All Chapters of Married To The Wrong Brother: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

I tugged at the ends of my hair, smoothing them down, but my fingers kept trembling. Nelly was right, of course. Davina and Dad were still not here. They had promised to arrive before midnight, but Dad’s endless business meetings, and he'd mentioned something about coverage. Though it had delayed them again, and he would never let Davina travel alone. My chest constricted.“Tell her I’ll be right there.”Nelly cocked a brow. “Tell her yourself. She’s about five seconds away from sending a search party. And for the love of God, fix your hair and feet. You look like you wrestled and lost.”I was about to ask Nelly if she’d seen Mom when she disappeared into my closet. My eyes widened as I noticed her returning with a small box I hadn’t seen before. It was wrapped in creamy, textured paper with delicate silver speckles like stars frozen mid-fall. A thin navy ribbon was tied neatly around it, forming a perfect little bow on top, and my fingers itched to untie it.“How… how did this get he

And a heavy quiet enveloped everyone.Their words scraped at what little restraint I had left. Bastards. All of them. And they dared speak as though Alessandro would ever allow half the things they suggested.And all the while, her bodyguard remained a silent shield. The Capellos sat small, diminished, almost invisible beneath the weight of centuries of Cosa Nostra politics. And when the council waited for consensus, I could already feel how this would end. For them, there would be no mercy.“Go on,” he commanded.“But it's true. He was right. What does she bring to offset the danger attached to her name?” A tall man from Palermo responded to a statement by Andres. “The daughter, the one supposed to be married to the Don-in-waiting, was involved in that… unfortunate circumstance. Her body, if it can even be called that, hasn’t been found. There is nothing they can offer.”Another nodded solemnly. “Service ended with him.”A hush fell like a wave when Andres cleared his throat. “Sir

I slipped into the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind me, and the sudden banging pressed against my ears. The hallway’s murmur of the council’s remnants still found its way to me, buzzing in the corners of my mind. Every step toward the mirror felt like my feet were sinking into wet concrete. My stomach lurched, causing me bend slightly at the waist, trying to force something out that had nowhere to go. The veins at my temples and forearms bulged like they might burst, and my hands shook so violently I had to brace them against the sink just to keep from staggering.I couldn’t remember the last time my body obeyed me this poorly.A sharp shiver crawled along my spine, and I gritted my teeth. The memory… the ache in my bones and gut was creeping up unbidden. I tried to trace it back to find the trigger, but my thoughts scattered the moment I reached for them. Rosalia’s defiance flashed in my mind. The night, all of it, nothing, everything mashed together until it felt too tight t

My mother had been standing by the window for a long time, staring at nothingness. The curtains were half-open, pale morning light spilling across the living room floor, colliding with the dust we hadn’t bothered to clean.I hovered near the doorway, unsure where to place myself in a house that no longer felt like it belonged to us.“Mama,” I tried, softly. “You haven’t eaten.”She didn’t turn.“I’m not hungry,” she whispered.“You said that yesterday too.”Silence again, and it pressed into my ribs until breathing felt like it required a thousand tiny efforts.My mother was growing thin from skipping meals, and I was becoming her opposite, eating too much and no longer caring about my weight. My body expanded in ways I didn’t recognize anymore but it didn’t matter. Food was one of the few places I could surrender control.From the corner of my eye, I spotted Matteo leaning casually against the large, round grey pillar at the far end of my mother’s Winter Parlor. “I can make tea,” I

I stared at my phone for a long time, considering all the reasons not to do what I wanted to do. And the thought of the way Dominic’s absence could still feel like a possession lingered but it didn't stop me from pressing the call.The line rang twice.Then –“Rosalia?” His voice lifted immediately, warm and unmistakably British. There was a smile in it. “Hi. Hi – I didn’t expect – I mean, I’m glad. I’m really glad.”My chest loosened.“Hi, John,” I said softly. “I hope I’m not calling at a bad time.”It was almost sun down.“No, no. Not at all.” Papers shuffled on his end, followed by a quiet laugh. “I was pretending to read something very boring. This is considerably better.”I smiled despite myself.“I –” he began, then stopped. “Before anything else… I wanted to say I’m sorry. About your father. And your sister. I didn’t know what the right thing was, so I thought maybe giving you space was safer than saying the wrong thing.”“It was,” I admitted. My voice wavered, but I didn’t st