Chapter 14
654 Words
Sophia didn’t remember leaving the table.
One moment, she was sitting there—frozen, suffocating under the weight of the words.
Next thing… she was gone.
The hallway blurred as she walked, her steps uneven, to her room. Her chest tight like something was crushing her from the inside.
Luca will be marrying Bianca Marchetti.
The words echoed relentlessly.
Her room door shut behind her with a quiet click.
And that was it.
The composure she had been clinging to shattered.
Sophia pressed her hand against her mouth, her breathing breaking as tears blurred her vision.
It wasn’t supposed to feel like this.
She had known—had always known—that whatever existed between her and Luca was wrong. Temporary. Impossible.
But this?
This felt final.
Like she had just lost something she had never truly had.
She sank onto the edge of the bed, her shoulders trembling.
“What did you expect…” she whispered to herself.
He was Luca Virelli.
A man who didn’t believe in love.
A man who took what he wanted—and left everything else behind.
And she…
She had been foolish enough to think she might be different.
Meanwhile, Luca had walked out of the dining hall because he didn’t want Sophia to witness his anger. After a while, he decided to go and confront his father.
As soon as he got to his father’s office he did not bother knocking because he was not really in the mood for formalities.
His father was looking through a document and as soon as he saw Luca he said “It’s good you’re here. We need to finalize your marriage arrangement with the Marchetti family”
“You made that decision without consulting me?” Luca’s voice cut through the room—low, controlled, but laced with something dangerous.
Vittorio didn’t flinch. “It wasn’t a decision that required your approval. It required your participation.”
Luca let out a quiet, humorless breath.
“You’re arranging my life like a business transaction.”
“That’s exactly what it is,” Vittorio replied calmly. “This alliance ends years of conflict. It stabilizes everything. Besides, I heard you had something going on with the girl so this should be easy.”
“And you think I’ll just agree?”
Vittorio’s gaze hardened slightly. “I think you understand what’s at stake.”
Luca stepped forward slowly, his presence filling the space in a way that made even his brothers go silent.
“I built everything I have without relying on alliances like this,” he said. “I don’t need a marriage to control what’s already mine.”
“This isn’t about control,” Vittorio countered. “It’s about legacy.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“No,” he said quietly. “It’s about forcing me into something I don’t want.”
“And what exactly do you want?” Vittorio asked.
The question hung in the air.
Sharp.
Loaded.
For a brief second—just a second—Luca didn’t answer.
But something flickered in his expression.
Something rare.
Something dangerously close to the truth.
Then it was gone.
⸻
“I’m not marrying her, Besides I’m now the Don and not you!” Luca said flatly.
The room went still again.
Vittorio’s voice dropped. “That’s not a request Luca. Remember I gave you that position and I can always take it back.”
Luca met his gaze without hesitation.
“Then you’ll have a problem.”
The tension lingered long after Luca walked out.
But he didn’t stop.
Didn’t slow.
Because there was only one place he was going.
Sophia didn’t hear him enter.
Didn’t notice the door open.
She was still sitting on the bed, her face buried in her hands, trying—and failing—to hold herself together.
“You’re crying.”
Her breath caught.
She looked up instantly.
Luca.
Standing there.
Watching her.
- Writer
