I turned and walked out, not allowing any bodyguards to follow.
Hurried footsteps caught up to me in the covered walkway.
"Leo, is something wrong?"
Leo, my second oldest brother, hesitated. "Do you still have feelings for Vincent? Just say the word, Grace. We'll handle this."
I didn't answer. I just walked into the room and found the list of bodyguards.
"How useful are these bodyguards to the family?"
They were bodyguards in name, but in reality, they were all heirs from various powerful families, sent to the Moretti family to learn.
Out in the world, they were all sought-after marriage partners.
Leo said, "With the Moretti family's current status, not a single one of them is of any use to us."
I smiled. "Then I guess the man I chose today only has the advantage of being in good shape."
Before my brother could speak, a deep male voice sounded from the doorway.
"I may have the title of a bodyguard, but I haven't done much of the actual job. Are you sure you want to marry me?"
Leo's brow furrowed instantly as he looked coldly at the newcomer, Rocco Moretti.
"Who gave you the nerve to follow us?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the authority of someone in power.
Any other bodyguard would have been on their knees begging for forgiveness by now.
But Rocco remained, leaning lazily against the doorframe.
"The young miss just picked me for a husband. Figured I should introduce myself, so she recognizes me on the wedding night."
He finished, turned to leave, and added one more thing.
"In three days, I'll be waiting for you. All of you. No ghosts of the past."
The implication was that I should completely forget Vincent.
Leo scowled. "Nonsense!"
But I shook my head. "He's... quite good."
In my past life, after I died, someone killed all the jackals and retrieved my bones, piece by piece, from their stomachs.
He held my fragmented limbs and cried like a child.
I couldn't see the man's face, but I smelled the crisp scent of cedar on him.
Today, I smelled that same scent on Rocco.
On the way back to my room, I ran into Vincent.
He sat down beside me and poured me a glass of water, the temperature just right.
I didn't take it. "Congratulations on becoming a father."
Vincent froze.
I glanced at the file in front of me. "Luna Rossi, an orphan—"
Vincent lost his earlier composure and dropped to one knee before me, just as he had when he proposed.
"Grace, I've wronged you, but she's already pregnant. I won't let my child grow up like I did—knowing his father but never calling him Dad."
"So..."
I gently set down my teacup. The soft clink made Vincent's body jolt.
"You were the one who confessed your feelings to me first."
Vincent was silent for a moment, then handed me a black pearl necklace.
"These are your favorite rare black pearls. I finally found eleven identical ones."
He looked at me with deep, affectionate eyes.
But it sent a chill down my spine.
In my last life, he also gave me this necklace, and I ran to show it off to my parents.
After I died, Luna threw my necklace into the river.
My parents jumped in to retrieve it for me and never came back up.
My eyes turned red as I desperately suppressed the churning hatred inside me.
"A string of pearls won't buy my forgiveness."
The chilling cold in my eyes stabbed into his heart like an icicle.
He suddenly presented a dagger with both hands.
"For the rest of my life, my body belongs to her, but my heart will only ever belong to you."
"If tearing out my heart will make you feel better, then do it."
In the end, he was still pleading for that woman.
I held the dagger and traced a circle on his chest, then suddenly smiled.
"Your heart is too filthy. I don't want it."
