I left the estate at dawn with cash in my bag.

I had arranged to meet the man my family had chosen for me.

He came from an old family with a respectable name and not much money left to its name, but the family still carried influence in the old circles that mattered.

If he agreed to the arrangement and gave me a clean way out, I would use what I had to help ease the pressure on his family.

For one reckless moment, I considered disappearing instead.

Leaving the city. Leaving all of it behind.

But the thought didn't last long.

Whatever Lucian had done to me, the Vestris had still raised me.

I couldn't repay them by vanishing and turning my name into a scandal they would have to bury.

So I met the family, confirmed the arrangement, and left him the money.

By the time I returned to the estate, the house was already buzzing.

Sofia Bellini was there.

At dinner, she sat between Lucian and Mrs. Vestri, smiling easily, speaking like she already belonged there.

They looked like a family.

I almost turned around and said I'd already eaten.

Then Lucian looked up and said, "Sit."

Just that.

Cold. Flat. Impossible to refuse.

So I sat at the far end of the table, as far from him as I could, and kept my eyes on my plate.

I barely touched my food.

Then something landed there.

A piece of veal.

I froze.

Lucian had already pulled his hand back, his expression unreadable.

"You haven't been to St. Helena Academy in two weeks," he said.

The fact that he had even noticed almost made me laugh.

"I know."

There was no point in going back now. Not when I had already decided to leave.

"Go back to St. Helena. At least there, you might remember how to think before you destroy yourself."

For a second, I just looked at him.

There had been a time when he used to tell me I was smarter than anyone else in the room.

Sofia broke the silence with a soft laugh.

"Don't be so hard on her." She touched Lucian's sleeve, light and familiar. "It's the winter charity gala in the harbor. We should take her with us."

Lucian's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.

Sofia turned to me with that perfect, effortless smile.

"You'll come, won't you?"

It wasn't really a question.

I nodded.

By the time we reached the waterfront, the harbor was glowing.

Music drifted through the cold air. Lights spilled across the promenade. The whole gala glittered with money, cameras, and old family names.

I walked a few steps behind them.

I watched Lucian stop at a private jeweler's display and buy Sofia a pair of diamond earrings without asking the price.

I watched her slip her hand through his arm like she had every right to.

Later, at one of the raffle tables, he won a diamond bracelet for her.

The woman running the table smiled as she handed it over. A few women nearby looked openly envious.

Sofia turned then, the bracelet resting in her palm.

"Maybe we should give this to her," she said. "I remember she likes pretty things."

Her words pulled me straight back to three years ago. Back to the night I shattered that bracelet in front of half the city.

Lucian's gaze flicked to me, then back to Sofia.

"I won that for you," he said.

Sofia smiled as though she'd heard him.

"She's not a stranger," she said lightly. "And if I'm going to marry into this family, I should learn to share."

Then she stepped toward me and pressed the bracelet into my hand.

"Keep it," she said. "Lucian already had one made for me. I don't need a raffle prize too."

She slipped back to his side before I could answer.

I stood there with the bracelet in my palm, the diamonds cold against my skin.

Then the crowd shifted.

Someone hit my shoulder hard from behind. I stumbled off the curb just as a black sedan pulled forward from the line of waiting cars.

The side of the car grazed my leg hard enough to send me to the ground.

People shouted.

For a second, all I could hear was the rush of blood in my ears.

Lucian turned at the sound of the commotion.

The moment he saw me on the ground, his expression changed. He took a step toward me, his eyes fixed on my leg.

Then, through the noise, I heard Sofia's voice.

"Weren't you going to show me that place you told me about? We're going to be late."

The private pier.

Sofia caught his arm before he could take another step.

"Didn't you just say there wasn't much time?"

He stopped. He let Sofia keep hold of his arm and let her pull him away.

A woman near me muttered a curse and crouched beside me. "Are you okay?"

I pushed myself up before she could help too much.

"I'm fine."

My leg was throbbing so badly I could barely stand.

Still, I walked.

By the time I got back to the estate, I was limping badly enough that Mia went pale the moment she saw me.

She helped me onto the bed and pushed my dress up over my knee.

The bruise was already darkening.

"You should've called me," she whispered, reaching for ice.

I looked away.

"It's nothing."

But it wasn't.

That pier had once felt like mine.

Or maybe I had only been foolish enough to believe that too.

Years ago, I found it by accident. An old private dock hidden past the marina, quiet even on busy nights, where the water stayed black and still and the city lights blurred across the surface.

I brought Lucian there the first time like I was sharing a secret.

We stood at the edge of the pier with the cold wind off the harbor in our faces, and for once he wasn't Lucian Vestri, heir to half the city.

He was just a man standing next to me in the dark.

I remember leaning against the railing and telling him, "Don't bring anyone else here."

He looked at me for a long moment before he said, "I won't."

For years, I believed him.

The next morning, Sofia came to see me.

Lucian didn't come inside. He stayed just beyond the half-open door, a tall shadow in the hall, washed out by the pale morning light.

Sofia sat beside my bed and asked about my leg with perfect concern.

She had flowers sent in. A bottle of wine too. Expensive, tasteful things.

The kind that looked generous from a distance.

I thanked her and said as little as possible.

She didn't seem to mind.

Instead, she started talking about the night before.

About the pier. About the view. About how beautiful the water had looked.

About how gentle Lucian had been with her.

I gave her the same answer every time.

"That's nice."

"I'm glad."

"Sounds lovely."

By the end, even I could hear how empty I sounded.

Still, I kept my face calm.

Let her have that.

Let her leave thinking I didn't care.

When she finally stood, her gaze drifted around my room.

"It's a beautiful suite," she said.

It was.

Close to the main wing. Full of light. Warm even in winter.

Lucian had chosen it for me years ago.

He had filled it with everything I liked before I ever had to ask.

Soon enough, none of it would matter.

Mia helped me up and walked Sofia to the door.

She was waiting for Lucian in the hall.

He looked at my leg first.

"Is it any better?"

His voice was even, but his eyes stayed on me a second too long.

I nodded.

Then I looked at his hand.

The watch I had given him years ago was gone.

In its place was a signet ring stamped with the Bellini crest.

Sofia wore the same crest on a chain at her throat.

The old watch had never suited him anyway, I told myself.

It had been too simple. Too easy to forget.

I looked up at him and asked, as steadily as I could,

"When's the wedding?"

Lucian was silent for a moment.

"When I get back," he said at last. "A few weeks."

He was leaving the next morning on family business.

I nodded. "Congratulations."

That was all I let myself say.

His gaze lingered on me for a second, unreadable. Then he turned and walked away with Sofia at his side.

They looked perfect from behind.

Maybe that was all this had ever been, it was the end of a foolish dream.

Three days later, Adrian came to the estate with his family's lawyer.

Mrs. Vestri had her doubts. Adrian had the right name, but not the money. His family had been living on appearances for years.

I didn't argue.

I only asked for one thing.

I wanted the wedding over before Lucian came home.

She understood immediately.

So everything was arranged quietly. No press. No spectacle. Just signatures, witnesses, and an ending.

It should have been simple.

Then Lucian came back early.

No warning. No call. Just the sound of engines in the driveway before sunset.

By the time I reached my suite, the door was already open.

My room had been ransacked.

Drawers yanked open. Dresses torn from their hangers. Jewelry boxes overturned. Glass glittering across the floor.

A maid I didn't know was barking orders at the others.

"Keep looking. It has to be here."

Mia stopped short beside me. "What the hell are you doing?"

The maid turned, looked me over, and said flatly, "Miss Bellini's bracelet is missing. Mr. Vestri ordered us to search the room."

My face went cold.

"I didn't take it."

She gave a short laugh, like my answer meant nothing.

Then footsteps sounded behind her.

Sofia came in first, all polished concern.

Lucian followed.

He still carried the cold in with him. His expression was sharp enough to cut on.

Sofia pressed a hand to her chest. "If you wanted one, you only had to ask. I would have had another made. But that bracelet was from Lucian. I can't just give that away."

Lucian's eyes locked on mine.

"Give it back."

I stared at him. "I never took it."

His jaw tightened.

"I thought you were done chasing something that was never going to end well," he said. "I was wrong."

Something in me went still.

"I didn't take her bracelet."

My voice sounded flat, even to me.

"You told me to move on. I did."

"I stayed out of your way. I said nothing about your engagement."

"So why can't you leave me alone?"

One of the maids bent beside the chaise and pulled out a slim black portfolio.

"Then what's this?"

My stomach dropped before she even opened it.

Inside were the Bellini wedding files.

Invitation proofs. The private chapel booking. The seating chart. The security plan for the ceremony.

And on every page, Sofia Bellini's name had been replaced with mine.

Tucked between the papers was Sofia's missing bracelet.

The room went silent.

Then the whispers started.

I stared at the open folder, my pulse suddenly loud in my ears.

It was too neat. Too perfect.

Not desperation.

A setup.

Lucian looked at the papers, then at me.

I knew that look.

Not anger. Not shock.

Disappointment.

"So this is what moving on looks like?" he asked.

I lifted my eyes to his. "I didn't do this."

"I didn't take her bracelet. And I didn't touch those files."

But he had already decided what he was looking at.

Sofia lowered her eyes, soft and wounded, the picture of restraint.

Lucian turned to her. "I'll have another bracelet made."

She nodded.

And just like that, it was settled.

Not because he believed her.

Because he had already chosen not to believe me.

As they turned to leave, Sofia paused beside me.

Her perfume lingered between us.

"Three years ago, you ruined something he gave me," she said softly. "Now we're even."

Then they were gone.

Mia stood in the wreckage with tears in her eyes.

I looked around the room. Everything overturned, everything exposed. I felt something in me settle into something cold and final.

"Miss…" Mia whispered.

I bent down, picked up the folder, and dropped it back onto the floor.

"Tell Mrs. Vestri I'll leave from the guesthouse."

The room was ruined.

So was whatever patience I had left.

I packed my documents, my mother's jewelry, the few things that were still mine.

Then I walked out of the Vestri estate.

I had lived there for ten years.

In the end, I left without looking back.