Chapter 5
When the name Luca Moretti rang through the chapel, the entire room fell silent.
Vincent was still standing in the groom’s place.
But the legal document in the officiant’s hands had already told everyone the truth.
Vincent was not the groom.
The side chamber door slowly opened.
Luca stepped out in a black groom’s suit.
He wore no crest representing the power of the Moretti family.
The only decoration on his chest was a platinum pin I had designed myself.
He crossed the side of the altar and stopped in front of me.
From beginning to end, he did not look at Vincent once.
“You called my name,” he said.
“So I came.”
Vincent finally reacted.
He snatched the document from the officiant’s hands.
The official seal, signatures, and registration number were all clearly visible.
Bride: Elena Caruso.
Husband: Luca Moretti.
Registration time: 9:07 a.m.
Vincent examined it again and again, as though he might find proof that it had been forged.
“No.”
“You only saw each other this morning. How could you already be married?”
Luca accepted another original copy from the lawyer.
“The marriage license, prenuptial agreement, and civil ceremony have all been completed.”
“A retired judge, two lawyers, and three witnesses can confirm it.”
Vincent turned toward me.
“You left this morning to marry him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you come back wearing the wedding dress?”
An absurd glimmer of hope returned to his eyes.
“You still wanted to marry me, didn’t you?”
“You only used the registration to force me to choose you.”
“If you annul it now, we can still start over.”
The chapel doors were thrown open again.
Bianca rushed inside wearing a white dress.
She was still holding the unsigned marriage documents.
“Vincent!”
“Didn’t you say you were coming back to cancel the wedding?”
Vincent turned toward her.
“Didn’t you say the judge was waiting for us?”
They finally realized that neither of them had obtained what they wanted.
Bianca had not received the marriage certificate.
Vincent had not received the wedding.
I looked at the unsigned documents in her hand.
“You didn’t get the wedding.”
“And you didn’t get the marriage certificate either.”
Bianca’s face twisted with rage.
She rushed toward me and tried to tear off my veil.
The Moretti guards immediately blocked her.
But Vincent continued staring at me.
“Elena, I didn’t marry her.”
“You got what you wanted.”
He pointed at Bianca.
“I can make her leave Las Vegas.”
“I can also cancel the alliance with the Falcone family.”
“Now come home with me.”
I looked at the man I had spent ten years beside.
Even now, he still thought everything I had done was about defeating another woman.
“I never wanted to beat her.”
Vincent froze.
“Then what do you want?”
“To leave you.”
His face changed completely.
“You can’t marry Moretti.”
“This is the wedding I prepared.”
“The flowers, the guests, and this chapel all belong to the Russo family!”
The wedding manager stepped forward and showed the contracts to the commission elders.
“The venue, flowers, reception, media, and security were all paid for by Elena Caruso.”
“The Russo family did not pay for any of it.”
Vincent looked as though someone had slapped him in front of the entire room.
I linked my arm through Luca’s.
“Bianca can have the man.”
“I paid for the wedding.”
“So I have every right to choose the groom.”
Luca took out a black diamond ring.
He did not immediately slide it onto my finger.
Instead, he asked again, “May I?”
Everyone in the chapel waited for my answer.
Vincent stared at me as well.
He was probably still waiting for me to soften.
Waiting for me to return to him, just as I had for the past ten years, because of a single glance or a half-hearted apology.
I held out my hand.
“Yes.”
The ring slowly passed over my knuckle.
Vincent finally lost control.
“She is my woman!”
He lunged toward the altar, but the guards restrained him.
“Elena, you loved me for ten years!”
“You can’t fall in love with him in a single day!”
I turned to face him.
“The love I felt in the past only proves that I once loved you.”
“It does not prove that you can own me forever.”
The officiant opened the vow book again.
“Mr. Luca Moretti, are you willing to turn the civil marriage completed this morning into a public commitment witnessed by all the families present?”
“Yes.”
He answered without the slightest hesitation.
The officiant looked at me.
“Ms. Elena Caruso, are you willing?”
“Yes.”
When it was time for the kiss, Luca still stopped in front of me.
Even though everyone already knew I was legally his wife, he still did not touch me without permission.
“You can refuse,” he said.
I reached up, hooked a finger around his tie, and pulled him toward me.
“Kiss me.”
Luca wrapped an arm around my waist and lowered his lips to mine.
Gasps echoed throughout the chapel.
Vincent’s furious shouts were locked outside the doors.
By that evening, the wedding video had spread across Las Vegas.
Everyone saw Vincent Russo walk to the altar in a white groom’s suit—
only to hear the officiant announce that he was not the groom.
That same night, the Russo Group received its first formal demand for repayment.