He Married Her for a Game, So I Disappeared Chapter 08

He Married Her for a Game, So I Disappeared Chapter 08

The Luccarelli family estate in Palermo was perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Vincenzo stood at the iron gates, holding the white roses.

He pressed the intercom button.

“I’m here to see Miss Luccarelli.”

There was a long pause.

The steward came to tell me he was here.

He had come after all.

Yet I had no wish to meet him. After three years of hurt, he deserved no easy forgiveness.

I told the steward to send him away.

“Miss Luccarelli is not receiving visitors,” the steward said.

“I know,” Vincenzo said. “But I’m not leaving. I’ll wait here as long as it takes.”

He hung up the intercom. He leaned against the gate, holding the roses.

He waited.

The sun set. The stars came out. The temperature dropped.

Still, he waited.

My mind was made up, but my conscience wouldn’t let me sleep.

I could not sleep knowing he stood outside my gate all night long.

I told the steward to invite him in. I needed to talk to him properly, to close the book on seven years of loving him.

“Mr. Ferraro,” the steward said, handing him the blanket. “Miss Elena says you can wait in the guest house. It’s cold out here.”

Vincenzo shook his head. “Thank you, but I’ll wait here. It is far too late now, I would not disturb Elena and her family. Please tell her to rest well. If she agrees to see me, I shall return tomorrow morning.”

The steward sighed. He went back inside, closing the gate behind him.

“As he wishes.”

I turned and went back to bed after hearing the steward’s report.

If he thought one night of waiting would earn him my forgiveness, he was dead wrong.

Vincenzo wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. He sat down on the ground, leaning against the gate.

The roses were still in his hand, their petals starting to wilt.

He thought about all the times he had hurt me. All the times he had chosen Seraphina over me. All the times he had taken my love for granted.

He thought about the day after he had saved my life.

I had woken up in his safe house, bandaged and weak. He had sat by my bed for three days straight, not sleeping, not eating, just watching over me.

He’d hunted down and killed every single Moretti man who’d chased me that night.

He looked at me with his eyes fiercely red: “Elena… wait for me. Once I’ve sorted out all the family business, I’ll marry you. I promise.”

I had smiled and said yes.

And I waited. For seven years.

And now, he had lost me.

The sun rose.

Vincenzo stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. The roses were completely wilted now. He threw them away.

He waited.

At ten o’clock in the morning, the gate opened again.

I was standing there.

I looked healthier than he had ever seen me. My skin was tanned from the sun. My eyes were bright.

But when I looked at him, there was no warmth. No anger. No sadness.

Nothing.

Just complete and utter indifference.

Vincenzo’s heart broke.

“Elena,” he said, his voice cracking.

“Vincenzo,” I said, my voice calm and even. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize,” he said.

He took a step towards me, but I stepped back. “I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. I know I hurt you more than I can ever say. But I had to come. I had to tell you how sorry I am.”

He paused, taking a deep breath.

“I love you, Elena. I have always loved you. I was just too stupid. I let my guilt over Luca blind me. I let Seraphina manipulate me. I took everything you did for me for granted. And I will regret it for the rest of my life.”

“Please,” he said, tears streaming down his face. “Please give me another chance. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I will never hurt you again. I promise.”

I looked down at him for a long time.

Then I spoke.

“Vincenzo,” I said, my voice soft.

His eyes were filled with hope.

“I appreciate your apology,” I said. “But it’s too late.”

The hope died in his eyes.

“Elena—”

“No,” I said, cutting him off. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to stand me up at the altar. You don’t get to marry another woman. You don’t get to humiliate me in front of our entire families. And then, when your life falls apart, you come crawling back and expect me to forgive you.”

I took a step towards him, my eyes blazing.

“I put my dreams on hold for you. I put my family’s plans on hold for you. I forgave you every single time you hurt me. I was there for you through everything. And what did I get in return?”

My voice broke.

“I got a text message. A photo of you marrying another woman. In the shirt I had pressed for you that morning.”

Vincenzo closed his eyes. He could not bear to look at me.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I know you are,” I said. “But sorry isn’t enough. It will never be enough. The day you married Seraphina, the Elena who loved you died. She’s not coming back.”

I turned to leave.

“Elena, wait,” Vincenzo said.

I did not stop.

“Go back. You have made far too many mistakes; do not add another.”

Vincenzo stood outside the gates for another entire day.

After dinner that evening, I went to the window.

He was gone.

Before he left, he had asked the steward to deliver a message to me.

“If you ever need anything, anything at all. Call me. I will come. No matter what. No matter where.”