"Vittorio, that won't be necessary. I need you to submit a request to have all my personal records erased."
A startled silence, then Vittorio Marchetti's voice came through the phone.
"Why? Once your records are erased, Bianca Bellafiore will cease to exist. I thought things between you and Dante were good. What would he do if he couldn't find you?"
I let out a bitter laugh.
"He cheated."
The line went quiet. Then came a long, slow sigh.
"When you called yesterday, I had a feeling something had happened between you two. I just didn't expect..."
"All right. I'll take care of the records. Use these three days to settle your affairs."
Relief loosened the tightness in my chest. With my records erased, I wouldn't even need to waste time on a sanctioned break. The ghost papers would do what no lawyer could. Once the trail was buried, the blood pact dissolved on its own. There would be nothing left to sever.
"Thank you, Vittorio."
The words had barely left my mouth when a familiar voice rose behind me.
"Who cheated?"
I turned and met Dante's gaze. There was a flicker of panic in his eyes. I kept my expression perfectly calm.
"The husband of another one of my professor's students."
Dante studied my face, searching for any crack in my composure. When he found none, the tension in his shoulders eased. He slid an arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
"Sweetheart, don't worry. I would never cheat on you. Not ever."
I looked into those impossibly sincere eyes of his and heard myself ask,
"What if you did?"
Dante shook his head without a second's hesitation.
"Impossible. You're the only one I love."
"I said what if."
He thought for a moment, then nuzzled his cheek against mine.
"Then punish me by making sure I can never find you again."
"You're my whole life, sweetheart. If I couldn't find you, I wouldn't survive."
I smiled and said nothing.
My thumb drifted to the pale mark on my ring finger where the family band used to sit.
Dante Romano, your punishment is already on its way.
In three days, I will vanish from your world completely.
He opened his mouth to say something more, but a woman's voice cut him off.
"Don Romano, everything is ready."
Adriana Russo stood there in a tight pencil skirt, her tone crisp and professional as she delivered her report. A completely different woman from the one flushed and breathless against the floor-to-ceiling windows yesterday. She smoothed the front seam of her dress with one practiced hand, and the gesture was so composed it could have meant nothing at all.
Dante gave her an expressionless nod and waved her away.
Watching the two of them interact, I felt nothing but the cold bite of irony.
Their acting was impeccable. A matched set.
If I hadn't walked in on them tangled together with my own eyes, they would still be fooling me.
Dante's large hand covered my eyes, and his voice turned soft against my ear.
"Sweetheart, I have a surprise for you."
"Five, four, three..."
He lifted his hand after the last number.
The moment I opened my eyes, fireworks shot into the sky one after another, blooming into roses across the darkness, then rearranging themselves into the number ten and holding there, suspended against the night. Beyond the estate walls, two soldiers on the perimeter stood motionless against the glow, silhouettes that reminded me this celebration was still a cage.
Dante pulled me close, his voice thick with emotion.
"Sweetheart, we've been together for ten years. Time really does fly."
I tilted my head back and stared at the glowing number, and for a moment the world felt unreal.
Ten years.
From nineteen to twenty-nine. So much could change in a decade.
Enough to twist a boy who once loved me beyond recognition.
Enough to hollow out something real until nothing was left but lies.
Dante turned to face me, gazing into my eyes with a tenderness that used to make my heart race. He lowered his head slowly, tilting toward my lips. I was about to pull away when his phone chimed.
Annoyance flickered across his face.
"I gave explicit orders that no one was to bother me today. Let's see who's got the nerve."
