Chapter 3
Gianna's POV
"I agreed to marry Matteo."
The next day, I told Mother and Chiara.
"WHAT?!" Chiara shot up from her chair. "Gianna, are you out of your mind?"
"Didn't you just say we should team up against him?" Mother stared at me in shock. "How can you agree to marry him now?"
I held up my hands, trying to calm them down. "Let me explain. This is just a stalling tactic."
"A stalling tactic?" Chiara stomped her foot in frustration. "Do you know what you're saying? Once you marry him, how are you going to escape?"
Mother's face darkened. "Gianna, what the hell is wrong with you?"
I took a deep breath and looked at both of them. "Mom, what about the messengers you sent out? Did we contact any allies?"
Mother's expression instantly dimmed. "Not yet... The Torrino family messenger said they're still considering it. The Benedetti family... they wouldn't even let our messenger onto their territory."
I nodded. Just as I'd thought. Matteo's threats yesterday weren't empty—he'd already set the trap.
"So you see, fighting head-on won't work." I said calmly. "If Matteo dared to do this, it means he's completely confident. Our only chance now is to find his real weakness."
"Weakness?" Chiara frowned. "What weakness does Matteo have?"
"He does. The woman he truly loves."
Both Mother and Chiara froze.
"If we can find that person," I continued, "we can use her as leverage against him. Let him know we've got his secret, force him to call off this marriage."
Chiara's eyes lit up. "Now you're talking! But... who is she?"
I began pacing around the room. "She has to be someone with a complicated situation. Matteo can't marry her openly, so he's using us as a cover."
"Who could it be?" Mother was thinking hard too. "A rival family's daughter? Someone beneath his station?"
Just as we were racking our brains, I suddenly remembered something.
"Wait." I stopped pacing. "Matteo said some things to me yesterday..."
I recalled the fake sweet words Matteo had whispered to me in the garden, especially that comment about my eyes.
"He said he liked my beautiful eyes." I frowned. "That kind of specific description... didn't sound like something he just made up."
Chiara looked thoughtful too. "In my second life, Matteo said similar things to me. He said he liked my..." she blushed slightly, "liked my full figure, especially my... chest. That's why he kept getting me pregnant, said it made me more womanly."
Mother's eyes widened. "You mean..."
"Exactly." I nodded. "These features might not actually be ours—they're like the woman he truly loves."
The room fell quiet except for our rapid breathing.
"Then let's go find her now!" Chiara said excitedly. "Check out all the families for women with the same characteristics!"
"Dark eyes, full figure..." Mother murmured. "That's still too broad a range."
"It's better than having no leads at all," I said firmly. "At least we have a direction."
Just as we were planning our search strategy, familiar footsteps echoed from outside.
That heavy feeling filled the air again.
Matteo had arrived.
"Gianna." Matteo strode toward us. "I'm here to discuss wedding arrangements."
We met in the estate's main courtyard that evening. Mother and Chiara both looked tense, but they managed to maintain polite conversation.
"Matteo." Mother made herself speak.
Matteo settled into an ornate chair and looked at me. "So, have you all thought it over?"
"Mom has already agreed to our engagement."
Matteo nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Then we'll set the wedding for next month. Traditionally, you'll need to..."
Suddenly, all hell broke loose in the distance.
"Stop it! Don't touch my son!"
"You bastards, let them go!"
Tonight had originally been the family's monthly dinner gathering, with made guys at all levels and their families assembled at the estate. Dinner was over now, but some of the lower-level guys had clearly drunk too much and were taking out their drunken rage on their own wives and children.
"Please... don't hurt the kids... I'll do whatever you want..."
Mother immediately frowned. "Those idiots are drunk and still causing trouble?"
The sounds got worse—women screaming, children crying, the crash of glasses and plates being smashed.
Mother angrily stood up. "I'm going to stop this. Drunk or not, you don't treat family like that!"
She strode toward the disturbance.
I watched Mother march toward the group of drunks, sternly scolding them for their violent behavior. She shielded the terrified women and children behind her, ordered the sober guys to remove the drunks, then knelt down to personally comfort the frightened families.
Mother was always like this—kind-hearted, protective of the weak, never tolerating violence against innocents.
Strangely, Matteo's gaze followed Mother's every movement intently.
I noticed this keenly.
He watched her like he couldn't look away, completely focused on her helping those people—as if he'd forgotten that Chiara and I were sitting right beside him.
Wait...
A terrible thought hit me.
Dark eyes... Mother had them.
Full figure... Mother had that too.
And Mother was beautiful, kind, gentle...
My heart started pounding.
Matteo...
The woman you truly love...
It couldn't be my mother, could it?
