Semua Bab BLOOD AND VOWS: THE MAFIA WRONG BRIDE : Bab 121 - Bab 130

CHAPTER 121THE ARRIVAL CHIARA Three days.It had been three days since Lucien left the mansion. I hadn’t expected his absence to change anything. If anything, I thought life would become easier. Quieter and Less confusing. Instead, the house felt… empty.Every morning, breakfast arrived outside my room at the same time, neatly prepared by the staff. That was the new development when Lucien left. I would eat alone before wandering through the estate with nothing in particular to do. Sometimes I spent hours in the library, pretending to read while my thoughts drifted elsewhere. Other times I walked through the gardens until sunset painted the flowers in shades of gold.I found myself glancing toward his office whenever I walked past it, expecting to hear the faint rustle of turning pages or the quiet murmur of Marco giving another report. The room remained closed.One afternoon, I caught myself wondering where he was. Was he still in Italy? Had he already traveled somewhere else? Had

CHAPTER 123SHADOW RETURNS CHIARAThe morning after Valentina’s arrival felt totally different and it wasn’t because anything had happened. Everything had. You see how confusing that is. It’s how everything changed. I woke before sunrise, long before the household came alive. For a few moments, I simply stared at the ceiling, listening to the silence. It had only been one day since Valentina arrived, yet the mansion already felt different. Or perhaps I’m the one who did.For the first time in weeks, I no longer felt responsible for filling empty spaces with conversations that never came naturally to me. I no longer reminded myself to smile. To greet the staff. To ask the cooks about breakfast. To compliment the gardeners. Those had never been my habits. They had been Valentina’s. And now, Valentina was here.Without realizing it, I had slipped back into the person I’d always been. Invisible.Breakfast was already waiting downstairs. As I entered the dining room, two maids greeted me

CHAPTER 125HOMECOMINGCHIARA The room had become my entire world. No one had asked me to stay indoors. I just didn’t have any reason to act like I belonged to this place. The real person has returned. Ever since Valentina arrived, the mansion had quietly rearranged itself around her. The corridors that had once echoed with my hesitant greetings now carried her laughter instead. The maids naturally gathered around her whenever she appeared downstairs. The cooks asked her what she wanted for dinner. The gardeners smiled whenever she stopped to admire the flowers. I wasn’t pushed aside or ignored on purpose. I won’t blame them if they even forgot that I was home. But somehow, it had simply… happened. And I had let it. I couldn’t really blame anyone.Mornings now looked exactly the same. Breakfast was brought to the room, and after eating, I would wander aimlessly between the bedroom, the balcony, and the small sitting area before eventually settling into one of the armchairs with a boo

CHAPTER 127THE CHOSEN ONECHIARA Everything seemed to stop. I couldn’t hear the fountain anymore. Or the birds. Or even my own breathing. All I could see was Lucien walking toward us. One step, then another, then another. It was like he was some kind of god coming to deliver punishments to the sinners. His expression remained unreadable, his dark eyes moving between the two of us.Valentina stood perfectly still beside me, her posture elegant, her chin lifted with quiet confidence. If she felt nervous, she hid it well. I wished I knew how. For one terrifying second, I wondered if he would hesitate. If he would have to look twice. If he would accidentally expose everything. So many ifs and it felt like my heart would stop.Then he smiled. It wasn’t a large smile. Just enough to soften the sharpness of his face. He walked straight past Valentina. Straight to me. “Valentina.” My heart stopped.Before I could say a word, he slipped one arm around my waist and drew me gently toward him a

CHAPTER 129THE FIRST MOVELUCIEN The moment the doors of the estate closed behind us, the atmosphere changed. Outside, I had been Don Moretti. Inside, I became exactly what everyone expected me to be. A man already thinking ten moves ahead.Marco walked beside me in silence as we made our way through the corridor leading toward my office. The staff returned to their duties almost immediately after our arrival, though I had no doubt conversations had already begun the moment we disappeared from sight. Neither of us spoke until the office door closed behind us.Marco placed the reports he had carried from Switzerland onto my desk before loosening his tie slightly. “You enjoyed that.”I looked up. “Enjoyed what?”He gave me a flat look. “You know exactly what.” I removed my jacket and draped it over the back of the chair before sitting down. He continued, trying to refresh my memory like I had no recollection of what I did. “The courtyard, The greeting, The way you walked straight past