The three-week countdown to the wedding was a masterpiece of organized chaos. The estate hummed with the arrival of florists, caterers, and tailors, but inside the jade-green apartment, the air was stagnant. Alessandro had kept his promise about the guards; they were now a permanent fixture inside the foyer, their presence a constant, low-frequency hum of surveillance.

I was no longer allowed to leave for the university. My "studies" were now conducted via a private tutor Alessandro had ...