"You spread rumors about her! Don't you know it makes her suffer? How long are you gonna keep this going? Do you want her to kill herself?"
I pushed myself up, my face burning with rage.
"She suffered? She?!" I barked out a laugh, bitter and broken—the sound of something inside me finally snapping. "She suffered from her own stupid choices! And you—you know exactly what she did. My mother is dead! I lost everything and you're just going to stand there and let her play the victim?!"
The whispers started—quiet at first, like a ripple across still water, then louder as the crowd leaned in. In this world, gossip was currency, and I'd just handed them a fortune.
Colino's jaw clenched tight, a muscle ticking beneath his skin.
"Leave," he growled under his breath, his voice barely above a whisper but carrying the weight of a threat. "Go calm yourself down. You've embarrassed yourself enough in front of the guests."
The garden buzzed with elite chatter—the connected people of the Five Families, all watching the spectacle with barely concealed delight.
Bertram and Carmela Marconi quickly stepped in with flutes of champagne, smiling stiffly like puppet masters smoothing over a minor disruption.
"Let's not ruin the evening. Come, everyone—drink up!"
Guests swarmed Colino and Piper with congratulations.
"Cheers to the happy couple!"
"Congratulations to the future Mr. and Mrs. Marconi—such a perfect match!"
Colino had always said he wanted our arrangement to be a "surprise."
He never told a soul about us.
And now?
He smiled like a gentleman, standing next to Piper like she'd always been the promised bride—like the blood debt his Family owed my mother had never existed.
He didn't even try to explain.
She clung to his arm like she belonged there, her fingers curled possessively around his sleeve.
Under the glittering lights, they looked like a picture-perfect couple—the heir apparent and his beautiful bride, a union that would strengthen the Marconi name for generations.
While I stood there like a wet stain on a white rug.
I let out a breathless, bitter laugh and turned to go, but a hand blocked my way.
Piper.
She smiled like she'd already won—like she'd been winning since the day she first spread her legs for my fiancé.
"Leaving so soon?" she cooed, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "But I haven't told you how that old woman died."
My heart stopped.