He Married Another So I Accepted My Arranged Husband Chapter 02
The smile on Talia’s face dissolved.
She lowered her head and fumbled for the zipper, her voice already thick with tears.
“I’m sorry, Indigo. The wedding is tonight. It was too late to order a new dress, so I… I borrowed yours.”
“I thought you wouldn’t mind.”
Salvatore caught her hand, stopping her.
“Don’t take it off.”
He turned his gaze on me.
“I’ll buy you another one.”
“Don’t make things difficult for Talia. Not now. She’s the daughter of the Moretti Family boss. In three hours, the heads and advisers from both our Families will be there. She can’t stand before them in some off-the-rack dress.”
That wedding gown was a gift from my mother.
When I told her I was going to marry Salvatore, she hadn’t tried to stop me. She’d simply commissioned a Paris designer to sketch it from my ideas, then hired a seamstress to create it by hand.
The dress itself wasn’t extravagant, but the single strand of South Sea pearls at the neckline was priceless.
After Salvatore postponed our registration for the third, fourth, fifth time, I’d packed the dress away in the back of the walk-in closet and never looked at it again.
I never imagined he would take it out for another woman to wear—to be presented to two Families as his wife.
I swallowed my rage.
“That dress is important to me.”
“Talia, take it off. I’ll give you a new one.”
Salvatore glanced at his watch.
“There’s no time.”
He gripped my shoulder.
“I know this is hard for you. Once I get her through this, I promise, I’ll make it up to you.”
“It’s just a dress. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
I stared at him.
Suddenly I was by the sea at dawn, years ago, at the very beginning. He’d held my hand and said those exact words.
“Indigo, whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
He hadn’t been chosen as the Ferraro Family heir yet, and there weren’t so many people watching his every move. The look in his eyes had been so earnest.
Now, I finally understood.
Those eyes, more than anything, knew how to lie.
There was no future for us.
And I would never again want a man who had already bound himself to another woman in front of witnesses.
“Sal, I don’t want anything else.”
“I just want the one she’s wearing.”
Talia’s hand went back to the zipper.
“If Indigo won’t lend it to me, then I won’t wear it.”
“The wedding doesn’t matter. I can’t be happy if she’s hurting.”
Her fingers pulled, tugging at the delicate fabric.
The next second, the string of pearls at the neckline gave way, scattering across the floor like tiny, fallen moons.
My whole body went rigid.
Talia started apologizing frantically.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to.”
“This dress is just so fragile.”
“I’ll pay for it.”
She sounded hysterical, but there wasn’t a trace of real regret on her face.
Gold thread and hand-sewn pearls don’t just break.
Not unless someone had already sliced the thread with a blade.
I crouched down, picking up the pearls one by one.
“This dress is worth fifty thousand dollars.”
Salvatore draped his suit jacket over Talia’s shoulders.
Then he stripped the gown from her body and threw it in a heap on the floor, nudging the silk skirt aside with the toe of his shoe.
“You don’t have to pay for anything. This isn’t your fault.”
“You’ve known each other for years. It’s just a dress. She’s not really going to make you pay for it.”
“I’m taking Talia to find a replacement. Once you’re done cleaning up, come straight to the hotel.”