Then his tone turned serious. I heard the faint sound of him removing his glasses, and the slow, deliberate friction of cloth on a single lens.
"The man you waited ten years for, the man who promised to give you a home, how much could he really love you?"
"You were only ever his backup plan."
"With us by your side, there's no obstacle you can't get through."
If I had not seen those love messages, I might have defended Luca without hesitation. I might have told my uncle with absolute certainty that Luca was my soulmate. That he loved me. That he was only slow to express it. That our ten years had meaning.
But the truth was, those ten years of love had been nothing but a cruel joke.
On my way to the hospital earlier, I still could not understand why he had betrayed me. I could not understand why the man who was supposed to marry me had hidden so much longing for another woman. But the moment I saw him proposing to Serafina, everything suddenly made sense.
He had not come home from service to marry me.
He had come home to marry her.
For years, I had feared that the distance between us might change him. I had feared that during those long separations, he might fall in love with someone else. But I never imagined that person would be Serafina.
And to win her over, he had even agreed to humiliate me at their ceremony.
The thoughts tangled violently in my mind. My vision blurred. I could not focus on the road.
By the time I snapped back to reality, it was already too late.
I slammed on the brakes.
A harsh crash sounded behind me.
My car was rear-ended. My body jolted forward, and I gripped the steering wheel tightly, my heart pounding so fast it felt like it might tear through my chest.
Just then, my phone rang.
The screen showed Luca's name.
I pressed my thumb to the pulse inside my wrist until my breathing steadied, then stared at it for a few seconds before answering.
His voice came through, calm and familiar, as if nothing had happened.
"Bianca, the doctor said you've already picked up the checkup report."
He paused.
"Where are you?"
Car horns blared from every direction, sharp and chaotic, dragging me violently back from my thoughts.
Only then did I realize my hands were trembling.
I clutched my stomach instinctively, my fingers digging into the fabric of my clothes. Fear spread through me in waves, cold and suffocating, leaving me unable to speak.
On the other end of the phone, Luca seemed to notice something was wrong. His voice tightened immediately.
"Bianca, that doesn't sound right. Did you get into an accident?"
The concern in his tone was unmistakable.
Once, that kind of worry would have made my heart soften. I would have believed it meant he cared about me, that somewhere beneath his restraint and silence, he still loved me.
But now, I knew better.
Luca was simply that kind of person. He was righteous by nature. He could not ignore anyone in danger. His concern had nothing to do with love.
I lowered my eyes and said quietly, "I was in a car accident."
His breathing changed at once.
"Don't be scared. Where are you? I'm coming right now!"
His voice was urgent, filled with anxiety.
But by the time he arrived, stepping out of the black sedan with Serafina beside him, the traffic cops had already finished handling everything.
When Luca saw that I was not injured, the relief on his face was obvious.
But my gaze did not stay on him.
It landed on Serafina.
She was sitting beside him so naturally, as if that seat had always belonged to her. One of his soldiers held the door for her the way they held doors for family.
A dull ache spread through my chest.
I looked at Luca and asked calmly, "When did the two of you become so close?"
