She Was Never Nobody

The moment the ice water hit me, I could barely breathe.

The conservatory door had been locked from outside, its four walls transparent, the glaring lights leaving my humiliation nowhere to hide.

The banquet hall terrace below was packed with people.

They stood holding champagne flutes, watching as though it were a carefully staged performance.

Some laughed. Some whistled.

Others raised their phones, lenses trained on my face as the ice water soaked through it.

"Matt really knows how to have fun, giving his fiancée a surprise like this the night before the engagement."

"What surprise? Didn't you hear what Salina said? It's a test."

"A test to see whether she's worthy of becoming the De Luca family's donna."

The taunts reached me one by one through the sound of rushing water.

My fingers dug into the door handle.

The door would not open.

An electronic lock hung on the outside of the conservatory, its screen glowing red.

Salina stood beyond the glass in a tailored red gown, her makeup flawless, like a rose in full bloom.

She held a black umbrella and smiled at me, shaking the remote control in her hand.

"Evelyn, don't look at me like that."

"Everyone just wants to see how much you really love Matt."

Her voice was not loud, but pitched precisely so that the people nearby could hear every word.

Another wave of laughter broke out from the crowd.

I raised a hand and wiped the water from my face, my voice unsteady. "Salina, open the door."

She tilted her head, as though she had just heard something amusing.

"But the game has only just begun."

"We made a bet on how long you'd last before you begged for mercy."

She stepped closer and looked at me through the glass.

"Haven't you always said you were smart, independent, capable?"

"Then prove it to us."

I watched that arrogant face, and something inside me went cold, inch by inch.

Tonight was the eve of my engagement to Matt.

The De Luca family had reserved the entire mountaintop hotel. By tomorrow morning, every major family on the East Coast would be sending gifts.

Matt had told me himself that this was the dignity he owed me.

He said I had stood by him through the three hardest years the De Luca family had ever known, through one dangerous negotiation after another, through assassination attempts, until he finally reached the position of Don.

He said he owed me a name.

For a time, I had believed I was happy.

After all, the first time I appeared before Matt, the only thing in my pocket was a forged identity card bearing the name Evelyn.

Three years ago, I fell for Matt at first sight—in the middle of a hit.

When Don Falcone found out, he shut it down immediately.

"He’s a nobody. He can’t protect you, let alone give you the life you deserve."

I bet papa I could be loved for who I was, not what I was worth.

If Matt married me, he would stand at my side as an equal in the Falcone family.

I stayed hidden behind a false name, cut off from the family.

And I pushed him every step of the way to the top—until he became the man he is today. I planned to tell him everything after the wedding.

As a surprise.

But now, the man who had promised me dignity was standing on the terrace below.

He had not come up. He had not ordered anyone to open the door.

The water could not reach him through the glass. Matt stood in the warm, bright light in a perfectly pressed black suit, watching with cold eyes as I shook in the conservatory, drenched to the bone.

I called to him through the glass.

"Matt!"

"Tell her to open the door!"

I thought he would at least frown.

But he only exhaled a slow ring of smoke.

"Evelyn, Salina just likes to play."

"You're more sensible than she is. Don't take it so seriously."