Replaced at the Altar, Returned as an Heiress Chapter 08
Matteo remained silent for a long time.
“If you remembered what happened at boarding school, why did you ever agree to be with me?”
“Because I believed you had changed.”
As an adult, he had pursued me seriously. He postponed family meetings for dinner with me and stayed beside my bed when I was ill. I convinced myself that the boy who had once watched others humiliate me had grown into a different man.
Yet when the choice mattered, he still stood beside Sofia.
“I loved you and intended to become your wife,” I said. “The failed wedding was not a blessing. It simply stopped me before I made the worst mistake of my life.”
His shoulders stiffened.
“So marrying me would have been a mistake?”
“Yes.”
The last trace of hope left his face.
“We can start again. Sofia will never come near you. The people who insulted you will be punished. Whatever wedding you want, I will give you.”
“You are still talking about weddings and compensation.”
Lclosed the file before me.
“What I needed was respect. My decision now is to end the engagement.”
“I cannot accept that.”
The guards entered and stood between us.
This was Venturi territory. Matteo could no longer decide whether I stayed by issuing an order.
“You do not need to accept it. The legal documents are already effective.”
“Then what were the last three years?”
“Three years in which I genuinely loved you.”
My past love did not give him the right to keep hurting me.
“Give me one more chance.”
“I already gave you too many.”
He had one when he watched Sofia and the others bully me at school. Another when he pursued me years later.
Even after Sofia drugged me, he could have protected me and admitted what she had done.
He lost the last one when he let her complete my wedding ceremony and told me it was not serious.
I turned to the head of security.
“Escort Mr. DeLuca out.”
At the doorway, Matteo looked back.
“You truly will not return to New York?”
“No.”
“And you will never see me again?”
“There is no reason for us to meet.”
The doors closed behind him.
I did not follow or watch him leave. I had a port meeting that afternoon and shipping contracts waiting for approval.
My life had already moved forward.
After returning to New York, Matteo ended the DeLuca family’s alliance with the Rinaldis.
Evidence that Sofia had drugged me was turned over to the lawyers. Security footage, records of the sedative, and my medical reports made it impossible to dismiss the incident as a joke.
The Rinaldi family removed Sofia from New York and issued a formal apology to the Venturis.
Those who had insulted me began sending explanations. Some blamed alcohol. Others claimed they had never truly looked down on me.
I answered none of them.
Their respect appeared only after they learned my real name. That proved their contempt for Isabella Vale had always been genuine.
Sofia later contacted me from an unfamiliar number. She said Matteo refused to see her and asked me to help her speak to him in exchange for an apology.
I replied once.
Losing Matteo has nothing to do with me.
Then I sent the number to my lawyers.
Matteo never entered Venturi territory again. He occasionally sent letters through legal representatives, but I left them unopened. I later heard that he removed every reminder of the wedding from the townhouse and kept only the engagement ring I had left beside the sapphire necklace.
He finally understood that the ceremony had not destroyed us by itself.
The damage had begun much earlier, every time he dismissed his condescension as harmless. Because he believed
I had no powerful family, he mistook my silence for obedience, my patience for dependence, and my love for something he could never lose.
He understood too late.
Six months later, I presided over the Venturi family’s annual council meeting.
When it ended, my aunt asked whether I regretted returning to Sicily.
Beyond the windows, cargo vessels moved toward the Mediterranean. Investment proposals waited for my signature, and the family council remained seated for my decision.
I had once feared this position would take away my freedom.
Now I understood that freedom did not come from abandoning my name or waiting for a man to give me a home. It came from choosing my own life and leaving anyone who refused to respect me.
I signed the final page.
Isabella Venturi.
This time, I needed no one else’s name to prove where I belonged.
