Chapter 4

I had Alessandro post a photo of us holding hands on his Instagram.

The caption was simple: [Newlyweds.]

My reasoning was to convince everyone that our marriage was perfect.

I also noticed his Instagram was incredibly clean—aside from that post, there was nothing.

A man like him probably lived a highly disciplined and boring life.

That night, he actually took the bed and left me to sleep on the sofa.

Zero gentlemanly instincts. Whatever, at least this arrangement worked.

The next morning, Alessandro woke me up.

At the crack of dawn, he was blasting music while doing push-ups.

They say men who aren't interested in women have boring private lives.

But looking at his muscular, powerful frame... he was leagues ahead of Carlo.

"Stop staring. I'm not interested in you," he suddenly said, pushing himself up from the floor.

"Get dressed. We're having breakfast."

Translation: let's go play the happy couple.

Honestly, he wasn't that hard to deal with. Why had he been so brutal to Victoria in our past life?

Once I got ready, we walked out together.

Almost immediately, we ran into Victoria and Carlo walking hand-in-hand.

Victoria rushed over, grabbing my hand with fake concern. Her voice was just loud enough for the nearby servants to hear. "Sera, why is your wrist so bruised? Did you trip? Did Alessandro... do something to you?" She glanced at Alessandro, heavily implying I was being abused. Meanwhile, her own high-neck collar parted slightly, revealing dark purple handprint bruises on her throat.

She looked incredibly smug as she sized me up.

[Wrapped up so tightly, she must be hiding bruises from being beaten.]

Her thoughts echoed in my head, followed by a triumphant laugh.

"Sera, how was your wedding night?"

Today, I was wearing a classy, modest maxi dress.

Victoria seemed to have forgotten that Donna Marta despised any vulgar or overly revealing outfits in family areas.

But I wasn't about to correct her.

I simply smiled.

"Victoria, according to family hierarchy, you should address me as your superior."

Her face instantly soured, and she gritted her teeth. "Alessandro hasn't even demanded that. What makes you think you have the right?"

She then turned to Alessandro.

"Alessandro, tell her!"

I could feel the temperature around Alessandro instantly drop.

In his mind, Carlo was roaring: [Stupid b*tch! Just wait till tonight, I'm going to ruin you!]

Carlo yanked Victoria's hand, signaling her to shut up.

But she was still completely oblivious to the danger.

"Carlo, what is the first rule of this family?" Alessandro asked, his voice low and dangerous.

Carlo immediately bowed his head.

"I'm sorry. I'll correct her immediately."

The next second, a loud *SLAP* echoed as Carlo struck Victoria across the face.

"Greet your superior right now!"

Victoria's face burned bright red from the blow. She looked like she was about to explode with rage.

But knowing Alessandro was not someone to be messed with, she could only grit her teeth and mutter, "Good morning, Sera."

With that, Carlo dragged her away.

I knew the rules. The absolute first rule of the Rossi family: never show disrespect to the heir or his wife.

And Alessandro was the sole heir.

In my past life, I had memorized every single rule just to survive.

Back then, Victoria had bullied me constantly because I obeyed the rules and didn't dare fight back.

She probably thought she could do the same in this life, completely ignoring the family laws.