Camilla'S POV
I sat in front of my mirror, legs crossed, doing my makeup like a queen getting ready for coronation. The more eyeliner I added, the more I smiled at myself.
“Finally,” I whispered, leaning close to my reflection like I was sharing a delicious secret. “Rosalie is gone. I really thought she’d come crawling back here like some pathetic stray. And she even aborted the child. What a lunatic. What kind of woman throws away a chance like that?”
I put on my lipstick slowly, real slow, admiring how good I looked. My face always looked better when she wasn’t around. I hummed while brushing my hair, enjoying the peace of not seeing her stupid perfect face anywhere near me.
God, I hated her since preschool! Ugh.
Flashback hit me hard, like a slap to the face.
The teacher’s voice. “Rosalie, perfect again. A+! Wow. Beautiful work.” Then she’d turn to me with that fake smile. “Camilla, you got an A. Good job.”
Good job? Good job? Rosalie gets worshipped while I get a pat on the head like a pet. I wanted to tear that paper in half.
Next memory.
My first crush. Stupid little boy with stupid soft curls. I remember watching him give his cookies and juice to Rosalie every single recess. And they’d run around the playground together like some fairytale pair. I cried after school. Literally cried. I confronted him the next day.
“Why do you like her more?! I like you.”
He shrugged like it was nothing. “Rosalie’s prettier. And nicer.”
That stuck in my head forever. It burned.
Flashback ended and I stared at myself again, smiling sharper.
Now Rosalie was out of the way. And I could finally move to become Mrs Moretti. Alessandro was mine. He always should’ve been mine. Sure, I slept with his brothers too. Sometimes all together. Sometimes they begged for it. But Alessandro was the one I wanted. The only problem? I couldn’t get pregnant.
Another flashback rolled in.
I got pregnant once. Sugar daddy’s baby. He wanted it. I didn’t. He was old and ugly. I only wanted the money. So I got rid of it. And the infection wrecked everything inside me. The doctor told me my womb was basically useless.
Best news ever.
Pregnancy? Disgusting. Ugly. Uncomfortable. I never wanted that.
I was still smiling when Janna, my cousin and favorite sidekick in all crimes, burst into the room out of breath.
“Camilla! You remember your first crush and first love, Reeves? The man you confessed to like an idiot on highschool? The man you sent a thousand letters to in one year? The man everyone loved?”
I groaned loudly. “Do not bring that man up. I swear, I remember how pathetic I was over him. I even almost jumped in a river just to make him notice me. He’s a crazy psycho anyway.”
Janna nodded fast. “Right, right. That man. Well… rumor says… he got married today.”
My lipstick stopped halfway to my mouth.
“What did you just say?”
Janna swallowed hard, repeating it slower.
“He’s married. Today.”
My face twisted, heat crawling up my neck.
“What? Him? Married? He cannot even walk. He’s stuck in a wheelchair forever. Who would marry someone like that? And we literally paid men just to kill him. My mom’s death insurance money wasn’t wasted. I hated him for rejecting me.”
Janna leaned closer. “Yeah but… according to what I heard… the woman who married him…”
“Who?” I snapped.
Janna whispered it like a curse.
“Rosalie.”
My voice exploded before I could stop it.
“What?!”
I grabbed Janna’s wrist so hard she squeaked.
“Where the hell did you even hear that crap? You better not be feeding me some cheap rumors from TikTok.”
Janna pushed her glasses up like she was the smartest girl in the room. “Relax, Camilla. I got it from your sugar daddy. The old one. The one with the saggy cheeks who still pays me just to whisper stupid gossip in his ear. He said he got it from the airport staff where Reeves’ private plane landed.”
I stared at her, stunned for a second, then scoffed.
“Wow. My sources are pathetic but still reliable.”
Janna rolled her eyes. “Girl, listen. Isn’t it pathetic though? Rosalie actually married a disabled man. And broke. Man can’t even stand to greet his own bride.”
I burst out laughing so hard my mascara nearly smudged. “Oh my God. She really downgraded. Imagine marrying someone who needs help just to walk to the bathroom. This is the funniest thing I’ve heard all year.”
Janna wiped tears from her face. “You want us to tell Alessandro?”
I shrugged like I was making a generous offer.
“I mean… why not. It’s literally the nicest thing we could do.”
Janna blinked. “Nicest? How?”
I grinned, showing all my teeth. “Once Alessandro knows, he’ll drag her sorry ass back home. And when she comes back…” I flicked my hair. “Oh, she’s going to wish she stayed with the cripple.”
We both laughed like two cheap villains in a low-budget mafia show. It felt amazing.
...
Later, we walked into Moretti headquarters like it was ours. Alessandro was inside his glass office, sleeves rolled up, signing contracts like the whole world was on fire. Papers everywhere. His brothers yelled in the background.
He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. Which honestly made him look hotter.
I didn’t bother knocking. I never knock.
I strutted in with enough perfume to kill a horse.
“Alessandro, baby, we need to talk.”
He didn’t even look up. “What the hell do you want, Camilla? I’m busy.”
“It’s about Rosalie.” I sat right on his desk, blocking everything he was working on.
His pen stopped mid-stroke. The whole room went quiet like someone pressed mute.
I smiled. Time for fun.
“So… rumor says Rosalie finally got herself a man,” I said slowly, enjoying every second.
His jaw twitched. Just what I wanted.
“Not just any man. Guess who?”
“Camilla. Stop playing,” he growled.
I leaned forward, voice almost sweet. “Reeves Gustavo.”
The pen snapped in his hand. The twins walked out of the side room like they just heard a bomb go off. And Alessandro? Alessandro stood up so fast his chair almost flipped.
“What did you fucking say?”
