Amidst the Rain in New York

At the Colonetti family banquet in New York, I stood in the center of the grand hall with more than a dozen girls from different families, all of us waiting to be chosen.

Victor, the heir of the Colonetti family, was supposed to announce his fiancée tonight. Along with that announcement, he would present her with the family heirloom, a lily brooch. As an illegitimate daughter of the family, I understood that if I didn’t receive that brooch tonight, it meant I would be sent to Chicago for an arranged marriage.

Victor, who had once promised to marry me, changed his mind without warning. With a smile, he pinned the lily brooch onto the chest of the woman standing beside me instead.

Then, he leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Let your sister Emily have her moment today. She’s also an illegitimate daughter like you, and she’s also never been valued growing up. Don’t worry. With me here, no one will force you into an arranged marriage.”

Even as I looked at him with pleading eyes, he reached out and let Emily take his arm.

“Emily is kind and gracious,” he said. “She deserves the lily brooch.”

Those words—kind and gracious—turned me into the joke of the entire evening.

The next day, I boarded a flight to Chicago alone, but Victor panicked. He used every connection he had and managed to ground every flight heading to Chicago.

At that moment, Emily’s hand was lightly hooked around Victor Colonnetti’s arm. Under the crystal chandelier, the two of them looked like a perfectly matched couple stepping out of a painting.

Something inside me ripped apart, but I could only force myself to stay composed. Yet, Victor didn’t seem to notice my struggle at all. By the time the guests began to leave, I understood that I would not escape the fate of being sent into an arranged marriage.

When Victor noticed me standing alone in a corner with a wine glass in my hand, he walked over.

“Why are you hiding here? Are you angry just because I didn’t give you the brooch?”

I looked at the man I had grown up with and let out a long, tired breath.

“Do you even understand what tonight means for me?”

Everyone knew that tonight, Victor Colonnetti, heir of the Colonnetti family, would announce his fiancée at this banquet. The Don had only invited me so I would finally give up and leave for Chicago for the marriage arrangement.

I had also promised Victor that as long as he gave me five years, he could love whoever he wanted and marry whoever he chose after that. Just yesterday, he had sworn he would protect me, but tonight, at the most critical moment, he chose someone else instead. Ten years of trust and relationship between us had shattered, just like that.

A trace of guilt flashed across Victor’s face. He waved lightly, signaling Emily to step away first.

“Lena, Emily is also an illegitimate