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Raphael was not some fickle boy she had a crush on Raphael would never break her trust in that way He thought her naïveté, her lack of sophistication was attractive That it made her unique

Yet, all afternoon, the question of his withdrawal gnawed at her soul

Her fingers burning, her stomach in a constant knot, Pia watched in dise open area in front of the house and began putting up a snohite ous proportions

Fifteenvans and then another creorkers to decorate the tables arrived

She hurriedly called to Portia, who had put the party together, that there must be some mistake Only to be inforuests were arriving to celebrate Raphael Mastrantino’s engagehter

The board of Vito Automobiles and all of their families, major shareholders, Gio’s extended family, all of the million Mastrantino cousins and their families—it seemed the entire world wanted to see Raphael and his new fiancée

“They all want to make their nods to Raphael I mean, they always knew this would happen, but now it is more…definite, si?” Portia had said over the phone

When Pia had whispered that she didn’t actually understand, Portia said “When Gio declared you his granddaughter and his heir, it created problems for my Raphael”

“But why?”

“Because Giovanni and Raphael both own thirty-five percent each of VA’s stock With your appearance, it became clear that whoever married you would inherit that stock So there were so My son is a ruthless businessman and not everyone likes his principles, his practices Soood with the ripped the phone, nausea rising through her throat “But now that Raphael is ain”

The phone dropped frorappled with the truth

Pia heard Portia’s stilted English still co from the phone, saw the decorators pull out rare orchids in droves, and it was all a haze as she walked back to her bedroom