Giana
At 3 AM, low voices drifted through the gap in the balcony door.
I lay in the bedroom, the air thick and stale in the darkness, tossing and turning, straining to hear.
Franco was outside. I heard the sharp metallic click of his lighter, then the smell of smoke.
"You screwed up, man," Xavier's voice was low, rough with exhaustion. "Leaving Gia at the club for a waitress?"
"She's not just a waitress," Franco's voice was thick with defensive justification. "She listens to me. She looks at me like I'm a god. Like I can hang the moon."
He paused, exhaling a long stream of smoke. "Gia? Gia looks at me like she's waiting for me to screw up. It's exhausting."
"Gia's the princess," Xavier said pragmatically. "You marry her, you own this city."
"I know!" Franco's voice was sharp, louder, but he quickly reined it in. "You think I'm still here for any other reason? I just need... I need an outlet. Camilla's my relief. Gia's my job."
My job.
I closed my eyes. In the silence of the room, I felt the last shred of patience drain away, leaving only hollow air.
The next morning, the kitchen smelled of rich espresso.
Franco stood at the counter, humming a tune, acting as if nothing had happened.
"I have a surprise," he said, turning to me with a bright smile. "The dress arrived from Milan."
He gestured to a large, pristine garment bag.
"Try it on. For me? To make up for last night?"
I didn't argue. I unzipped the bag.
It was a masterpiece of lace and silk, custom-made by the best atelier in Italy. It cost more than most people's houses.
I took it to the guest room and changed. The fabric was heavy, cool against my skin. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror.
I didn't look like a bride. I looked like a ghost.
I walked out. Franco's cup stopped halfway to his mouth. His jaw went slack.
"God, Gia," he breathed, his eyes raking over the vision.
His phone rang.
The shrill sound shattered the moment. He looked at the screen, his face paling.
"I have to go," he said, already moving, grabbing his keys from the counter.
"Franco. I'm wearing my wedding dress." My voice was flat.
"It's family business. An emergency at the docks with the shipment. I'll be right back."
He ran out the door.
He didn't kiss me goodbye.
I stood there, in the absolute silence, the heavy silk pooling around my feet like a shroud.
I moved slowly to my phone, opened Instagram, and went straight to Camilla's page.
A new post, uploaded one minute ago. The screen was black.
Caption: If I die, will the pain finally end? Goodbye.
He wasn't going to the docks. He was going to play hero.
I waited.
Two hours later, another post.
A video. Filmed on a windy beach, the shot shaky before settling on two figures.
Franco and Camilla.
She was alive. She was wrapped in his suit jacket.
He was kissing her forehead.
The wind carried his voice to the mic.
"I'm here, baby. I'm not leaving. Forget everyone else. You're all that matters to me."
The caption read: Real love gives up everything to save you.
A chilling calm settled over me.
I walked to the kitchen drawer and took out the heavy scissors.
I grabbed a fistful of the voluminous wedding dress skirt.
Snip.
The sound was satisfying. The sharp, clean tear of steel through silk.
I cut through the imported lace. I sliced through the silk bodice. I hacked at the skirt until the masterpiece lay in ruins, a heap of white trash.
I stepped out of the wreckage of white silk, standing in the rubble in just my underwear.
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
I opened it.
A photo. Graphic. Franco and Camilla tangled in a mess of sheets. His face buried in her neck, eyes closed, an expression of pure rapture on his face.
Then, another text.
He likes that I need him. I make him feel alive.
I looked at the photo.
I waited for the jealousy. The heartbreak.
But I felt nothing. Only a wave of nausea.
I typed one reply.
Keep him.
Then I blocked the number.
I walked into the bathroom and turned the shower to its highest setting. I stepped in and scrubbed my skin until it was red and raw, trying to wash away the eight years of his presence, his lies, his 'job'.
When I finally got out and wrapped myself in a towel, I looked in the mirror.
The face staring back wasn't a bride's. It was a woman about to walk into a judgment hall. And she was the judge.
