Darling, I Remember

I stared at the ceiling. My chest tightened, not from pain—but from the ice building inside me.

That was my family. That was love.

With trembling fingers, I grabbed my phone and dialed the only number that had ever mattered. Lothario. My ex lover.

When the line picked up, I whispered, “C-can you come? I need your help... I need you.”

There was silence on the other end, then a short reply:

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I hung up just as Matteo and Chris came back into the room and Chris handed me pills. But I know... They weren’t painkillers.

They were sedatives.

Even with my organs failing, all they cared about was that damn wedding.

****

When I woke… The sun had already set. The day was over. So was the wedding.

Marian had married Rupert. The man who once swore he'd protect me until death.

Chris burst into the room, face flushed with urgency.

“Ivanna! We can start the surgery in ten minutes. Please, just hang on. We’ll fix everything, I promise.”

Matteo followed close behind, clearly in a good mood. I guess having Marian wear my ring had put him at peace.

I pushed myself up on the bed slowly, ignoring the pull in my abdomen, and looked them both dead in the eye.

“I’m not having the surgery.”

They froze.

Matteo’s voice shot up an octave. “What the hell do you mean you’re not having it?! You want to walk around broken? You want to be a sterile fucking cripple?”

Before I could respond, the door creaked open.

Matteo’s secretary rushed in, bending to whisper in his ear.

“Mr. Rossi… she’s here.”

Matteo’s expression lit up like Christmas had come early. “Marian’s here?” he asked, barely hiding his glee.

He turned to me, softening his voice like that made any of this forgivable.

“Just… think about it, okay? She just wants to see you.”

The door opened slowly, and there she was—Marian. Wearing my wedding dress.

That sickeningly smug smile curled on her lips the second she saw me lying in the hospital bed, bruised, bandaged, and broken.

But what really made my stomach churn? My father—Don Rossi—and Chris, my brother, standing behind her… without a shred of resentment in their eyes. Not even a flicker of guilt.

Marian let out a breathy gasp like she was heartbroken. "Oh, Ivanna… what happened to you? Are the rumors true? You and those two lowlifes… was it mutual? If it was, why would they hurt you like that?"

"Marian," Chris snapped, frowning.

She threw up her hands, feigning innocence. "I'm sorry! That came out wrong. I shouldn’t have said that. I completely forgot—Ivanna, I didn’t mean to upset you."

Her voice was sweet enough to rot teeth, but her eyes were sharp. She wasn’t sorry. She was savoring every second.

I gritted my teeth, forced myself to sit upright despite the searing pain, and asked, "How dare you wear my wedding dress!"

Marian’s eyes instantly welled with tears. She looked down, trembling like a wounded dove.

My father stepped forward with a thunderous expression. “What do you think, Ivanna? You dishonored our name, fooled around with scum from the streets. The Fiore famiglia would’ve called off the alliance if Marian didn’t step in!”

Chris folded his arms across his chest, voice cold. “You think just because you're hurt, you can throw accusations around? Marian cleaned up the mess you made. Show some damn gratitude.”

Their words hit harder than bullets. They said it like they weren’t the ones who staged the entire thing. Like they didn’t pay those men to ruin me.

I tried to laugh, but even the corners of my mouth cracking open made fresh pain ripple through me.

Marian took a step closer. Her lips barely moved, but her voice slithered like a viper, just low enough for me to hear.

“You were once the Rossi princess. Untouchable. But now? Just a broken little girl no one wants. Hideous. Infertile. Powerless.”

She smirked, then added, “Rupert’s mine now. I wore your dress, walked your aisle, signed your future. He kissed me in front of the Five Families. He’ll never even look at you again.”

My hands clenched under the blanket.

Marian leaned in closer. “And guess who made it all happen? I asked our father to hire those dogs. And Chris, your brother, he made sure you didn’t get to the OR in time.”

I looked at her, eyes burning. “You—”

Suddenly, Marian gasped and threw herself backward, like I’d shoved her. She hit the floor with a practiced thud, her eyes wide and innocent.

“Ivanna!” she cried out dramatically. “I know you hate me. I know I took your spot. If it’ll make you happy, I’ll give him back! I’ll walk away, I’ll die if I have to! Just… stop hating me!”

Before I could react, Don Rossi’s face twisted in rage. He stormed over and slapped me across the face—right over the bandages.

"How dare you!" he roared. "You're nothing but a disabled now. Marian stepped up when you shamed our name, and this is how you repay her?"

The sting of his hand echoed louder than his voice. But worse than the pain was the way Chris kicked my bed. Hard.

The wheels rolled, and I crashed to the floor with a sickening thump.

But he didn’t even look at me. No. He knelt down beside Marian, brushing the hair from her face.

"Are you okay? She didn’t hurt you, did she?"

Marian sniffled and shook her head, like some noble victim. Chris glared at me over his shoulder.

“If you so much as breathe wrong around her again, Ivanna, I’ll cut you out of my life. Blood or not.”

I wanted to scream, to claw, to burn the entire damn world down. But all I felt was cold.

Numb.

They walked away, arms around Marian like she was the wounded one. My father, the Don, called for a doctor to check Marian’s nonexistent injuries and ordered someone to bring her imported gelato from Milan—her favorite. I smiled bitterly.