My Fiancé Sent Me to Marry an Old Don in Her Place—Then Went Mad with Regret

After eight years with Lucien Soranzo, the boy I’d grown up with, I was finally going to marry him. The night before the wedding, I overheard him giving orders to one of his men. “After you pick up Ines tomorrow, skip the church. Drive straight to the Scalabrini estate.” “The Scalabrini family?” Lucien lowered his voice. “Odette’s father’s shipping business collapsed. He owes the Scalabrini family $60 million.” “He signed a debt settlement promising his daughter to their Don. I can’t let Odette spend her life with that ninety-year-old man. Ines will have to take her place.” His man stared at him in disbelief. “You can’t bear to send Odette there, but you’re fine with sending Ines?” “The old Don’s already in a wheelchair. He won’t last more than a few years. He just wants a young wife to keep him company until he dies.” “Once he’s gone, I’ll bring Ines back. So what if she’s been married before? I’ll still marry her.” One of Lucien’s men hesitated, then asked, “Why would Ines ever willingly put on that old man’s ring?” Lucien was silent for a moment. “Tomorrow morning, my mother will put a little sedative in the wine Ines drinks before she leaves. By the time she comes around, she’ll already be in a bedroom at the Scalabrini estate.” “At that point, what could she possibly change?” I listened without making a sound. I didn’t storm in or confront him. I just went back to my room and waited for the next day’s wedding. Later, when Lucien came begging me to take him back, his eyes red, I was already five months pregnant. “Like you said, at this point, what could you possibly change?” ... The next morning, Lucien came to pick me up with his groomsmen and the family’s guards. Odette Vannozzi came, too. The moment she walked in and saw my white wedding dress, her eyes reddened. “Ines, you’re so lucky. You get to marry the man you love.” “I don’t have that kind of luck. My father wants to give me to a ninety-year-old man just to hold on to his territory.” “But luckily...” She dabbed at her eyes and looked at Lucien. “Someone married me in a civil ceremony this morning.” “I have a husband now. My father can’t marry me off again without answering to my husband’s family.” Her deliberately soft voice made me freeze. I’d thought making me marry in her place was the cruelest thing he could do. I hadn’t imagined he’d become her legal husband before coming to pick me up. My friend Dalia had no idea what was happening and leaned close to my ear. “Today’s your wedding to Lucien. What’s she doing here?” “And why is she crying at the sight of your dress? Is she here to celebrate or ruin the wedding?” “It’s okay.” I squeezed Dalia’s hand. This had never been my wedding to Lucien. He’d come dressed as a groom so I’d get into the car without suspecting a thing. Then he could send me off to fulfill another woman’s marriage agreement. Dalia picked up the champagne and called the bridesmaids over to toast with the groom and take a group photo before we left. Lucien frowned. “We can’t hold up the convoy. Where are her shoes? Bring them over first.” One of the groomsmen quickly fetched the gift box containing my wedding shoes from beside the vanity. Lucien took the box, then walked straight to Odette. “Ines, Odette twisted her ankle on the steps just now. Her heel broke, too.” He crouched in front of her and deftly unbuckled the strap around her ankle. “She’s got blisters. She can’t wear stiff leather shoes. Yours are lined with soft lambskin, so let her wear them.” As he spoke, he dug an old pair of canvas shoes out of the storage cabinet by the door and set them at my feet. “They’re just shoes.” He looked up at me, smiling as gently as he used to. “You wouldn’t make her go outside barefoot, would you?” “Lucien, those are the shoes she’s supposed to wear down the aisle today!” Dalia couldn’t stay quiet. “So?” Lucien frowned slightly. “Her dress will cover her feet. Who’s going to see what she’s wearing?” “You know exactly what those shoes—” “Let it go, Dalia.” I held her back. “She can have them.” Odette’s father was an ally of the Soranzo family. He’d run their most profitable shipping routes and made sure the family got its cut. Lucien was the man the Soranzo family had chosen to become its next Don. For the past two years, he’d kept telling me we couldn’t jeopardize the relationship between the families just because my feelings were hurt. The port operations plan I’d prepared was handed to her. The cat I’d raised for years was sent to her house. Even the clothes and jewelry I liked had to be offered to her first. Now even the man who was supposed to be my husband belonged to her. I’d spent eight years with Lucien. In the end, all I got was a deception he’d arranged himself.

Odette put on my wedding shoes and lifted a foot to admire them, unable to hide her smile. “Lucien, even the size is perfect.” She playfully turned her ankle. “Did you know all along that these would look better on me?” Lucien had made those shoes himself. When he was twenty, he’d gone to an old shoemaker’s workshop to learn how to cut leather and stitch shoes. He’d sewn each pearl onto the white satin by hand. He’d pricked his fingers with the needle many times making them. But he’d only hidden his hands behind his back. “Ines, it doesn’t hurt. You’ll wear these when we get married.” “I want you wearing something I made with my own hands from the moment you step into the church.” He’d said, “I’ll make sure you never have to envy anyone else’s wedding.” Back then, Lucien really had been good to me. He couldn’t stand to see me frown. If I looked at something a little longer than usual, he’d bring it to me the next day. But everything had changed after Odette appeared. When I snapped out of the memory, Lucien had already slipped the old canvas shoes onto my feet. The stiff, curled lining scraped my heels. It hurt. A few bridesmaids who had no idea what was happening held up their phones and laughed. “Kiss her! Come on, Lucien, kiss your bride!” With everyone urging him on, Lucien leaned down to kiss me. Just then, Odette suddenly lost her footing and fell into his arms. She grabbed his bow tie and pulled him toward her. Their lips met. The room went silent. Dalia’s expression tightened with anger. “Odette, did you do that on purpose?” “I’m sorry. My ankle hurt so much, I couldn’t stay on my feet...” “With all these people in the room, his bow tie was the only thing you could grab?” “Enough.” Lucien steadied Odette, his expression darkening. “She hurt her ankle. Didn’t you see?” “Besides...” He looked at Dalia, his voice turning colder. “Our lips barely touched. Do you have to make such an ugly scene today?” “You call that barely—” Dalia was about to curse at him. I pressed a hand over hers. Over the past two years, he’d brushed off far too much with the word “just.” Last year, Odette had put her name on the port operations plan I’d spent three months working on. He’d said it was just a name on a document. Six months ago, she’d forced her way into our anniversary dinner. He’d said it was just one more place setting. Last month, she’d ignored my repeated warnings and fed my cat so much chocolate that it died on the table at the emergency clinic. He’d said it was just an accident. Every time, Lucien had told me not to give her a hard time. This time, there really was no point in arguing anymore. In the middle of the standoff, Mrs. Soranzo walked in with a glass of sweet wine. “Ines, I’ve waited so long to see you in a wedding dress.” She held the glass to my lips. “Have a sip, sweetheart. To your wedding day.” I stared at the tiny bubbles around the rim, dazed for a moment. My parents had died when I was twelve, and Mr. and Mrs. Soranzo had become my guardians. For more than a decade, I’d thought of this place as home. Now the two people I trusted most were working together to drug me and send me off to marry an old man. I knew that once I drank the wine, they’d feel safe putting me in the car. I took the glass anyway and swallowed. Someone downstairs knocked on the door. “The convoy’s ready. Time to leave.” Lucien lifted me onto his back and carried me down the stairs, one step at a time.

Lucien had carried me on his back like that when we were children, too. When I was twelve, my parents died in a car accident. I hid in an abandoned garage for three days without eating or drinking. Lucien found me and carried me home on his back when I could barely stand. He held my hand and said earnestly, “Ines, you can live with us from now on. My parents will take care of you. So will I.” “Don’t be scared. I won’t let you be alone again.” His back was still as broad as it had been then. I could feel his warmth through his suit. But the man who’d once bent down for me no longer belonged to me. As soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs, Lucien set me down. “Ines.” He straightened my veil with a smile. “This is as far as I’ll carry you. You can walk the rest of the way, okay?” Dalia immediately frowned. “You carried her downstairs, and the car’s right outside. Why can’t you take her all the way?” “Her feet aren’t injured. What difference do a few steps make?” “Lucien, what the hell is wrong with you today?” Dalia’s voice shook with anger. “Since you walked in, have you done a single thing for her?” “Dalia.” I tugged lightly at her hand. “It’s fine. I can walk.” Lucien wasn’t my groom. What right did he have to escort me to the wedding car? The black wedding car waited outside the yard, roughly 110 yards from the gate. When I reached the end of that walk, our eight years together would be over, too. After I got into the car, Lucien stayed beside the door. “Ines.” He looked at me, something passing through his eyes that I couldn’t read. In the end, he said only, “Take care of yourself.” Dalia impatiently urged him on. “What are you still standing there for? Get in!” Lucien smiled and pointed at the car behind us. “I’ll ride in that one and follow you. Nothing’s going to happen.” Then he shut the door. Dalia looked more troubled by the second. “What is he doing? Why isn’t the groom riding with his bride?” “Because he’s sending me to marry in Odette’s place,” I said quietly. “In her place?” Before I could explain, Dalia noticed the road signs outside. “Wait! Stop the car!” “Aren’t we going to the church in Manhattan? Why are we on the road to Connecticut? Turn around!” “Dalia,” I called to her. “He’s going the right way. I’m going to the Scalabrini estate.” “The Scalabrini family?” I told her, word for word, what I’d heard the night before. Dalia shook with rage. “That bastard! How dare he do this to you?” I stayed calm. “His family raised me for more than ten years. Think of this as the last time I pay back what I owe them.” “What do you owe them?” She gripped my hand, tears streaming down her face. “You saved Lucien’s life. You’ve already paid them back!” “For the past two years, whenever he complained about pain from his surgical scar and lay in bed doing nothing, who stayed up all night taking care of him? You!” “You’ve done so much for him. What gives him the right to send you away?” Dalia was right. If we really had to keep score, I’d paid that debt long ago. But it didn’t matter anymore. My phone vibrated, and a WhatsApp message popped up. It was from Odette. [Ines, this really is the happiest day of my life. Lucien just gave me a wedding present. Isn’t it pretty?] I stared at the emerald-set gold bracelet in the photo, my fingers slowly going cold. It was an heirloom my mother had left me, passed down since my great-grandmother’s generation. I’d been too young when my parents died. Mrs. Soranzo had said she was afraid I’d lose it and put it in her safe for me. She’d promised to put it on my wrist herself when I got married. How could Lucien give it to Odette? “Stop the car!”

“Miss Arduini, I have orders to deliver you to the Scalabrini estate. Until we get there, you stay in this car.” Then I remembered. The driver was one of Lucien’s men. He hadn’t even given me a chance to get out and change my mind. Lucien’s car was right behind us, but with two locked car doors between us, I couldn’t get to him. My hands shook as I called him. “Lucien,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Why did you give my mother’s bracelet to Odette? That’s mine.” “Ines, it’s just a piece of jewelry.” He sighed softly on the other end. “Odette just lost her family’s business. She wanted something to make her happy.” “Let her have it for now. I’ll buy you something better later—” “She wants it, so I have to give it to her?” I cut him off. “My shoes, my mother’s heirloom, my husband. And the marriage agreement she doesn’t want is mine to fulfill?” Lucien went silent. “You know?” After a moment, his voice softened. “Ines, that Don is ninety. He needs help just to stand up.” “He won’t do anything to you. You only have to live there and accompany him to a few family gatherings.” “Odette saved my life. I can’t stand by while her own father uses her to pay off his debts.” Saved his life? “I only married her so her father wouldn’t dare marry her off to someone else.” Lucien went on. “Once the Vannozzi family’s debts are dealt with and the old Don dies, I’ll bring you back. We’ll be just like we used to be.” “Ines, trust me this once.” “I don’t want you to bring me back!” I finally shouted. “I just want my mother’s bracelet! Lucien, give back what she left me—” Before I could finish, he hung up. I sat motionless for a long time, phone in hand, listening to the busy signal. Dalia started crying again, furious. “Who the hell does he think he is? He sends you away and expects you to be grateful that he’s willing to bring you back!” “He’s going to—” “Bang!” A tremendous crash cut her off. A truck ahead of us suddenly overturned, and several cars behind it slammed into one another. Our wedding car was crushed between two vehicles. The door caved in completely. Dalia and I were pinned in our seats, unable to move. The drug in the wine left my arms and legs weak. Even unbuckling my seat belt took enormous effort. The truck ahead caught fire. Heat and thick smoke crept closer to our windows. Lucien jumped out of the car behind us and ran toward me. But then Odette screamed behind him. “Lucien! My head’s bleeding!” “Look at me! Am I going to die?” He stopped short and began to turn back. “Lucien!” I called after him with all the strength I had left, my voice hoarse from the smoke. “If you walk away today, everything we’ve had for more than ten years ends right here!” He hesitated, then turned his back on me anyway. “Ines, Odette isn’t well. I have to get her to the hospital first. The driver will find a way to get you out.” Ten years ago, he’d held my hand in the moonlight and said, “Ines, no matter what happens, I’ll always come for you first.” Ten years later, he said, “I have to get her to the hospital first.” More than ten years spent side by side hadn’t been enough to make him stay and open my car door. Watching him carry Odette away, I suddenly thought: Even marrying an old man would be better than giving myself to Lucien again. ... Odette only had a mild concussion. She stayed in the hospital for observation. Lucien stayed beside her bed all night. The next morning, the old surgical scar on the side of his abdomen began to ache again. Out of habit, he called, “Ines, help me up. My surgical scar’s hurting again.” Only after he’d spoken did he remember Ines was gone. His man told him the Scalabrini family’s people had rescued both girls from the burning wedding car. Ines had been examined and had no serious injuries. She’d been taken to the estate, and the wedding had gone ahead as planned. Lucien suddenly felt hollow. He heard the Scalabrini family would be laying flowers at the family graves that day. Unable to stop worrying, he decided to follow at a distance and check on her. He spotted Ines through a row of low pine trees in the cemetery. She wasn’t crying or making a scene. She stood quietly with the Scalabrini family, handing a bottle of water to the old Don in his wheelchair. Lucien felt awful. Once the old man died, he told himself, he’d bring Ines back. She’d never have to worry about pleasing anyone else again. As he left the cemetery, he overheard two estate employees speaking quietly beside the stone steps. “The Don and Donna were at it all night. I passed through the second-floor hall at shift change and could hear the bed frame banging against the wall, loud and clear. They didn’t stop until almost dawn.” “Those newlyweds really don’t know when to quit.” Lucien froze. Until that late? A ninety-year-old man in a wheelchair could still have sex with her? Still dazed, Lucien saw a young man in a black suit walk past. Lucien couldn’t help looking back. There was something familiar about the man’s face, as if he’d seen him somewhere before. Then he noticed what was on the man’s wrist and stopped short. “Wait!”