The Mafia Donna’s Bridal Escape Night Chapter 07

The Mafia Donna’s Bridal Escape Night Chapter 07

A knock at the door.

I looked up. Joren stood in the hallway.

Still in last night’s clothes. Water stains and dried blood on his cuffs. His eyes were red. He held a bouquet of white roses.

The moment Grandma Elise saw the flowers, the color left her face.

White roses. The escape room had been covered in them.

I pressed the call button on the bed rail.

“Please send security.”

Joren immediately set the flowers outside the door.

“Lyra, I just wanted to check on you and Grandma Elise.”

“I didn’t know about the hazelnut. The escape room was Liora’s setup. She told me every prop had been cleared as safe. If I’d known hazelnut was in there, I never would have let you drink it.”

“And after I drank it?”

He went silent.

“When the hives appeared. When I begged you to open the door and give me my medication. You already knew.”

The only sound in the room was the steady beep of the monitors.

The moisture in Joren’s eyes grew heavier.

“Lyra, I’m sorry. I was a bastard. I should never have kept letting Liora get away with things. I won’t

let her affect our lives anymore.”

“The wedding will be postponed. Once you and Grandma Elise are discharged, we’ll redo everything. You call every shot.”

“There’s nothing to postpone. The wedding is canceled.”

His expression froze.

“You’re still angry. I can wait until you’ve calmed down.”

“I’m perfectly calm.”

“Lyra!”

His voice spiked, then dropped the instant he saw the fear flash across Grandma Elise’s face.

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. Grandma Elise has been waiting so many years. She finally gets to see us married. Can you really bear to let her down?”

Grandma Elise spoke up.

“What I’ve been waiting for is for her to be happy. Not to see her in a wedding dress.”

“Joren, I used to think – Lyra loves you. As long as you two got married, everything would be fine.”

“But lying in the ER last night, I finally understood. Missing one wedding won’t kill anyone. Spending a lifetime with a man who doesn’t treat her life like it matters – that’s the real

nightmare.”

The last trace of color left Joren’s face.

I handed him a sheet of paper.

“This is a formal notice prepared by the Conti family’s attorneys.

“Effective immediately, all matters relating to the dissolution of the engagement, the joint asset inventory, and last night’s incident will be handled exclusively through legal counsel.”

“You are not to enter my room or Grandma Elise’s room again. Do not attempt to see either of us

privately.”

Joren stared down at the paper.

“You already retained attorneys?”

“I called from the ambulance.”

My voice was still hoarse from the allergic reaction, but it was steady.

“Everyone who placed bets last night. Everyone who shut down the emergency equipment.

Everyone who participated in that game. I won’t miss a single one.”

“Hidden camera footage, group chats, payment records, control panel logs – the police are already preserving the evidence.”

“That includes you.”

Joren looked at me, and for the first time, real panic broke through.

“Lyra, you’re really going to take it this far?”

i slid the ring off my left hand.

The band had left a faint white groove around my finger, like a ligature mark – the last trace of Your years.

“Last night, you put my wounds, my privacy, and my pain on display for an audience. You let them bet on me. You let them laugh.”

“Joren, if you really love someone, you don’t tolerate even the slightest risk. Because you’d be terrified that she might actually be hurt.”

“From the moment I walked into that escape room – or maybe from the moment you decided to put me there – our ending was already written.”