Bianca instinctively looked toward the colleague who had sent her the message, only to find the woman staring at Dante with guilt written all over her face.
That told her everything she needed to know.
Dante had actually gone this far for Viviana. The man who had always been too proud for deception had learned to lie.
The grief in her chest was a steel needle, piercing her heart one slow millimeter at a time.
Dante walked up to Bianca, his voice low and flat. The ambient noise of the private dining room fell a half-step quieter as he moved, the way it always did, soldiers and associates adjusting without thinking.
"Tonight is Viviana's welcome dinner. She's still new, and some of the people at the firm might not respect her authority. You're here to lend her credibility."
Bianca swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat, gave him one look, and turned to leave. But Dante seized her arm.
"Bianca, what do you think you're doing? If you walk out now, where does that leave Viviana?"
"You're her sister-in-law, for God's sake. Would it kill you to show a little generosity?"
Sister-in-law?
That was the exact excuse Dante had used to force her into bringing Viviana into the counsel's office in the first place.
Whenever Bianca clashed with Viviana, he dragged out the same line, insisting she was the elder, the one who should yield.
Even now, he still hadn't exhausted that card.
Bianca couldn't take it anymore. She wrenched her arm free.
"I'm no sister-in-law of hers!"
"Have you forgotten? Not once, from the very beginning, has she ever called me that."
She turned to leave without waiting for his reaction, but something caught her eye: the bracelet on Viviana's wrist.
Bianca's heart slammed against her ribs.
That bracelet was part of her mother's gift when the marriage alliance was sealed, the only keepsake her late grandmother had left behind.
Bianca closed the distance to Viviana in three strides and grabbed her arm.
"Where did you get this bracelet?"
Viviana let out a shriek, struggling wildly.
"Counselor Bellandi, what are you doing? Let go of me!"
Bianca's voice was ice, her entire body radiating cold fury.
"I asked you a question. Why is this bracelet on your wrist?"
Before the words had fully left her mouth, a hard shove hit her between the shoulder blades, and a sharp pain tore through her arm.
She lost her grip on Viviana and went tumbling down the steps.
Dante had Viviana in his arms, his frigid gaze fixed on Bianca where she lay.
"Bianca, don't push it. I gave that bracelet to Viviana."
Bianca's leg had struck the edge of a step. The pain was blinding, as if the bone had cracked.
Hearing those words, she forced herself upright, both hands pressed hard against her chest, and every humiliation she had swallowed over the years finally erupted.
"That was my mother's gift to me! What right do you have to give it away? Give it back!"
Irritation creased Dante's brow. His signet ring sat motionless against his thumb.
"It's just a bracelet. Viviana liked it, so I let her have it. What's the big deal, Bianca? You're being incredibly petty."
Viviana put on a wounded expression, her fingertips drifting to her pearl earring for the briefest adjustment.
"Dante, since Counselor Bellandi doesn't want me to have it, I'll just give it back. Please don't fight over me."
Dante stroked Viviana's hair, his voice soft with affection.
"Don't worry about it. I gave it to you, so it's yours. She's always been stingy. Just ignore her."
Bianca's eyes were bloodshot.
"Stingy? Do you honestly think I don't know how much you've given her over the years?"
"I let everything else slide, but not this bracelet. If you won't return it, I'll call the police. It was given to me when our families joined. You had no right to dispose of it."
Dante hadn't expected a reaction this fierce. For a moment, he just stood there.
Viviana had taken a liking to Bianca's jewelry before, and every time he had simply let her have it.
Bianca had never once made a scene. Why was this time different?
Seeing the dark resolve on her face, he finally relented.
"Fine. Stay and see Viviana through the rest of her welcome dinner, and I'll give the bracelet back."
Bianca looked into his unyielding eyes and accepted, because she had no other choice.
She knew Dante. Once he set a condition, he never went back on it.
The fact that he was willing to return the bracelet at all was already a concession.
When Viviana realized Dante truly intended to give the bracelet back, a flash of venom crossed her eyes as she looked at Bianca.
So Dante still had some feelings for Bianca after all. She would have to find a way to make him despise her completely.
The dinner began. Bianca sat and watched as Dante attended to Viviana's every need at the long table, the low murmur of associates and their wives filling the private room of the restaurant the Family kept on retainer.
Picking out the best dishes for her. Peeling shrimp for her.
Refilling her wine. Pouring her water.
A bitter ache spread through Bianca's chest.
He had never done any of those things for her. Not once.
She had always assumed it was simply his nature, that he was too proud to bother with small gestures like these.
Now she understood. She simply wasn't worth the effort.
It didn't matter anymore. She had made her peace with it.
All she had to do was endure until the dinner ended, take back her grandmother's bracelet, and walk away, leaving Dante to Viviana for good.
She would never insert herself between them again.
After a few rounds of drinks, the air inside felt suffocating. Bianca slipped out alone to clear her head. The terrace overlooked the lit pool below, and the November air carried the faint smell of chlorine and distant cigarette smoke from the soldiers posted by the cars.
She had barely reached the pool when a hand closed around her arm.
Viviana stood there with a half-smile that wasn't quite a smile.
"What's Counselor Bellandi doing out here instead of inside? Couldn't stand watching me and Dante together? Thinking of running?"
"I suppose it makes sense. You only got him because I went abroad. Now that you see how devoted he is to me, it must be unbearable."
"You really are shameless, you know that? He obviously doesn't love you, yet you cling to him like a barnacle. If I were you, I'd have been gone a long time ago."
Bianca glanced at her, expression blank.
"I am leaving. Just not yet."
"I'm still waiting for you to return my bracelet."
Viviana ran her fingers along the jade on her wrist, a glint of malice in her eyes.
"And what if I said I have no intention of giving it back?"
