Valentina
“Let me go then. I’m never going to be Isabella.”
My eyes narrowed. My breaths had finally evened out, and I could feel the hot flush in my cheeks.
“Let me go. End this misery for both of us.”
He allowed a soft laugh to slip free.
My anger came and went like flashes of lightning. One minute, it was there, and the next, I was just tired of it all.
He didn’t break his gaze as he stepped closer. “Then I wouldn’t find you at home waiting for me in my room.”
The way he looked at me was something I had always wished to have. A look of longing, desire.
“I thought you didn’t want that.” I whispered, my body practically electrified from nerves.
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t assume what I want, Mrs Nevarro.” He replied, his voice placid. Disinterested.
Just one touch. One touch from him, and the room would ignite.
“Noted.” I curled my fingers around the hem of my shorts as tightly as I could to stop the embarrassment flushing through me.
It had taken a lot from me to walk to his wing and into his room. Just to plead with him to help me.
“You should leave.” He said softly, almost calmly.
I stood my ground.
If Matteo was going to take me seriously, he needed to know I wasn’t a pushover.
“Unless…..” He raised his hand and touched the side of my throat. “You think it’s a good idea for you to stay.”
I swallowed, the sound loud enough to be heard in this thick silence.
He was never going to take me seriously.
“I don’t.” The don’t came out weakly, but I had conveyed my message.
“No?” He asked, his fingers grazing my cheeks softly like it was created to do that. His eyes were hardened when he looked into my eyes again. “Then why are you still here?”
If there was anything Matteo was good at when it came to me, it was making sure I was surprised.
I stared at him, feeling the coldness of his words, which matched the icy air between us. I had felt foolish when I had the thoughts of coming here, and now I felt foolish for coming here at all.
Isabella would never had asked, yet he would have given to her freely.
I opened my mouth to say something, but he released me and stepped backwards, cutting off anything I had to say.
“I think you should leave.”
It wasn’t framed as a suggestion but as an order. “Don’t let me find you in my wing without being called again, or you’ll discover that there are limits to my kindness.”
This wasn’t the man who would ever see me as anything but a poor stand-in, a poor replacement for the woman he actually wanted.
“Understood.” I reached into my pockets and picked up a promise ring I had found some weeks back. “In fact, you won’t find me in your estate anymore, period.”
No matter how many times I tried to show strength, it was clear he would never respect me.
“I’m done,” I whispered, the fire in my voice returning. “I’m done being treated like this. If you can’t help me with the one thing I truly want, then you don’t deserve me.”
He watched me with those dark, unreadable eyes, but he didn’t stop me. Not a single word left his mouth as I turned on my heel and walked out of the room.
That was for the best. But maybe, something in me wished he had said something – anything – to stop me, but he didn’t. He never did.
As I made my way down the stairs, the first drops of rain hit the windows, the storm outside reflecting the chaos swirling within my chest.
The ache in my heart sharpened, but it also steeled my resolve.
I wasn’t going to let Matteo break me.
I wasn’t going to stay in a marriage where my words wouldn’t be heard. He wouldn’t let me find my sister. He wouldn’t teach me how to defend myself.
As I reached the front door, I hesitated for a moment, my hand resting on the cold brass.
Shivers worked their way through me. Like someone was watching me. But when I turned around, no one was there.
Not even Caterina.
I wondered what she would say when she learnt what happened.
I pushed the door open, stepping out into the storm. The rain hit me instantly, soaking through my clothes in seconds.
It should have felt miserable.
Running around in the rain like a child, without a care of the cold that would follow such an experience. It did not.
For some reason, it felt liberating. Like I was finally free from the expectations, the worries. Free from my mother and her new obsession with Giovanni, who she thought was responsible for the death of my father.
I took a deep breath, the scent of the rain filling my lungs as I stepped further into the night.
Perhaps I should have wondered why no one tried to stop me.
Maybe they thought I was insane.
The wind whipped around me, tugging at my hair and my clothes, but I kept moving forward, each step taking me further away from the life my mother forced me into.
“Just one more step.” I kept muttering under my breath the closer I got to the end of the driveway.
Just one more step, and I would be free.
I had no idea what I would do next once I escaped the estate. I had no money, to phone to contact anyone, and most importantly, no dry clothes.
But that didn’t matter now.
What mattered was the fact that I would be in control of my life again.
No parties. No Matteo.
I stood at the end of the driveway for a few more seconds, admiring the estate I was going to leave behind. Just for a short amount of time, it had been my home.
I wished I had done more.
“Fuck you, Matteo Nevarro.” I screamed to the winds, before turning around and walking away.
Barefoot, with no money.
I disappeared into the storm.