Luciano's Obsession

the outside, suffocating on the inside. The room Luciano gave me was something out of a luxury magazine: ivory walls with gold t

d out of my room. The maids tried, Luciano tried. Even Mia, his sister, knocked on my door a few times. B

gave in, eating a bowl of warm soup in silence while a maid watched with

ost expensive perfumes. He gave me the illusion of choice in everything except the one thing that mattered most-freed

me of who I used to be. She said my father had tried to visit too, that he looked like a ghost of himself but I refused to see him. He did this to me, h

le. She didn't try to pretend like this was okay. She just sat with me, talked to me about everything except the wedding, and di

e I was-on m

eamed perfection. But it didn't feel like it was mine, it felt like a costume for a play I never auditioned for. My hair was swept up in

y dressed in a soft pink gown. H

autiful," sh

," I replied, m

ly. I clung to her, my fingers di

" she said softly. "Just sur

made it hard to breathe. Laura pulle

ady?" s

I said

ance, sat under white canopies and chandeliers suspended from trees. It was surreal-so beautiful it hu

in wrapped in silk. His expression was unreadable, his jaw tense. I wondered i

arted. My he

o give me away. I had no family to cry tears of joy. T

to look away, but I couldn't. He had this magnetic

I hesitated-just for a heartbeat-then pla

ere traditional. The priest smiled

take Aria Moretti to be y

d

dent. As if this was all goi

ake Luciano De Rossi to be y

le

used. My thr

nodded.

rupted a

my finger, a diamond so l

ssessive, he didn't linger. He had a huge sm

and, I forced my face into a neutral mask. Inside, I

as no more, Mrs. De Ro