The Don's Ninety-Ninth Lie

The warehouse explosion left me with partial amnesia.

When I woke up, my world had been reduced to a single fact: I was preparing to marry Vincenzo, the Don of the Chicago Outfit.

The ninety-ninth time his childhood friend, Isabella, sabotaged a piece of my trousseau—this time, by slashing the silk dressing gown I’d designed myself—I finally snapped and threw a glass of red wine in her face.

"Are you doing this on purpose? No grown woman can be this clumsy."

But Isabella didn't even flinch. Instead, a slow, knowing smile spread across her face.

She leaned in close, toying with a strand of my hair, and whispered,

"The thing is, you're the real fool in this story."

"What do you mean?"

"A year ago, the warehouse explosion at the docks. Two charred bodies, impaled by ten steel bars."

"Aurora, have you really forgotten? The two people who burned to death... they were your parents."

As the color drained from my face, her lips twisted into a cruel smirk.

"Why do you think Vince is marrying you? You're a loose end. And for a loose end like you, the only safe place is his bed."

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1

The red wine dripped from her long hair, staining the floorboards.

An icy dread coiled in my gut with her every word.

She closed the distance between us, picked up her own glass, and emptied the dregs over my head.

"Aurora, do you really think Vince doesn't know what I've been doing?"

"Why else do you think he put me in charge of your wedding? It's his silent approval."

"If he really loved you, if he couldn't wait to marry you, why would he let me sabotage everything ninety-nine times? The explosion might have taken your memory, but did it take your common sense, too?"

The cold liquid sent a violent shiver through me.

My nails dug into my palms so hard that beads of blood welled up and dropped to the floor.

But I couldn't feel the pain.

The past year flashed through my mind.

From the moment I woke up and he told me we were getting married, Vincenzo had handed all the wedding preparations to his so-called childhood friend.

First, she'd deliberately botched the measurements, making the wedding dress look like a funeral shroud.

We had no choice but to postpone the wedding, again and again.

And today, at the final rehearsal, she'd taken a knife to the silk robe.

The ninety-ninth time.

I had raged. I had pleaded.

But every time I confronted him about Isabella's sabotage, Vincenzo would adopt that pained, helpless expression.

"She's just inexperienced, cara. Let her take her time. Besides, we're not in a rush. We'll have a lifetime together."

"Isn't it nice to extend the honeymoon phase? Or are you that eager for us to be an old married couple?"

Whenever I showed real anger, he would turn cold and impatient.

"Isabella is my oldest friend. What, you think something's going on between us? They were accidents. Instead of picking fights, maybe you should go to church and pray it doesn't happen again!"

All our arguments would eventually fizzle out, leading nowhere.

It never occurred to me that he didn't want to marry me at all.

Sensing my turmoil, Isabella's smile grew more predatory.

"If it weren't for you, I would be the one marrying Vince."

"You stole everything that was mine, and you expect me to plan your wedding? In your dreams."

A cold sweat trickled down my back.

I clenched my fists, my voice trembling as I asked, "Why? Why did my parents die? They were just managers at the docks!"

Isabella looked at me as if I'd just told the world's most pathetic joke, her eyes brimming with scorn.

"The Costellos are the Outfit. It was business. What else?"

"A rival family's territory was too valuable. This was the only way to take it."

"You can only blame your parents for their bad luck. They stayed behind in the warehouse to inspect cargo, so they were right there when it blew. You were farther away and only got your head bashed in. Call it fate."

As the color drained from my face, her lips twisted into that cruel smirk again.

"If I remember correctly, your parents were worrying about you getting married right before they died. If they knew you were about to marry their murderer, wouldn't they turn in their graves?"

"Do you think Vince really loves you?"

"While you were out on dates, he was texting me. When you were in his bed, he was complaining to me about having to sleep with a woman he didn't love. Every moment you two spent together, he felt nothing but disgust for you, his fiancée."

"Aurora, your only purpose is to keep this secret buried forever."

In that instant, the world dissolved around me, my mind wiped clean by the shock.

Suddenly, steady, heavy footsteps approached from behind.

It was Vincenzo.

"What are you two doing?"