Chapter 4
I linked my arm through Luca’s and walked down the aisle Vincent had prepared with his own hands.
No one applauded.
Every eye in the chapel was fixed on us.
The Russo elders, the casino shareholders, Vincent’s brothers, and all the people who had known about Bianca long before I did stared at us in disbelief.
Marco was the first to rise.
“This is a Russo wedding!”
He led several bodyguards into the aisle.
Before they could take another step, the venue security blocked their path.
The wedding manager held up the contract.
“The chapel, reception, flowers, media access, and security were all booked under Ms. Elena’s name.”
“The Russo family did not pay for any of them.”
Marco’s expression changed.
I did not stop.
Ten years ago, these people had looked down on me for having no powerful family behind me.
Yet they had gladly allowed me to find investors for Vincent, settle his debts, and keep his casinos running.
Now, ten years later, they still believed I would stand in my wedding dress and swallow every humiliation they gave me.
I walked past them with Luca beside me.
With every step, I felt as though I were reclaiming another piece of the life I had lost over the past decade.
But when we reached the altar, Luca stopped.
He did not take the place where the groom was supposed to stand.
Instead, he released my arm.
“You only asked me to walk you down the aisle.”
His voice was low enough that only I could hear him.
“Until the officiant reads the name, I won’t make the final decision for you.”
I looked at him.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll change my mind?”
“Yes.”
He admitted it without hesitation.
“But the choice should still be yours.”
Luca stepped away from the altar.
The door to the side chamber opened.
He disappeared inside.
From beginning to end, he had never publicly claimed to be the groom.
Twelve Moretti guards still stood along both sides of the chapel.
But the groom’s place at the altar remained empty.
Whispers quickly spread through the guests.
“Moretti only came to support her?”
“There’s no way he would actually marry Vincent’s woman of ten years.”
“She probably brought him here to force Vincent to come back.”
“The moment Vincent appears, she’ll still marry a Russo.”
I offered no explanation.
The officiant stepped up to the altar and placed a black document envelope in front of him.
Just as he was about to open it, the chapel doors were thrown wide.
“Stop!”
Vincent stormed inside.
His white suit was disheveled, and Bianca’s perfume still clung to his collar.
His expression darkened the moment he saw the Moretti guards lining the chapel.
But when his gaze shifted toward the altar, the tension in his face slowly eased.
Luca was gone.
The groom’s place was empty.
And I was still standing alone at the altar in the wedding dress Vincent had personally chosen.
Vincent thought he had been right all along.
I had never truly intended to marry another man.
I had only used Luca to provoke him and force him to leave Bianca’s side.
Vincent adjusted his cuffs, his familiar arrogance returning.
“I knew you wouldn’t really leave with Moretti.”
I asked calmly, “Why did you come back?”
“To finish the wedding, of course.”
Vincent stepped onto the aisle.
He spoke as though he had not abandoned me there only hours earlier.
“I didn’t sign anything with Bianca.”
“The judge had to leave unexpectedly. We can deal with the Falcone family later.”
I looked at him.
“And if the judge hadn’t left?”
Vincent frowned.
“There’s no point discussing that now.”
“I came back.”
He approached me and reached out to straighten my veil.
I stepped away.
His hand froze in midair.
“Elena.”
A warning entered his voice.
“You’ve taken this far enough.”
“You called Moretti here, replaced the wedding security, and even pressured the banks because you wanted me to choose you.”
“Now you’ve won.”
He held out his hand.
“Come here.”
I did not move.
“Why do you think you’re the groom?”
Vincent glanced at the empty place beside me as though I had asked something ridiculous.
“Who else could it be?”
“If Moretti truly intended to marry you, he wouldn’t have walked away.”
Several guests murmured their agreement.
Vincent’s mother, Sophia, rose as well.
“Since Vincent has returned, stop giving outsiders another reason to laugh at the Russo family.”
Her voice softened, as though she were reasoning with a disobedient child.
“Elena, stand beside him.”
“Continue the ceremony.”
I looked at the woman who had once called me her daughter.
The same woman who now expected me to raise her son’s mistress’s child.
“You all think I did this just to wait for him to come back?”
Sophia avoided my eyes.
Vincent strode directly toward the altar.
He took the empty groom’s position and motioned toward the officiant.
“Continue.”
The officiant did not open the vow book.
Instead, he looked at me.
“Ms. Caruso, are you certain you want me to read this publicly?”
Vincent whipped his head toward him.
“What did you call her?”
The entire chapel fell silent.
I raised my hands and slowly removed my veil.
“Continue.”
The officiant opened the black envelope.
“According to the legal documents submitted and officially recorded this morning, the bride’s full name is—”
“Elena Caruso.”
A wave of shocked gasps swept through the guests.
Vincent stood beside me, the smile vanishing from his face.
“Caruso?”
He stared at me.
“The Caruso heiress disappeared ten years ago.”
“She didn’t disappear.”
I looked directly at him.
“She was simply foolish enough to abandon her name and help a penniless man build an empire.”
Vincent shook his head.
“No.”
“You’re Elena Vale.”
“Vale was my mother’s surname.”
I spoke each word clearly.
“Caruso is the name I was born with.”
His phone suddenly rang.
The panicked voice of the casino’s finance director came through the receiver.
“Don, the Russo Group’s largest credit guarantee has just been terminated.”
“All three casino acquisitions have been frozen.”
“The bank is demanding that we provide two hundred million dollars within seventy-two hours, or they will begin accelerated debt collection.”
Vincent turned toward me sharply.
“You did this?”
“Seven years ago, when you bought your first casino, an anonymous fund provided the initial capital.”
“Five years ago, when your gaming license came under investigation, Caruso lawyers resolved the case.”
“Two years ago, when you beat Moretti for the port contract, I was the one who lowered my family’s internal bid.”
I watched the color drain from his face.
“You believed you survived every crisis because you were powerful enough.”
“The truth is, I was always standing behind you.”
Vincent’s breathing grew heavier.
But after the first wave of shock passed, he grabbed my wrist again.
“You terminated the guarantees to force me to come back?”
“Now I’m here.”
“Restore the loans, and we’ll finish the wedding.”
Even now, he still believed I could never truly leave him.
My identity, my money, and everything I had arranged were nothing more than the desperate actions of a neglected woman fighting for his attention.
I pulled my hand free.
“Vincent, aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
I glanced at the place where he stood.
“The officiant hasn’t read the groom’s name yet.”
Vincent froze.
Then he laughed.
“Does it really need to be read?”
He turned toward the guests and straightened his suit.
“Everyone in Las Vegas knows Elena is my woman.”
“Of course today’s groom is—”
The officiant interrupted him.
“At nine-oh-seven this morning, Elena Caruso voluntarily entered into a legally registered marriage.”
Vincent’s smile slowly disappeared.
The officiant turned to the final page.
“The name listed in the husband’s section is—”
The chapel was utterly silent.
Vincent still stood in the groom’s place.
Everyone appeared to believe his name would be the one announced next.
The officiant raised his eyes.
“Luca Moretti.”