After Six Years Together, He Called Me His Bedmate

Chapter 4

On my 18th birthday, Dante had fastened the obsidian pendant around my neck himself.

He told me it held a tracking chip unique to the Moretti family. No matter where I went, as long as there was a signal, he would always be able to find me.

I had not taken it off once in six years.

Now he told me it was a token—the kind the head of the Moretti family gave only to his future wife.

"I only lent it to you before," Dante said. "I'm planning to give it to Elena at the succession ceremony next week."

"You lent it to me?"

My fingers closed around the pendant, bitterness rising in my throat.

"Why didn't you say that when you gave it to me?"

"We were only 18. Who could think that far ahead at that age?"

Dante showed no guilt at all. He simply held out his hand.

"Don't make a scene. It belongs to my family."

I unfastened the necklace and placed it in his palm.

"Take it."

After putting the pendant away, Dante stood, his tone turning casual again.

"Remember to attend the ceremony next week. Both families' elders will be there. Don't throw a tantrum over this thing between us."

I did not answer.

On the day of the succession ceremony, the Moretti estate was packed with guests.

Dante wore the family's traditional black ceremonial suit and accepted the ring symbolizing power before all the elders.

When the ceremony ended, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he took Elena's hand and led her up the steps.

I saw the familiar flash of black at her throat.

The pendant that had rested over my heart for six years now hung around her neck.

Dante publicly announced the union of their families.

"No matter where you go, I'll always find you."

Looking at Elena, he repeated the words he had spoken to me when we were 18.

Thunderous applause filled the room.

Only I knew that every word of his heartfelt declaration had been taken from my past.

Elena approached me with a glass of wine, her fingers brushing the pendant as if by accident.

"Dante told me you used to wear this necklace too. You don't still want it back, do you?"

"Not at all."

I did not look back as I left the estate.

The next day, scandalous stories about Dante and me flooded the Northmara press.

The reports included security footage of us entering and leaving the penthouse, hotel check-in records, and even several telephoto shots of us kissing on the terrace.

The headline read:

"Rizzo Heiress Exposes Six-Year Secret Affair, Allegedly Using Public Pressure to Derail Moretti Marriage Alliance"

The anonymous message had been sent from an email address I once registered, and the files had been uploaded over the Wi-Fi at the penthouse where we had lived together.

The person living there now was Elena.

I thought of the old computer I had left in the study.

The travel photos, hotel bills, and old email account I had never logged out of were all in her hands.

I understood at once what had happened.

My phone rang just then.

Dante said only one sentence. "Come to the estate and explain what you've done."

He didn't even bother to ask if I did it.