Rejected Three Times, I Married My Fiancé’s Godfather Uncle

Chapter 3

Early the next morning, I was woken by my mother's call.

A payroll account for one of Moretti's cargo ships had been frozen, and the dockworkers' union had issued a final twelve-hour ultimatum. If the funds weren't deposited by that afternoon, the docks would shut down. The first person I called was Luca. The phone rang for a long time before he answered, loud music and men's laughter in the background.

Luca said, "Elena?"

I gripped my phone. "Where are you?"

He replied, "Talks ran late last night. I'm still at the club with some people. What's wrong?"

After I finished explaining the wage account situation, Luca went quiet for two seconds, his tone still gentle. "Don't worry. I'll sleep for two hours and then come over."

I said, "In two hours, the union people will be here."

He laughed. "It won't actually get that serious. They're just trying to scare you. Have Finance stall them first. I'll handle it when I wake up."

At that moment, his lightness felt jarring for the first time. But I made excuses for him anyway. He had just attended a family meeting on my behalf last night. He was simply too tired.

Forty minutes later, the port manager called me to say the frozen wage account had been temporarily unfrozen, and three million dollars had been transferred into the union‑controlled account.

I stiffened. "Who approved it?"

The voice on the other end lowered. "Mr. Vittori."

When I arrived at the docks, Damian was standing outside the warehouse. His black overcoat billowed slightly in the sea breeze while a lawyer and the port director followed behind him. He held a list of all Moretti's frozen accounts, asking about them one by one. Not asking how much I owed. But asking which payment was tied to crew wages, which to fuel, which ones were non‑negotiable.

I walked over. "Why are you here?"

Damian closed the file. He said, "If the union actually strikes, you'll lose at least twenty million. I don't like watching my debtors go bankrupt too quickly." Still that cold, businesslike tone.

I should have hated it. But the wind was too strong, and when my fingertips had gone white from the cold, he suddenly tossed me his gloves.

"Put them on."

I didn't take them.

He didn't insist, just glanced at me coolly. "If you get sick, who will sign for Moretti today?"

I gritted my teeth and put them on. An hour later, Luca finally arrived. His hair was still damp from the shower, and he carried my favorite coffee and breakfast.

"Sorry, I overslept." He kissed my forehead and pressed the coffee into my hand. He continued, "I knew you could handle it."

I looked down at the cup of coffee, not telling him that the person who had actually fixed everything was standing twenty yards away. Luca followed my gaze and saw Damian, his expression shifting slightly. "Why is my uncle here?"

I said, "Your uncle unfroze the wage account and handled it all."

Luca fell silent for a second, then quickly smiled again. "Isn't that perfect? I was planning to find him myself."

He said it so naturally. As if he hadn't simply failed to show up in time, but that things were simply meant to be resolved this way.

That afternoon, I followed Luca back to Vittori headquarters. He went to see Damian. I waited in the hallway. The door hadn't closed tightly, and I heard Luca say, "On the Moretti end, let's weather the union issue first. I'll figure out the rest of the debt."

Damian asked, "What's your plan?"

Luca said, "Once we land the port project, I can arrange a bridge loan."

Damian asked, "How soon at the earliest?"

Luca said, "One month."

"Her father can't wait a month." Inside, it was quiet for a few seconds. Then Damian's voice rang out. "As long as you marry her, and she becomes a member of the Vittori family, I can help you all."

I froze.

Luca laughed as if the question were absurd, and said, "Uncle Damian, why are you in more of a hurry than she is?"

Damian said, "You have no intention of marrying her."

Luca sighed and said, "Of course I'll marry her, but not now." He continued, a note of resignation in his voice, "I'm only 27. I haven't even solidified my position in the family, and the port agreement with Russo hasn't been signed. What good would it do me to tie myself down with marriage right now?" My fingertips slowly turned ice‑cold.

Damian said nothing. Luca went on, "Besides, Elena won't leave. She's loved me for six years. She understands me better than anyone."

Those words were like a blunt nail, slowly being driven into my heart. Not because he didn't love me. It was precisely because he loved me that he was so sure I would always be there. He knew I would wait, so he felt that anything more urgent could take priority over me.

I turned to leave. When I reached the elevator, Damian's voice came from behind me. "Hear that?"

I didn't look back. "Proud of yourself?"

"No." He walked over to my side and pressed the elevator button. "I just thought you should hear it."

The elevator doors reflected our images. I suddenly remembered what he'd whispered in my ear last night. Go ask him three times. I turned to look at him. "You're disgusting."

Damian looked down at me. "This is only the beginning."