The Contract Bride He Left To Die

Seven days after my twin sister Bianca suffered cardiac arrest and slipped into a coma, my fiancé Matteo De Luca sat beside her ICU bed, holding her cool hand through the night.

“So you were telling the truth.”

“If I don’t marry you, you really will die.”

“Bianca, wake up, and I’ll marry you immediately.”

After his promise, her pulse quickened on the monitor, and Bianca opened her eyes.

Everyone called it a miracle.

Only then did I learn that Bianca was a Contract Holder, and the man she had been assigned to win was Matteo—the man I had loved for five years and was about to marry.

His promise had only stabilized her. According to Bianca, the contract would not be complete until the marriage became legal.

That same night, our two mafia families rewrote the wedding plans.

The De Luca chapel remained booked. The reception, guest list, and priest stayed the same. My mother placed the De Luca heirloom veil that had been fitted for me on Bianca’s head, my father ordered the lawyers to replace my name on the marriage documents, and Matteo slid my engagement ring onto her finger.

They were relieved that Bianca had survived and assumed I could wait.

Standing outside her room, I watched Matteo kiss her hand as the system spoke inside my mind.

【Target individual is preparing to marry another Contract Holder.】

【Original task entering failure countdown.】

They did not know I was a Contract Holder too.

Bianca and I had received the same task, with the same man as our target.

She was awake. Now I was the one marked for erasure.

The day Bianca fully regained consciousness, the De Luca lawyers had already been waiting at the hospital for three hours.

When I entered the top-floor conference room, Matteo was signing new marriage documents. The name Isabella Caruso had been replaced with Bianca Caruso.

The chapel confirmation, the priest’s schedule, and the revised guest list lay across the table, each stamped with the De Luca family’s black-and-gold seal.

Matteo saw me and paused.

“Isabella.”

Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his shirt collar was wrinkled. He had barely left Bianca’s room all week.

I approached the table.

“You’re marrying her.”

“She’s recovering.”

“Because you promised to marry her.”

Matteo set down the pen.

“Her heart stopped once. I can’t let that happen again.”

“So our wedding is canceled?”

“Postponed.”

“Until after she becomes your wife?”

His brow tightened.

“This isn’t about love.”

“Then what is it?”

“Saving her.”

Matteo stepped closer and reached for my coat collar, the way he always did when he thought I was underdressed.

“Isabella, I’m not abandoning you. I can’t stand by and watch Bianca die.”

I stepped away.

“Then marry me legally first.”

His hand froze.

“What?”

“She can have the chapel, the reception, and the ring.” I held his gaze. “Sign the civil papers with me first. It will take ten minutes.”

Disbelief flashed across his face.

“Bianca needs a legal marriage to survive. If I marry you first, you take away her only chance.”

“What about mine?”

The door opened.

My mother entered, her eyes still swollen from crying.

“Your sister just woke up. Do you have to upset her now?”

“I only need ten minutes.”

“And then what?” She gripped my arm. “You know Bianca needs this marriage, yet you still want to sign first. When did you become this cruel?”

I did not pull away.

“What if I die without it too?”

She hesitated.

“What if I’m the same as her?”

Her doubt vanished almost immediately.

“Don’t imitate your sister.”

My father entered and closed the door behind him.

“The De Lucas saw Bianca’s heart stop, and they saw her wake after Matteo promised to marry her.” His tone was as calm as it was during a family ruling. “This marriage will proceed.”

“Because of the alliance?”

“And because she is your sister.”

“I’m your daughter too.”

He looked away.

“We’ll discuss that later.”

My mother softened her voice.

“Bella, you’ve always been stronger than Bianca. Her body cannot survive another collapse. You’re losing a wedding. She would lose her life.”

Matteo did not disagree.

I looked at him.

“You think I should give her everything too?”

“I know this is unfair.”

“But you’ll still marry her.”

“Yes.”

He stepped closer, trying to touch my shoulder.

“When she’s stable, I’ll make it up to you. We can prepare another wedding and commission another ring. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“Including you?”

He did not answer.

A nurse called from the corridor.

“Matteo, Bianca is awake. She keeps asking for you.”

He turned at once.

As he passed me, he stopped.

“Isabella, don’t make this harder for her.”

He only used my full name during family meetings or when he was angry. Usually, I was Isa.

But when he opened Bianca’s door, his voice softened.

“Bia, I’m here.”

My mother followed him. My father returned to the lawyers and the marriage documents.

Then the system spoke.

【Original task has suffered irreversible deviation.】

【Temporary alternative condition activated: obtain one unconditional, sincere declaration of love from the target within twenty-four hours.】

【Time remaining: 23:59:59.】

Through the glass, I watched Matteo sit beside Bianca and raise a cup of water to her lips.

I opened the door and called his name.