Giulia's apartment overlooked the city from a height most people never reached.
The floor-to-ceiling windows revealed streets that seemed smaller than they were, like pieces on a board. Everything in the apartment was expensive but chosen with care, plain colors, sharp lines, nothing unnecessary. It was a place that suggested success without being flashy.
Valentina stood by the window with her arms folded, watching the cars below move quietly, like slow currents in a river.
Giulia leaned on the kitchen counter, holding a wineglass, and watched her friend with a curious frown.
"You've been quiet since you walked in," she said. "That's never a good sign."
Valentina smiled faintly. "I didn't come here for small talk."
Giulia straightened. "Then sit. Tell me."
Valentina moved to the sofa but didn't sit. She paced once, slowly, then stopped.
"My sister is getting married."
Giulia blinked. "Sofia? Since when?"
"Since yesterday," Valentina replied. "The engagement hasn't been announced yet."
Giulia frowned. "To who?"
Valentina hesitated. Just a second.
"Lorenzo Moretti."
The name landed hard.
Giulia's expression changed at once, moving from curiosity to sharp interest.
"The Moretti?" she asked. "As in banks, secret money, quiet control of half the city?"
Valentina nodded.
Giulia let out a low whistle. "That's not just marriage. That's a merger."
"That's exactly what it is."
Giulia set her glass down slowly. "I thought his fiancée died."
"She did," Valentina said. "And she was buried yesterday."
Giulia stared at her. "And they're already arranging another wedding?"
"Yes."
A heavy, uneasy silence filled the room.
Giulia walked closer. "And Sofia just… accepted?"
Valentina gave a small shrug. "She didn't hesitate."
"Of course she didn't," Giulia said. "That girl would marry a ghost if it came with luxury."
Valentina didn't smile this time.
"She thinks it's glamorous," she said quietly. "She doesn't see the danger."
Giulia studied her friend's face carefully. "But you do."
"I see too much," Valentina replied.
Giulia tilted her head. "Then why are you here?"
Valentina finally sat down.
"Because," she said, choosing her words carefully, "this kind of joining doesn't happen without consequences. And Sofia doesn't understand what it means to marry into a family like that. All she sees is the glamour and being called Mrs Morreti."
Giulia crossed her arms. "And you understand the consequences?"
Valentina met her eyes. "I understand what it means to be powerless in a powerful room."
Giulia went quiet.
"You told them it was a bad idea," Giulia said slowly.
"Yes."
"And they didn't listen."
"No."
Giulia sighed. "They never do."
Valentina looked down at her hands. "I thought you should know. In case things… change."
Giulia's brows drew together. "Change how?"
She hesitated.
"I don't know," Valentina said honestly. "But power like that doesn't stay where it's placed. It moves."
Giulia was silent for a long moment.
Then she smiled.
Her smile was not kind.
"Do you know what I think?" she said.
Valentina looked up.
"I think you're looking at this from the wrong angle."
Valentina stiffened slightly. "Meaning?"
Giulia sat across from her, leaning forward. "You're worried about Sofia marrying Lorenzo Moretti."
"Yes."
"But you're forgetting something," Giulia said. "You're a Valeri."
Valentina laughed softly. "Only when it's convenient."
Giulia ignored that. "You have the last name. The family line. The right background, at least on paper."
Valentina's smile faded. "Giulia"
"If Sofia messes this up," Giulia continued, "you're the logical replacement."
Valentina shook her head immediately. "No."
Giulia's eyes sharpened. "Why not?"
"Because I'm not part of that plan," Valentina said firmly.
"Plans change."
Valentina stood up.
"Why didn't they choose you?" Guilia asked
"People don't know me, I mean, I have the name on paper, but no one knows I am related to them," Valentina answered
"Exactly! You've been the hidden daughter your whole life. You need to be seen, you need that power, and now is your chance. Everything you want to do to redeem yourself requires power, and you can use this moment," Giulia said.
"So what are you saying?" Valentina asked, looking confused
"Go after him instead. You're a smart woman. You helped your father during his campaign, and that's how he won. I'm saying you should marry Lorenzo instead. I know you. You can figure out a way," Giulia said.
"This isn't funny." Valentina responded and moved towards her bag
Giulia followed her movement. "I'm not joking."
Valentina's voice dropped. "I will not fight my sister for a man I don't know."
Giulia sighed. "You're not going to fight. You're smarter than that. Right now, you're thinking with your feelings."
"I'm thinking realistically." Valentina responded
"No," Giulia said. "You're thinking small."
The words hurt.
"You think Sofia marrying him gives her power," Giulia continued. "But Sofia doesn't understand power. You do."
Valentina's hands clenched at her sides.
"You've spent your life watching rooms from the outside," Giulia said. "You see how decisions are made. You see who survives them."
Valentina turned away. "I don't want that life."
Giulia stood too. "You already live it. You just don't benefit from it."
Silence fell between them.
"Valentina," Giulia said more softly, "this is an opportunity."
"For what?" Valentina asked. "To be owned?"
"To be protected."
Valentina laughed once, bitter and short. "By a man who replaces his fiancée before she's cold in the ground?"
Giulia didn't answer that.
"You need power," Giulia said instead. "More than Sofia ever will. You need it to survive your family."
Valentina turned to face her. "I survive by staying invisible."
"That's not survival," Giulia said. "That's waiting."
Valentina grabbed her coat.
"I didn't come here to be convinced," she said.
Giulia frowned. "Then why did you come?"
Valentina paused at the door.
"Because I needed to say it out loud," she replied. "So I wouldn't lie to myself later."
Giulia crossed her arms. "You're making a mistake."
Valentina opened the door.
"No," she said quietly. "I'm choosing not to make one."
She stepped into the hallway.
Behind her, Giulia didn't follow.
The door closed softly.
Valentina stood still for a moment, breathing in the silence. Her heart was steady. Her hands no longer shook.
She didn't know what would come next.
But she knew one thing clearly.
She would not be pulled into power because of someone else's plans.
Not willingly.
She walked away, not knowing that decisions were already being rewritten and that refusal, in families like hers, was never the end.
It was only the beginning.