I turned away before he could see the calm that had settled behind my eyes—that absolute, crystalline stillness that came from knowing exactly what would happen next.
That engagement ceremony would not be just a celebration.
It would be a dividing line.
A severance.
From that night forward, everything would be rewritten completely—and the woman they thought they knew would cease to exist, replaced by someone they had never bothered to see.
Before we even reached the tailor's establishment on Via Montenapoleone, Giorgio's hand was already locked firmly at my waist—a gesture of possession, not affection. He leaned in too close, his breath carrying that self-assured confidence he believed to be charming, the cologne of a man who had never been denied anything in his life. I was almost ready to frown, to pull away, but the moment he lowered his head toward my ear, I suddenly smiled.
"You can't catch me."