

The air in the Parisian haute couture salon smelled like money and fear. I’d waited six months for my wedding dress. Now, it was draped over the shoulders of Sofia Ross—the trending influencer, and my mafia fiancé Vincent Cassio’s god-sister. The salon manager was sweating bullets, his eyes darting between me and the man lounging on the velvet sofa. Vincent Cassio stood up. He adjusted a fold of the diamond-encrusted train on Sofia with a casual flick of his wrist. “Her premiere next week needs a statement piece. She’s borrowing it. Pick something off the rack and stop making a scene.” His tone was flat, final. Under the crystal chandeliers, Sofia admired herself in the full-length mirror, a triumphant smile on her lips. I looked at my reflection in the same mirror, wearing jeans and a soaked trench coat. I looked like a lost tourist. Suddenly, the entire past year of planning felt like a sick joke. I didn’t yell. I just felt cold. Numb. I slipped the five-carat engagement ring off my finger. It hit the glass coffee table with a sharp, final click. “You’re right, Vincent. I don’t need this wedding dress. This wedding… I don’t need it either.”

Three days before my wedding, Adrian canceled it for the fifty-second time. He came to the Palermo workshop to approve my gown’s crest embroidery, but the moment I stepped out from the fitting curtain, he snatched up his holster and radio. “Torino bastards smashed Bianca’s vineyard, surrounded the estate. Lia’s terrified, so I have to go. The wedding is off.” Once, I would have stopped him and demanded to know who mattered more to him, me or Bianca. This time, I simply let him go. Thirty minutes later, Bianca posted an Instagram Story: [You’re the only shelter for me and my daughter.] The photo showed Adrian holding Bianca close, with Lia in his arms, calling him Dad. They looked like a real family. My parents sighed. “Seraphina, is the wedding in Hawaii off again? We’ve already sent the invitations to every renowned Italian family. What will this do to the Bellini family’s honor?” I shook my head, tapping the backup invite. "The wedding goes on. In three days, I’ll still be a bride. Just not Adrian’s."
![[ENG DUB] Mr. Adrian, Your Wife Played You Again](https://acfs3.goodshort.com/dist/src/assets/images/pc/common/f901131c-default-book-cover.png)
Rosalie marries Adrian to cover her boyfriend's medical fees and bail her brother out, while Adrian only weds her to spite his ex Rose. After a year of being treated as a disposable tool, Rosalie files for divorce when Rose joins Adrian's company as PR head. Adrian grows attracted to her grit during divorce talks, and begins a desperate quest to win her back.

Wealthy heiress Vivian Sterling publicly breaks her engagement after catching fiancé Bryce with her stepsister. Having secretly recovered from paralysis months ago, she stands from her wheelchair to reclaim her power. That night, she meets Adrian, a dangerous, motorcycle-riding mechanic who saves her from harassment. After a one-night stand, she proposes a contract marriage to escape Bryce's stalking. Vivian believes Adrian is merely a handsome working-class man, unaware he is the true heir to the Hale dynasty—and Bryce's most feared uncle. A decade earlier, Adrian was the one who pulled her from a fatal car crash and bore the scars; Bryce stole the credit and her ten years of devotion. As Vivian falls for Adrian, Bryce and his father Gerald launch a campaign of kidnapping, media manipulation, corporate traps, and assassination. When Adrian is rushed into the ER covered in blood, Vivian finally discovers the man she married for revenge is her real rescuer and only true love. What began as a contract marriage escalates into a high-stakes war for love, fortune, and survival.

Evelyn Gibson, from a rural background with an Alzheimer’s-stricken mother, graduates from a top university with a finance degree but struggles in the corporate world without connections. Desperate as her promotion stalls and her mother’s memory fades, she encounters her drugged CEO, Adam Howe, and they sleep together.She receives a promotion notice the next morning and despises herself, believing she sold her body for advancement. She avoids Adam, but their entanglement deepens. When she discovers she’s two months pregnant, Adam brings her home and begins spoiling his wife relentlessly.

Rosalie marries Adrian to cover her boyfriend's medical fees and bail her brother out, while Adrian only weds her to spite his ex Rose. After a year of being treated as a disposable tool, Rosalie files for divorce when Rose joins Adrian's company as PR head. Adrian grows attracted to her grit during divorce talks, and begins a desperate quest to win her back.

On our fifth dating anniversary, my boyfriend, Luke Bolton, gives me a cheap bracelet worth less than a hundred dollars. On the same night, he splurges ten million dollars on a yacht for his first love, Cindy Gale. I refuse to accept this, and he accuses me of making a scene. "I gave Cindy that gift to boost the company's stock price, not because I still have feelings for her," he says. "You're poor, and I still promised to marry you. Isn't that enough? This was actually your last test, Elisa Gray, but you failed it." I break up with him, and he immediately proposes to Cindy. Five years after that, we meet again at a luxury hotel during a business summit. His company is about to become an industry giant, and Cindy is holding onto his arm. When he sees me, I'm standing in a fountain, all drenched and disheveled. "Elisa," Luke sneers. "When you turned me down back then, did it ever cross your mind that you might end up worse than a homeless person? "Don't think acting pitiful here will make me feel sorry and take you back." I ignore him. My son's cherished blue diamond was a birthday gift from his father, and he accidentally dropped it into the fountain. He's so upset that he's about to cry, and I have to find it right away.

"She fought for this Blood Moon wedding for years, only to be abandoned by her fiancé 88 times. Every time, Andrew chose her adopted sister Cindy. Every time, her family asked Vivian to give in. After the 88th ruined wedding, Vivian removed her ring and walked away. This time, she would never return. Only after losing her did they realize they had destroyed their own happiness.

Back home in Sicily, there’s a rule. If I’m not married by 30, I go back for an arranged marriage. When I told my boyfriend, Jax, he scoffed. "What century is your hometown stuck in? The Middle Ages? Arranged marriages? Alessia, I said I'd marry you. Stop trying to force my hand with this pathetic drama." He casually pulled out a pigeon-blood ruby ring and tossed it to his personal assistant, Bianca. She caught it, blushing. "I was going to propose tonight. But since you’re so desperate, I think we both need to cool off." The ring I’d waited years for. He just threw it to someone else. My heart froze over. Jax walked out of my office with a conqueror's smirk. Bianca pushed the ring toward me. I didn't even look at it. "Take it. It’s your size, isn't it?" The color drained from her face. I shoved her out the door. Right before I slammed it shut, I said, "Tell your boss we're done." He didn't know the "elders" forcing me into this marriage were led by the most ruthless Godfather in Sicily. And the "blind date" was an arranged union with the Don of the North American Five Families.

I had been in a secret relationship with my mafia boyfriend, Dante Castellano, for seven years. No public contact. No photos together. No proof I had ever stood by his side. He told me, "Once I'm powerful enough that no one dares touch you, I'll make it official." I believed him. The day before our seventh anniversary, I found a ten-carat diamond ring in his suit jacket. I cried with joy, thinking seven years of hiding were finally over. The next morning, I wore my most expensive dress and sprayed on the only perfume he had ever given me. I practiced my smile in the mirror, the one I would give when he proposed. Then, my phone lit up with a breaking news alert. [Breaking News: Seven-Year Love Story Reaches Perfect Ending—Romance Blogger Alessia Romano Accepts Boyfriend's 100th Proposal!] In the photo, the influencer with eight million followers stood on her tiptoes, kissing a man. His hand rested on the back of her neck. On that hand was a scar I would never mistake. It was the scar Dante got when he took a knife for me.