Their Cruelest Joke Cost Them Everything Chapter 03

Their Cruelest Joke Cost Them Everything Chapter 03 Their Final Surprise
Celeste’s POV: Alessio came to the estate the following afternoon. He was heir to the Rinaldi family. The Rinaldis controlled several major freight routes on the city’s west side, while my family owned the port, its warehouses, and the casinos. I had once believed we were in love. Now our marriage looked like nothing more than a contract joining two profitable empires. I was changing the dressing on my arm when he entered the sitting room. His gaze passed over the blood seeping through the gauze, but he did not ask whether I was all right. “I did receive an alert when your tracker went offline,” he said. “Bianca told me it was a test between sisters and asked me to stay out of it.” “And that was enough for you to leave me missing all night?” A crease appeared between his brows, as though my tone were the true offense. “Important guests were at the estate. Sending out a search party would have made you look incapable of protecting yourself. I was preserving your reputation.” There it was again. He had done it for me. He had simply never bothered to ask whether I wanted that kind of help. When I said nothing, Alessio reached for my shoulder. “It is over. Our engagement party is in two weeks, so stop fighting with your family. Both families will be there. A scandal would hurt you.” I stepped away before he could touch me. Bianca came hurrying down the stairs and looped both hands around his arm. “Perfect timing, Alessio. I have planned the whole engagement party.” She gave me a smile loaded with private meaning. “I even have one final surprise for Celeste. She will remember that night for the rest of her life.” Father fixed me with a warning stare. “Bianca is doing all this work on your behalf. You should be grateful.” “She will behave this time,” Mother promised. “An engagement is one of the most important milestones in a woman’s life. We would never let her ruin it.” Alessio joined them. “She only wants to make the party memorable. She says you will be the center of everyone’s attention.” That evening, all three of them went shopping with Bianca for party supplies. I returned to the study, opened the computer she had forgotten there, and inserted a drive labeled Celeste’s Precious Memories. Her laughter poured from the speakers as soon as the screen lit. The first video came from my twelfth birthday. My parents took turns coaxing me to finish a misshapen cake. My younger self noticed the strange taste and timidly asked what was in it. Bianca collapsed over the table laughing as she revealed the ingredients: spoiled frosting and pet food. The camera shook when I ran for the bathroom because my parents were laughing too hard to hold the phone steady. In another clip, I woke to find a snake coiled beside my pillow. I fell from the bed in terror while Bianca filmed from the closet. Later, they told me it was harmless and that anger was an unreasonable response to my sister’s joke. There were more: the speech she switched before my first formal address to the family, the blackened shooting glasses that sent me into a fence, and the private diary Bianca read aloud when I was sixteen. The newest footage showed me inside the warehouse days ago. She had cut my pain and terror into a comedy reel, complete with canned applause and exaggerated laughter. The filename read: Ultimate Engagement Surprise. Alessio’s voice appeared near the end. “Do not let the warehouse section run too long. If she walks out in front of everyone, it will spoil the party.” Mother chuckled. “Celeste always puts the family first. Even if she is furious, she will sit through the entire event.” Every one of them knew. Alessio knew Bianca intended to humiliate me publicly. His only concern was how my departure might reflect on the two families. I rushed into the bathroom and retched over the sink until my stomach stopped heaving. Then I went back to the computer, erased everything Bianca had prepared, and loaded my own files in its place. They returned an hour later carrying my gown. Mother offered me the garment bag with an unusually tender smile. “Try it on. Bianca chose it especially for you.” I accepted it, then asked, “Do any of you truly want me to be happy?” Silence held the room for a beat. Father frowned. “What foolish idea is this now? A joke is a joke, but of course we love you.” Alessio came over and slipped an arm around my waist as if nothing had changed. “Once we are married, I will make Bianca rein it in.” He tossed the promise into some distant future, as though marriage would erase everything he allowed in the present. I eased out of his embrace and looked at the four people before me. For the first time in days, I smiled. “Thank you.” “You are my dearest family, so I have prepared a gift for the engagement party too.”