One week before the alliance ceremony.

My adoptive sister, Veronica, rushed back home to help me prepare for the wedding.

That night, while she was in the shower, an old-fashioned flip phone I'd never seen before rang on her nightstand.

"Vivi, can you see who it is for me?"

I teased her, a laugh in my voice. "Hiding a secret lover, are we?"

I slid the phone open to a message from an unknown number:

"Baby, want to use them tonight?"

Underneath the text was a photo.

It was a slinky, snake-like body chain engraved with the letter "V" and a pair of plush, pink silk handcuffs.

Then, a voice message came through.

"I can't stop thinking about you. Let's try this tonight."

I froze, then played it again.

A chill snaked down my spine, turning my shock to ice. I recognized the tattoo in the photo's background—a blur of ink on a man's hip. Where my name, "Vivi," had once been inked, a fresh tattoo of "Ronnie" now sat.

It wasn't just anyone. It was my fiancé. Haward Moretti.

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1

The room was warm, the central heat blasting.

The sound of the shower echoed from the bathroom, each percussive drop hammering against my heart until I could barely breathe. I stared at the burner phone, one I’d never seen Haward use. His conversation with Veronica was so sexually explicit it felt like I’d never truly known either of them.

And yet... a sliver of doubt pricked at me. *Could I be mistaken? Could it just be a similar tattoo?*

After all, Veronica and I had grown up together. She’d never dated anyone and had always claimed she wasn't interested in men. More importantly, the first time she met Haward, she’d glared at him with utter disgust.

"So you're the gutter rat who thinks he can have our princess?"

My face burned with mortification, but Veronica ignored me completely. She looked Haward up and down, her voice glacial. "You bastard. You better cherish my Vivi, or I'll make you wish you were never born."

That first meeting had been a disaster.

To this day, Haward would still say of her, "If she wasn't your adoptive sister, I would have destroyed her the moment we met."

I stared at the phone screen.

Another message came through from the same account: a single question mark. I flinched, instinctively snapping the phone shut and pulling up Haward’s contact on my own phone.

I started a video call.

It rang a few times before he answered.

"Baby."

Haward's familiar face appeared on the screen. He panned the camera to show his men behind him, and several of them waved.

"The future Mrs. Moretti checking in?" one of them teased.

"Don't worry, boss lady, we'll keep an eye on the Capo for you!"

"The Capo only has eyes for you. You've got nothing to worry about."

Those men were Haward's childhood friends, the Made Men who had helped him secure the family's business and expand their territory. I looked at Haward's gentle smile.

"Baby, you miss me?"

He leaned closer to the camera, his voice a low whisper. "Because I miss you like hell. I've been cracking the whip on these idiots to finish up so I can get back to my fiancée."

Hearing Haward call me "baby" still made my heart flutter, a familiar warmth spreading through my chest. I managed a smile.

"Your work is more important."

I shouldn't be doubting him like this, doubting our love, our future.

"I was just wondering…"

That voice message echoed in my head, a venomous whisper.

"Haward," I looked into his smiling eyes, "what do you think of Ronnie?"

I tried to sound casual, as if we were just chatting.

"It seems like she has a boyfriend."

Haward's expression froze for a split second before smoothing over into a mask of indifference. "Who cares about that wildcat."

His tone was dripping with disgust.

"I have zero interest in her drama," he said, his voice flat with boredom. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even want to hear her name."

Haward smiled at me again.

"Baby, I've still got work to do, so I have to go."

"When I get back, I'll bring you some jewelry from Sicily."

Haward hung up.

I sat on the balcony, gazing at the city lights as a thick fog settled over my heart, cold and suffocating. Before I could sink further into my thoughts, a hand tapped me gently on the shoulder.

"Vivi."

Veronica was already dressed.

The usual tomboy was gone, replaced by a woman poured into a sexy, tight-fitting skirt, her face painted with heavy makeup. I stared at this completely unfamiliar version of my sister, unable to stop myself from asking.

"Ronnie."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

I wanted to warn her, to tell her the man seemed dangerous. I wanted to advise her to be careful, but I didn't know what I said to set her off. Her face suddenly darkened.

"Vivi, I know we're sisters, but you can't be so lost in your own perfect little world that you try to ruin my happiness, can you?"

"Vivian Rossi," Veronica’s temper flared, "you're so selfish!"

"I shouldn't have taken time off to help you with this stupid wedding. Vivian, you've really disappointed me!"

Veronica grabbed her bag and stormed out.

I rushed after her, shouting, "Ronnie!"

"That's not what I meant!"

The elevator doors slid shut, cutting me off.

I chased her down to the parking garage, but she was already gone. I stood in the empty space, my mind reeling, trying to process why she had exploded at me. A primal fear of losing her washed over me, and the motel's location tag from the text message flashed in my mind.

I remembered.

The photo. The message.

*Tonight, let's play something a little more exciting.*

I was terrified she was being deceived, but I was also terrified she'd freeze me out, that she'd hold this grudge forever. She was the closest family I had besides my parents—even closer than Haward. Forgetting my jacket, I snatched my car keys and sped toward the motel.

Just as I pulled up to the entrance, my eyes locking onto Veronica's car, my breath caught in my throat.

I saw Haward. The same Haward who was supposed to be out of town on business, stepping out of a motel room. He was wearing the trench coat I’d bought him for his birthday. He pulled Veronica into an intimate embrace, and right there, in the open, they kissed as if no one else existed—a deep, lingering kiss that stole the air from my lungs. I couldn't believe it. The owner of that phone... It was really him.

I still couldn't believe it.

That Haward was with my sister.

My hands trembled uncontrollably. I instinctively killed the engine and shrank into the shadows, a thief spying on secrets that were never meant for me. I watched as Haward thoughtfully pulled Veronica's jacket tighter around her.

"Are you cold?" he asked softly.

Veronica just smiled and shook her head.

"Not when I'm with you."

Haward pinched her cheek playfully.

"So, how did you explain slipping out tonight to my fiancée?"

He was grinning from ear to ear.

"My fiancée is so wrapped around your little finger. How did you ever manage to slip away?"

My heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest, each beat a fresh agony. I watched the man I loved and the sister I cherished wrapped in an embrace, and I heard Veronica's carefree, mocking reply.

"I just had to throw a little fit and she practically pushed me out the door."

Veronica bit his Adam's apple, adding, "What, you still don't get how much Vivian dotes on her 'poor little sister'?"

"Believe me, she's probably still worried sick right now, terrified I'm angry with her and will give her the cold shoulder."

I saw the undisguised contempt on Veronica's face. Her outburst, my panicked rush to get here... My fear of losing her, my overwhelming concern, had all just been a game to her. The punchline to a cruel joke.

A chasm ripped open in my chest. It widened and widened until my heart was a bloody, mangled mess, yet I still clung to a sliver of hope, waiting for Haward's response. Haward, the man who had always doted on me, who indulged my every whim, just gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Alright."

"You two are sisters, after all."

I remembered when I first met Haward.

He had told me.

"The one thing I hate most in this life is traitors. People who betray their family."

He said, "My mother ran off with my father's best friend. After my father found out, he was killed in an ambush by a rival family."

"My father died, and my mother abandoned me."

"I was like a ball they kicked back and forth until they both got sick of me," Haward had looked at me with a self-deprecating smile. "So, Vivian, I don't have a whole family like you do. My life is broken."

"Vivian."

"Do you understand?"

In that moment, I felt like Haward was about to shatter, and my own heart broke with his. I sat quietly beside him, comforting him.

"Haward."

"Someone will love you."

"She'll gather up all your broken pieces, one by one, and claim every single one as her own."

"And she'll stay, putting you back together, and together you'll build a happy life."

Later, everyone knew Haward was pursuing me, and they all took his side.

Haward once traveled a thousand miles on a 36-hour train just to buy a pastry I'd idly mentioned wanting.

When Haward was just starting out, so broke he had to budget every meal, he still spent thousands on a custom-designed birthday cake for me.

Once, while he was away on family business, he heard it was thundering back home and drove all night just to be with me, to tell me not to be afraid. As soon as the storm passed, he drove right back.

Every memory, every little detail, echoed in my mind. Moments I thought I'd cherish for a lifetime were now just knives twisting in my gut. I watched Haward wrap his arm around Veronica's waist and lead her into the motel, my heart aching with a pain so intense that silent tears streamed down my face.

I fumbled for my phone, found his number, and just as they were about to step through the revolving door, I dialed.

I sat in my car.

He stood just outside the door.

I watched Veronica's face fall when she saw the caller ID, but Haward just gave her a placating smile.

"I'll just take this."

Veronica tried to snatch the phone, but Haward held it high out of her reach.

"I told you," he said, his voice hard.

"I never ignore Vivian's calls."

"Veronica."

"We had an agreement."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Veronica stomped her foot, furious but helpless, as Haward stepped aside to take my call.

"Hello."

His voice was as gentle and loving as ever.

"Baby."

"Miss me?"

Tears streamed down my face. I had to choke back a sob that would have given me away. Through my blurred vision, I heard Haward say, "I'll be back tomorrow."

"I got you a little something."

Haward stood just meters away from me, stroking Veronica's hair as he murmured into the phone, "You're going to love it."

I couldn't understand. How could a person split their heart in two?

Haward claimed to hate betrayal, to despise cheating more than anything. So why? Why would he become the very thing he loathed?

Just like I couldn't understand...

*Haward.*

*Did you ever love me at all?*