Replaced at the Altar, Returned as an Heiress Chapter 07
“You let her enter the chapel in my wedding gown and wear the crown that was meant for me. She drugged me with something that could have stopped me from breathing, and even after you found out, you decided it was not serious enough to punish.”
I put my phone away.
“She entered my home, wore my shoes, and wrapped herself in my clothes. Your friends humiliated me in front of you, and you remained seated at the card table.”
“I did not sleep with her.”
“Is that the only form of betrayal you understand?”
Matteo froze.
“You never gave her your body,” I continued, “but you gave her my dignity, my wedding, and my position within the DeLuca family. Every time she wanted to humiliate me, you made certain she had the opportunity.”
“I can deal with Sofia.”
“You only deal with her after you lose something.”
Matteo pressed his fingers against his temple. For the first time, exhaustion entered his voice.
“I admit that I was wrong. I should not have allowed her into the chapel, and I should have stopped the others from speaking to you that way. But can you honestly say I treated you badly throughout our entire relationship?”
“I gave you the life you wanted. I gave you a home and jewelry. I stayed with you when you were sick. Apart from several missed promises and what happened at the wedding, I never truly hurt you.”
He spoke with complete sincerity, as though he still believed he had made only a few mistakes that money and apologies could repair.
“Everything you gave me was meant to remind me that I belonged to the DeLucas,” I said. “Even your care depended on me remaining quiet and obedient.”
“I love you.”
“You loved Isabella Vale.”
His eyes sharpened.
“The woman without a family or anywhere else to go. The woman who had to depend on you. She accepted whatever you offered and stepped aside whenever Sofia cried.”
I raised the hand wearing the Venturi signet ring.
“The woman standing in front of you does not need your house, your jewelry, or your name. Do you still know how to love her?”
He had no answer.
I studied his pale face and remembered the years at boarding school.
“Of course.”
“Then you remember Sofia having me locked inside the restroom while the others poured wine over me.
Matteo’s lips parted.
“We were all young.”
“You saw it happen.”
“I made them stop.”
“You stopped them because they had gone too far and someone might have been seriously injured. You never believed humiliating me was wrong.”
The color in his face slowly changed.
“When you pursued me again years later, I believed you had grown into a different man. But on our wedding day, you stood beside Sofia again and told me that what she had done was not important.”
Matteo finally understood that I had not left because of one misunderstanding.
The wedding had only forced me to see that he had never truly changed.
“I did love you once,” I said. “That was why I gave you chance after chance.”
His head lifted sharply.
“Once?”
“The moment you allowed Sofia to wear my wedding gown, everything between us ended.”
