I couldn’t breathe. Then, as if she had just noticed me, my mother’s smile faltered. The applause faded.

One by one, their gazes turned to me. Jason slowly rose to his feet, locking eyes with me. There was no guilt. No shame. Just the same mild irritation he always had when I inconvenienced him.

Lily, on the other hand, had the audacity to look annoyed.

Jason crossed his arms, exhaling like I was exhausting him. "Emma, let’s not do this here."

"Do what, Jason?" My voice shook with barely contained rage.

"Make a scene," he cut in, rolling his eyes. "God, you’re always so dramatic—"

The slap echoed through the plaza.

For a moment, everything froze. The sting on my palm was nothing compared to the burning rage in my chest.

Jason's head snapped to the side, his jaw tightening. When he turned back, there was no shame, no remorse—just irritation. "Really, Emma?" he scoffed, rubbing his cheek. "Was that necessary?"

The sheer audacity left me breathless. The sting of betrayal wasn’t just in Jason’s eyes—it was in the shocked gasps of my family, the disapproving frown on my father’s face.

"Emma!" my father, Edward Moretti, barked. "Don’t ruin your sister’s happiness."

My stomach dropped. Edward Moretti—capo of the Moretti syndicate, a man feared in all of New York—had just dismissed me like I was a nuisance.

Happiness?

I let out a hollow laugh, my vision blurring. “Is this a joke?” My hands trembled at my sides. “You all knew?”

My mother, Isabella Moretti, smoothed out her designer dress. "Emma… you and Jason have been distant for a while. We thought it was for the best."

"For the best?" My voice cracked. "For the best? You mean betraying me behind my back?"

Jason exhaled, exasperated. "Emma, stop making a scene."

"A scene?" My voice rose. "You proposed to my sister in public, surrounded by my own family, on my son’s birthday! And I’m making a scene?"

Lily had the audacity to step forward, pouting like she was the victim. "Emma, I love him." She reached for my hand, fake sympathy in her eyes. "I didn’t plan this, but—"

I jerked away like her touch was poison. "Don’t touch me."

Her face twisted with irritation. "God, Emma, why are you being so selfish? You never appreciated Jason. You were always running off to your little hospital visits, leaving him alone. What did you expect?"

My stomach lurched. "You’re blaming me for your affair?"