Page 78 of Brutal Crown

“I was just worried, but I’m glad everything worked out, brother.”

Marco holds my gaze for a few more seconds before nodding.

“And I’m glad you’re happy for me.”

Then he’s gone.

When Elio and my father leave, I’m left standing alone in the empty room, my heart bleeding.

She’s not yours,I want to roar.She’s mine.

But all I can do is clench my jaw and stay silent.

Because loving her out loud would kill us both.

21

LIA

The air in the dressing room is thick with perfume, and a heavy pressure weighs down my shoulders.

“A Romano bride,” the designer mutters, stepping back to admire the work she’s done on me. Her eyes meet mine in the mirror. “You wear the look well.”

I don’t answer. I’m too focused on the way my reflection looks nothing like me.

My hair is pinned into elegant waves. A cream silk dress clings to my skin in the right places. Soft makeup hides the sleepless nights and the guilt sitting like a stone in my chest, making my skin supple and more polished than I’ve looked in the past two years.

I look like the kind of woman they expect Marco’s fiancée to be.

Behind me, Marco is leaning against the doorframe. His arms are crossed over his chest as he watches me with a soft expression. “You okay?” he asks.

I give him the smallest nod. “Yes.”

No.

I am not okay.

The events of yesterday have been playing over and over again in my head.

I was humiliated, scorned, and possibly almost killed before Marco intervened. I should be grateful to him. I am, but it doesn’t mean that I am happy orokay.

I don’t remember walking back to my room after Marco lied that he was the father of my unborn child.

All I remember is Marco’s hand curled tightly around mine, some minutes later, as he told me that we had to get married in order for his family to keep me alive. I remember how certain he sounded as he murmured that everything would be fine now. That I’m safe. That I’ll never have to fear again.

But I don’t feel safe. I feel cornered. Repackaged. Rewritten.

Yesterday morning, I woke up with a secret. I woke up a mistake, someone expendable.

Now, I’m the fiancée of Marco Romano. A symbol of alliance. A pawn in a game I can’t even see the whole board of.

The shift happened overnight, and I’m struggling to adjust to it.

But I’m not the only one struggling.

The servants who spat at me, cursed, and lied against me yesterday now bow their heads when I walk past. The ones who were in charge of taking my things from the servants’ quarters to my new room called meSignorina.

But not all of them hide their disgust. One maid avoids my eyes completely when she hands me my folded clothes. Another whispers something behind my back when they see me.