Chapter 15 - Luca Moretti Cancels His Wedding
The wedding venue stayed empty for almost a year.
Luca had paid a deposit he couldn’t recover.
One afternoon the planner called.
“Would you like to use the date for another event?”
He looked at me.
I shook my head violently.
He smiled.
“Yes.”
“What?”
He covered the phone.
“Relax.”
The old wedding date became a fundraiser for the Isabella Project.
No ceremony.
No bride.
No red silk.
Instead, eighty senior dogs from regional shelters attended an adoption event on the estate lawn.
It became one of the strangest high-society events Chicago had ever seen.
Millionaires in tuxedos.
Dogs in bandanas.
Champagne beside water bowls.
Within four hours, sixty-three dogs were adopted.
Bruno sat beneath a tree like retired royalty.
Luca gave a speech.
He talked about his mother.
About grief.
About believing love meant preserving everything exactly as it was.
Then he looked at me.
“And sometimes,” he said, “someone walks into your life and reminds you that protecting the past means nothing if you refuse to build a better future.”
My face heated.
My mother elbowed me.
“He’s talking about you.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Later, Peter Vale was sentenced.
Victor received a longer sentence after financial crimes, extortion and conspiracy charges were added.
Richard Vale’s reputation collapsed.
North Lake’s holdings were dismantled.
Some property returned through civil settlements.
Moretti Capital recovered.
But Luca changed the company.
Independent oversight.
Whistleblower systems.
Security reforms.
He said betrayal should make systems better, not people more paranoid.
That surprised me.
Power had not made him softer.
Pain had.
Vanessa moved away from Chicago after completing the first part of her sentence and court obligations.
I heard she began volunteering at an animal shelter.
I didn’t know whether that was sincere.
I hoped it was.
Not because I wanted friendship.
Because remorse should lead somewhere useful.
My own life changed too.
The foundation program expanded nationally.
I traveled.
Spoke.
Hired former caregivers.
Built emergency funds.
The woman who once worried about Friday rent began approving grants for people in the same position.
Every time I signed one, I remembered Vanessa’s threat.
Your mother will have to find another way to pay her bills.
Nobody should have that sentence used against them.
So we made sure fewer employers could.
One evening, after the fundraiser ended, I found Luca in the empty dining room.
The same dining room.
Same chandelier.
Different life.
He stood near the chair where Vanessa had sat.
“What are you doing?”
“Remembering.”
I walked beside him.
The table was empty.
“This is where I dropped the bread.”
“I know.”
“You looked terrifying.”
“I was terrified.”
“You?”
“Your back was bleeding.”
“That frightened you?”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“I realized everyone else had accepted your explanation because it was convenient.”
“And you didn’t.”
“I almost did.”
“But you asked.”
He nodded.
“That question changed my life.”
“Turn around?”
“Yes.”
We both smiled.
Then Luca reached into his jacket.
My heart stopped.
He noticed.
“Relax.”
“No.”
He pulled out—
A bread roll.
I stared.
“You are ridiculous.”
He placed it on the table.
“I thought we should correct the historical record.”
“How?”
He pushed the roll toward me.
“You dropped two.”
I burst out laughing.
He laughed too.
Then his expression changed.
He actually reached into his jacket again.
This time he removed a small box.
I stopped laughing.
“Luca.”
He did not kneel.
Not yet.
He simply held it.
“I’m not asking tonight.”
I stared.
“What?”
“I want you to know I’ve thought about it.”
My heart pounded.
“Why show me?”
“Because surprises have not gone well in this house.”
That was painfully reasonable.
He continued.
“If I ask someday, I want you to know it won’t be because you saved Bruno.”
I swallowed.
“Or because of what happened with Vanessa.”
He stepped closer.
“Or because anyone thinks I owe you something.”
My eyes burned.
“It will be because after the worst night of my life, you somehow became part of every good day afterward.”
I couldn’t speak.
He put the box away.
“No pressure.”
“You show me a ring and say no pressure?”
“It’s not efficient.”
I laughed through tears.
“When?”
“When I’m sure you’re ready.”
I touched his face.
“You’re an idiot.”
“That’s not a no.”
“No.”
He froze.
I smiled.
“That’s not a no.”
May you like
And three months later, in the garden with Bruno sleeping nearby and absolutely no cameras present, Luca finally asked.
This time I said yes.
