The Red Roses Before the Grave

Luca was momentarily stunned before grabbing his suit jacket from the sofa.

"All right, I'm leaving. But remember, this was your decision. Don’t turn around and get upset with me later."

Behind the dim glass door of the bathroom, Olivia let out a faint smile. "I won’t. I won’t drink anymore. My family matters most. If Giselle finds out you came to see me tonight, she won’t be happy."

Slipping on his jacket, Luca frowned. "When will you stop being so difficult?"

A long silence followed before Olivia finally spoke. "Luca, do you think you really know me?"

Her indifferent tone instantly irked him.

She was the one who got drunk and begged him to come over. Yet now, she was the one dismissing him.

He knew Olivia’s temperament all too well. She always said one thing but meant another. She told him to leave, but in reality, she wanted him to stay more than anyone else.

Still, something felt off about her tonight.

However, Luca did not dwell on it. With Giselle’s drama wrapping up today, he had already been looking for an excuse to leave Olivia’s place. Now, she had conveniently saved him the trouble.

"All right, I’m leaving. If you end up feeling upset, don’t expect me to come back and comfort you."

As Luca's footsteps faded into the distance, Olivia sank into the bathtub, her silent tears spilling over.

Even in the final moments of her past life, she could hardly believe that the man she had loved for nearly a decade would be the one to end her life.

The Romanov Family and the Everett Family had been close for generations and she and Luca had grown up together, inseparable since childhood. The longest they had ever been apart was just three days.

During her sophomore year, Luca entered the entertainment industry. Without hesitation and against her parents' wishes, Olivia dropped out of her management major, determined to become a star like him.

Her love burned so fiercely that she never considered the possibility that while she had only ever loved Luca, he had never only loved her.

The first time she witnessed Luca and Giselle’s affair was at his 23rd birthday party.

On the polished deck of a luxury cruise ship, she saw it happen. Luca, who was tipsy from drinking, pressed a kiss to Giselle’s lips.

That was the moment she learned the truth. Luca and Giselle were not biological siblings.

From then on, Luca had desperately tried to suppress his feelings for Giselle. And Olivia Romanov was the perfect escape.

She was beautiful, obedient and hopelessly devoted to him. Aside from her somewhat obsessive nature, she had no glaring flaws.

When Luca finally confessed his feelings to her, Olivia wanted to ask why he kissed Giselle at the birthday party.

However, in the end, Olivia never asked.

She loved Luca so deeply that she was willing to deceive herself, afraid that uncovering the truth would only push him further away.

Over and over, she convinced herself that the kiss had been nothing more than a drunken mistake, an accident that Luca would never repeat once he sobered up.

But no matter how much she tried to deny it, his obvious favoritism was impossible to ignore.

For three years, Olivia dedicated herself to preparing for a highly anticipated historical drama, only for Luca to ask her to relinquish the lead role for Giselle.

"Olivia, she's just a little girl. If you think of it as indulging her passion for costume dramas, you wouldn’t be so petty, right?"

Olivia had no desire to give up the role she had worked so hard for, but in the end, she forced a smile and said, "If she wants it, she can have it."

She had hoped naively that Luca would see her reluctance, that he would understand her pain, but he only pulled her into an embrace, placed a kiss on her forehead and smiled. "I knew my Olivia was the best. When you marry me, we’ll be family."

Olivia swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat and said nothing.