He Waited for Fifteen Years Chapter 04

He Waited for Fifteen Years Chapter 04

“Miss DeLuca. Please try to understand.”

The lawyer pushed the document closer.

I didn’t look at it.

The metal pen hit the table with a clean click.

“Verona DeLuca. Do you not even possess basic respect?”

Lowell snapped the words at me.

I looked down at my nails and shook my head slowly.

“I’ll be polite to the elders I’m actually supposed to respect. You don’t want to marry me? Good. I never planned to marry you either.”

I braced my hand on the sofa to stand.

Lowell’s mother closed the distance in three steps. Her palm cracked across my face.

That slap yanked me straight back. Into every slap she had ever landed on me in my last life.

My ear rang.

“The engagement party is tomorrow and you dare speak like this?”

“Lowell. Look at her. This is the woman you’re supposed to marry? She has no upbringing at all.”

Lowell wouldn’t even give me a real look.

“She’s the one who’s been chasing me. The person I’ve always wanted to marry is Talia.”

Talia’s tears fell harder.

“Lowell. I dream of marrying you. But my family can’t stand against her branch. We just can’t.”

Her voice broke in all the right places. Lowell looked at her and his expression twisted with pity. Then he walked straight up to me and stared down from his full height.

“Verona DeLuca. You’ll do anything to marry me, won’t you?”

“Fine. Then you agree now. After the wedding, you will not interfere with any of my decisions. You will not return to your own residence. You will stay in this house and live by my parents’ rules. You will also be responsible for looking after me and Talia. For everything.”

The document was shoved in front of me again.

Lowell’s mother grabbed my hand and forced my fingers toward the pen.

“Sign it.”

I clenched my jaw. I didn’t move. When I looked up, my eyes had gone red.

“Lowell DeLuca. The man I’m marrying is not you.”

Lowell’s mother released my hand. Then she backhanded me across the other cheek.

The sound echoed through the high-ceilinged living room.

“What kind of respectable family raises a daughter like this?”

“I’ll discipline you for your parents today. Save us the embarrassment of you shaming our family after the wedding.”

I don’t remember much of what happened after that.

I remember being held down against the sofa cushions. Tears dropping onto the pages of that document. When they finally let me leave, they were still repeating the same command.

Tomorrow. Green gown. No exceptions.

Because his mother and Talia would be wearing red.

The absurdity of it almost made me laugh.

The next day, at the engagement party, I wore the deep red gown I had designed myself.

My parents and the Lombardis were talking in the private room. I stood at the entrance to the ballroom, greeting guests.

Close to noon, Lowell’s family finally made their entrance, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

They were dressed to be seen. Talia clung to Lowell’s arm in a red dress. Lowell wore black. From a distance, they looked like they were staging their own wedding.

Normally at these events, Lowell’s father was deferential to the old-money families. Today, his chin was tilted high, like he was the most important person in the room.

The moment his mother saw my red gown, her face twisted.

“Where are your parents? I’m going to have words with them today. I want to know what kind of family doesn’t teach their daughter basic boundaries.”

The guests here today mattered. I didn’t want a scene at the door.

“My parents are inside. You can go in—”

I didn’t finish. Her red-nailed finger jabbed hard into my right shoulder.

“Tell them to come out and see me.”

I frowned and stepped back.

Lowell moved to my side. His expression was distant, like he had already accepted that the two of us would be standing here receiving guests together.

“Verona DeLuca. You finally got what you wanted. Happy?”

“Don’t forget. You only got my name. You will never have anything else.”

The way he said it. Pure hatred.

Like I had already destroyed the rest of his life.

“Lowell. Your whole family has misunderstood. Today is actually—”

“You’re ignoring me now?”

His mother’s voice went shrill.

She raised her phone. The screen was lit.

On it, a video played. Me. Trapped on their sofa. My face marked with handprints. That document laid out in front of me.

“Everyone, take a look. This is the DeLuca daughter. She’ll agree to anything. Sign anything. Just to marry my son.”

Guests stopped mid-step. Phones came out. People started recording.

Outside, the paparazzi and reporters smelled the blood in the water. They broke through the security line and flooded in.

“Miss DeLuca. Does this video mean your future mother-in-law is already setting pre-marital conditions?”

“Does this agreement mean your assets will be transferred to Lowell’s branch?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. I shouted for the DeLuca security chief. At the same time, I reached for Lowell.

“Tell your mother to shut that off. Now.”

He pulled his arm back. Slowly adjusted his bow tie.

“If this teaches you to respect your elders, a little embarrassment isn’t a bad thing.”

“Lowell. Your family is—”

I grabbed a bottle of sparkling water off the table beside me.

A hand reached from behind and wrapped firmly around my wrist.

I turned.

Shepard Lombardi stood behind me. Sharp, dark suit. His eyes were steady. Calm in a way that made people think twice before speaking.

He was much taller than me. A faint trace of cedar clung to him.

“Lowell.”

His voice wasn’t loud. But the ballroom went very quiet very fast.

“Does your mother’s lawyer know she’s publicly broadcasting a video that documents coercion, assault, and unlawful confinement?”