106
Bianca's POV
The dim light in my room cast shadows on the walls, dark reflections of the thoughts swirling inside me. I paced back and forth, each step only fueling the anger that had settled deep in my chest since I’d learned of Finn and Lia's sudden engagement. The words felt hollow even as I repeated them in my mind, trying to make sense of it all. How could Finn not see this marriage as a trap, a way for others to pull his strings? He was playing right into their hands.
A sharp knock echoed through my room, cutting through the silence and pulling me out of my thoughts. I took a deep breath and opened the door, finding myself face to face with Finn, his expression unreadable.
“Bianca,” he said softly, his gaze steady but determined. “Can I come in?”
I hesitated, but then I stepped aside, nodding. He entered, and before I could even process the shift in the room, he locked the door behind him. The quiet click of the lock was a reminder of how far he was pushing me tonight, but I kept my face impassive.
“Look,” Finn began, his tone carrying a dismissiveness that felt like a slap. “I know you’re angry about the marriage, but it’s happening. There’s no point in fighting it.”
My jaw tightened as I tried to rein in my temper. Without a word, I turned on my heel, walked to the door, and opened it, gesturing for him to leave. Finn watched me, disappointment flickering in his eyes, but he didn’t try to argue. He simply stepped out, and the silence in the room felt heavier once he was gone.
He paused just outside, glancing over his shoulder. “Meet me at the library at eight. There’s something we need to talk about.”
I gave a slight nod, not trusting myself to speak. As he walked away, my fingers clenched around the doorknob, my anger simmering just below the surface. The nerve of him—to brush off my concerns as if they were nothing as if I were the one being unreasonable.
Moments later, another knock sounded on the door, and I steeled myself for another confrontation. But when I opened it, it was Jenny standing there, her face flushed and tense. She entered without waiting for an invitation, her eyes immediately locking onto mine.
“Well?” I asked, my voice cold. “What’s the outcome of your talk with Luca?”
Jenny’s mouth pressed into a thin line, and she shook her head, her expression hardening. “He won’t marry me. And we both know why.”
“Lia,” I whispered, her name bitter on my tongue. Jenny’s mouth twisted into a snarl, and a dark look passed between us. We didn’t need to say it out loud; we both knew that Lia was the reason everything was falling apart. My mind began churning with possibilities, and I clenched my fists, trying to bring some semblance of control to the chaos inside.
“Don’t worry,” I said finally, my voice low and steady. “We’ll figure something out. She can’t ruin everything for us.”
---
Luca’s POV
The drive back to my house was longer than usual, each mile stretching on as I replayed my conversation with Jenny in my mind. Her defiance, her frustration—they had all been reminders of the stakes in this tangled mess. It was like being caught in a web where every decision seemed to pull someone deeper into the darkness.
When I finally pulled up to the house, I was greeted by the familiar scent of lavender drifting from the porch. I stepped inside, relishing the quiet, and made my way to the dimly lit living room. The stillness wrapped around me, comforting and foreboding at the same time.
I poured myself a drink, the glass feeling cool against my fingertips as I sat down on the couch. Silence filled the room, thick and heavy, as I stared at the amber liquid swirling in the glass. Thoughts of Lia crept in, vivid and painful. I took a long sip, hoping it would dull the ache, but it only seemed to sharpen it.
Lia’s wedding to Finn felt like a ticking time bomb, one that would explode and take everything I cared about with it. I couldn’t allow it to happen, not like this. Not when I knew deep down that she didn’t love him—not the way she should love someone she was going to marry. There was something else, something that kept pulling her back, but I couldn’t quite reach it.
I clenched the glass tighter, the cold pressing into my palm. There had to be a way out of this—a way to make her see that this marriage wasn’t the answer. I could almost hear Benedicta’s voice in my head, urging me to fight for her, to not let fear or doubt keep me from what mattered most.
But how? How could I stop her from going through with this when every move I made seemed to push her further away?
Images of Lia and Finn together flooded my mind, stirring a surge of anger and jealousy that I struggled to control. My mind flashed back to the last time I’d seen her, the look in her eyes when I’d tried to tell her how I felt. She’d been so closed off, so guarded. And I knew that if I let her slip away now, there would be no second chances.
I forced myself to take another drink, hoping it would clear my head, but the thoughts kept coming, relentless and unforgiving.
Later that night my mind kept circling back to Lia’s face, the way her eyes softened whenever she thought no one was watching, the quiet determination in her gaze when she was sure of something. And now, she was standing on the edge of a choice that could ruin everything. A choice that would bind her to someone she didn’t truly want, all because of some sense of duty—or fear.
The frustration gnawed at me, eating away at my resolve. I couldn’t let her go through with it. She deserved a life filled with love and passion, not one dictated by family alliances and obligations. But how could I make her see that?
The walls felt like they were closing in, and the silence only amplified the turmoil inside me. My hand hovered over my phone, the temptation to call her almost overwhelming. But I knew that showing up unannounced, demanding she reconsider, would only push her further away.
I had to be patient, but patience had never felt more impossible.
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