The Mafia’s Stand-In Bride Chapter 01

The Mafia’s Stand-In Bride Chapter 01

At my wedding to Lorenzo Vitale, his personal secretary used AI to swap my face for hers on our wedding photo, then projected the edited image onto the screen in the reception hall.

I angrily confronted her, demanding to know why she had done this.

Instead, she knelt down in front of me, sobbing uncontrollably and begging over and over.

“I’m sorry, I only did this because I adore Lorenzo so much… But I didn’t mean to give the wrong USB drive. Hit me, yell at me, whatever you want, please just don’t cancel the wedding out of anger!”

Furious, I slapped her hard across the face.

But Lorenzo rushed over, dragged me away, and held the tearful secretary tightly in his arms, his face soft with sympathy.

“It was just a mistake with the wedding photo, what’s the big deal? Did you really have to hit her? Lily, what happened to your manners?”

I watched as Lorenzo went along with the mistake, letting the secretary wear my wedding dress and take my place as his bride.

Without hesitation, I turned and walked away, and terminated the wedding surprise I’d prepared for him. the child he’d been waiting five years to have.

…

“Lorenzo, what did you just say?!”

I could barely believe what I was hearing. “You want me to take off my wedding dress so Maya can marry you instead? Are you insane?”

Faced with my question, Lorenzo’s face grew even colder.

“This is how things stand now. Tell me, what else do you expect me to do? Cancel the wedding like you want? What am I supposed to do about all the guests waiting outside? What will the reporters write? Do you really expect the entire Vitale family to get embarrassed just because of your childish tantrum?”

His words wrapped around my heart like a giant hand, squeezing tighter and tighter, until I could barely breathe.

Once upon a time, I had been Lorenzo’s first choice, his instinctive favorite.

But today.

After weighing his options, he chose to sacrifice me, the real victim.

I dug my fingertips so hard into my palms that it hurt, just to hold back my tears.

“So what? This is my fault? It was Maya who maliciously swapped our wedding photo at our own wedding! Now you want me to step aside, so she can wear my dress and marry my husband—have you ever once stood on my side, through all of this?”

I forced myself to speak calmly, but my voice still shook involuntarily.

Lorenzo rubbed his temples irritably, his eyes sharp with anger and impatience.

“Enough. Maya didn’t do it on purpose. Why do you have to be so aggressive? I don’t want to fight with you. This is how it’s going to be. Take off the dress and let her put it on. We’ll sort everything else out after the wedding.”

I laughed through my tears, and I couldn’t hold them back anymore—they rolled down my face in big, hot drops.

“I don’t need this wedding, and I don’t need you as my husband. But I will never let another woman wear this dress.”

This was my bottom line.

Lorenzo’s voice turned sharper.

“Are you threatening me? Lily, I’m giving you an out here. Do you really think you’re in any position to negotiate with me right now?

“You think you can walk away from the wedding and from me? Where do you even get the nerve to say that? Don’t forget who you are, and who I am. I have plenty of other options even without you.

“But you—no one will ever want you after you leave me!”

My eyes went wide with shock, and I stared at him blankly.