CHAPTER CVI
~~~
SAIGE SCOWLED IN displeasure at the sight of the wedding band still on Sophia’s ring finger as she took a spoon of her breakfast to her lips.
The dining room was silent as everyone had their meal. There was a pin drop silence, and she internally let out a scoff. Too bad the sound reached everyone’s ears because she made it out loud.
When everyone’s attention whipped towards her, Saige dropped her spoon on her plate and plastered a fake smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to -”
Lucas cut her off with a loud snort and continued eating. Everyone returned their attention back to their food as well. Valerie passed her a small smile and resumed eating too.
Saige’s eyes narrowed on the band on Sophia’s finger, and she looked up, only to find Sophia staring back at her. It had been a week since the incident in the kitchen but Saige still couldn’t take her mind off the ring.
Sophia shifted in her seat and hid her hand under the table.
Saige gave her a sly smile and turned to Chase. “Don,”
Irritated at her behaviour, Chase dropped his spoon in his plate harshly and snapped his head at her, obvious irritation contorting his features. “What?”
Lucas snickered. Luciano barely passed them a glance. Valerie pursed her lips into a thin line. Sophia’s heart skipped a bit.
“I was wondering something,” Saige averted her gaze to Sophia before continuing. “I was wondering why she has a wedding band on her ring finger,”
Luciano and Valerie stopped eating. There was a frown on both of their faces.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Lucas glared at Saige.
Sophia’s heartbeat skyrocketed, and she swallowed. “What- what are you -”
“Do you want to deny the fact that you have a wedding band on your ring finger, Sophia?” Saige asked, raising a brow at her. “Show us your left hand, then,”
“I- I-,” Sophia looked at Chase, who was staring back at her, his eyes daring her. Daring her to do what? She didn’t know. She couldn’t read him.
“What is she saying, freckles?” Lucas placed his hand on Sophia’s shoulder, and she looked at him. “Let me see your left hand?” His eyes fell on her hand under the table. “Why is it under the table?”
Saige replied. “Her hand is under the table because there’s a ring on one of her fingers. I just don’t understand who she got married to,” She looked at Sophia in the eye. “Tell us who the man is, Soph. Who did you -”
Chase’s voice sliced through the air, cutting Saige’s drama off. “We’re married,” When silence met his words, he continued. “Sophia and I are married. I’m the man whose ring she has on her finger,” He held Saige’s eyes with his as he stood up, towering above them all. “Do you want to know anything else, Saige?”
Sophia panicked. “You-,”
Immediately, Saige stood up, and a shriek left her lips. “You can’t be married to her. I’m your wife!”
Chase slid both of his hands in his pockets. “She is also my wife,”
“That’s illegal!” She tried to reason with him.
“Do I look like a man who adheres to the law?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Saige walked closer to him and stood directly in front of him. “What matters is that your marriage with her is illegal. I am your legal wife,”
He lifted a brow. “Are you sure you don’t want to know the truth so you can rephrase your words?”
Saige said nothing. She stared at him with parted lips, her heart constricting with pain. She didn’t want to know the real truth.
She could be the illegal wife.
Saige pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and blinked back her tears. “I- Excuse me,” She went out of the dining room.
Sophia stood up from her seat and swallowed. “Excuse me,”
She scurried out of there, not forgetting the look she had seen in Luciano’s eyes before she left. The look he had in his eyes stood out from the one others had.
The look in his eyes made her heart drop in her stomach. It made her feel like she had been wrong for marrying the man she loved. It made her almost regret agreeing to marry Chase. Almost.
~~~
Luciano stared at the photograph of the innocent girl in his hands and his fists clenched beside him. She was smiling in the picture. Smiling at something Chase had said to her.
Her smile was just as pretty as she was. Her smile used to brighten up his day every time he saw it and his chest tightened with pain at the reminder that he couldn’t have her. He couldn’t love her romantically because she was the little sister he thought was dead.
That meant his love from afar was useless. Pointless.
“We’re married,”
“Sophia and I are married. I’m the man whose ring she has on her finger,”
He let his head drop back and he swallowed the huge lump that had formed at the back of his throat as he shut his eyes off.
His baby sister was in love.
She was hopelessly in love with someone who couldn’t feel the same about her.This content © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
“It’s fucking risky. I can’t meet up with you,”
Luciano’s eyes snapped open and he looked down the balcony towards where the voice came from. He found the owner of the voice dressed in the same black dress she was wearing earlier in the morning as she stood in the garden, oblivious to the eyes watching her from the second floor balcony.