Semua Bab He Thought I Was an Orphan, Until I Went Home: Bab 1 - Bab 9

Luca Moretti brought Clara Bell into the bridal suite of our engagement party while I was touching up my lipstick.His black jacket hung over one arm, his tie was loose, and he looked as if he had stepped away from a chore. Clara stood behind him in a white satin mini dress stained dark with red wine, her eyes wet."Anna," Luca said, as if he were asking for a glass of water, "Clara's dress is ruined. Let her wear your gown for a while."My hand stopped around the lipstick tube.The ivory gown hung behind me, fitted five separate times so the waist and neckline would sit exactly right. It wasn't my wedding dress, but it was the dress in which the Moretti family would present me as Luca's fiancee.Maya stepped in front of me. "Luca, are you serious? This is Anna's engagement party. She hunted through half of Chicago for that dress."Luca's gaze slid past her and landed on me.I knew that look too well. For five years, whenever Clara stood beside him with red eyes and he needed me to giv

The next afternoon, Luca found Maya's apartment.He stood outside with a white paper bag from an old pastry shop, a black Bentley idling behind him. It was the same car that had once left me waiting alone on my birthday because Clara needed a ride.Maya crossed her arms in the doorway. "She doesn't want to see you."Luca looked past her at me. "Anna, give me two minutes.""Two minutes?" Maya laughed. "That's what you said before you shoved Clara into her engagement gown.""Maya, this is between me and Anna.""Then stop saying her name like you still own it."I touched Maya's arm. "Let him in."Luca stepped inside and set the paper bag on the coffee table. "Pistachio cream rolls. You used to love them."He sat across from me, controlled and patient, ready to manage the problem. "What do you want me to do?""I already told you. Break up.""And I told you not to make a permanent decision because of one bad night." His voice stayed even. "Anna, leaving the ring on that table put me in a di

Luca truly understood I wasn't coming back on the day our wedding should have happened.There were no flowers at St. Rosalia Chapel, no white-draped chairs, no priest waiting. The administrator handed him an envelope and said the venue had been canceled a week earlier.Inside was the seating chart I had drawn by hand: blue for Moretti guests, silver for Valenti guests. Luca hadn't known the silver column belonged to people who could make Chicago captains hold their breath.Luca stood outside the chapel for a long time while wind rattled the paper in his hand. Marco waited behind him and didn't dare speak.At last, Luca asked, "How long did she prepare?"Marco lowered his head. "According to the planner, nine months. Miss Vale came almost every week.""Alone?""Yes."Luca closed his eyes. He remembered me spreading color swatches across the dining table and asking whether roses or camellias would look better by the lake. He had been texting Clara and said they were all the same.When I

The day Luca was discharged, Clara posted another Story. In the photo, Luca leaned against a hospital pillow, pale, his left arm in a sling. Clara stood beside him with white roses.[He's always like this, putting everyone else's problems before himself. Hope he gets better soon.]The comments called Luca gentle, said Clara was lucky, and asked whether Anna Valenti had really broken off the engagement.Clara didn't answer. She only replied with a teary little smile emoji.Maya sent me the screenshot.[Is this woman still playing innocent?]I replied, [Ignore her.][You're seriously not mad?][No.]I meant it. Once, I would have wanted Luca to see how perfectly Clara used every fragile moment. Now I understood she had never been the real problem. Luca was the one who valued her fragility over my dignity.That afternoon, Luca called from an unknown number. "Anna, I'm in New York."I glanced out the window. The Valenti estate had three security posts before the inner gate. He wasn't getti

A month later, Luca left Chicago.Maya told me he had handed the Moretti family's daily affairs to his uncle and gone to a remote estate in Sicily. Some said he was healing. Some said the Chairman had crushed him. Others said he had finally cut Clara off.I listened and said only, "I see."Maya went quiet. "You really let him go?"I stood in my new New York apartment while movers set down the last box of books. It wasn't in the Valenti estate or under any family shell company. I had bought it with dividends from my own fund. It had a river view and clean morning light."Yes.""What now?""Build the foundation first," I said. "Then learn how to live my own life.""And love?"I smiled. "Later."After the call, the butler delivered an envelope."Miss, Mr. Moretti had this transferred as his final letter."Inside were one sheet of paper and the emerald engagement ring. Luca's handwriting was messier than I remembered.[Anna, I wrote a hundred apologies, but none of them are worthy of what