A tense week passed Luca was increasingly preoccupied, his phone a constant appendage.
His conversations with Grandfather and Marco growing more hushed and frequent.
He assured Melissa it was just the final, messy stages of the Swiss deal, but a wall of polite distance was building between them, brick by silent brick.
The breaking point came on a Thursday afternoon. Melissa, seeking solace and inspiration, had gone to her favorite art supply store in Trastevere.
As she browsed the aisles of imported pigments, the familiar, husky laugh echoed from the next aisle over.
She froze, a tube of cobalt blue clenched in her hand.
Peering through a gap in the shelves, she saw them. Luca and Sasha.
They were in the bookstore section. Sasha was holding up a large art book on Caravaggio, her expression one of playful pleading.
Luca was smiling—a real, relaxed smile Melissa hadn't seen in days—as he took the book from her and flipped through it.
Sasha leaned in, pointing at a page, her body angled intimately close to his.
She said something, and Luca chuckled, the sound a physical blow to Melissa's chest.
This wasn't a boardroom. This wasn't a gala.
This was a quiet, personal moment in a place she considered *hers*.
The narrative of 'strictly business' shattered into a million jagged pieces.
Blindly, she put the paint down and fled, her vision blurring. She walked for blocks, the Roman sun beating down on her, not feeling its warmth.
She ended up at Sophie and Chloe's shared apartment, a bottle of wine already open on the table as she recounted the scene, her voice trembling with rage and hurt.
"He *smiled* at her, Soph....He looked… happy. Unburdened."
"Okay, but buying a book isn't a crime, girl" Sophie offered cautiously.
"It's not the book!" Melissa exploded, the tears finally coming.
"It's the lie!.... It's the, 'it's just business, *amore*,' .....while he's sharing personal moments with her in *my* space! , you think what's next?"Melissa said.
"Him sharing with her a Brunch at my favorite café?...A cozy chat in *my* art room, uh?"Melissa added.
"Just don't overreacting girl,..... relax and maybe ,he will mention what he was doing... I don't know about Sophie but I'm sure Luca Loves you" Chloe said before Sphie's slap landed on her shoulder.
"Hey not cool Chloe, I am too..... Listen Mel!, I'm hundred percent sure he loves you and he won't do anything to hurt you.... you have to trust him"Sophie added and Chloe nodded to support.
"I'm trying..... I really am"
Melissa said before hugging her legs and buried her face between thighs.
#LATER-ON, INPENTHOUSE.
Back at the penthouse, she was a storm waiting to break.
When Luca returned that evening, he found her not in their bedroom, but in her art studio.
Standing before the now-covered portrait of him, her arms crossed.
"Melissa?... What's wrong?" he asked, his tone weary.
"How was your day?" she asked, her voice dangerously calm.
"Long.... Stressful.... Bruno is being impossible about the final contracts" He loosened his tie, moving to kiss her forehead.
She stepped back. "Did you get anything done? ....Aside from the contracts?"
A flicker of wariness in his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, did you have time for a little… personal shopping? In Trastevere, perhaps?"
Luca went very still. "You were following me?"
"I was buying paint!..... Even if I was following you....."She said and scoffed dramatically.
"Imagine my surprise when I saw my boyfriend looking relaxed and happy with his 'strictly business' ex-fiancée in a bookstore!"Melissa said, the silence spread in art studio room for a sec as Luca froze.
"Was that a clause in the Swiss deal, Luca? 'Must browse art books with client'?"She added and finally Luca had to say something.
"Melissa, it's not what you think," he said, his voice rising.
"She needed a book for a client meeting—some donor who loves Baroque art...I was already in the area seeing another contact..... It was a five-minute stop!"
"A five-minute stop?... Okay five minute stop you say .. five minute where you looked happier than you have with me in a week!" she shot back, the dam breaking.
"You're lying to me! ,By omission, by half-truths! 'Don't worry,' 'It's nothing,' 'Just business'! ....I am so tired of your business, Luca! I am tired of Sasha's name , her perfume in the air"
Her words hung in the air, As the fact Luca's shirt smell Sasha's perfume, charged and painful.
Luca's face hardened, the stress of the weeks finally snapping his control , he barely noticed the perfume of Sasha had him.
"You think I want this? You think I enjoy being pulled between my grandfather's demands, a failing company, and your insecurity?"He found himself raised voice out of anger , the word INSECURITY hitted eardrums of Melissa, really hard.
"My insecurity?" she laughed, a bitter, broken sound.
"Is that what you think?..You're the one who can't draw a boundary! Between your personal life and the hell of your business"She said, the voice low pitched but bit more angry tone, Luca stood still speechless for a moment.
"You're the one letting her back into your life, because of 'old obligations'! What about your obligation to me? To us?..."She said, her eyes flickered to pull back her tears from falling.
"I am trying to protect us!" he roared, slamming his hand on a worktable, sending brushes rattling.
"This money, this mess—if it isn't contained, it could affect everything! My family's standing, my own assets! Do you think our life in this penthouse, your gallery dreams, exist in a bubble? It's all connected!"He continued.
"And yes, sometimes I have to smile at people I'd rather not to secure that life! For us!"He said.
The room vibrated with their anger, a chasm widening between them.
The steamy passion that had always been their failsafe was now a distant memory, burned away by the heat of their fury.
Melissa stared at him, seeing not the man she loved, but the Moretti heir, burdened by a world she never asked for.
"Then maybe," she said, her voice suddenly quiet and lethally cold, "This life isn't for me ... if it means Money, Maybe I don't want to be protected"She paused and tossed her face away to hide her wet eyes and then flickered them from tearing tears.
"And If it means every smile you give me feels like a leftover from a negotiation with her...Luca I'd rather give us a break"She said and then she was about to leave.
"No wait... don't let this get out of hand Melissa.... It's just a business and if you feel insecure about it then it's the best for you to stop following me secretly behind my back "He said.
"Oh! trust me, I will..."her eyes flickered but couldn't help letting down tears in pain ,Anger and hurts, She turned and walked out of the studio, out of the penthouse.
Leaving Luca standing amidst the ruins of their argument, her final words echoing in the silence like a death knell against Luca.
The drama was no longer a spectator sport, It had become the fabric of their relationship, and it was tearing them apart at the seams.