Chapter 1 - THE GIRL THEY WANTED GONE
Celina ripped Ellie’s family project from her tiny hands and crushed the paper portrait beneath her designer heel.
“After the wedding, you’re going to an orphanage.”
Six-year-old Ellie stared at the torn picture of herself, her late mother, and her father.
Then she ran sobbing to Luciano.
“Daddy… when do I have to leave?”
Luciano froze.
He had spent months preparing for his wedding to Celina, believing she would become the mother Ellie desperately needed. He never imagined his daughter was counting down the days until she would be thrown out of her own home.
Before he could answer, his aunt Marianne stormed into the sitting room.
Behind her, two estate workers carried boxes filled with Ellie’s clothes, stuffed animals, and toys.
“Luciano,” Marianne said, her voice shaking with fury, “your fiancée has already emptied your daughter’s bedroom.”
Celina folded her arms.
“I was organizing the room. The nursery will be converted into a private dressing suite after the wedding.”
“She is six years old!” Marianne snapped.
“And this is my future home, too.”
Luciano slowly turned toward Celina.
“My daughter has lived here her entire life.”
Celina lifted her chin.
“And she needs to learn that things change.”
Ellie clung to her father’s leg.
“Daddy, I can sleep in the hallway. I promise I won't make any noise.”
Something inside Luciano broke.
He knelt and gathered her into his arms.
“You will never have to beg for a place in your own home.”
Celina rolled her eyes.
“Please don't turn this into another emotional performance.”
Marianne opened one of the boxes.
Inside were Ellie’s pajamas, her favorite teddy bear, and a thick envelope tucked beneath a folded blanket.
She pulled it out.
Her expression changed immediately.
“Luciano, look at this.”
The envelope contained an enrollment packet for a private residential facility hundreds of miles away. The departure date was the morning after the wedding.
Attached was an authorization bearing Luciano’s signature.
He stared at it.
“I never signed this.”
Celina's face tightened.
Marianne whispered, “Then someone forged your name.”
Luciano looked at the woman he had planned to marry in four days.
May you like
For the first time, he wondered whether Celina had ever loved him—or whether she had simply been waiting for the opportunity to take his daughter out of the way.
What else had she arranged while he was busy planning their wedding?
