My Fiancé Swapped Places With His Twin At The Altar Chapter 02
When dinner service began, I slipped out onto the second-floor terrace.
The night wind carried the scent of roses from the garden and the faint, bubbly aroma of champagne from the party below.
Then I heard arguing downstairs.
It was Alessio’s voice.
“The party’s almost over. How much longer are you going to keep this act up?”
Matteo laughed, a lazy, unconcerned sound.
“What’s your hurry?”
“Ashley’s been emotional the last few days. If I switch back now, it’ll just upset her more.”
Alessio was silent for a moment.
“What about Bianca?”
Matteo laughed again.
“She’s too controlling.”
“She asks where I’m going, who I’m texting. She even checks my phone.”
“I’m getting tired of it.”
But in the beginning, he said he liked that about me.
The year he had that terrible racing accident, I didn’t leave the hospital for three days.
When he finally woke up, I cried and scolded him at the same time, telling him he could never scare me like that again, that he was never to leave my sight.
Back then, his face pale from the crash, he’d squeezed my hand and said, “Bianca, I love that you care enough to keep tabs on me. You’d better keep a close eye on me, or I might just slip away.”
When someone stops loving you, the very things they once adored become flaws.
Alessio’s voice turned colder.
“So you’re just going to keep dragging this out?”
Matteo sighed. “Once Ashley’s feeling better, I’ll switch back.”
“I’ll make it up to Bianca then.”
“For now, you just cover for me.”
Make it up to me.
I stood perfectly still, the blood turning to ice in my veins.
By the time I returned to the ballroom, the music had started.
The lights spun overhead.
I had barely found my footing when someone shoved me from behind.
I stumbled, and a second later, Matteo caught me, his hand gripping my waist hard in a pure reflex.
I looked up.
He was staring down at me, and for a split second, I saw panic in his eyes.
But the instant Ashley cried out, he snapped back to reality.
“Bianca, what exactly are you trying to do?”
“Wasn’t staring at my husband enough? Now you have to throw yourself into his arms? Have you no shame?”
The room fell silent.
Matteo’s hand stiffened on my waist.
I didn’t pull away. Instead, I leaned in, catching the scent on his collar.
“I know this cologne.”
It was the one he was wearing when he held me and asked me to choose his signature scent.
He’d said that from then on, whenever he smelled it, he’d think of me.
But now, it was as if I’d struck a nerve. His face darkened.
“Bianca, what the hell are you talking about?”
He glared at me, his voice frigid. “Have you no self-respect?”
The words had barely left his mouth before he shoved me away from him.
My back slammed into the champagne tower.
Glass shattered across the floor, and alcohol drenched me from head to toe.
I fell into the shards, my palms landing in the broken glass. Pain shot through my hands.
Blood mingled with champagne on my skin. The pain was so sharp my vision swam.
Matteo took a step toward me, but Ashley screamed. He stopped, turning to pull her into his arms instead.
He looked at me, his voice like ice.
“You brought this on yourself.”
My parents stood in the crowd, their faces etched with disappointment.
My brother’s voice was a low growl. “Bianca, do you always have to be the center of attention?”
Isabella was so furious her face had gone white.
She turned on Alessio. “Why aren’t you controlling your wife? You’re useless. You can’t even stop her from throwing herself at your brother.”
Alessio said nothing.
He moved through the crowd, crouched in front of me, and draped his jacket over my soaked shoulders.