You Kept the Don’s Daughter Waiting and Now She’s Someone Else’s Chapter 04

You Kept the Don’s Daughter Waiting and Now She’s Someone Else’s Chapter 04

I knew what he was about to do. To cancel the whole thing.

I grabbed his arm. “Dad.”

He turned back to me. The iron Don of the Conti family now was looking at me in red eyes.

“Nina…”

I kept my voice soft. “It’s okay. 12:30. No matter what, I’ll be in the car heading to the church.”

Luca heard that and must have thought I’d defy my own father just to marry him. A flicker of smugness crossed his eyes.

“Nina, Coral won’t even be ready by then. How are we supposed to go down and get in the car? “Are you really going to turn our wedding into a tantrum? What, are you planning to walk to the church by yourself?”

“Didn’t your family say the Conti Principessa has to be picked up by the groom? If you show up alone, can your parents really afford that kind of embarrassment?”

He threw those words out like they were facts, and they stung like needles.

Because he knew. He knew I loved him.

He knew my family cared about face.

So naturally, he thought that no matter how much he favored Coral, I’d take it.

I looked him straight in the eye. “Luca. You’re right. I was reluctant to let go.”

Luca let out a breath, the corner of his mouth almost lifting into a smile.

Then I kept going. “But that was before. Not now.”

His smile froze. “Nina, that’s enough!”

I didn’t answer him. I just looked down at my phone.

The chat screen was still on that single word.

[Okay.]

Would that guy actually come?

12:26. The butler practically ran up the stairs.

“Principessa! Mr. Russo! We really can’t wait any longer!”

“We must depart at 12:30. The photographers, the convoy, the fireworks are all set downstairs.”

“If we’re any later, the whole timeline falls apart!”

Our family didn’t just have the departure time. There was a whole chain of rituals that had to hit their marks.

Every relative in the room turned to look at Luca.

My uncle, the Underboss, finally spoke, his voice hard. “Luca, if you still want to marry Nina, depart with her. Now.”

My aunt chimed in, frantic. “Exactly. If Coral won’t come with us to the church, let her stay here and fix her makeup all she wants. The two of you need to go.”

Coral’s face twisted. “What are you saying? I’m the maid of honor. If I don’t go, how does the procession even work?”

My cousin let out a cold laugh. “Without a bridesmaid, the wedding can still carry on. Missing the hour, that’s a slap to the Conti family. Showing up late and making every guest laugh at us, that’s what’s embarrassing.”

Coral went pale. She looked at Luca. “Luca…”

He stepped in front of her at once. “Enough! You don’t have to gang up on her like this.”

My father locked his eyes on Luca. “Luca. I’m asking you one last time. Are you leaving now or not?”

Luca didn’t answer right away.

He glanced at Coral. Then at me.

“Wait for Coral to finish,” he said.

Everyone in the room froze. My mother’s tears finally spilled over.

But I was calm.

The clock hand hit 12:27.

I pinned the bride’s corsage onto my dress. Then I picked up the groom’s.

Luca’s pupils contracted. “Nina, what are you doing?”

I looked at the clock on the wall. “I told you. I’m not missing the hour. So I’m heading downstairs.”

Luca’s face dropped. He reached for my arm. “Nina, don’t joke around! If I don’t go, who’s going to take you to the church? Isn’t that your family’s rule too? The groom has to come fetch the bride himself?”

I stepped back. “I don’t need you to fetch me.”