I knew I'd gone too far. I watched the words hit her. Watched them land. Chiara looked like I'd slapped her. Because she'd never gotten to choose. Leo had taken her. Leo had forced everything. And despite all of it, she loved him now.
“Get changed,” she muttered. “Time to go.”
The drive home felt like a funeral. Nobody spoke. Not me. Not Chiara. Not even the twins. Bruno and Luca sat quietly in the back playing with toy dinosaurs while Sienna looked between me and Chiara every couple seconds with increasing concern. Even she knew something was wrong.
Rain slid across the windows outside while the city passed in blurred streaks of white and gold. I stared outside the entire time. Refused to look at Chiara. Because if I looked at her, I was going to cry. And I absolutely refused to cry. I hadn't cried in years.
Not since… Nope. Not thinking about that. Not thinking about Mama, because that would only shatter me to pieces.
The elevator ride up to the penthouse was silent too. The doors slid open. I stepped out first.
"Aurora." Chiara spoke up from behind me. Cold. Not angry. Worse. Calm. "Go to your room."
I blinked. "Why?"
"Go,” she insisted.
"Aurora's grounded?" Sienna gasped from somewhere behind us.
Bruno looked horrified. "AUNTIE GOT HOUSE ARREST?"
"No one got arrested," Chiara said flatly. “Sergio! Come help!”
I started walking away. Then I heard footsteps. Fast footsteps. Before I could react, Sergio appeared out of absolutely nowhere like the terrifying freak he apparently was.
"I'm sorry," he muttered. Then he picked me up.
I screamed. "KIDNAPPING!"
Bruno screamed too, mimicking me. "KIDNAPPING!"
Sienna looked delighted. Chiara pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sergio!"
I kicked wildly. "Sergio, put me the fuck down!"
The traitor carried me straight to my room. Then set me down gently. Too gently. Like he felt guilty. Which somehow made me angrier. I spun toward the door.
"No no no NO!” I screamed.
Click.
Silence. Absolute silence. I stared. At the locked door. At the gold handle. At the empty room. My chest tightened. Then tightened harder. Because it wasn't about Sergio. Wasn't about Chiara. Wasn't about the wedding. It was everything. Everything at once.
Chiara leaving. The wedding. The Devil. Freedom. Everything crashed on top of me and threatened to bury me beneath the weight of my own dreams that would never come true.
I sat down on the floor because my knees stopped working. Tears started falling. Silent tears at first. Then shaking breaths. Then my hands over my mouth because I couldn't stop. Because I was eighteen years old, and fucking trapped.
Somewhere in the middle of it, through tears and anger and humiliation, one horrifying thought slipped through my mind.
I wanted the Devil. I wanted the stranger in the mask to come save me from the happy ending I’d never wanted.
Chapter Six: AURORA
Iwokeupalreadygrieving.That was the first thing I felt. Not excitement. Not nerves. Not butterflies. Grief. Heavy and cold and strange, sitting directly on my chest like somebody had climbed onto my ribs during the night and refused to move. Like sometime while I slept, somebody had quietly replaced my lungs with wet concrete.
For a few seconds, I just stared at the ceiling above me. White. Gold trim. Soft morning sunlight spilling through sheer curtains in pale ribbons, painting warm stripes across the room.
Beautiful. Everything looked beautiful. I hated it.
