Scheming Heart (Available on Amazon Kindle)

EPILOGUE:

CLAUDIA

So the day has finally come.

After a whirlwind courtship, adventures, heartaches, and endless scheming this day has finally arrived. I would finally become Mrs. Alfonso Orsini. It never really came to my mind when I first met him not so long ago that I would fall in love with this man—a man who was the complete opposite of my ideal guy but here I was in my finest glory wearing my expensive wedding dress courtesy of my in-laws wearing the family heirloom that I still half-expected that I would be kidnapped because of these jewels and the most beautiful arrangement of pink roses as my bouquet.

Our family and friends gathered in the private villa of the Duke of Caprielle for our secret wedding. Somehow the scandal in the tabloids had died down a bit but Alfonso and Violet Ricci still share their fair share of columns in the newspaper every day. We were used to it by now sometimes I just laughed at the ridiculous stories they wrote just to sell their rags.

"Unknown boats were hanging around the villa," Gianna commented peeking slightly through the window.

I grimaced while sitting on the sofa waiting for the ceremony to start. "I wonder where they got the information about our wedding today."

My sister snorted, still looking at the intruders outside. "As if you don't know how these paparazzi work they have connections with the devil."

A light knock sounded on the doorway. Gianna and I both looked at the door and saw Anna enter the room. "The ceremony is about to start but it was held up because Alfonso and the duke want to get rid of the paparazzi first before we start the ceremony."

"How did they find out about this wedding?" I asked no one in particular.

Anna gave a short laugh, standing next to Gianna on the window. "I am not sure but your groom was so upset with these intruders he kept on asking why they couldn't him alone even for one day on the most special day of his life?"

"It seems to me that they already lost interest in Violet Ricci's pregnancy and the scandal about the married movie director. The general public was now more eager to know about Alfonso's bride-to-be, don't you think?"

"Why?" I asked in confusion, frowning at my sister. "Nothing is interesting about me. Why would they waste their time writing stuff about me?"

"Uh-ah..." Gianna wiggled her finger in my direction. "Don't belittle yourself, my dear sister. You might be a girl who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood but you manage to snag one of the most eligible bachelors in Italy that alone is enough to spark interest from the public."

I snorted, unable to believe her words while touching the skirt of my handmade laced wedding down. "Why do I have to say that I snag him? Didn't they think that maybe it was the other way around? That he's the one who caught me?"

My sister and my best friend looked at each other before bursting with a laugh. "My God, Claudia! Do you hear yourself?" Anna asked while still laughing hysterically.

"What?" I asked defensively. "I may not be as famous as Violet Ricci but, hey, I have a fair share of strings of suitors in the past. So I am also pretty famous in my crowd."

"Damn, that's quite of a self-confidence you have there, sis," Gianna commented looking at me with an awe of expression on her face. "I wish you could rub some with us, mere mortals."

I gave them an arrogant look. "I am just stating the truth, Gianna. One of these days I would talk to these tabloids and tell them to get their facts straight."

Anna sighed with passiveness. "I hate to burst your bubble but gossip columns aren't interested in facts they are interested in scandals because that is what sells in public." She stood from her seat and looked at me with a smile on her face. "I'd better check the situation outside."