They Never Loved Me. Now I Don’t Remember Them. Chapter 02

I stopped and turned around.

Bianca folded her arms.

“Tomorrow, you’re going to the De Santis estate and breaking off the engagement.”

“Matteo’s completely done with you after what you did. He doesn’t want you anymore.”

Only then did Matteo finally look at me.

“I used to think you and Bianca just didn’t get along. Sisters fight. Fine.”

His expression turned colder.

“But I never thought you’d sink this low. Burning her with a filtered cigarette, playing your little games… Someone like you has no business becoming my wife.”

I blinked at him.

Even though I could barely remember anything anymore, hearing those words made my chest ache for no reason.

Tears spilled from my eyes.

I must have loved Matteo very much before I started forgetting.

But now, whenever I tried to think about him, all I could remember was the way he looked at me with disgust.

I wiped my tears away and nodded.

“Okay.”

Then I pulled out my memory journal and wrote:

Break off the engagement with Matteo De Santis tomorrow.

I closed it and was about to ask one of the drivers to take me to the nearest city bus stop when Mom stopped me.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Bianca’s going shopping this afternoon. She needs the chauffeured car.”

“If you want to go somewhere, figure it out yourself.”

I wanted to ask why.

Why she couldn’t show even a little kindness to her own daughter.

But when I turned around, I saw the four of them together.

Bianca nestled between Mom and Dad.

Matteo stood beside her.

They looked like a family.

The words died in my throat.

I quietly took a folding umbrella and walked out into the heat.

Behind me, I heard Mom mutter,

“Maybe it’ll teach her a lesson.”

Then I heard Matteo’s low voice.

“She deserves it.”

The Rinaldi estate was far from public transportation. It took me nearly half an hour just to reach the nearest city bus stop.

By then, sweat had soaked through the back of my shirt, and my head was spinning from the heat.

After another hour on the city bus, I changed into my server’s uniform and started my shift at the restaurant.

It was summer, and the place was packed.

I barely stopped moving all afternoon.

By three or four, the crowd finally started to thin.

My stomach was cramping with hunger, and I had just picked up a slice of sourdough bread when I heard Bianca’s voice.

“Taking a break already?”

I looked up.

She had arrived with a group of friends.

Matteo was with them.

Bianca smiled.

“We’d like your table.”

The restaurant manager hurried over.

“Of course, Miss Rinaldi. I can have someone—”

“No.”

She pointed at me.

“I want her.”

The restaurant manager glanced at me, then immediately backed down.

“Of course.”

I put the sourdough bread aside.

They ordered enough food to cover the entire table.

And Bianca sent almost every dish back.

“This is cold.”

“This is too salty.”

“I don’t like the peppercorn sauce.”

“The ribeye steak is overcooked.”

Each time, she took one bite and pushed the plate toward me.

“Take it back.”

Again.

And again.

And again.

The kitchen grew more irritated every time I walked through the doors.

The restaurant manager didn’t dare say a word to Bianca.

So he took it out on me instead.

“What are you standing around for? Move.”

“Hurry up.”

“Don’t make them wait.”

I hadn’t eaten all day.

By evening, my stomach hurt so badly I could barely stand straight.

One of the other servers tried to take a plate from me.

Bianca immediately looked over.

“I said I wanted her serving us.”

The server stopped.

I picked up the next serving tray myself.

When I approached the table, Bianca shifted in her chair.

Her foot slid into my path.

I tripped.

The serving tray flew out of my hands.

I hit the floor hard.

A ceramic soup bowl shattered beside me, and scalding vegetable soup splashed across my arm.

I gasped.

Pain burned through my skin.

Then I heard laughter.

The entire table was laughing.

I lay there for a second before looking up at Matteo.

He was watching me.

Our eyes met.

For one stupid moment, I thought he might say something.

He didn’t.

He simply looked back down at his plate and continued cutting his ribeye steak.

I pushed myself off the floor.

By the time my shift finally ended, my legs ached so badly I could barely walk.

My stomach had stopped growling hours ago.

At least I still had the money from today’s shift.

It wasn’t much.

But once I started college, it would buy me a few days’ worth of food.

I took the last scheduled bus home.

The moment I stepped through the front door—

Slap!

Mom’s hand struck my face so hard that I fell to the floor.