Chapter 1 - The Wedding That Wasn't Mine
I GRABBED THE MAFIA BOSS’S ARM IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS SISTER’S WEDDING AND WHISPERED, “PLEASE DON'T LET THE GROOM TAKE ME OUTSIDE”—BECAUSE I'D BEEN MARRIED TO THAT MAN FOR SIXTEEN YEARS.
The first time I touched Adrian Castellano, three men stepped toward me.
One reached inside his jacket.
Adrian raised his hand.
They stopped.
Then the most feared man in Chicago looked down at my trembling fingers wrapped around his black sleeve.
“What's wrong?”
I couldn't answer.
Because across the ballroom, my husband was walking straight toward us.
“Please,” I whispered. “Don't let him take me.”
Adrian was thirty-eight, broad-shouldered, with dark tattoos climbing his neck and covering his hands. He wore a black three-piece suit with an open collar.
His eyes moved from my face to the man approaching.
“Who is he?”
I swallowed.
“The groom.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“My sister's fiancé?”
I nodded.
Then I said the words I'd been too frightened to say for the last twenty minutes.
“His name is Ryan Mitchell. And he's my husband.”
***
My name is Melissa Mitchell.
I'm forty-two years old.
I've been married for sixteen years, and we have a twelve-year-old daughter named Ellie.
I thought we were happy.
Not perfect.
But happy enough.
Ryan worked in construction management. I was a receptionist at a dental office, and on weekends I helped a catering company when we needed extra money.
Ellie needed braces.
Our washing machine had broken.
And Ryan kept telling me things would get easier after his promotion.
That morning, he'd kissed my forehead while I made coffee.
“Don't wait up tonight,” he'd said. “I've got that conference in Milwaukee.”
I'd packed him a turkey sandwich.
He'd told me he loved me.
Six hours later, I was serving champagne at his wedding.
To another woman.
***
“Melissa!”
Ryan's voice cut through the music.
He was wearing a white dinner jacket.
The same man who'd complained last week that we couldn't afford to replace our living room couch had apparently paid for a wedding with three hundred guests.
He stopped when he saw Adrian.
“Mr. Castellano.”
Adrian didn't move.
Ryan gave a nervous laugh.
“I'm terribly sorry. This is an unfortunate misunderstanding.”
My hands started shaking harder.
“Ryan, tell him.”
He glanced at me.
That look.
The one he gave me whenever I said something he didn't want other people to hear.
“Melissa, honey. We discussed this.”
I stared at him.
“Discussed what?”
Ryan sighed.
Then he turned to Adrian.
“She's my former wife. We've been separated for months. She's had a difficult time accepting it.”
I couldn't breathe.
Former wife?
That morning, he'd left his dirty socks beside our bed.
His toothbrush was still next to mine.
There was a note on our refrigerator reminding him to take Ellie to the dentist on Thursday.
“We're not separated,” I whispered.
Ryan smiled sadly.
“See what I mean?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Melissa, are you divorced?”
“No.”
“Are you living together?”
“Yes.”
“When did you last see him?”
I swallowed.
“Seven this morning.”
A murmur moved through the guests.
Ryan's face tightened.
“She's confused about the situation.”
Adrian slowly turned toward him.
“Then explain it.”
“It's complicated.”
“Sixteen years of marriage usually are.”
Ryan glanced toward the ballroom doors.
“Melissa, let's talk somewhere private.”
He reached for my wrist.
I backed away.
Adrian moved immediately, placing himself between us.
“Don't touch her.”
Ryan froze.
“Mr. Castellano, she's embarrassing your family.”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“No. You're embarrassing mine.”
***
I hadn't realized I was crying until Adrian handed me his handkerchief.
He led me to a quiet corner of the dining room, away from the staring guests.
“Sit down.”
“I can't. I need to get home.”
“Why?”
“My daughter.”
His expression softened.
“Where is she?”
“At her friend Sophie's house. I dropped her off before work.”
I wiped my cheeks.
“Ryan told me he wouldn't be home tonight. I thought I was doing the right thing taking an extra shift.”
Adrian pulled out the chair beside me.
“Does your daughter know about this wedding?”
“Of course not.”
He studied me for a moment.
Then asked quietly, “Has your husband ever threatened you?”
I looked down.
Three weeks earlier, I'd confronted Ryan about money missing from our savings account.
He'd told me to stop asking questions.
When I wouldn't, he'd grabbed my shoulders and pushed me against the kitchen counter.
Then he'd apologized.
Bought me flowers.
And said he was under pressure at work.
I'd wanted to believe him.
“He told me twenty minutes ago that if I ruined this wedding, I'd never see Ellie again.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“He said that?”
I nodded.
“He cornered me outside the kitchen. That's why I ran to you.”
Adrian stood.
For a moment, I thought he was leaving.
Instead, he called his security chief.
“Daniel. Find out where that little girl is.”
Then he looked at me.
“Melissa, nobody is taking your daughter away from you tonight.”
Something about his voice made me cry harder.
Not because I trusted him.
I didn't even know him.
But because he was the first person that evening who hadn't asked me to be quiet.
***
A woman in a white satin wedding gown approached our table.
She was beautiful.
Early thirties.
Dark hair pinned beneath a pearl comb.
Adrian stood.
“Isabella.”
His younger sister.
The bride.
She looked at me, then at the handkerchief in my hands.
“Are you Melissa?”
I nodded.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I'm so sorry.”
I stared at her.
“You knew?”
She shook her head.
“Not everything.”
My stomach turned.
“What does that mean?”
Isabella looked toward her brother.
“Adrian, Ryan told me Melissa had abandoned their daughter two years ago.”
I nearly dropped the handkerchief.
“What?”
“He said he'd raised Ellie alone.”
I stood.
“No. I made her breakfast this morning. I braided her hair before school.”
Isabella's face crumpled.
Then she whispered something worse.
“He told me Ellie was coming to live with us after the wedding.”
My knees weakened.
Adrian caught my elbow.
“Sit down, Melissa.”
“No.”
My voice broke.
“No, I need my daughter.”
At that moment, Daniel returned.
He was breathing hard.
“Boss.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“We went to the address Melissa gave us.”
My heart hammered.
“Is Ellie there?”
Daniel hesitated.
“No, ma'am.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What do you mean?”
“The family says her father picked her up two hours ago.”
I grabbed Adrian's arm.
“He told me he was in Milwaukee.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Daniel, get the car.”
Then Isabella spoke.
“Wait.”
Her voice was shaking.
She looked at me.
“Melissa... Ryan insisted on choosing the flower girl himself.”
I stared at her.
And suddenly I remembered something.
That morning, Ellie had asked whether I loved her enough to let her live somewhere else.
I'd laughed because I thought she was talking about a sleepover.
I'd kissed her forehead and told her she'd always have a home with me.
Now I couldn't feel my hands.
“Isabella,” I whispered. “Where's the flower girl?”
She turned toward the ballroom doors.
And at that exact moment, a little girl stepped into the room.
White dress.
Pink shoes.
A blue ribbon I'd tied in her hair myself.
My daughter.
“Ellie?”
She looked up.
“Mom?”
I rushed toward her.
She ran into my arms so hard we nearly fell.
I held her face between my hands.
“Sweetheart, why are you here?”
Her bottom lip trembled.
“Daddy said you weren't supposed to come.”
I went still.
“Why would he say that?”
She glanced toward Ryan, who had appeared in the doorway.
Then she leaned close to my ear.
“Mom, I didn't tell him what I found.”
My heart stopped.
“What did you find, baby?”
Ellie's little hands tightened around my dress.
“Last night, Daddy was on the phone with somebody. He said after the wedding, you wouldn't be allowed to come home.”
I looked up.
Adrian was already walking toward us.
Ryan had stopped smiling.
Then Ellie whispered one more thing.
“Mom, the person Daddy was talking to was a woman.”
I brushed the tears from her cheeks.
“Did you hear her name?”
Ellie nodded.
Then she looked past me.
Straight at Isabella.
And whispered:
“Mom... that's her.”
Isabella's face went white.
Adrian stopped walking.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Isabella began to cry.
And the first thing she said wasn't a denial.
May you like
It was something that made Adrian turn toward his own sister with a look I'd never forget.
“Melissa,” she whispered, “there's a reason Ryan needed you out of that house before midnight...”
