Chapter 14
Bianca Ferrucci
“Come here, you brat!” I heard my mother’s screams echoing through the house. “Bianca!” she shouted again, even louder, and before I could react, I felt the impact of her hand across my face, knocking me to the floor. “I’m going to kill you!” she screamed as she struck me with slaps and shoves.
“What did I do, Mom?” I asked, my voice trembling as I curled up on the floor, raising my arms to try to protect myself.
“That’s what I want to know!” she shouted, her face red with rage. “What did you do? Did you seduce him? How? With that innocent little face of yours?”
“Enough, Lucia!” my father’s voice rang through the room, cutting through the chaos for a brief moment. He sounded impatient, but not surprised.
“What’s going on here?” Giulia hurried down the stairs, shock written across her face. It was a question I wanted answered too.
My mother ignored my sister, still panting and completely out of control.
“Rosa!” she shouted, turning toward the maid who was watching everything from a distance, terrified. “Bring me a sedative! Not one, two, three! Help me, or I’m going to kill this miserable girl who has brought nothing but disgrace into this house!”
“What’s happening, Mom?” Giulia insisted, her voice louder this time.
My mother spun toward her, her eyes wide with fury.
“The Don chose Bianca, not you!”
The words exploded into the air like a bomb. Giulia’s expression, initially smug, twisted into something between disbelief and outrage. I could almost see the internal war in her eyes: she was angry, but also wounded that she had lost to me. To me. That was intolerable to her.
“What do you mean?” Giulia finally said, pointing at me as if I were some disgusting insect. “Look at her! She looks like a beggar!”
I struggled to my feet, ignoring the pain in my knees and back.
My chest rose and fell rapidly, and I was on the verge of exploding.
I wanted to scream that I hadn’t done anything, that I didn’t want this marriage, that I wanted nothing to do with this life.
But I held the words back because I knew the truth: what could possibly be worse than this?
I pushed my shoulders back and lifted my chin, trying to look stronger than I actually felt.
“If the Don chose me, it wasn’t because of anything I did. I didn’t do anything.”
My mother gasped, hatred twisting her expression. Giulia scoffed but didn’t answer. My father remained silent, as always, looking at anything except me.
The truth was that no matter how hard they tried to crush me, I wouldn’t give them the pleasure of seeing my weakness.
I kept my head high and my gaze steady, even though inside, all I wanted was to run.
For the first time in my life, someone had actually seen me, but reality was crueler than my desire to be strong.
I couldn’t hold on to my composure. My legs gave way, and before I realized it, I ran to my father and dropped to my knees at his feet.
“Please, Dad,” I begged, my voice trembling, nearly choking on the words. “Don’t give me to him.”
He looked at me, but there was no compassion in his eyes. Only exhaustion, as if my plea were an inconvenience he would rather not deal with. His silence was worse than anything he could have said.
“Shut up and accept your reality,” my mother snapped coldly and disdainfully.
“There’s nothing we can do, and nothing will be done.
It’s time to prove your loyalty to this family.
Be an obedient wife, fulfill your role, and for God’s sake, don’t upset your husband or he’ll take your incompetence out on us. ”