I've waited five years for my mafia fiance, Daniele Moretti, while he keeps pushing our wedding back again and again.

I've turned down every man who approaches me and put up with all the snide comments from high society.

On the eve of exchanging our marriage alliance contract, thanks to a bet with his lover, Daniele decides it's hilarious to switch the groom's name.

He replaces himself with his uncle, Samuele Moretti, a man who is practically on his deathbed.

Daniele laughs as he brags to his friends, "Regina's obsessed with me. When she finds out, she'll cry and beg me to change it back."

I stand just outside the door and hear every word.

On the day of the wedding, I take Samuele's arm—the "sickly wreck" Daniele keeps mocking—and walk him up the aisle.

When Daniele finally shows up late with his lover and tries to turn the ceremony into a spectacle, I slap him across the face.

Now he's the one who has to call me Aunt Regina.

I'd spent years waiting to marry my mafia fiancé, Daniele Moretti, but he kept stalling.

And just as we were about to exchange the marriage alliance contract, he replaced his own name with his uncle's, Samuele Moretti.

"Have you lost your mind?"

Marco Ferraro's voice blasted from one of the rooms of the private club.

He stared at the tampered marriage alliance contract in Daniele's hands, eyes wide. "What's Regina going to do when she finds out? She's waited five years for you!"

Daniele let out a low, contemptuous laugh and knocked back his whiskey. The alcohol turned his eyes sharper, almost reckless.

He waved a hand, signaling the lawyer to keep editing the document. "She won't notice. And even if she does, so what?"

"But—"

Daniele cut him off, a smug spark flickering in his eyes. "Zitto! I lost the bet, so I'm paying up and keeping my promise to Sofia. It's just a little trick."

He pointed at the altered section of the marriage contract, where Daniele Moretti had been swapped for Samuele Moretti.

The lawyer finished the edits, his hands shaking, and passed the document back to Daniele. The wax seal went on again, clean and perfect, hiding every trace of what they'd done.

Daniele smirked viciously. "By the time Regina realizes something's off, the wedding will already be over. Besides, I've dragged this out long enough. She won't care."

Sofia Ricci peeked out from behind him and slid a hand over his shoulder. Her voice was syrupy as she said, "Daniele, are you really sure?"

He caught her hand and brushed a light kiss across her knuckles. "Of course. Regina worships me. Without me, she's nothing."

The others in the private room started hooting.

"What if she actually ends up marrying Samuele?" someone joked.

Daniele burst out laughing. "Even if she ends up marrying my useless uncle, that failing heart of his could give out any day. When he goes, Regina will only have me left.

"Sterlini Group's fortune and everything under Uncle Samuele's name will end up mine."

"Like killing two birds with one stone!"

"Daniele, you're a genius!"

"Regina's a loyal idiot," Daniele added. "She's obsessed with me. She'll go along with it. No question. It's settled. Nothing's going to go wrong. Everything's lining up perfectly."

The private room roared with laughter.

I stood in the shadows outside the door, every word landing hard in my chest.

Five years. I'd waited for him for five whole years.

I turned down every suitor and bit back all the snide gossip in Novarisse's high society because I believed he'd marry me.

Every time we got close to sealing the marriage alliance contract, Daniele found another excuse to stall.

At first, people wondered why we hadn't rushed the wedding. As the delay dragged on, I turned into a punchline for the upper class.

Eventually, even the families that used to want an alliance stopped looking my way, because everyone knew Daniele and I already had a marriage contract.

From 21 to 26, I spent the best years of my life waiting on him. And now, he treated me like a bargaining chip.

I looked down at the bottle of whiskey in my hands, the one that cost 100 thousand dollars. I'd bought it to celebrate the end of his bachelor party.

It was one of the rarest bottles in the world, a rarity even powerful families struggled to obtain. It took me three months to win it at an auction.

Looking at it now, I felt like nothing but a joke.

I turned and walked to the end of the hallway, then poured the entire bottle into a potted plant.

I found myself thinking back to the boy Daniele used to be. Whatever warmth he'd once had for me was long gone.

When I fell into the frozen lake at 12, he'd been the one who jumped in after me, dragging me out and fighting to wake me up.

People never understood why I waited so many years. I just didn't want to throw away a love that had once been real.

The amber liquid soaked into the soil, disappearing just as my love for him had. The scent of whiskey hung in the air, a mocking reminder of my stupidity.

…

When I got home, I sat in the study and waited in silence. Sure enough, less than an hour passed before I heard Mamma calling from the stairs.

"Regina!"

She was holding a document, her face drained of color. She stormed in and slammed the marriage contract onto the desk, the one bearing the Morettis' wax seal.

"What is this supposed to mean? Why is the groom listed as Samuele Moretti?"

I stared at the altered name and felt a cold, hollow laugh rise in my chest.

Daniele thought I'd be too blind to notice the change, that I'd still beg him to finish the wedding, that I'd show up one day crying and ask him to switch it back.

But he was wrong.

I picked up the pen on the desk and signed my name at the bottom of the document.

My voice stayed steady, perfectly calm. "Va bene, Mamma. We'll go through with this."

Mamma's eyes went wide. "Regina, do you even hear yourself? Samuele Moretti is a—"

I cut her off. "I know exactly who he is. He used to be the underboss, the one who stepped back because of his heart condition."

"Then why would you—"

I pushed to my feet and walked to the window. "Because I'm done. I'm done waiting around for someone who never deserved me in the first place."

Mamma stayed quiet for a long moment before she finally exhaled. "If this is your decision, our family will stand with you."

"This is my decision."

…

The next day, I got a reply from Rina Moretti, the Donna. As Samuele's mother, she was stunned by the idea of this marriage.

Daniele and I already had a marriage contract that the whole city loved to laugh at, and on top of that, Samuele had a heart condition. Most people didn't want to marry a man they assumed was already halfway to the grave.

Either way, Donna Moretti adored Samuele, so she agreed almost immediately.

The marriage gifts arrived soon after. They came with the most profitable dock at the port and protection rights for three city districts.

There was jewelry too, along with limited-edition bags and expensive paintings. Donna Moretti said Samuele had insisted on giving it all to me.

Staring at everything laid out in front of me, my chest tightened. Their value outmatched anything Daniele had ever promised. It seemed Samuele understood respect in a way Daniele never had.

The doorbell rang, and through the window I spotted Daniele's red sports car parked outside. He and Sofia walked up to the house hand in hand.

"Ms. Sterlini, Mr. Moretti is here," the maid announced.

"Let them in."

Daniele swaggered into the living room with Sofia trailing behind him.

He wore that smug little smile, completely sure I was still in the dark. His custom suit fit perfectly, his hair slicked into place, and as usual, he looked every inch the charming mafia playboy.

But I knew exactly what he really was.

Daniele dropped onto the couch and crossed one leg over the other. "So. How's the wedding prep going? Did you check every detail? The guest list… and our marriage contract?"

He leaned on the words "our marriage contract", his eyes glinting with a smug, mischievous satisfaction.

"All checked," I said evenly.

His grin widened. "Bene. This is the biggest moment of your life. Wouldn't want anything to go wrong, eh?"

Sofia chimed in, trying to sound casual. "Daniele, what about that necklace? Didn't you say you'd show it to me?"

A flash of excitement lit his eyes. So that was the real reason he'd shown up.

He stood and walked toward me. "Right. Regina, take off that necklace. It's the one my mother left for my future wife. Sofia wants to try it on, just to see how it looks. Don't be offended. You'll still get it when you marry me."

I touched the diamond necklace at my throat. It was the Morettis' heirloom, and I'd worn it for five years.

Every stone had seen exactly how stupidly loyal I'd been to Daniele. Every night, I'd run my fingers along the necklace and picture our wedding.

And now he wanted to hand it to Sofia.

I looked at them as a wave of disgust rose in my chest. But I didn't refuse. I wasn't marrying him anymore, so keeping it didn't matter.

I unclasped the necklace and tossed it onto the coffee table without a second thought. The diamonds caught the sunlight, glittering like pieces of my shattered expectations.

Daniele froze, thrown off. He clearly hadn't expected me to give it up that easily.

Sofia immediately grabbed the necklace and clasped it around her neck. She did a quick spin in front of the mirror. "It's gorgeous!"

"It suits you," Daniele said, though his eyes stayed on me, hungry for even a flicker of jealousy or anger.

Too bad for him. I just watched their little performance, calm as stone.

Daniele cleared his throat and tried to sound reasonable. "Regina, I'll give the necklace back after the wedding. There's no rush. She just wants to try it on for a moment."

I stood and walked to my desk, pulling out a velvet box. "Since you're taking the necklace back, you might as well return this too."

I pointed to his chest, where a sapphire-set family crest pin gleamed against his tailored suit.

Daniele's expression shifted instantly. I'd had that pin custom-made for him, engraved with the Moretti family crest.

He froze, staring at me in shock. "Regina, you want me to give the pin back? What's that supposed to mean? You don't want to marry me anymore?"

Daniele's voice shook as he asked again, "You want the pin back?"

I closed the box and met his eyes, steady and calm. "Since you're taking the necklace back, you shouldn't hold onto the pin before the wedding. We can figure out the rest later."

Daniele sighed in relief, then reluctantly unclipped the pin from his suit and handed it to me.

I'd ordered that pin custom-made for him, with the Moretti family crest engraved on it.

A year ago, during a shootout, that pin, sitting right over Daniele's breast pocket, had stopped a bullet that would've killed him.

That night, he'd held me and cried until dawn, whispering that I'd saved his life.

With a voice full of devotion, he'd said, "Regina, if it weren't for you, I'd already be with God. I'll treat you right for the rest of my life."

Now I knew none of it had ever been true.

After setting the pin down, Daniele didn't say another word. He just grabbed Sofia's hand and walked out.

When the engine of their car finally rumbled to life outside, I finally breathed out. Then I walked to the fireplace and tossed the pin straight into the flames.

"No!"

Lisa Caruso, my most trusted maid, sprinted toward me, but she was too late. The fire swallowed the pin, burning it down the same way it burned through the last thread between Daniele and me.

Lisa winced. "Ms. Sterlini, you carved that pin for Mr. Moretti yourself. How could you burn something you put so much effort into?"

I brushed the ash from my fingers. "Because it's tainted now, and there's no reason to keep it. I'm not marrying Daniele, so hanging on to that token of love is pointless."

Lisa let out a regretful sigh and tried to comfort me. "Ms. Sterlini, he never knew how to treasure you. He doesn't deserve that pin. The only shame is how much effort you put into making it."

I didn't answer and just watched the flames burn.

…

The next day, I headed to Moretti Estate as agreed. It was my first official visit to meet my fiance.

The butler led me to the study, where a man sat alone.

Samuele.

He was tucked back in the shadows, looking pale as he quietly read a classic novel.

He looked up the moment he heard my footsteps. His eyes were dark and impossible to read, sharp enough to make it feel like he could see straight through me.

"Ms. Sterlini, si sieda," he said, his voice low and smooth.

I sat across from Samuele, finally facing the "useless man" everyone whispered about.

He looked nothing like the rumors. They said he'd been injured in a turf war, that a blunt-force hit had damaged his heart so badly he wouldn't live past 35.

But the man in front of me, pale or not, was tall, controlled, and carried a quiet, dangerous authority.

"You're nothing like what I pictured," I said, not bothering to sugarcoat it.

He closed the book and studied me with real interest. "And what did you expect?"

"A useless man lying in bed waiting to die."

Samuele smiled, a look that was both dangerous and disarmingly charming. "Disappointed?"

I smiled back. "The opposite. I'm pretty satisfied."

We talked for a long time, drifting from business to literature, to art, and then to philosophy.

Samuele's knowledge ran deep, and his mind was razor-sharp. The way he spoke made his intelligence and charm impossible to ignore.

He was so much more interesting than Daniele ever managed to be.

"Why did you agree to this marriage?" I asked.

"Because you're smart. Smart enough to know when to let go."

"You don't mind that it's a transaction?"

A cool, unreadable calm settled in his eyes. "Every marriage is a transaction. The only thing that changes is what people put on the table."

We stepped onto the balcony, the city lights spread out beneath us like a glittering map.

That was when Daniele showed up uninvited. The second he saw how easily Samuele and I were talking, his whole expression curdled.

He came toward us, his voice pulled tight with anger. "Uncle Samuele, why are you here with Regina?"

Samuele didn't bother to look up. His tone stayed cold enough to freeze the air. "Daniele, do I need to report my guests to you?"

The words hit Daniele hard. All the swagger drained out of him.

"I-I just wanted…" he stammered, the rest catching in his throat.

Samuele's voice went even colder. "Wanted what?"

Daniele's face went bright red, but he didn't say a thing.

Injured or not, Samuele had once been the family's underboss, and that weight had never really left him. People still felt it every time he spoke.

Samuele flicked his hand like he was brushing off an annoying fly. "If there's nothing else, you can leave."

Daniele shot me a vicious glare but slunk off anyway.

A moment later, Samuele excused himself, saying he wasn't feeling well, before stepping away.

The second he was gone, Daniele stormed back in, his voice low and furious. "Why the hell did you sell the sports car I gave you to a junkyard?"