He Faked My Sex Tape for My Family's Fortune, So I Changed Grooms at the Altar

Bianca immediately burst out laughing and gave Marco a playful punch in the chest. "Marco, how many times do I have to tell you? I run this crew. Show some respect and call me Boss." Marco DeLuca, one of Lorenzo's closest men, raised both hands in surrender. "Yes, Boss. My mistake." The men around the table erupted into laughter, shouting over one another and knocking their glasses together. For a moment, they seemed to forget that I, the woman Lorenzo was supposed to marry tomorrow, was still standing there. When Bianca finally stopped laughing, she looked from Marco to me, mischief flashing in her eyes. "Fine. You both owe me an apology, but words are too easy." She tapped one of the bottles on the table. "One bottle each. Finish it, and I'll forget this ever happened." Lorenzo was the first to clap. "That's generous of you, Bianca." The others immediately joined in, cheering and applauding as my expression slowly turned cold. A server brought over two bottles of wine and set them on the table. Bianca glanced at Marco. "You've been complaining about your stomach all night. Give me some of yours." Before he could answer, she took his bottle and poured a generous amount into her own glass. She drained it in one go. Cheers broke out around the table. Marco grinned and took the bottle back. "That's why you're family, Bianca. For life." He finished the rest to another round of applause. Then, one by one, every pair of eyes at the table turned toward me. "Your turn, Mrs. Valente." Lorenzo immediately slipped an arm around my waist. "She's not Mrs. Valente yet." That only made them laugh harder. "Fine. Future Mrs. Valente. Drink!" Lorenzo leaned close to my ear. "Adriana, just do it. For me." I looked at him. "Lorenzo, you know I'm allergic to alcohol." His smile faltered. For a moment, recognition flickered across his face. Years ago, before Lorenzo had risen high enough in the Valente Family for men to lower their voices when they said his name, a business meeting had gone badly. He'd called me late that night, drunk, asking me to come get him. When I arrived, the men he was drinking with refused to let him leave unless I had a drink with them first. I wanted to get Lorenzo out of there, so I took the glass they handed me and swallowed it. Lorenzo went home drunk. I went to the emergency room. The reaction had been so severe that the doctor told me another delay could have killed me. When I was finally discharged, Lorenzo sat beside me with bloodshot eyes, holding my hand so tightly it hurt. "Adriana, I swear no one will ever force you to drink again." I had believed him. Now Bianca wanted to turn my apology into entertainment, and Lorenzo was standing beside me asking me to drink an entire bottle. My fingers slowly curled into my palms. "Adriana," he murmured, his smile tightening as he noticed everyone watching us. "Don't make this a bigger deal than it needs to be." I stared at him. "You remember what happened last time." "I remember." "Then why are you asking me to drink?" His jaw tightened. "It's wine, not hard liquor. The alcohol content is lower. You don't have to finish the whole thing. Take a few sips, let Bianca have her fun, and I'll deal with the rest." For a moment, I said nothing. He remembered. That was the worst part. He remembered exactly what alcohol had done to me, and he was still asking me to risk it because refusing Bianca in front of his men would embarrass him. Something inside me went cold. For the first time since agreeing to marry Lorenzo Valente, I wondered if becoming his wife would be the biggest mistake of my life. One of the men at the table called out impatiently. "Come on, Adriana. We're waiting." A few others began tapping their glasses against the table. Bianca watched me for a moment before giving a soft laugh. "Oh, leave her alone. Maybe Adriana just doesn't know how things work around Lorenzo yet." The tapping gradually stopped. I looked at her. Bianca swirled the wine in her glass. "Lorenzo has never been very good with boundaries. Give him something he's not supposed to touch, and suddenly that's the only thing he wants." A few men exchanged amused looks. Her eyes settled deliberately on mine. "If I were you, Adriana, I wouldn't expect marriage to change him." My brows drew together. I turned toward Lorenzo. "What exactly is she talking about?" Before he could answer, Bianca laughed. "Oh, Lorenzo. I've been teasing you in front of your bride all night. Don't tell me you're suddenly going to act innocent." Then her eyes widened. She covered her mouth with one hand. "Oops. Did I say too much?" The innocence was so exaggerated it could only have been deliberate. I looked at Lorenzo. He didn't look angry. He laughed. Then he caught Bianca by the wrist and pulled her hand away from her mouth. "Enough. You're going to talk yourself into trouble." Bianca grinned. "Since when have you ever been afraid of trouble?" "Since I had to spend half my life getting you out of it." "Please. Half the trouble was yours." Lorenzo shook his head, laughing. Bianca gave him another shove, and he caught her wrist before she could do it again. The men around them burst into laughter. Just like that, the question I'd asked was forgotten. The bottle was still sitting in front of me. Lorenzo was still holding Bianca's wrist. And everyone else was laughing as though this were just another night among people who had known one another too long to care about boundaries. I stood beside Lorenzo without saying another word. Tomorrow, I was supposed to marry into the Valente Family. But standing in their private club, surrounded by Lorenzo's closest friends, I had never felt more like an outsider.

Seeing Lorenzo and Bianca about to slip back into their usual teasing, I reached across the table and grabbed the bottle of wine. "So all I have to do is drink, and you'll consider the matter settled?" Bianca's lips curved into a smug smile. "That's right. Finish the bottle, and I'll forgive you." I smiled back and lifted the bottle slightly. "You helped Marco with his." I stepped closer. "Then you can help me with mine." Before anyone could react, I tipped the bottle over Bianca's head. Wine poured through her hair and down the front of her dress. Her scream tore through the private dining room. "Adriana!" The room erupted into chaos. Chairs scraped violently against the floor. Men cursed and jumped to their feet while Bianca stood frozen beside the table, wine dripping from her hair and running down her face. I set the empty bottle down. Then I turned and walked out. I didn't wait for Lorenzo to stop me. I left the Valente club, got into my car, and drove home. The moment I stepped inside the penthouse, I stopped. White flowers and ivory ribbons covered the living room. Tomorrow, cars from both Families were supposed to line the street below. My father had arranged the security, the reception, and accommodations for every important guest coming to witness the union between the Romano and Valente families. Everything was ready. All I had to do was put on the dress and say yes. Looking at it all, my chest suddenly tightened. I pressed a hand over my heart and leaned against the wall before slowly sinking to the floor. Tears blurred my vision. Lorenzo and I had met in college. Back then, I knew the Valente name carried a dangerous reputation, but I hadn't cared. At first, I'd simply thought Lorenzo was handsome. When he pursued me, I agreed to date him. Then the Romano family's legitimate businesses nearly collapsed. For months, my father fought to keep everything together. People who had once crowded around us disappeared one after another. Lorenzo didn't. He emptied his savings and put the money in my hands. "Give it to your father. We'll figure out the rest later." It wasn't enough to save the Romano businesses, but I never forgot what that gesture meant. When he realized I could no longer afford the things I'd once taken for granted, he spent an entire summer working outside the protection of the Valente name. At the end of that summer, he bought me a small designer cardholder. I could still remember the embarrassment on his face when he handed me the box. That was when I decided Lorenzo Valente was the man I wanted to marry. Eventually, the Romano family recovered. Our businesses expanded again, and my father rebuilt everything he had nearly lost. After graduation, my parents weren't pleased when I told them I intended to marry Lorenzo. The Valentes were powerful, but Lorenzo himself had little standing inside the Family at the time. I didn't care. I believed he was the man who would stay beside me when everything else disappeared. So I insisted. Eventually, my parents gave in. My father placed one of the Romano family's companies under Lorenzo's management and bought us this penthouse as a wedding gift. Tomorrow, I was supposed to become Lorenzo Valente's wife. Yet tonight, his closest friends had stood around a table and cheered while I was pressured to drink something that could put me in the hospital. And Lorenzo had known exactly what could happen. The thought turned my stomach. I barely made it to the bathroom before I threw up. Not long afterward, the front door slammed open. Heavy footsteps crossed the penthouse. Lorenzo appeared in the bathroom doorway, his face dark with anger. "Adriana, what the hell was that back there?" I was still bent over the sink. He didn't ask why I was sick. He didn't ask why I'd left alone. He didn't even seem to notice that I'd been crying. All he cared about was what I'd done to Bianca. "You poured an entire bottle of wine over her in front of everyone." I slowly straightened and looked at him through the mirror. "Bianca? Is she secretly running the Valente Family now, or did you hand your authority over to her years ago?" His jaw tightened. "Adriana, enough." I turned around. "No. You wanted me to apologize to her. You wanted me to drink for her. Now you've chased me all the way home because I embarrassed her." My voice trembled despite my best efforts to keep it steady. "So tell me, Lorenzo. Exactly which one of us are you marrying tomorrow?" His expression shifted. For several seconds, neither of us spoke. Then he dragged a hand over his face and exhaled heavily. "Baby, don't do this." His voice softened as he stepped toward me. "Bianca is my childhood friend. That's all she is. There has never been anything between us." I said nothing. Lorenzo continued. "We're getting married tomorrow. Your family has already spent a fortune arranging this wedding. The Romanos and Valentes have people coming from all over the country to witness it." He spoke as if those facts should be enough to end the argument. "We can't throw all of that away because of one stupid fight." He reached for me. I stepped back before he could touch me. "Are you threatening me with my family's reputation?" "I'm telling you the truth." "No. You're reminding me how humiliating it would be for my family if I walked away tomorrow." Lorenzo's expression tightened. Then he said, "Bianca is still standing with me at the ceremony. I'm not removing her from the wedding over this." I stared at him. For a moment, I thought I'd misheard. "After tonight?" "Yes." "After she humiliated me in front of your entire circle, tried to force me to drink, and then mocked our relationship?" "She was joking." A bitter laugh escaped me. "Of course she was." "Adriana." "She's always joking, isn't she?" His brows drew together. "What is that supposed to mean?" I looked directly into his eyes. "What about Valentine's Day?" His expression changed slightly. "I reserved a private room at the best restaurant in the city six months in advance. I waited there for you all night." Lorenzo went quiet. "You promised you'd be there." I could still remember the candles burning lower and lower as the restaurant emptied around me. "Then Bianca called." My voice grew quieter. "And you left me sitting there alone." His jaw tightened. I held his gaze. "Was that insignificant too?"

Lorenzo frowned. "That night was different. Bianca said someone had been following her. She was afraid to go home alone, so I went to make sure she was safe." I stared at him. "Bianca spent all night calling herself the boss of your crew. Since when does she need you to escort her home because she's afraid of some stranger?" Lorenzo's expression tightened. "And what about your birthday?" I continued. "I was out of the country handling business for my father. I came back early to surprise you." My throat tightened at the memory. "Instead, I found you and Bianca all over each other in a private room at that restaurant." His face changed. "You kissed her, Lorenzo." He froze. Only for a second. Then his voice rose. "Who told you that? That's bullshit. Nothing happened between us." I didn't bother arguing. I picked up my phone, found the video, and tossed it onto the bed in front of him. "Look for yourself." Lorenzo picked it up. "Bianca posted it herself. Don't stand there and tell me nothing happened." His expression darkened as the video played. For several seconds, he said nothing. Then he dragged a hand through his hair. "Enough, Adriana." He tossed the phone onto the bed. "It was a stupid drunken kiss. It meant nothing." I almost laughed. Nothing. Apparently, anything could become nothing as long as Bianca was involved. Lorenzo's patience finally snapped. "Why are you acting like this? If you were half as understanding as Bianca, we wouldn't even be having this argument." I stared at him in disbelief. He pointed at me. "Listen carefully. You're going to apologize to Bianca." His voice turned cold. "If you don't, I won't be standing at that altar tomorrow." I said nothing. Lorenzo took my silence for fear. He stepped closer. "Think about what that means, Adriana. No Valente groom. Hundreds of guests already here. Families and allies waiting to watch the Romanos and Valentes join together." A faint smile touched his mouth. "I'd like to see how your family explains that." Before I could answer, his phone rang. The moment Lorenzo saw the name on the screen, his expression changed. His voice softened. "Where are you?" A pause. Then his brows drew together. "Don't be scared. Stay there. I'm coming." I saw the name clearly. Bianca. Lorenzo ended the call and grabbed his jacket. At the door, he looked back at me. "Think carefully about what I said." Then he left. The front door slammed behind him. I stood there for a long time. Less than an hour later, my phone buzzed. It was Marco. There was only one sentence. [You should see this before tomorrow.] A video followed. Bianca was sitting at the bar inside one of the Valente clubs, a glass in her hand. Then Lorenzo appeared. He sat beside her and pulled her against him. Bianca rested her head on his shoulder. Lorenzo didn't push her away. A few seconds later, she lifted her face. And kissed him. This time, Lorenzo kissed her back. I watched the video once. That was enough. A few minutes later, several photos came through from an unfamiliar number. Bianca and Lorenzo. Kissing. Her message appeared beneath them. [Oops. Wrong person, Adriana. You don't mind, do you?] I stared at the screen for several seconds. Then I blocked the number. There was nothing left to say to her. I walked into the bedroom and began packing Lorenzo's belongings. Shirts. Suits. Watches. Shoes. Everything that belonged to him went into suitcases. When I opened the drawer beside his bed, I noticed a small locked box pushed into the back. I'd seen it before. I'd never asked what was inside. Tonight, I stopped caring about his privacy. I forced it open. Inside were old photographs, receipts, and letters. Most of the letters were between Lorenzo and Bianca. I recognized Lorenzo's handwriting immediately. At first, they were harmless. Old jokes. Memories from school. Bianca teasing him about me. Then I found one from three years ago. [I don't even recognize myself around Adriana anymore. Everything with her is about the Romanos, the businesses, the wedding, what her father expects from me. Sometimes I think you're the only person I can still breathe around.] My fingers tightened around the paper. Underneath it was Bianca's reply. [Then leave her.] Another letter. This one was more recent. Bianca had written: [If I asked you to walk away from the wedding and leave with me, would you?] Lorenzo's reply was tucked behind it. [I want to. You know I do. But not yet.] My heart seemed to stop. I kept reading. [Romano has finally started trusting me with the company. Once the merger is complete, I'll have enough leverage to stop depending on either family.] The next line was worse. [Give me a little more time, Bianca. After that, no one gets to decide who I stay with.] I stared at the words until they blurred. Maybe Lorenzo had loved me once. Maybe the boy who emptied his savings to help my father had been real. Maybe the man who worked all summer just to buy me a gift had been real too. But that man was gone. Somewhere along the way, love had become resentment. And I had become useful. A Romano daughter. A company. A marriage that could give him the power he wanted. I folded the letter and slipped it into my bag. Then my phone rang. My mother. "Adriana? How did the dinner go? Your father has been asking whether everything is ready for tomorrow." I looked at the suitcases lined up beside the bedroom door. "Everything's ready." My mother hesitated. "Are you all right?" "I'm fine." I looked down at Lorenzo's letter. "There's just one change." "What change?" I smiled. "The groom." Silence. Then my mother's voice sharpened. "Adriana, what happened?" "I'll explain later." I walked toward the window. "But right now, I need you to call someone for me." "Who?" I was quiet for a moment. Then a face I hadn't seen in years came to mind. The boy who had followed me everywhere when we were children. The one who used to call me his big sister no matter how many times I told him to stop. "If Lorenzo has a childhood friend he can't live without..." My smile slowly faded. "Then it's time I called mine." The next morning, I sat in the bridal suite of the Romano family's hotel while the makeup artist applied the finishing touches. No one mentioned what had happened the night before. Outside, the hotel was already filling with guests. At exactly ten minutes before the ceremony, the door opened. Lorenzo walked in. He was already dressed for the wedding. The moment he saw me sitting there in my gown, relief flickered across his face. Then came satisfaction. He walked behind me and placed both hands on my shoulders. Our eyes met in the mirror. "I knew you'd come to your senses." I said nothing. He leaned closer. "Bianca agreed to let this go, so the wedding can proceed as planned." As if Bianca had been the one with the authority to decide whether my wedding happened. "You can apologize to her after the ceremony." His eyes dropped briefly to the jewelry arranged beside me. Then he seemed to remember something. "By the way, you bought that limited-edition Hermès bag last month, didn't you?" I looked at him through the mirror. Lorenzo smiled. "Give it to Bianca as an apology. She wanted that one too." His hand gave my shoulder a light squeeze. "Do that, and this whole mess is over." I slowly lifted my eyes until they met his in the mirror. For the first time all morning, I smiled. "Of course." Lorenzo's smile widened. He thought I'd surrendered. He had no idea that in ten minutes, when the doors opened and every Valente and Romano turned toward the altar, he wouldn't be the man waiting for me there.

Bianca had been complaining about that same Hermès bag on social media for weeks. It wasn't just expensive. It was nearly impossible to get unless you were one of the boutique's most valued clients. And now Lorenzo thought a few soft words would convince me to hand mine over to her. Ridiculous. I didn't answer him. I simply let the makeup artist finish. Yesterday, after speaking with my parents, I'd made one more call. Matteo De Santis. The boy who had followed me everywhere when we were children. The boy who used to call me his big sister no matter how many times I told him to stop. We hadn't seen each other in years. I'd heard enough about him to know that the boy I remembered no longer existed. The De Santis name had risen quickly over the past few years, and Matteo had risen even faster. But I didn't know the man he'd become. When I asked him to stand beside me at the altar today, there had been several seconds of silence on the other end of the line. Then he'd asked only one question. "What time?" That was all. Once my makeup was finished, I changed into my wedding gown. When I stepped out of the dressing room, Lorenzo was sitting in front of another mirror, telling the makeup artist to fix his hair. I stopped her. "Don't bother." Lorenzo looked at me through the mirror. I met his eyes. "He's only a guest today." The room went silent. Lorenzo slowly turned in his chair. "What did you just say?" I didn't answer. There was nothing left to explain. I turned and walked out. Lorenzo immediately followed. "Adriana." I kept walking. "What the hell does that mean?" His footsteps quickened behind me. "What do you mean I'm a guest?" By the time we reached the ballroom, members of the Romano and Valente families were already filling the room. Representatives from several allied Families stood in small groups beneath the chandeliers, talking quietly as they waited for the ceremony to begin. My father stood near the front greeting guests. My mother saw me and smiled. I had barely taken another step when the massive screen behind the stage flickered to life. The room gradually fell silent. I looked up. My face appeared on the screen. Then the video began. For a second, I couldn't understand what I was looking at. The woman's face was mine. Her body wasn't. The footage was explicit. And fake. But under the ballroom lights, projected across a screen large enough for hundreds of people to see, the distinction didn't matter. Gasps swept through the room. My mother's smile vanished. My father went completely still. "What the hell is this?" His voice cut through the ballroom. Before anyone could answer, Bianca appeared from the side of the stage. One hand flew dramatically to her mouth. "Oh God." Her eyes widened as she looked from the screen to me. "Adriana, I'm so sorry. I meant to play that video of you and Lorenzo kissing. I don't know how this got mixed in." Mixed in. As though an explicit fabricated video of me had somehow wandered into her files by accident. I turned toward her. Before I could speak, Lorenzo slipped an arm around my waist. Anyone watching might have mistaken the gesture for support. Then his fingers dug into my side. Hard. He lowered his mouth to my ear. "Smile." My entire body stiffened. "Lorenzo." "You're going to walk down that aisle, marry me, and forget whatever you thought you were planning." His voice was almost gentle. "If you don't, that video won't stay in this ballroom." My blood went cold. He continued quietly. "By tonight, every Family from New York to Sicily will have a copy." I slowly turned my head. "You knew about this?" Lorenzo didn't answer. He didn't need to. Around us, phones were already coming out. Guests whispered furiously while several younger associates lifted their cameras toward the screen. Whether they believed the footage or not no longer mattered. Once it left this room, the damage would be done. Then several men I didn't recognize pushed closer. They shouldn't have been anywhere near a Romano family wedding. Which meant someone had gotten them inside. One of them raised his phone directly toward my face. "So that's the Romano princess?" Another laughed. "Looks like Valente got more than he bargained for." My hands began to shake. Not from shame. From rage. Lorenzo and Bianca had prepared this. Maybe they hadn't expected to use it today. Maybe it had only been insurance. Something to keep me obedient if I ever became inconvenient. My mother suddenly swayed. Her hand flew to her chest. "Mom!" My father caught her before she hit the floor. I moved toward them, but the crowd shifted at the same time. Phones surrounded me. Questions came from every direction. "Is the video real?" "Does Valente know?" "How many men have seen you like that?" Someone behind me laughed. "Maybe she'll make another one." My stomach twisted. I pushed forward. "Move." No one listened. I searched for Lorenzo. He wasn't beside me anymore. He was several feet away. With Bianca. One arm was wrapped around her shoulders, shielding her as people crowded around them. As though she were the one being humiliated. As though she were the one who needed protection. I stared at him. Something inside me finally went silent. Then the screen went black. The speakers died. Every light except the chandeliers remained still. A sharp crack cut through the ballroom. The man closest to me dropped his phone and stumbled backward, blood running from his mouth. Another reached toward me. A hand caught his wrist before he could touch me. He was thrown aside so hard that he crashed into a table. Glasses shattered against the floor. The crowd recoiled. Then someone near the entrance whispered a name. "De Santis." The effect was immediate. Men who had been shouting seconds ago fell silent. The crowd parted. A tall man in a perfectly cut black suit walked through the opening. Several men followed behind him, but he didn't look back at any of them. He didn't need to. For a moment, I didn't recognize him. The boy I remembered had been lean and restless, forever following two steps behind me with scraped knuckles and a grin that usually meant trouble. That boy was gone. The man walking toward me had broad shoulders, a cold expression, and the kind of presence that made armed men move out of his way without being asked. Then his eyes met mine. And I knew him. Matteo De Santis. He crossed the ballroom without looking at Lorenzo. Without looking at Bianca. He came directly to me. His gaze moved over my face, then briefly to the screen behind me. Something dangerous flickered in his eyes. But when he looked at me again, it disappeared. Matteo stopped in front of me. "You call me after all these years and ask me to show up at your wedding..." His gaze dropped to my dress. Then he looked over my shoulder toward Lorenzo. "...and somehow, you're already in trouble before I even get here." That familiar hint of amusement appeared in his eyes. For the first time that morning, I could see something of the boy I remembered. He held out his hand. "Come on, Adriana." I looked down at it. Matteo's smile deepened. "You asked me to be the groom." His eyes returned to mine. "Don't tell me you're changing your mind now."