Chapter 3: The Bride Who Never Came

As the morning sunlight spilled into the kitchen, I hummed an old Northern tune, frying bacon and a sunny side up egg at my own pace.

This was a farewell feast I'd gotten myself.

I pulled out a chair and sat down. Just as my fork touched the soft yolk, the door opened with a soft click.

Rafael walked in, reeking of Natalia's perfume and holding a huge bouquet of flamboyant strelitzia.

I hated those flowers and always thought they looked cheap and forced.

"Morning, Gianna." His voice was rough from a night up, but he seemed in good spirits.

He dumped the bouquet on the far end of the table before dropping into the seat across from me.

"Natalia was a handful last night," he laughed. "She kept saying the new painkillers weren't working. Her body's so delicate."

As he rambled, he instinctively reached for my breakfast.

I quietly moved my plate away.

Only then did he notice there was just one serving on the table.

"Where's mine?" he asked with a frown. "Come on, Gianna. You can't just think about yourself and the baby. What about your husband?"

When he noticed my cold silence, realization finally dawned on him.

He reached across the table and gently grabbed my hand.

"About yesterday... I'm sorry. Natalia was really sick. You know Antonio..."

The same excuse.

Every single time.

Seeing I wasn't responding, he quickly changed the topic.

"I brought you flowers. Your favorite."

He smiled proudly and opened one of the blooms before taking out a small velvet jewelry box.

"There's a surprise inside."

Inside lay a pair of ruby earrings.

The moment I saw them, my fingers froze.

Those weren't just any rubies.

Six months ago, I'd handed Rafael the finest pigeon-blood ruby from the Rossetti vaults so he could have a custom wedding gift made for me.

He'd promised it would become a family heirloom.

Instead, the masterpiece had been made for Natalia.

What remained... the tiny leftover fragments... had been turned into these earrings.

He was giving me scraps from my own gemstone.

"Do you like them?" he asked hopefully.

I quietly closed the jewelry box and placed it back onto the table.

"Don't you like them?"

I didn't answer.

The warmth slowly disappeared from his face.

Finally, he cleared his throat.

"Actually... there's something I wanted to discuss."

"Natalia wants to play Goddess Freyella during next month's Harvestide Festival."

Harvestide was Southern Silenzio's most sacred celebration.

Tradition declared that only the Don's wife or his unmarried sister could portray the goddess.

Although I carried Rafael's child, we still weren't legally married.

Natalia had every right to claim the position.

"You know how fragile she is," Rafael continued. "She's always dreamed about this."

"Antonio wanted me to take care of her..."

I calmly interrupted him.

"Let her have it."

Rafael blinked in surprise.

"Really?"

"It's only a ceremony."

"If it makes her happy, it's hers."

His entire face brightened.

"I knew you'd understand."

"You're exactly the kind of woman worthy of becoming the Don's wife."

Before I could reply, his phone rang again.

Natalia.

He glanced at the screen before answering almost immediately.

"Natalia? What's wrong now?"

After listening for only a few seconds, he grabbed his car keys.

"I'm sorry, Gianna. I'll be right back."

At the doorway, he stopped and looked back.

"I promise this is the last time."

"Tomorrow we'll get married."

"After our baby is born, everything will be different."

I watched him disappear through the front door without saying a word.

There wouldn't be a tomorrow.

There wouldn't even be another chance.

Later that morning, Littlewood Chapel had been decorated more beautifully than ever before.

White roses covered the aisle.

Hundreds of guests waited quietly.

Standing before the altar in a perfectly tailored black suit, Rafael adjusted his cufflinks with complete confidence.

He believed today's ceremony would finally succeed.

Only one thing was missing.

The bride.

Moments later, his right-hand man, Matteo Steele, rushed inside, breathing heavily.

"Don Holloway... Ms. Rossetti is gone."

Rafael frowned.

"What do you mean she's gone?"

"Her room is empty."

"Her luggage is gone too."

"Our men reported that she visited an OB-GYN this morning..."

Rafael's heartbeat suddenly stopped.