Colino paused at the door, his hand resting on the carved mahogany frame. "What did you throw away?"
I didn't even look at him.
"Just some garbage I should've gotten rid of long ago."
He didn't seem to care. As if suddenly remembering something, he added casually, "I heard Piper accidentally damaged the wedding gown. But don't worry. I've asked the seamstress to rush a new one. It'll be ready in time for the ceremony."
He slung his jacket over one shoulder, the silk lining catching the dim light.
"Remember, tomorrow night's the gathering at the estate. Don't be late. I've got business, so I'm not coming home tonight."
He grabbed his keys and left. Not once did he glance at the overflowing trash bin behind me—filled with everything he'd ever given me.
The next night, 8:00 PM.
I arrived at the Marconi Family's grand hotel alone.
The moment I stepped into the garden, I saw them.
Colino and Piper.
Dressed in matching custom couture, bathed in warm lawn lights like royalty holding court. The cream of the Five Families milled about them, champagne flutes glinting like scattered diamonds in the evening air.
Carmela Marconi's face twisted the moment she saw me.
Her smile dropped like a cracked mask.
She wore the Bulgari necklace Piper had gifted her—a gaudy thing dripping with stones that screamed new money trying to buy old respect. Her eyes ran over me with undisguised disdain, cataloging every flaw, every perceived slight against her precious bloodline.
"You're an hour late. No surprise. No manners at all—just like your mother the thief."
But Colino told me the gathering started at eight.
I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms.
A long time ago, I'd mentioned in passing that Piper's mother had been a mistress—a comare who'd spread her legs for a married man. The next day, Carmela Marconi's missing jewelry "miraculously" appeared under my mother's pillow.
Colino knew my mother had been framed.
He never defended me. Not once.
But now—I didn't grovel. I didn't bow my head like a good little servant's daughter should. I looked straight into Carmela Marconi's cold eyes, then right at Piper's smug little face.
"I'm not here to be insulted," I said, my voice cutting through the garden's polite murmur like a blade through silk. Then I looked Piper dead in the eye. "My mother was not a thief. She didn't raise me to seduce men like some women raise their daughters."
The words had barely left my mouth when a vicious slap exploded across my cheek.
My ears rang. My body hit the ground hard, the manicured grass cold and damp beneath my palms.
The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
Colino stood over me, expression cold and condescending—the face of a man who'd been raised to believe his word was law, his judgment absolute.
"You spread rumors about her! Don't you know it makes her suffer? How long are you gonna keep this going? Do you want her to kill herself?"
I pushed myself up, my face burning with rage.
"She suffered? She?!" I barked out a laugh, bitter and broken—the sound of something inside me finally snapping. "She suffered from her own stupid choices! And you—you know exactly what she did. My mother is dead! I lost everything and you're just going to stand there and let her play the victim?!"
The whispers started—quiet at first, like a ripple across still water, then louder as the crowd leaned in. In this world, gossip was currency, and I'd just handed them a fortune.
Colino's jaw clenched tight, a muscle ticking beneath his skin.
"Leave," he growled under his breath, his voice barely above a whisper but carrying the weight of a threat. "Go calm yourself down. You've embarrassed yourself enough in front of the guests."
The garden buzzed with elite chatter—the connected people of the Five Families, all watching the spectacle with barely concealed delight.
Bertram and Carmela Marconi quickly stepped in with flutes of champagne, smiling stiffly like puppet masters smoothing over a minor disruption.
"Let's not ruin the evening. Come, everyone—drink up!"
Guests swarmed Colino and Piper with congratulations.
"Cheers to the happy couple!"
"Congratulations to the future Mr. and Mrs. Marconi—such a perfect match!"
Colino had always said he wanted our arrangement to be a "surprise."
He never told a soul about us.
And now?
He smiled like a gentleman, standing next to Piper like she'd always been the promised bride—like the blood debt his Family owed my mother had never existed.
He didn't even try to explain.
She clung to his arm like she belonged there, her fingers curled possessively around his sleeve.
Under the glittering lights, they looked like a picture-perfect couple—the heir apparent and his beautiful bride, a union that would strengthen the Marconi name for generations.
While I stood there like a wet stain on a white rug.
I let out a breathless, bitter laugh and turned to go, but a hand blocked my way.
Piper.
She smiled like she'd already won—like she'd been winning since the day she first spread her legs for my fiancé.
"Leaving so soon?" she cooed, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "But I haven't told you how that old woman died."
My heart stopped.
The garden noise faded to a dull roar, replaced by the thundering of my own pulse.
"What did you just say?"
She leaned in close, her perfume cloying and thick, her voice low enough that only I could hear—a whisper meant for the damned.
"I told her if she wanted the money back, she'd have to film herself doing something… special. You know, the kind men pay for." She grinned, her teeth white and sharp in the lamplight. "But she got all high and mighty. She refused and even had the nerve to insult me and my mom."
A twisted laugh escaped her painted lips.
"So I gave her what she deserved."
She sighed dramatically, as if recounting a minor inconvenience rather than a murder.
"Did you know? She barely made it through fifty men before she collapsed. Still had the nerve to clutch my leg and beg—beg—me to return the money to her 'sweet daughter.'"
She made a clicking sound with her tongue, savoring the memory like fine wine.
"Pathetic, really."
