MasukCelesteâs POVI took a slow breath before holding out my left hand. I did not say anything, but Vincenzo understood what I meant. He took my hand gently and did not let go as he slid the ring onto my finger. His movements were slow and careful, almost as if he was afraid that one wrong move might ruin the moment. When the ring settled against my knuckle, I felt the slightest tremble in his hand.He looked up at me, and when he finally spoke, his voice sounded rougher than usual. âHave you ever, even just a little, liked me?âMy face became hot immediately. I turned my head away, suddenly finding it much easier to stare at something behind his shoulder than to look directly into his eyes. For several seconds, I said nothing because I was embarrassed by how easily one simple question could make my heart race.âProbably,â I finally admitted in a quiet voice. âA little.âVincenzo did not answer me. Instead, he stood up and kissed me. The kiss was slow and gentle, and he did not demand any
(Celeste Morettiâs POV)Vincenzoâs pen stopped moving.Stefano stepped forward and said something quietly, only two words. Vincenzo turned and looked at me. I was sitting in one of the corridor chairs with my arms folded over my stomach, staring at the floor. Then he looked back at Stefano. He watched him for a long moment, and something changed in his expression before he quietly lowered his head and rewrote the referral.I remembered.The forty minutes after the blood was drawn felt like the longest forty minutes of my life. I sat in the small waiting room and tried not to think too much. The fluorescent light above me kept humming, and someone down the hall was talking on the phone. I kept looking at the door, waiting for Vincenzo to come back with the results.When Vincenzo finally returned with the report, he did not say anything at first. He simply looked at me. His face gave nothing away. I could not tell if the results were good or bad. He only had that same calm, unreadable e
(Stefanâs POV) âStefanoâs ex-wife,â Stefan said. He was still looking out of the window, his expression serious. âShe married Vincenzo Conti. She has been part of the Conti familyâs inner circle for months.â âYes.â Riccardo pulled back slightly, as though he had only just understood what Stefan was saying. âVincenzo Contiâs wife.â The room fell silent. Stefan finally turned away from the window and faced them. âThe contract losses, the blocked financing, and the distributor who pulled out last week are all connected. This is not some normal market correction. Someone is putting pressure on us, and they are doing it systematically.â Riccardoâs expression changed as the seriousness of the situation finally settled over him. âYou think itâs connected?â âI think someone in this family did something to make an enemy of Vincenzo Conti.â Stefan looked at Tiziana, then at Marco, who was sitting in the corner and pretending to be busy with his phone. âAnd I think one of you knows exact
(Author's POV)Tiziana kept her eyes on her plate as she answered. "She's been difficult to reach. She's busy.""You said you'd try.""I did try."Stefano stared at her for a long moment, waiting for her to look up, but she kept her eyes lowered. He finally pushed his chair back and stood."Then I'll go myself."That morning, Stefano drove to Vitale Group International's headquarters and gave his name to the receptionist at the front desk. She made a phone call, spoke briefly to someone, and then told him that someone would be down to see him shortly.He waited in the lobby for two hours before they finally moved him to a meeting room. No one explained the delay, and Stefano did not ask. He simply sat there, growing more impatient with every passing minute.At noon, Celeste went down to the cafĂŠ on the ground floor to get some coffee. She crossed through the parking structure on her way back and suddenly stopped when she saw a familiar car.She recognized it immediately. It was dark,
(Celeste's POV) "You're my wife." Vincenzo's voice was calm, but there was something firm behind it that made it clear he meant every word. "I'm not going to sit back and let someone hurt you. I chose to do what I did, so I'm not going to let you carry the guilt for my decision." I leaned against his shoulder, letting myself relax against him. The anxiety was still there, but it had eased enough for me to breathe normally again. For a while, neither of us said anything. Then Vincenzo broke the silence. "Dinner tomorrow. Just the two of us. Somewhere that isn't the estate or the office." I winced before I could stop myself. He noticed immediately. "What?" "I already told Carmelita I'd go with her to the bridal boutique tomorrow evening. She's trying on wedding dresses, and Sebastian is out of town. She didn't want to go alone." Vincenzo stared at me with the expression of a man who had just watched his carefully made plans get pushed aside by someone else's wedding dres
(Celeste's POV) My chest tightened the moment I stepped onto the stage. The audience was exactly as overwhelming as I had feared. There were rows of faces watching me, cameras catching the bright stage lights, and senior executives sitting in the front section with the calm, serious expressions of people who had watched hundreds of presentations and were waiting to find something wrong. Then I found him. Front row, center. Vincenzo was sitting there with his jacket buttoned and his back straight, his eyes fixed on me. His expression was the same one he had worn during every practice session at home. Calm, serious, and steady. He was the fixed point I had been looking for. My shoulders relaxed slightly, and I walked to the center of the stage. "Good afternoon." My voice came out clear and steady. "What I'm about to show you is the result of three years of foundational research and eight months of applied development." I kept my eyes on Vincenzo. The next twenty minu
(Celeste Morettiâs POV) He looked up. "What is it?" "I think we shouldâ" His phone rang. His assistant's name lit up the screen. He held up one finger and answered, already pressing his fingers to his temple as the voice on the other end escalated into obvious crisis. He snapped back at whoever
(Celeste Morettiâs POV) Stefano didnât come home last night. Neither did Bianca. After her husbandâs death, Tiziana had claimed that staying at the Conti estate brought back too many painful memories, so sheâd moved into a luxury penthouse downtown. Where Stefano and Bianca had spent the night,
(Celeste Morettiâs POV) The video showed Cerviniaâs snow-covered mountains in the background, picture-perfect and postcard-pretty. Bianca stood between Stefano and Tiziana, bundled in an expensive pink ski jacket I didnât recognize. She was holding a half-eaten gelato cone, her face bright with h
(Celeste Morettiâs POV) I woke to the steady, mechanical beeping of the hospital monitors and the sharp scent of disinfectant that made my stomach twist. My head throbbed violently, every pulse reminding me of the fall. For a fleeting moment, I tried to place myself, but my mind was a haze until







