"But she's going to be your wife soon," Rowan said firmly, leaning forward as he watched his son with scrutiny. He was seated on the couch opposite Matteo, who reclined with casual disinterest, his expression unreadable. "It's been years since you saw each other. I'm sure there's a lot of catching up to do."
Matteo didn't answer right away. His fingers tapped against the armrest slowly, rhythmically, like a countdown. His jaw tightened as a flash of memory forced its way into his thoughts—Rosalie's face, younger, softer, untouched by pain. But that image quickly dissolved into a bitter, distorted version of what she had become in his imagination: the woman he'd been forced to consider marrying.
His fist clenched.
Rowan kept pushing. "You were the one who told me you didn't like Sienna. She would've been the perfect wife, and you scared her away. If you hadn't been so volatile, this wouldn't even be necessary. But we're lucky Rosalie's marriage ended the way it did."
Matteo scoffed. "Lucky," he echoed under his breath.
"Don't play dumb," Rowan snapped, the irritation in his voice rising. "Nolan told me everything. William and Rosalie finalized the divorce just days ago. We don't have time to let her sit around wallowing. This arrangement still holds weight for both our families. You know the consequences if it falls apart."
Matteo's eyes flicked toward the untouched glass of whisky beside him. He picked it up slowly, his fingers curling around the crystal. He took a sip, letting the liquor burn its way down his throat, grounding him.
He set the glass down with finality. "Fine," he said, his voice flat and cold. "I'll meet her."
Rowan narrowed his eyes. That had been too easy. His son didn't do anything without reason—unless he was about to do something reckless. He said nothing, but Matteo's silence echoed louder than words.
**
Rosalie stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her once-toned arms were softer now, and her face looked tired, dulled by stress and neglect. She gently pressed her fingers into the skin of her stomach. Years ago, she'd been effortlessly graceful—perfectly proportioned for her 5'7" frame. But three years of caring for a man who never truly loved her had taken its toll.
She remembered the day she found out she was pregnant. William had kissed her belly every morning, showering her with promises. Promises that died long before their marriage did.
Rosalie decided to go online and get a skincare product when she realized she'd been tagged multiple times on a post.
It was the engagement party of William and Stephanie—they'd gone public with their relationship.
Rosalie hadn't expected it to happen this soon. Even though she despised herself for thinking such a thing, she had assumed they would wait at least six months before making things official. But it had only been two days—barely a week—and William had already moved on as if their marriage had meant nothing.
She should have known better.
Rosalie sighed, but instead of closing the app, she scrolled through the comments to see what people were saying.
'William and Stephanie are engaged?! What happened to Rosalie? Wasn't she his wife?'
'Wait… Did they get divorced? When did this happen?'
'Even if they did divorce, Stephanie was Rosalie's best friend! Who does that? She doesn't know the girl code.'
Thousands of likes flooded the comments, agreeing to it and a slow smirk curled Rosalie's lips.
At least the public wasn't completely blind.
Her fingers kept scrolling. Another comment caught her attention.
'I miss Rosalie. I miss seeing her on the runway and in TV series.'
She took a deep breath before exhaling.
"I'll be back," she muttered under her breath.
She could return to the industry whenever she wanted. Her name alone still carried weight, and she had enough connections to land a role immediately. But she needed to do this right.
She had spent three years with a man who wasn't worth a second of her time—two of those years wasted on taking care of him, while she neglected herself completely. And now with the issue of getting married to Matteo.
Nolan hadn't spoken to her, asking if she agreed or not, which only meant her answer didn't matter.
There was suddenly a knock on her door.
"Dear, there's someone here to see you." That voice belonged to their butler.
"Who?" She asked, curious.
"It's Matteo."
Rosalie's heart instantly leaped out of her chest. She forced her saliva down her throat before stepping out of the bed.
She opened the door, and the face of the butler lit up with hope as if he'd thought she wouldn't open the door in the first place.
"Where's he?" She asked through gnashed teeth.
Rosalie was at the Vancourt garden. After arriving, she hadn't remembered to receive some fresh air and had been cooped up in her room all day, just so she could avoid Sienna and her father.
She found Matteo standing under the sun, his back facing her so she couldn't see his face. He was taller than the last time she'd seen him.
Although their family had been rivals in the past, the Vancourt and the Valtieri children still played together sometimes, but Matteo had been a bully, a delinquent, and unexpectedly, a murderer.
Taunting her was something he found amusing until when he'd killed her boyfriend back in high school for a reason he still didn't want to explain, and she despised him ever since. He'd simply done it because he could. That was how heartless he was. And he didn't serve any single punishment for it because his father had managed to pay off the officers.
As if feeling her presence, Matteo turned to her. Their eyes met, and everything seemed to stop.
Rosalie narrowed her eyes at him, waiting for him to explain his presence in her family's mansion but Matteo simply stared at her.
"It turns out marriage isn't your thing," Matteo drawled, his voice laced with mockery as his gaze swept over her with calculated slowness. "Look at you. You look like you just crawled out of a survival show… barely."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" She huffed.
Matteo sized her up silently from head to toe. "You look unkempt. Why? William Sinclair wasn't rich enough to cater to your needs? Was that why you left him and came here?"
Rosalie concluded Matteo knew about her fallen marriage but had no idea what actually caused it. Although she was angry at her father, she appreciated the fact he didn't share something so sensitive with someone like Matteo. Instead of defending herself, she simply ignored his comments and tore her gaze from him.
Subtly biting her lips which led Matteo's eyes to immediately fall on them, she asked, "Did you come here to taunt me, to make my situation more difficult than it already is or do you have something better to say?"