Chapter 2

The sports car Luca promised to send me never arrived.

Seeing how quiet I had been since the wedding was called off, my parents stayed behind at my place to comfort me. My father was absolutely furious about how Luca had handled everything.

My mother, on the other hand, was convinced that Rita had done it entirely on purpose. After all, if someone accidentally hit a stray dog on the road, they’d take it to a veterinary hospital, not a wedding. However, since Rita did do that, it was clear she wanted to destroy this marriage.

I sat there quietly, just listening to them talk.

“Come back to the capital with us, Soph,” my mother pleaded.

They had tried to convince me to leave just as many times as my weddings with Luca had been canceled. My parents belonged to an old-money family in the capital. Unlike Luca, who built his empire taking risks, they led a stable, respectable life, abiding by the rules. They had raised me to be a gentle, unassuming person.

When I was twenty, I took a trip down south and met Luca. Against my parents’ objections, I chose to stay behind with him. He was an orphan, abandoned by his parents to roam the streets, so he loathed it when anyone brought up family. To protect his pride, I never once mentioned the true scale of my family’s wealth, so he always assumed I was just an ordinary girl from the capital.

I was right by his side when he built his territory from the ground up. Back when he was still swinging blades to claim turf, I was standing at the alley entrance counting the cash, using my allowance to buy him guns off the black market. We set up every single weapons pipeline together, driving the Southern mafia family’s status higher and higher.

Once he finally secured his position as Don, my parents—after much persuasion from me—gave their blessing. I had originally intended to tell him the truth about my background, but before I even had the chance, all of this happened. Thinking about it now, there was no longer any point in telling him.

I held my mother’s hand, my voice choking up. “I want to go home, too.”

Relief washed over my parents’ faces. They finally heaved a sigh and held me tight.

“Good. We’ll take you away right now. Let’s leave this place behind.”

Before leaving with my parents, the first thing I had to do was go to Luca’s estate to pack up my belongings. I stayed over at his place occasionally, and my legal documents were kept there.

When I arrived, the butler opened the door, looking quite surprised to see me. As I walked in, I suddenly caught sight of Luca and Rita. Luca was leaning his wrist against a car window, looking down and smiling at Rita, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of a white sports car, her face beaming with joy as she ran her hand over the steering wheel.

“The dog came out of nowhere. That’s how I hit it,” Rita said, surprised. “Anyway, it’s buried. It was all the fault of my old car. Now that I’m driving this one, I won’t be hitting any more strays.”

I glanced over, remembering that stray dog covered in blood, and felt nauseous. Rita was truly sickening. However, wasn’t that white sports car the exact one Luca had promised to give me?

I looked down and laughed bitterly. Whatever. He always did this anyway.

Without wasting another thought on it, I took a detour to grab my things. If anything, I was glad Luca had canceled the wedding. From now on, I would never have to suffer this kind of humiliation again.

I walked out of the estate without Luca ever noticing. It wasn’t until late that night that he sent me a text message.

[Sorry, Soph. The puppy’s injuries are pretty bad. It needs surgery tonight.]

I looked at it, shut off my phone, and didn’t bother to reply.

The next day, I went to the office to handle some paperwork. I was the one managing several of Luca’s weapons supply lines, and a few major buyers from the East had only signed their contracts out of respect for me. Now that I was leaving, I had to hand over the remaining operations.

I went through the handover with the consigliere. She had been working with me for many years, so she found my sudden departure incredibly difficult to accept. She asked me for the reason, but I simply kept silent and started walking away.

Just then, Luca walked into the conference room. There was a distinct hickey on his neck, barely hidden by his shirt collar. In the past, whenever things got wild in bed, he never allowed me to leave any marks on his neck, claiming it would look improper if the mafia family saw it. Because of that, I only ever left marks in hidden places. Yet, as it turned out, it wasn’t about looking improper at all. He just didn’t want my marks on him.

Seeing me there, he immediately got straight to business. “Where is that weapon shipment? Has the final payment been processed?”

I didn’t say a word. I just bypassed him and headed toward the door.

The consigliere immediately stepped forward to intercept him. “She’s handed everything over to me before she left. I’ll be following up on it immediately.”

I had never handed these matters over to anyone else before, so Luca instantly sensed that something was wrong. Frowning, he ran after me and grabbed my wrist.

“Where are you going?”

I turned around, my gaze landing directly on his neck. His eyes darted away guiltily before he questioned me, “Are you still angry?”

I countered, “What would I be angry about?”

I was too calm, and my lack of emotion only made Luca more uneasy. He held my wrist, finding something amiss.

Finally, he softened his tone. “Didn’t I tell you? It was a stray dog that got into an accident, and I just couldn’t stand seeing that kind of thing. Are you really going to pick a fight with me over this?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. Didn’t Rita cause that “accident”? How had he managed to twist the morality of it to make it my fault? Besides, what he was saying wasn’t even the truth.

Trying my best not to argue, I kept my voice steady. “I understand. I just want to go home and rest for a few days.”

After that, I pulled my hand back.

Luca looked perplexed. “If you’re tired, just rest for a few days. There’s no need to hand your work over to someone else. Those who don’t know might think you’re throwing a tantrum because the wedding was canceled yesterday. How are they going to see Rita then? You need to consider her feelings.”

My heart went cold. Even at a time like that, Luca was worrying about Rita’s reputation.

“What does she have to do with me?” I demanded, my voice rising as my burning glare locked onto his neck.

Sensing where I was looking, he subconsciously pulled up his collar to cover it. “I caught fleas from that stray dog yesterday. I was bitten.”

Faced with my attitude, Luca didn’t snap. Instead, he explained himself with a rare patience. If this had been the past, he would have picked a fight with me, accusing me of being unreasonable before slamming the door and leaving.

Today was different. He probably thought I was incredibly easy to fool, believing his excuse was seamless. If I hadn’t heard with my own ears that the dog was already buried, I might have believed him.

I didn’t want to argue about it anymore, so I simply nodded and told him to put some ointment on it. My passive demeanor made Luca assume I was just throwing a minor fit.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he pulled me into a gentle hug and said, “Alright, stop being mad. I’ll cook you your favorite dinner tonight.”

I slowly pushed him away without saying a word. However, he took it as a silent agreement, holding my hand with a look of pure satisfaction.

Right then, Rita burst into the room holding a cup of coffee. Luca immediately let go of my hand, forcing a smile onto his face as if nothing had happened.