I Was the Villainess, But I Tore Up the Script

The ninth time Raphael Bellandi postponed our wedding for his adopted sister, Cosima, I finally understood. I was the villainess in a mafia novel. The first time, Raphael's mother claimed she'd suddenly come down with the flu. Cosima was delicate and might catch it at the wedding. Canceled. The second time, Raphael's best friend claimed he'd been in a car accident and couldn't carry Cosima on his back during the bouquet toss. Canceled. The third time, the fourth time... A different person, a different excuse. The ninth time, the one making excuses for Raphael was my best friend, Sofia, of all people. She said a blizzard had grounded her flight, so the new designer bag she was bringing Cosima wouldn't arrive in time. Apparently, we had to postpone the wedding again. Cosima Bellandi is the heroine of this book. She's also Raphael's adopted sister, the woman he loves but can never have. Everyone wants them together. They've ruined my wedding again and again to make it happen. In the original plot, I ignore my family's objections, chase Raphael like a lovesick fool, and use my power as a mafia princess to force him to marry me at once. Then, on our wedding day, he leaves me at the church and flies to New York to give Cosima a seashell necklace he made himself. I pull my Browning on him, only to fall into his trap and get shot dead. The book calls that their "happily ever after." The grass over my grave grows ten feet tall, and no one ever visits. This time, he brushed it off as if it meant nothing. "We'll just pick another date." My stomach turned. I didn't beg or scream. I calmly tore up the wedding invitation he'd handed me, one strip at a time. "Raphael, the wedding's off. We're done." Raphael frowned. "Vera, throwing a tantrum won't get you anywhere. Where would you even go without me?" Instead of answering, I called a number I hadn't dialed in years. Someone picked up after one ring. "Dad, I'm ready to come home. "And while you're at it, pull every resource we've used to prop up the Bellandi family." Chapter 1 I'd put up with nine absurd wedding delays. The first time, it was Raphael's mother and her "sudden flu." She called to apologize in a weak voice. "Vera, I've suddenly come down with the flu, and the doctor says it's very contagious. We have to cancel the wedding!" The second time, Raphael's best friend had an "accident" on his way over. "Sorry, Vera. If I miss my chance to carry Cosima on my back during the bouquet toss at my best friend's wedding, I'll regret it forever. We go way back, so please wait a little longer, okay?" The third time, the fourth time... all the way to the ninth. Every time, right before the wedding, a different friend showed up with some ridiculous excuse, and every time, my wedding fell through. Until now. When Raphael glanced at me again, clearly working up to something, I didn't even look up. By now, it was almost a reflex: I texted every guest to say the wedding was postponed. "I've already postponed it. Go ahead. What's the 'legitimate' reason this time?" Raphael froze for a second at the sarcasm in my voice. Then, with practiced ease, he pulled out his phone and held it up for me to see. "It's your best friend, Sofia. Her flight's been delayed. She's stuck at the airport and can't make it to our wedding." He watched my face carefully and softened his voice. "Babe, didn't you say she had to be your maid of honor? That you wanted to give her the bouquet yourself? "I just want to give you the perfect wedding." Sofia's apology video played on the screen. She sounded sincere, dabbing at her eyes every so often. But I recognized the restaurant behind her. Cosima's brand-new Hermès bag was already on the chair beside her. Sofia had made it back from Paris; Cosima had simply talked her into missing my wedding. "Vera, I know you're upset, but nobody saw this delay coming, right?" Raphael sighed and gazed at me tenderly. "Maybe this is all part of God's plan." God's plan, my ass! I watched him pretend to be a devoted fiancé, and nausea swept over me. "Sweetheart, I'll pick a new date for the wedding. Next time..." I cut him off. "You're right. It's all part of God's plan. So let's cancel the wedding." That was the moment the villainess woke up. Raphael and I had been in love for four years. When he got down on one knee and proposed, I ignored my father's fierce objections and left my last name behind for good. All I wanted was to marry him. We were supposed to get married three months ago and start the happy life I'd always dreamed of. But everything changed the moment the heroine, Cosima, came back to Sicily. Cosima was Raphael's adopted sister, though they weren't related by blood. She was also the woman he loved but couldn't have, and he didn't dare admit it. He needed me as his fiancée to keep up appearances and prove he and Cosima were only siblings. Cosima hid behind the label of "sister." She basked in his favoritism even when it crossed every line, and twisted every question about it into proof that I was jealous. Around Cosima, the man I loved and my friends lost every brain cell they had. All she had to do was call for her big brother. Even if she had only a tiny scrape, they'd drop everything and race to her side. Just like today. I used to believe that if I gave enough of myself, Raphael would love me. Now I could see what a fool I'd been. "It's just a postponed wedding. Why are you throwing such a fit?" Raphael frowned, impatience clear in his voice. "Cosima was right. Maybe you should see a therapist. Normal people don't act like this in a relationship." His phone rang as soon as he'd finished speaking. The moment he saw who was calling, the reproach in his eyes softened into tenderness. In the four years I'd spent chasing him, he'd looked at me like that only once, the night we slept together. "I've got something to take care of. Go home and think about what you did. I'll pretend I never heard any of that." His car sped off and left me standing alone on the empty road. Think about what I did? To be with Raphael, I'd hidden the fact that I was the only heir to the Sterling family. I'd cared for his family and worked as his personal doctor for four years without a single complaint. And after all that, he told me to go home and think about what I'd done? Ha. He was right about one thing. I needed to take a long, hard look at my life. Chapter 2 In the original plot, I'd crawl back to that house, wait for him, and tearfully show him the pregnancy test results I'd been saving as a surprise. He'd sweet-talk me, I'd forgive him again, and I'd go right on groveling. Forgive him? Yeah, right. I wasn't about to run off and cry like some side character anymore. Instead of going back to play the tragic heroine for him, I decided to get something to eat. I hailed a cab to my usual restaurant. I'd heard the chef had a new dish, and I wanted to try it. Warm golden light spilled from the restaurant's huge windows, but it made my eyes sting. Cosima stood at the center of the crowd by the window. Around her were my fiancé, my best friend, and nearly everyone I knew. And in that cheering crowd was a face I'd never forget as long as I lived. A month ago, on our way to the wedding, a rival crew had ambushed us. I'd taken a bullet in my right hand while shielding Raphael, and I'd never be able to hold a scalpel again. I remembered Raphael holding me tight, scared and guilty, telling me again and again how sorry he was and how much he loved me. He promised I'd never go through anything like that again. I believed him. Yet here was the leader of that so-called rival crew, champagne in hand, smiling beside Cosima. My best friend, who swore she hated roses and got queasy just looking at the leaves, was eagerly holding out a huge bouquet of them to Cosima. And my fiancé was carefully lifting out a jewel-encrusted tiara and gently setting it on Cosima's head. Like she was some fragile treasure. So the ambush had been another setup they'd staged together to postpone the wedding. And I'd fallen for it. While I hid from the gunmen, certain I was about to die, I'd even sent everyone one last pathetic text. "I love you all." I stood outside the window, trembling uncontrollably. Right then, every memory of the original book came flooding back. My name was Vera Sterling, and I was the villainess of this over-the-top melodrama. My father was the Don of the Sterling family, a man every other family feared. My parents had married to seal an alliance between families. My mother was handed over like payment on a debt, and she died of depression when I was five. Before she died, she held my hand and said just one thing. "My baby, I want you to find real happiness in this life. Don't end up like me..." I watched my father see to her funeral, his face completely blank. The next day, he went back to his usual routine, as if my mother had never existed. That was when I swore I'd never carry his name, marry for an alliance, or live the way my mother had. So I ran. I left the Sterling name behind, hid who I was, and tried to live like an ordinary person. After I left the Sterling family, I met Raphael. He treated me with care, respect, and love. Once we were together, I told him I was an orphan. He brought me home to meet his family, and they were so warm to me. For the first time, I knew what it felt like to belong. So I kept my secret and spent four years as his family's doctor. The Bellandi family's medical team. The East Port shipping lanes. The guarantee that kept the other families from starting a war with them. I'd secured every one of those through my authority as the Sterling heir. Raphael assumed the Bellandi family had earned all those things on its own. I never corrected him. Back then, I thought we'd be family soon enough. Even after I found out he'd lied to me and left me behind for Cosima again and again, I still forgave him every single time. In the finale, I would follow Raphael to New York after he abandoned me at the altar for Cosima. He would have his men waiting for me. The moment I drew my Browning, he'd order them to stop me. They'd shoot me dead. Only when he saw my body would he finally break. He'd spend the rest of his life mourning me, with Cosima still at his side. He wouldn't even visit my grave. Why should I accept an ending like that? The plot had controlled the old me. I'd been content to play the fool, waiting for the hero to show me a little pity. But now that I was awake, it was time to take back everything I'd given them, one piece at a time. Chapter 3 "Vera?" Cosima spotted me and waved excitedly. "Did you come to help celebrate my puppy's birthday too?" The man with the champagne froze when he saw me and couldn't meet my eyes. "They went way too far last time," Cosima said. "I can't believe they thought that joke was okay. "I already gave them a piece of my mind. Vera, please don't be mad, okay?" Cosima shook her fist at the group in mock anger. She grabbed my arm as an excuse to lean in and lower her voice. "That's nine times. How do you still not get it? All I have to do is ask, and my brother will always choose me first." I looked past her at the little white dog curled up on an expensive velvet cushion, then at the uneasy faces around her. "So this time, you postponed the wedding for a dog's birthday party." I didn't raise my voice, but the whole restaurant went quiet. "Why make everyone put on a show? Why not just cancel the wedding?" Raphael hurried over, looking panicked. "Vera, let me explain..." I scoffed, shook off his hand, and looked him straight in the eye. "Explain what? That you didn't push back our wedding for Cosima again and again? That your lies didn't cost me the use of my hand? "Or that you didn't lie to me again today, all for a dog?" My voice was quiet, but every word landed like a blow in the silent restaurant. Cosima's eyes welled up instantly. As if I'd done her some terrible wrong, she rushed forward and grabbed my hand. "I'm sorry, Vera. I had no idea I'd hurt you this much. I'm so, so sorry... "But my brother and I grew up together. Just because he looks out for me, you think there's something dirty going on between us. I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to face you after this." Her voice was thick with tears. Everyone looked at me with open disgust, as if I were the one to blame. "That's enough, Vera!" They all snapped at me at once. "Cosima didn't know anything. This was all our idea!" The old me would have swallowed it. Like always, I'd have told myself it was just the plot and forced down the hurt. But not anymore. "Are you done? "Cosima didn't know anything? She didn't know we should've been married three months ago? She didn't know your little scam cost me the use of my right hand? Or did she somehow miss the nine times you all played me for a fool just to please her?!" My gaze swept over every face in the room and landed on Raphael last. "Raphael, you said Cosima thinks I should see a therapist? You're wrong. You're the one who needs a therapist!" Raphael's face darkened. He'd never heard me speak to him like that. While Cosima cried like the injured party, he dragged me upstairs to a private room. She followed us in. "Vera, why are you so hostile toward Cosima?" Raphael let go of me and tugged at his tie. He sounded tired and irritated. Sofia jumped in to back him up. "Your wedding was postponed, that's all. Raphael is still going to marry you. Why do you have to humiliate Cosima?" Cosima leaned against Raphael with tears in her eyes, but the little smile on her lips was meant for me alone. "Vera, my brother is marrying you and making you the Donna of the Bellandi family. You've already won. Why do you have to fight me over who matters most to him?" I looked at Sofia like she was a stranger. "Sofia, when you got your heart broken, who stayed up drinking with you until you threw up? You hugged me and said you'd always be on my side, no matter what." Sofia went pale, as if the memory had just come back to her. "And now you're standing here blaming me for Cosima's sake?" I turned to Raphael. "And you. When your mother was sick, who sat by her bed all night? When your best friend got hurt, who grabbed a medical kit and ran halfway across the city? You can forget all that if you want, but you had no right to forget what you said to me after I got shot! "You said all those beautiful things, then lied to me and made a fool of me nine times for Cosima!" I slowly slid the ring off my finger and put it in Cosima's palm. Her fingers closed around it without thinking. Then she leaned in and whispered so only I could hear. "You think marrying my brother means you can take him from me?" I pulled away and turned to Raphael. "Don't bother cooking up the next excuse. The wedding is officially off. "We're done."