Delfina arrived at the mansion where she lived with Filippo. They had been living together since the day he proposed to her.
Their marriage had been arranged ten years ago. Both of them had been against it, but eventually, they fell in love. They had been planning their future since then, only for it to be ruined by one affair.
Delfina's heart felt like it was about to burst through her chest.
Her phone vibrated with notifications. She checked it, only to find messages from Valentina asking how the hospital visit went.
Delfina's fingers hovered above the screen, silently urging herself to type. She needed someone to talk to, but she stopped herself at the last second.
She walked into the mansion and saw some of the servants still cleaning up. They gave her questioning looks because she was still in her wedding dress, and her husband wasn't behind her.
Delfina walked into the room she shared with Filippo with heavy steps, gently closing the door behind her.
She took a seat on the bed, the murmurs of the guests flooding her mind—the condescending looks and the rumor that she had seduced Filippo and stolen him from Navira.
Those speculations only made her wonder how long they had been having fun right behind her back.
Delfina took a deep breath as she reached for her closet, ready to pack her bags, when the door suddenly opened.
Filippo stepped inside, and their eyes met.
"What are you doing?" he asked, but she didn't reply. She ignored his presence as if he didn't exist at all. "Aren't you even going to let me explain why I had to do that?"
She paused and turned to him, her eyes red with rage. "Go ahead. Explain to me why you had to leave me at the altar just to go to my stepsister who was admitted to the hospital. Oh wait—was she even sick at all? Because she didn't look like someone who needed admitting when I saw her."
Her throat burned with even more vile words. Compared to before, when shock had rendered her speechless, she was capable of forming her words now.
Filippo parted his lips to speak but said nothing.
"What? Has the cat got your tongue, Filippo?" she asked, her icy blue eyes dark under the dim light of the walk-in closet. "Are you going to pretend I didn't just see you making out with her? Did you even plan on telling me this? How long has it been going on?"
"How long has what been going on?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
"How long have you been fucking Navira?"
Filippo rubbed his face in frustration, acting as if he had no idea what Delfina was talking about.
"Look, you need to understand that I did what I did because Navira wouldn't stop bothering me. Do you know what she told me this morning?" Filippo asked.
Delfina narrowed her eyes, waiting for him to continue.
"This morning, she called me and said she was going to kill herself if I didn't leave you at the altar. I know how much you love your sister, and I didn't want you to mourn her death on our special day. Believe me, that's why I left you. I love you, Delfina, and I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you."
Delfina wished she could laugh in his face, but every part of her body had gone numb. If he was joking, she couldn't tell. He looked so serious, as if he expected her to believe every word spilling from his mouth like a fool.
Perhaps she was foolish, considering she had believed him for the past many years now.
"Come on, Delfina. I only did what I did because I cared about you. If I hadn't gone to Navira, she would have harmed herself, and then you would've started worrying about her. To promise she'd never do something like that again, she gave me a condition."
"What condition?" Delfina asked, deciding to play along this time.
"She wants me to marry her."
His words felt like a bomb exploding in her head. If seeing her fiancé kiss her sister hadn't been enough, then this was the peak of it.
"But I'll only be marrying her. I won't fall in love with her or anything. I'll just marry her for three years until she gets over her obsession with me. Then I can come back and marry you."
Delfina's lips trembled, her eyes burning with tears, her hands shaking with the urge to slap Filippo across the face.
She didn't resist the urge.
Her palm struck his cheek hard before she could stop herself.
Filippo's head snapped to the side, her fingers leaving a red imprint on his cheek.
"You must think I'm some kind of fool to believe that. After what I saw at the hospital, do you think you can come here and keep manipulating me? You know what? I don't blame you for feeling so confident. I've been the one believing your lies all these years—but I'm done. I'm done being the fool you think you can manipulate whenever you want. I'm done pretending I don't see anything. And… I'm done with this relationship."
Her voice threatened to break as she said every word.
She ignored him and continued packing her clothes.
"If you leave me, you won't have anywhere to go, Delfina. Your family will never accept you if they find out you're breaking up with me. You know about the business alliance, don't you?"
Delfina paused. The business alliance.
Delfina swallowed hard as she turned to face him.
"You can go fuck yourself with the business alliance, for all I care."
Filippo's gaze darkened instantly, and before she could continue packing, his hand fisted in her hair, yanking it back as he slammed her against the wall.
"What did you just say to me?" He demanded.