Chapter 3

After calming Anna down, Caesar spoke in a tone that was both reproachful and final, "There's no time left. If you keep making a scene, I'll have Anna take your place for the engagement ceremony.

"You don't seem to care much about this anyway. Look at you—your clothes are unchanged, and you have no makeup on. You showed up wearing combat boots. Are you here to fight or to get engaged?"

So, he did know that I was supposed to have my hair and makeup done for today's ceremony.

That morning, I had gotten up early and waited in the dressing room.

For some reason, the makeup artist kept making excuses and never came. The boutique that was supposed to deliver my gown couldn't be reached, either.

I tried calling Caesar, but he never answered.

When it was almost time for the ceremony, I had no choice but to change into my everyday clothes and hurry to the front hall. Only then did I hear from one of the family's men that every makeup artist in the estate had been sent to attend to Anna.

I had only been there a short while before Caesar and Anna walked in together. Her gown trailed across the floor, and her makeup was immaculate.

Meeting my questioning gaze, he explained flatly, "They went to the wrong room, so they did Anna's makeup first. If you knew no one had come, why didn't you ask someone about it?"

An exasperated laugh escaped me. "There wasn't even a maid on my floor today. I called you over and over, and you never picked up."

Caesar smiled awkwardly. "I thought it was one of my men trying to reach me. You know how it is. There are so many people in the family, not to mention our business partners. I can't save everyone's number. I only keep the important ones."

Great. So I wasn't one of them.

Time and again, Caesar had overlooked me and grabbed the wrong thing. It wasn't that his excuses had fooled me, but I consciously chose to stay in his haze of lies.

He had never mistaken me for the woman of his life. I was the one who had mistaken myself for her.

From then on, there wouldn't be another mistake.

Seeing that we were at a standstill, Anna hesitantly held out the ruby ring to me. "Alright, that's enough. Don't let everyone make a laughingstock out of you."

Only then did I notice that the oversized ring had been resized to fit Anna's finger perfectly.

I remembered the first time I saw that ring. Back then, I had complained to Caesar, "This is giant. It's loose even on my thumb. How am I supposed to wear it?"

"There's nothing I can do about it," he had answered indifferently. "You'll just have to make do."

I wanted to have a custom-made pistol because the standard-issue one didn't suit me. He said it was too much trouble. So, I made do.

The bedroom assigned to me was on the shady side, damp and cold. So, I made do.

My bulletproof vest didn't fit. It rubbed my underarms raw. So, I made do.

But things that didn't fit would never become right just because I forced myself to live with them. The same applied to people. No amount of compromising would make the wrong man right.

I didn't take the ring Anna offered. Instead, I brushed past her shoulder and walked away from them.

Taking out my phone, I called Guglielmo Ricci, the Don I had worked with before. "That partnership you mentioned… Does the offer still stand?"

There was a brief silence.

"Sofia Agliate? Aren't you getting engaged today?" he asked, clearly surprised. "You still have time to talk business?"

I stopped at the doorway and looked back. The engagement ceremony had resumed.

In addition to the planned program, Caesar had someone wheel out an enormous bouquet—ten thousand pink roses, Anna's absolute favorite.

When I was standing there earlier, not a single rose was in sight. Caesar had said that carrying a bouquet of roses would look ridiculous for a Don.

I looked away and answered softly, "The engagement is off. Come pick me up."