Chapter 13
Bianca asked for one final private mediation.
Alessandro agreed only because Claire recommended it.
Bianca entered wearing a simple navy dress instead of the couture clothes Alessandro associated with her.
She looked tired.
For the first time, she looked thirty-four instead of untouchable.
“I loved you,” she said.
Alessandro did not answer.
“I did.”
“You wanted me.”
“That’s different.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You think everything is simple now because you found Dominic’s messages.”
“No.”
“He knew exactly what to say to me.”
“I know.”
“He made me believe you would never see me as family while Livia came first.”
Alessandro leaned back.
“Livia does come first.”
Bianca looked hurt.
“She always will.”
“I was going to be your wife.”
“And she is my child.”
“That is exactly what Dominic kept saying.”
“No.”
Alessandro’s voice remained calm.
“Dominic told you it was a competition.”
Bianca said nothing.
“You believed him because you wanted it to be one.”
Tears appeared in her eyes.
“I grew up being the person nobody chose.”
Alessandro had heard pieces of her childhood before.
A father who left.
A mother who remarried.
Homes that changed.
Adults who promised permanence and then disappeared.
Her fear was real.
Her behavior was still hers.
“You know what being unwanted feels like,” Alessandro said.
Bianca wiped her cheek.
“Yes.”
“And you deliberately made a three-year-old feel it.”
That ended every excuse she had left.
Bianca agreed to a civil resolution.
No payment for silence.
No public smear campaign from either side.
The engagement was formally over.
Personal property was returned.
She would have no contact with Livia.
Her criminal case would proceed separately.
Before leaving, Bianca placed the engagement ring on the conference table.
Alessandro looked at it.
“Keep it.”
She frowned.
“I don’t want it.”
“Neither do I.”
May you like
For once, nobody fought over possession.
Bianca took the ring and left.
