Vittoria lifted her foot and kicked the wooden box aside.
It crashed across the marble floor, sending my mother's belongings scattering in every direction.
She looked down at me with undisguised triumph.
"Adriana," she laughed, "after all these years, you're still just as pathetic."
"You couldn't save your mother."
"You couldn't protect the Marchetti territory."
"And the two men you once loved..." Her smile widened. "They're both clearing the way for me."
"You're nothing more than a joke."
Something inside me snapped.
Before I even realized I had moved, my hand struck her across the face.
I hadn't used much force.
Yet Vittoria staggered backward, lost her footing, and tumbled down the stone steps.
The lunchbox slipped from her hands.
Its lid burst open, and the scalding broth splashed across her face.
I froze.
Before I could even react, someone slammed into me from the side.
I hit the ground hard.
Lorenzo was already kneeling beside Vittoria, gathering her into his arms as though she were something unbearably fragile.
He looked up at me, fury blazing in his eyes.
"What have you done?"
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Vittoria only came to bring soup for the Signora. Why would you hit her?"
His jaw tightened.
"She's your own sister."
The warmth I had once believed lived in those eyes was gone.
There was only anger.
I slowly pushed myself to my feet.
A cold smile touched my lips.
"My sister?"
I laughed softly.
"Does she deserve that title?"
I met his gaze without flinching.
"Why did my mother become gravely ill?"
"What about the footage played at my father's wake?"
"Lorenzo..."
"What explanation do you owe me?"
"What right do you have to question me?"
For the briefest moment, panic flickered across his face.
Instinctively, he smoothed the lapel of his jacket.
"My mother was already dying," he said evenly. "I arranged the best clinic available."
"As for the footage..."
"I was the one who had every copy destroyed."
"What else is there to explain?"
His expression hardened.
"Didn't you already figure everything out?"
"No matter what happened before, it doesn't justify raising your hand against your own sister."
His voice suddenly rang through the courtyard.
"Adriana."
"Apologize."
"Or I'll call the clinic this instant and stop every treatment your mother still has."
The courtyard fell silent.
Members of the old Families who had gathered nearby all turned toward us.
Every eye watched the Marchetti heiress unravel in public.
I laughed.
Yet tears slid uncontrollably down my face.
"Then do it."
"Go ahead."
"Stop the treatment."
"I don't need your mercy anymore."
"The truth is..."
"I never did."
Before Lorenzo could answer, Vittoria gently clutched his sleeve.
Her voice trembled with practiced vulnerability.
"Adriana..."
"No matter how angry you are, you can't gamble with the Signora's life."
"I know you resent me."
"It was my fault that everything happened at the wake."
"I owe you an apology."
"But today..."
"I only wanted to make peace with her."
"I never wished her any harm."
She lowered her head.
"So why do you hate me this much?"
For just half a heartbeat...
The smile at the corner of her lips lingered too long.
Then she turned toward Lorenzo.
"If my sister truly despises me..."
"Perhaps we shouldn't see each other anymore."
"I don't want to put you in such a difficult position."
My fingernails dug into my palms until blood seeped between my fingers.
I watched the two of them leave together.
Only then did I finally understand.
Three years of love...
Could turn to ash in a single moment.
I unlocked my phone and sent Lorenzo a single message.
**The union is off.**
Five hours later, he finally replied.
**Vittoria is still my sister-in-law in name, and she's overseeing several important rackets for the Family. What happened today could have damaged the Marchetti reputation in front of the other Families. Asking you to apologize was simply strategy. A performance for outsiders. Don't overthink it.**
A second message followed almost immediately.
**Once Vittoria's injuries are taken care of, I'll bring you to choose your gown. Don't speak out of anger. Your mother would be devastated if she knew. Her greatest wish was to see us bound in union.**
I stared at the screen.
A bitter smile slowly appeared.
It had never been a performance for outsiders.
It had always been a performance for me.
For three years...
He had never once stepped out of character.
Now...
The play was over.
My mother had dreamed of seeing me marry.
But more than that...
She had wanted me to be happy.
And happiness had never depended on becoming a Falcone.
If she could still see me from wherever the dead watched over the living...
She would understand.
After arranging everything for my mother's wake, I returned to the clinic.
I requested every medical record.
Every prescription.
Every treatment order.
Every document proving that someone had quietly replaced her medication.
Two days passed.
Lorenzo never came.
The only news of him came through whispers on the street.
Then came the leaked photographs.
He had signed over nearly half of the Falcone territory and several lucrative rackets to Vittoria.
For a scratch across her face...
He had handed her a hundred million.
In every photograph, he held her close.
The tenderness in his eyes...
Was something he had never once looked at me with.
When the wedding planner called to confirm the final arrangements, I canceled the ceremony.
The news reached Lorenzo almost immediately.
For the first time...
He panicked.
His call came within minutes.
"Tesoro..."
His voice was unusually anxious.
"Are you still angry?"
"Please, listen to me."
"The union can't be canceled."
"The invitations have already gone out to every Family."
"How could you call it off now?"
"You promised your mother she'd live to see us bound together."
He paused before speaking more softly.
"I've already sent your gown and the jewelry back to the estate."
"Try them on for me."
"Don't be stubborn."
"Be good."
"I'll come home as soon as I'm finished."
I closed my eyes.
Every word was a lie.
Only thirty minutes earlier, the auction had been streaming live.
Lorenzo sat alone in the private gallery.
One by one...
He had selected jewels for Vittoria.
Without another word, I deleted every trace of him from my phone.
Then I packed my belongings and returned to the Marchetti estate.
Before leaving...
I sent one final gift to everyone who still served under Lorenzo.
Copies of the clinic records.
Proof that someone acting in the Falcone name had ordered my mother's medication to be switched.
Only after securing the jewels for Vittoria...
Did Lorenzo finally remember the woman he was supposed to marry.
And the dying Signora lying alone in the clinic.
He stared at my unanswered messages.
For the first time...
An unfamiliar unease settled in his chest.
He stepped out of the auction hall and immediately called one of his couriers.
"Tell the clinic to restore the Signora's original medication."
"Whatever it costs, keep her alive until the end of the year."
"If necessary, fly in specialists from overseas."
"I don't want Adriana to suffer any more than she already has."
The courier stood frozen, the newly signed transfer agreements still clutched in his hands.
His face slowly lost all color.
After a long silence, he swallowed hard.
"Don Falcone..."
"The Signora has already passed away."
"And..."
"Signorina Adriana knows the medication was switched."
He hesitated.
"The wake... is today."
"I think..."
"You should be there."
