina, Nico, this is your one and only mother. Call her ‘Mamma.’”

Lucia’s heart cracked.

One and only mother? Then who was she?

“I don’t want to!” Nico said. “She’s not our mum! Our mum is right here!”

He clung to her, trembling.

Leo sighed. “Lucia isn’t your birth mother. Lorenza is. Nobody can compare to a birth mother. You must respect her.”

Lucia lifted her head slowly, swallowing tears. She had never claimed to replace her. Never.

But his words felt like he had pushed her out of the family she had built with her bare hands.

Nina stepped forward. “I don’t care about any of that. The person who loves us the most is Mum. And Mum is Lucia. Nobody else.”

Her voice shook with anger—anger Lucia was too broken to feel.

Because in that moment, she realized her family had shifted beneath her feet. And she was the only one falling.