The gown I'd chosen was cut for movement, but crossing that schoolyard track in heels was nearly impossible, the thin spikes catching in the grit between the lanes.

By the time I finally reached Lorenzo, he was deep in conversation with Adriana, all animated smiles and easy chatter, the kind of ease our families had spent eight years pretending didn't cross bloodlines.

His groom's jacket lay tossed carelessly on the ground.

The moment his eyes landed on me, his brow furrowed hard.

As if terrified I'd let something slip and expose what the betrothal pact between us really was, right there in front of a Falcone.

He spoke quickly.

"What are you doing here? I'm just talking with an old friend for a bit."

My face froze. I forced my lips into a smile.

"There's business at the club I didn't finish, so I have to head back. I'm in the gown and didn't bring my phone, so I came over to tell you in person."

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.

The old me would have soured on the spot, but this time I didn't say a word more. I had no wish to be an eyesore in front of him.

His expression eased. He gave a nod and said nothing.

I turned and walked off, my ankles rolling with every step.

The voices behind me grew faint, hard to make out.

"Don't read into it. It was just a photographer's setup, and they insisted on shooting me with her—"

I wasn't lying. After I got back, I spent the whole day at the social club, signing off my obligations and handing my work to the associates who'd cover for me.

But when I came home that night, he'd unexpectedly set out dinner and was waiting for me.

The instant I walked in, he tucked his phone away, his expression a little awkward, the cufflink at his wrist turning slow between his thumb and finger.

"You're back. Why so late today? Dinner's ready. This morning, seeing you in that gown, you looked like you'd lost some weight..."

My steps paused for a beat.

Had I lost weight?

It seemed I'd barely eaten since the moment I saw those photos.

Now, looking at the table piled with heavy, oil-slicked dishes, my brow drew tight.

"You eat. I have no appetite. I'm going to rest."

As I turned, the heel-blistered, broken skin on my ankle came into Lorenzo's view.

I'd just stepped into the bedroom when he came up to me carrying the first-aid kit, the same one the Family doctor kept stocked in every safehouse, the one men reached for after worse nights than this.

In all my memory, this seemed to be the first time in eight years he'd shown me any concern.

A pity the wound had already scabbed over, and I no longer needed him.

I gently declined his kindness. Lorenzo's face darkened a shade.

He went back out and brought a slice of cake, setting it on the nightstand.

"I'm sorry. This morning I really didn't expect her to show up at that school. Someone you've known that long, you can't just not say hello when you run into them. Don't overthink it, I—"

Before he could finish, I glanced at the cake on the nightstand and cut him off.

"I quit sugar a long time ago. I only eat boiled vegetables now. Did you forget?"

To be in peak shape for the alliance union, I'd lived almost like a cloistered nun for nearly a week.

He hadn't cared in the slightest.

After all our years bound by the pact, his first attempt to bend was met with one refusal after another.

Lorenzo's expression finally hardened, settling back into its usual cold remove, the cufflink going still between his fingers.

This time he turned and walked out of the room, and didn't come back in.

By the small hours, my stomach was growling.

When I got up and tiptoed out for water, I caught the faint glow of his phone screen in the dark of the living room.

The light fell across Lorenzo's face. His fingers flew across the keys, his eyes crinkled with a smile, the kind he never wore for me.

I remembered him saying he never stayed up late, which was why he wouldn't see in the New Year at my side, and my heart cooled a few degrees more.

I didn't get the water. I just turned and went back to the room.

The last day was the one we'd set for the families to sanction the union, the signatures that would have made it as binding as a blood oath.

The moment I walked out of the room, he was already nowhere to be found.

Not a word of explanation. Not a single message.

Out of habit, I opened Adriana's feed, and sure enough, she'd posted an update: laid up at the Family doctor's safehouse, an IV line in her arm.

【When will you ever learn to take care of yourself? Ten years gone, and you still have to lean on him.】

A grown woman who knew exactly what she was allergic to, and somehow she ends up on a drip. I knew how that trick was played. Tilt the head, drop the voice to a wounded whisper a half-second before the tears come, and let a man rush in to catch her.

I had no way of proving it, and no wish to waste more time on her.

I spent the whole day packing my bags.

By evening, Lorenzo still hadn't appeared.

He'd only sent one message about being held up on business.

I looked at those few words on the screen, full of scorn.

He wouldn't even bother to think up a decent lie.

The day before, I'd reached his capo on a monitored line, and the man had gone out of his way to say they'd cleared Lorenzo's obligations so he could take his wedding leave with peace of mind.

I supposed he was "held up on business" at the safehouse right about now, holding her hand.

In the dead of night, the countdown on my phone screen finally turned to zero.

I made do on the couch for the night, and the next morning, after washing up, I headed straight for the airport, to the plane that would carry me to the allied family's overseas territory.

On the way, I couldn't help feeling relieved.

Thank God the union was a sham and I hadn't told my own bloodline. Otherwise I really wouldn't have known how to explain fleeing an alliance to my father, what dishonor it would have dragged across our name.

The moment I stepped into the terminal, I called Lorenzo to end it.

The phone rang exactly once before he cut it off.

Then he sent a voice message.

His tone dripping with impatience.

"I'll be there soon, what's the rush? I said we're having the union, what, you think I'm going to run off?"

"Adriana checked out early just to make it, and got caught in a wreck on the way over. Can't you be a little more reasonable?"

"You keep my people entertained for now. I've got something to tell you today."

When the message finished playing, I tapped out a text to him, my face blank.

【Let's end it. I'm leaving the wedding to the two of you.】