Home / He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting / Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

All Chapters of He Married My Sister. I Stopped Waiting: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

54 Chapters

Chapter 11

Viola POVThe bells rang as the priest finished his final prayer.Before the coffin was carried into the crypt, I stepped forward one last time and rested my hand on the lid.“Goodbye, Dad.”I bent down and briefly pressed my forehead to the cold wood.“I’ll take care of myself. You don’t have to worry.”The pallbearers waited for me to step back before carrying him inside. The stone door slowly closed. I watched until I could no longer see the white flowers on the coffin.People came forward to offer their condolences. I thanked them, then waited for the crowd to disperse before taking out my phone and messaging Alessandro.“The ceremony is over. I’m outside the crypt.”I was about to head down the steps when Camilla approached.“The reception room is the other way. The Marchettis have been waiting for a while.”I stopped.“Antonio said you told them I’d changed my mind.”She glanced around.“Viola, we can discuss this later.”“I haven’t changed my mind. I even messaged you last night

Chapter 12

Viola POVI didn’t look at the ring.“No.”Lorenzo’s hand stopped in midair, still holding the box.The adviser behind him looked at my grandfather. The quiet conversations around us fell silent. Everyone standing closest had heard my answer clearly.“Perhaps you don’t know enough about me yet,” Lorenzo said. “We could sit down and talk first.”“I’m not looking for a husband, and I haven’t asked my family to arrange a marriage.”“But your sister told us—”“She didn’t have my permission.”I took out my phone and opened my conversation with Camilla.“This is the message I sent her after leaving the estate last night.”I turned the screen toward the nearest boss, then read the words aloud, clearly.“‘I won’t wear it, and I won’t go. Please cancel the meeting you agreed to on my behalf.’”He looked down at the screen, then up at Camilla.Her expression changed.“Viola, I only wanted you two to get acquainted. No one is trying to force you.”I lowered my phone.“Then please tell Lorenzo I’v

Chapter 13

Viola POVNicholas looked at me, then at the phone in my hand.“Go wait in the car. I’ll sort this out.”“I didn’t ask how you’d handle it. I asked whether what they said was true.”Camilla slipped her arm through his.“Nicholas, I haven’t lied to anyone. I only told the Marchettis that Viola was willing to consider it.”I turned to her.“You read my messages. You knew I wasn’t willing.”“But you nodded last night at the estate.” Her voice grew quieter. “I asked whether you’d be willing to meet him first, and you nodded. Mom saw it, too.”Mother avoided my eyes, then said, “Yes. I saw it.”I looked at her. A moment passed before I spoke.“I didn’t nod.”Mother pressed her lips together.“Even if I had agreed to meet him, that wouldn’t mean I’d agreed to marry him,” I continued. “And you’ve all heard my answer now. I don’t want to.”Quiet conversations began around us.Camilla clutched Nicholas’s sleeve.“I only wanted to help her. Now she’s calling me a liar in front of all these peopl

Chapter 14

Viola POVLorenzo’s gaze shifted from Alessandro’s face to mine.“Fiancée?”I didn’t deny it.Before we parted last night, I had asked Alessandro whether he could temporarily pose as my fiancé if my family kept trying to force the marriage on me.He had agreed, but told me to refuse for myself first. He would only play along with the pretend engagement once I confirmed I needed him to.Now, standing beside him, I watched my grandfather’s expression darken.“Viola, why have you never mentioned this?”“Because I didn’t ask you to arrange my marriage.”“Those are two different things.”“To me, they’re the same. I should be the one to tell you about my relationships and my marriage.”Nicholas stood a few steps away without speaking. His hand hung at his side, his fingers slowly curling inward.Alessandro looked at Lorenzo.“She’s said no. What other answer do you want?”“We were given a promise by the Bellanti family.”“Then speak to whoever made you that promise,” he said. “Everyone here

Chapter 15

Viola POVI stopped, but didn’t walk toward Nicholas.He came up to me, his gaze passing over Alessandro’s outstretched hand.“Stay. I’ll speak to Salvatore and the Marchettis and settle the rest.”“The marriage proposal has been withdrawn.”“There’s still the matter of you and De Luca.”“That’s my business.”His jaw tightened.“Stay for now. Once everything here is settled, I’ll take you back to the hotel. We need to talk alone.”Alessandro lowered his hand and stepped back half a pace. He didn’t answer for me.I looked at Nicholas.“Last night, I asked you to tell them I hadn’t agreed. Just now, I was waiting for you to tell the truth.”“I know.”“Then why didn’t you?”He glanced at Camilla.She was still beside Mother, both hands gripping her handbag.I looked back at him.“When I was waiting for you to speak, you didn’t. I don’t need you to anymore.”“Viola, I never told you to marry Lorenzo.”“But you didn’t stop them, either.”He reached for me.I stepped back.His hand stopped i

Chapter 16

Viola POVThe car stopped outside the hotel.Alessandro glanced at the entrance, then turned to me.“Your family may send someone again. Would you like me to leave two men nearby?”I remembered Mother’s grip on my arm and Lorenzo blocking the stone steps.“Yes. But I don’t need anyone following me when I go out.”“Just contact them if you need help.”He sent me the number of the man in charge and told me they would be staying in a vacant room on my floor.I saved the number, thanked him, and opened the car door myself.As I passed reception, I stopped and asked the staff to call me before letting any visitors come upstairs.Back in my room, I hung up the coat I had worn to the funeral, washed my face, and ordered room service.Halfway through the meal, my phone began vibrating.Three messages from Camilla.“When did you and Alessandro get engaged?”“Mom is furious. You knew our families were discussing a partnership, but you never mentioned him.”“Do you know him? He and Nicholas have

Chapter 17

Viola POVA record of a phone call was attached to the email.The first line read:“Camilla Bellanti confirmed, on behalf of Viola Bellanti, that Viola was willing to consider a marriage alliance with Lorenzo Marchetti. The parties will meet for further discussion following Marco’s reburial ceremony.”A time was listed underneath.Last night. After I had left the dinner table.I read on. Camilla had also confirmed lunch, the seating arrangements, and that I would return to the estate to change after the ceremony.I called the adviser back.“Before sending that answer, did anyone ask me directly?”“No. Miss Camilla was handling the arrangements. She said she had already spoken to you.”“Then you heard my answer today.”“I did. Mr. Marchetti has also withdrawn the proposal. I’ll add that.”“Please make it clear that the original answer was given without my consent. I didn’t agree and then change my mind because I was engaged to someone else.”He paused.“That concerns what Miss Camilla t

Chapter 18

Viola POVThe next morning, reception called to say Camilla was waiting in the lobby.I asked them to tell her I would be down in half an hour.I washed, ate breakfast, and reread the adviser’s email from the night before. Only then did I take my phone and go downstairs.Camilla sat on a sofa by the window, wearing a beige trench coat. When she saw me, she stood, holding a bag of bread.“Mom had the kitchen make this. She was worried you wouldn’t like the hotel food.”“Thank you.”I accepted the bag and set it beside me.She glanced around.“Can we talk alone?”“None of our family is here. What do you want to say?”She sat back down and adjusted her cuff.“Mom kept crying after she read that email last night. You know how difficult yesterday already was for her.”I held my phone without answering.“The Marchettis have withdrawn the proposal. The record has been corrected. Viola, can we leave it at that?”“You’re here to ask me to drop my request for tonight?”“De Luca and those bosses

Chapter 19

Viola POVAt three that afternoon, I went downstairs for coffee and saw Nicholas standing beside a pillar in the lobby.His coat was draped over his arm, his tie slightly loosened. When he saw me, he stepped forward, then stopped a few paces away.“Do you have time? I’d like to talk.”“We can talk here.”I sat by the window. He didn’t sit down immediately. His gaze settled first on my bare left hand.“Are you and Alessandro serious?”“Is that what you came here to ask?”“Yesterday, at the cemetery, you said you were engaged.”“You heard us.”His jaw tightened. I offered no further explanation and set the coffee menu aside.“If you’re here to ask me to withdraw my request for tonight, Camilla already came this morning. My answer hasn’t changed.”“I know you contacted the adviser.”“Then you should also know what I want corrected.”He sat opposite me, took a platinum ring from his coat pocket, and held it in his palm.“I wanted to give this back to you.”I looked at the ring without reac

Chapter 20

Viola POV“Who told you he left something?”Nicholas asked almost immediately.I looked at him.“I want some of my father’s belongings. Does someone have to tell me about them first?”His expression changed.His open hand closed around the platinum ring. He glanced around before looking back at me.“What do you want to take?”“The photograph of us on his desk, and the practice piece I restored and gave him. I kept thinking about them at the cemetery yesterday.”I paused.“What did you think I was asking about?”“I thought…”He didn’t finish.I watched him, my heartbeat gradually quickening.I had only wanted to take a few of my father’s belongings.But Nicholas’s first question had been who told me.“There’s something else, isn’t there?”He didn’t answer immediately.“Something my father left for me. Not just things I gave him.”“Viola, some of this involves arrangements your father made before he died.”I sat a little straighter.“What arrangements?”“I haven’t uncovered everything ye

PREV

NEXT

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP

DMCA.com Protection Status