The Donna They Threw Away

"Candace! The introduction ceremony is about to start! Where in the hell are you?" Isadora's shrill voice screeched from the phone. "I knew it. You're nothing but a nameless orphan he dragged in from the gutter. If Cian hadn't thrown a fit, you'd never be marrying into this family!"

"Mrs. Costello, have Cian and Liliana arrived?" I asked softly. The shouting on the other end paused. "Aren't you the future matriarch? Shouldn't you be getting ready? Cian is exhausted. He pulled several all-nighters just for you, persuading the family's Capos. Isn't it normal for him to get a little extra sleep?"

"Your son is busy fucking his adopted sister," I interjected, my voice a raw rasp. "Care for the details?"

There was dead silence on the other end, followed by an even more piercing shriek. "What nonsense are you spouting? Liliana and Cian are innocent—"

I hung up and stared at the portrait on the easel, the one I had spent three months painting for him.

The colors I had so carefully mixed were dazzling in the morning sun, mocking my foolishness.

My fingers brushed across his face on the canvas. A fine crack suddenly spiderwebbed across his painted face. Even the canvas couldn't bear it.

In a daze, I picked up a palette knife and slashed wildly at the canvas, not realizing tears were already streaming down my face.

Because I was an orphan, Isadora had always despised me. Nothing I did could win her favor. Back then, Cian would pull me into his arms and tell me it was okay. As long as he loved me, that was enough.

I was such a fool.

I'd been so blind. I never saw that Cian's obsession with Liliana was something far darker and more twisted than brotherly affection. The man I thought was my salvation had, right before my eyes, defiled everything we had with his adopted sister.

My phone buzzed incessantly, a flood of discreet notifications about the cancellation of the introduction ceremony pouring in.

On autopilot, I replied to the hypocritical messages of concern, telling them I was fine. I also prepared to return every single congratulatory gift I had received, one by one.

Just then, a new notification popped up on a private, high-society social media feed.

Liliana had posted a photo. She was lounging on rumpled silk sheets, naked except for the Costello family signet ring on her finger. The caption read: 'Cian's scent is the most reassuring thing in the world.'

Cian had replied with a hug emoji underneath.

I stared at the bruises on her wrist in the photo and suddenly burst out laughing.

How ironic.

The ring I designed myself, a symbol of our future, was now sparkling on someone else's finger.

I left a comment on the post. Liliana's video call came almost instantly.

On the screen, Cian's bare chest was covered in scratches. Liliana curled up next to him like a cat, deliberately revealing a bite mark on her shoulder.