Chapter 2
Mara stared at the folder.
Villa Serafina.
Positano, Italy.
She looked up at Luca.
"You've already booked it?"
He smiled.
"Three months ago."
"You kept saying you wanted something small."
"So I found the most beautiful place I could."
She slowly flipped through the pages.
Oceanfront ceremony.
Private cliffside villa.
Thirty-five guests.
A string quartet.
Sunset vows overlooking the Mediterranean.
Every detail had been planned.
Without telling her.
Tears finally filled her eyes.
"You did all this..."
"Because I wanted one day in your life to be exactly about you."
She looked away before she started crying.
No one had ever said something like that to her.
Luca gently took the wedding invitation from Vanessa.
He read it again.
Then laughed quietly.
"What?"
Mara asked.
"They invited me as Vanessa's 'honored guest.'"
He shook his head.
"They still think I'm just your boyfriend."
"They don't know who you are."
She frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Luca sat across from her.
"My family has known your name for months."
"My grandmother cried after meeting you."
"My parents keep asking when you'll officially become part of the Romano family."
Mara smiled weakly.
"They've always treated me like I belonged."
"Because you do."
His answer came without hesitation.
Then his expression became serious again.
"When is Vanessa's wedding?"
"September eighteenth."
Luca opened his calendar.
"Our ceremony in Italy is September twenty-first."
She looked surprised.
"Only three days later?"
He nodded.
"My entire family will already be there."
"So will our friends."
"So will several business partners flying in from New York."
Mara suddenly looked nervous.
"My parents will probably expect you to attend Vanessa's wedding."
"I know."
Luca replied calmly.
"And I'm going to decline."
She stared at him.
"They'll be furious."
"I can live with that."
He picked up his phone.
"I'm calling them."
Before Mara could stop him, he dialed Helen's number.
She answered cheerfully this time.
"Luca! I hope you received Vanessa's invitation."
"I did."
Helen sounded relieved.
"Wonderful. We can't wait to see you."
"I'm afraid I won't be attending."
Silence.
"...Excuse me?"
"I won't attend a wedding that excludes my fiancée."
Helen's voice hardened.
"I'm sure Mara understands."
"No."
Luca answered evenly.
"She accepted it."
"Those are two very different things."
Helen tried another approach.
"This is really about family harmony."
Luca glanced at Mara.
"No."
"It's about humiliation."
"You deliberately embarrassed the woman I'm going to marry."
Helen's patience disappeared.
"Vanessa is the bride."
"She deserves one perfect day."
"And Mara deserves a family."
Luca replied.
"You've failed to give her that for thirty years."
The line went completely silent.
Then Helen whispered,
"Are you choosing her over us?"
Without hesitation, Luca answered,
"Every single time."
He ended the call.
Mara looked at him in disbelief.
"You didn't have to do that."
"Yes."
He said softly.
"I did."
Because for years...
Everyone had expected Mara to sacrifice her happiness to keep the peace.
Someone finally chose peace for her instead.
Across town, Helen lowered her phone with shaking hands.
Richard Bennett looked up from his newspaper.
"What happened?"
Helen swallowed hard.
"Luca isn't coming."
Vanessa walked into the room carrying bridal magazines.
"What do you mean he's not coming?"
Helen hesitated.
"He said..."
"...he refuses to attend any wedding that humiliates Mara."
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
"So what?"
"He's just one guest."
But Richard wasn't listening anymore.
He remembered something Luca had casually mentioned months earlier.
About his family's company.
About Italy.
About investors.
About connections.
Richard slowly lowered his newspaper.
A terrible feeling settled into his chest.
For the first time...
May you like
He wondered whether the daughter they had spent years overlooking...
Might actually be the one person they could never afford to lose.
