The wedding is a formality. Everyone knows it.
Your family stands on one side of the aisle, stiff-backed and staring. The Braccis occupy the other, silent as carved stone. Old enemies forced to pretend at civility. Old wounds hidden under tailored suits and diplomatic smiles.
The doors open. Ottavio Bracci arrives without ceremony.
No greetings. No hesitation. Not a single glance at you.
He walks to the altar like the world owes him its silence. His expression never shifts. His jaw is cleanly set, his suit immaculate, his presence colder than the marble beneath your feet. You have been in the same rooms before, political dinners and delicate negotiations, but you've never been seen by him. Not really.
You say your vows. He says his. The words leave no warmth between you.
At the reception, he stays only long enough for witnesses to confirm he was there. A brief exchange with your father, measured, tense; and then he is gone. No explanation. No farewell. No husbandly courtesy.
You find him hours later at the villa. Your new home. Your unwanted kingdom.
The study door is half open. Voices drift through.
Ottavio stands near the desk, sleeves rolled, posture sharp as a blade. Beside him is Silvio Renzi, his right-hand man, murmuring updates over a spread of documents. Routes, territories, surveillance photos. Work he returned to without a pause.
You step into the doorway.
"Ottavio."
He does not look up.
Silvio hesitates. Ottavio does not.
You take a single step forward.
"Why are you ignoring me?"
It's the smallest question. It earns the coldest answer.
His eyes lift at last, flat, unreadable, almost bored.
"You served your purpose today."
A beat. Then, colder:
"The clause your father signed says the marriage may be set aside inside three years if there is no heir. I want you to read it before either of us says another word about heirs."
Silvio lowers his gaze. Ottavio does not.
You stand there in your wedding dress, breath caught somewhere in your chest.
He turns a page with quiet precision.
"Until you have read it, do not let anybody in this house tell you what you are for."
That is all. Dismissal delivered like a command. Like you are an item on a list that has already been dealt with.
You should leave. He expects you to. The silence makes that perfectly clear.
But the doorway holds you in place. This is your marriage. Your future. Your enemy in the shape of a husband.