Chapter 2

I never tried to contact Daniel again after sunrise.

When the nurse asked if I wanted to notify Sophia's father, I simply kept my head down, carefully smoothing out Sophia's tangled hair and tying the red hair tie around her cold wrist.

"I already told him," I said.

But he didn't believe me.

By the time my father, Marco Vitali, arrived at the hospital, the rain in Westbridge had stopped.

Instead of checking on Sophia first, he closed the room door behind him and spoke to me in a cold, calculating tone, "This stays private for the time being."

I looked up at him.

He wore a pressed suit with the Vitali family's silver badge pinned to his chest. It seemed as if he had just left a business meeting instead of coming to grieve for his granddaughter.

"Tomorrow is Daniel's succession ceremony," he said. "The alliance between the Ross and Vitali families can't afford any trouble right now."

"Sophia's dead," I said.

"I know."

"She's your granddaughter."

My father finally glanced at the hospital bed, but quickly looked away. "But she's gone now. The living have to keep moving forward. Be reasonable and mature."

I stared at him and suddenly recalled an incident from when I was fifteen years old. He had forced me to take my younger brother's place at a family negotiation back then, telling me I was the older sibling and needed to act more mature and reasonable.

Later, he married me off to Daniel, saying that as his eldest daughter, I had to marry into the Ross family to keep our family stable.

I understood the truth in that moment. Every time he praised me for being mature and reasonable, it only meant he expected me to sacrifice more of my own life for him.

"We will postpone the funeral," my father continued. "Once Daniel completes his succession, I will make him fix everything that happened. Viola will be removed from his life permanently."

"How?" I asked. "Is he supposed to apologize at Sophia's grave, or give me a new child to replace the one I lost?"

My father frowned. "Elena, don't let the heat of the moment speak for you. You're both Daniel's wife and the Vitali heiress."

I pulled the white sheet up over Sophia's body. "I lost both of those identities last night."

*****

I refused to push back Sophia's funeral.

Before they closed the coffin, I slipped the red hair tie off Sophia's wrist. She never got the chance to visit the ocean with me, so I kept the hair tie to honor her wish.

Only three people attended her burial. I was there alongside the old housekeeper who had raised Sophia since infancy and one cemetery staff member.

Daniel's seat remained empty.

My father didn't show up either.

On the tombstone, I only had Sophia's name carved. I left off both the Ross and Vitali family names, leaving only her own.

Both families had loved calling her their little princess while she lived. Yet none of the family leaders were willing to skip a single official event to attend her funeral after she died.

My phone vibrated as dirt fell over her coffin.

The message was not from Daniel, but from the Ross family butler. [Mrs. Ross, Mr. Ross has restored your account privileges. He asks that you stop using your daughter to seek attention ahead of the succession ceremony and return home with Sophia promptly.]

I stared at the message for a long time.

Then, I slipped my wedding ring off my finger.

After seven years of constant wear, the skin beneath the band was pale. When the wind touched it, that spot felt colder than anywhere else.

The old housekeeper's eyes filled with tears as she asked, "Ma'am, where should we go now?"

I didn't answer her question.

I dug deep into my phone and found a number that had been buried for six months.

I was no stranger to Leon Moretti. Over the past five years, I had attended all cross-family business negotiations in Daniel's place.

Leon stood apart from most men in our circle because he always asked for my input instead of consulting my husband or father first.

Six months ago, after a family dinner, he stopped me and bluntly proposed a marriage alliance.

Back then, I told him I was married and had a daughter.

He didn't pressure me further and only left me with a single message. "If you ever want to take back control of your own life, call this number."

The wind swept through the cemetery, carrying away the last petal from Sophia's grave.

I dialed the number.

Leon picked up on the first ring. "Elena?"

He recognized my number, but there wasn't a hint of smugness in his voice.

I clutched Sophia's red hair tie, not wasting a second. "Does the marriage alliance you proposed six months ago still stand?"

Leon was silent for a moment before replying, "Yes."

"I accept your offer."

"What happened?"

I had believed I had cried it all out, but tears fell onto the back of my hand the second someone finally asked about my pain.

"Sophia's dead," I said.

Leon didn't push for details or give me empty platitudes to comfort me.

After a long silence, he finally said, "I'm sorry."

"I don't need your pity," I said while wiping away my tears. "I want to divorce Daniel. I want the Vitali family to stop forcing me back to him.

"And I want you to marry me the day Daniel becomes the new Ross family head."

Leon understood my full intentions.

Daniel's succession ceremony was everything to the Ross family. He would lose all respect in the underworld if he took his place as the family head while his wife married the Moretti family head on the same day.

Everyone would see that he couldn't keep control of his own household.

"This marriage works in my favor," Leon said. "It will weaken the partnership between the Ross and Vitali families and create new openings for the Morettis. I'm not pretending to be a good person who is only here to help you."

"I know," I said.

I had called him precisely because he was honest about his motives.

"But there's one thing you should know," Leon said, his voice dropping. "I can help you leave, but I can't decide where you go. You can back out anytime before the wedding."