Chapter 3

At five that afternoon, I signed the divorce petition. My attorney slid it into a gray folder with the proposed settlement.

"Your husband hasn't been notified," she said. "We'll arrange formal service after you've reviewed everything."

I thanked her. Two hours later, I reached the De Luca charity auction with the folder hidden inside my leather tote.

In my other hand, I carried a velvet jewelry case.

Gabriel met me at the entrance to the private gallery. He had competed with Matteo's father for almost thirty years.

He glanced at the case. "You came."

I lifted it slightly. "You asked to see my work."

His smile faded. "I asked years ago too."

He led me to a glass display. I opened the case and removed a necklace I'd made before my marriage.

Yellow diamonds circled a dark blue sapphire. I'd shaped every setting and fastened every stone myself.

Gabriel watched me secure the clasp inside the display. "What do you call it?"

I adjusted the sapphire beneath the gallery lights. "After Midnight."

"Then that's how we'll present it." He handed the display card to his curator.

ELENA MORETTI appeared above the title. For five years, my name hadn't appeared beside a single piece I'd designed.

"The designer belongs on the card," Gabriel said. An event coordinator warned him that the auction would begin in three minutes.

Gabriel reached inside his jacket and removed a black envelope. My name was written across the front in silver ink.

"This was returned to my office five years ago," he said. "I believed you had refused me."

A courier receipt had been clipped to the back. Matteo's signature filled the delivery box.

"He received this?" I asked.

"At your home address." Gabriel glanced toward the waiting coordinator. "I thought you knew."

She called his name again. I slipped the unopened envelope into my tote beside the divorce papers.

"We'll open it after the auction," Gabriel said. Then he walked toward the stage.

Guests filled the gallery, and cameras gathered near my necklace. Gabriel welcomed the donors before turning toward me.

"Tonight's final piece was created and donated by its designer, Elena Moretti."

He invited me onto the stage. The guests applauded as I crossed the gallery.

The auctioneer opened the bidding. Three buyers raised their paddles before he finished introducing the necklace.

The price doubled. A woman in the front row asked whether I accepted private commissions.

"I do now," I said. Two more paddles rose.

Camera flashes suddenly turned toward the entrance. Matteo had arrived with Bianca on his arm.

She wore my engagement ring and smiled for the photographers. Matteo stared at my name on the display card.

The auctioneer brought down his hammer on the highest bid of the evening. Gabriel offered me his hand as I stepped off the stage.

Bianca reached us before Matteo. "Elena, I didn't know you made jewelry outside Rinaldi House."

"You never asked."

Reporters gathered around us. Bianca kept smiling as she raised the hand wearing my ring.

"Since you're here, how are my bridal pieces coming? The fitting is Friday."

The winning bidder looked from Bianca's ring to my necklace. Matteo stopped beside his new fiancee.

"We'll discuss this at home, Elena," he said.

"No. We'll discuss it here."

I opened my tote and took out the gray folder. Matteo saw the attorney's name printed across the top.

His face went pale. I placed the signed divorce papers in his hand.

"Once the divorce is final, you can really marry her."