Chapter 1: The Curls on the Floor
“Don’t worry, I trim my dog’s fur regularly.””
Those were the words that ended Bianca’s future with me.
But before that moment, before the electric clippers fell silent and my son’s terrified cries echoed through the house, I believed I was about to marry the woman who would become his second mother.
I was wrong.
For months, everyone told me how lucky I was.
Bianca was beautiful, charming, and confident. She knew how to enter a room and make people notice her. My friends said she brought excitement into my quiet life. My family said Livia and I finally deserved someone who could help us move forward after losing so much.
And I wanted to believe them.
After my wife passed away, my entire world became my three-year-old son.
Livia was the reason I got out of bed every morning. His tiny hands reaching for mine, his sleepy voice calling me Daddy, the way he laughed whenever I made silly faces — those little moments kept me going.
When Bianca came into our lives, I hoped she would love him the way I did.
At first, she seemed perfect.
She brought him toys, read him bedtime stories, and told everyone, “Livia is the child I always wanted.””
I wanted those words to be true.
I wanted to believe I had found someone who could complete our little family.
But there were small moments I ignored.
The way Bianca sighed when Livia got paint on his clothes.
The way she complained when he wanted me to carry him instead of her.
The way she would smile around other people, but her expression changed when nobody was watching.
I convinced myself I was overthinking.
Until the afternoon of her bridal fitting.
The wedding was only two weeks away.
Bianca had spent months planning every detail. The flowers, the venue, the decorations — everything had to be perfect.
That morning, she kissed me goodbye and said, “I’m going to make this house ready for our new life.””
I smiled.
I had no idea she meant she was about to change my son.
I was working in my office when I heard it.
A scream.
Not a tantrum.
Not a child being stubborn.
A scream filled with fear.
“Daddy!””
My chair moved before I even thought.
I ran down the hallway toward Livia’s room.
The door was slightly open.
And what I saw stopped me cold.
Livia was sitting in front of the mirror, tears covering his cheeks. His small shoulders shook as he tried to move away.
Bianca stood behind him holding electric clippers.
Curly pieces of his hair covered the floor.
His hair.
The curls he loved.
The curls his mother used to brush every night.
“Bianca,” I said quietly.
She turned around, surprised.
“Oh, you’re home early.””
Livia looked at me immediately.
“Daddy… Daddy.””
His voice broke.
I walked into the room.
“What are you doing?””
Bianca rolled her eyes like I was asking something ridiculous.
“I’m fixing his hair. It was getting messy.””
I looked at the clippers in her hand.
Then I looked at my son.
“Fixing?””
She smiled.
“Yes. Honestly, I don’t know why you’re upset. It’s just hair.””
Livia reached for me.
I stepped forward.
That was when Bianca lifted the clippers again.
And that was when I moved.
I took them from her hand.
“Enough.””
For the first time since I met her, Bianca looked uncertain.
“Alessandro, don’t be dramatic.””
I pulled Livia behind me.
His tiny fingers grabbed the back of my shirt.
I could feel him trembling.
I stared at the curls scattered across the floor.
Then I looked at Bianca.
And I finally saw something I had refused to see for months.
She wasn’t upset that she hurt him.
She was upset that I caught her.
“What were you thinking?”” I asked.
Bianca crossed her arms.
“I was trying to help. You’re acting like I did something terrible.””
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You scared him.””
“He’s a child. Children cry.””
I felt something inside me break.
The woman I was supposed to marry was standing in front of me, defending the fear in my son’s eyes.
I picked up Livia and held him against my chest.
“Touch my son again and the wedding is over.””
The room went silent.
Bianca’s confident expression disappeared.
“What did you say?””
I didn’t answer.
I walked toward the vanity where her engagement ring sat beside her jewelry box.
I picked it up.
Her eyes widened.
“Alessandro…”
I looked at the ring.
Then at the curls on the floor.
“Wedding?”” I whispered.
Her face changed.
“What?””
I placed the ring in my palm.
“Is that really what you’re worried about right now?””
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
I dropped the ring onto the vanity.
Then I walked away with my son.
But as I stepped into the hallway, I heard Bianca’s voice behind me.
“You’re making a huge mistake.””
I stopped.
Because the way she said it wasn’t angry.
It was almost confident.
May you like
Like she knew something I didn’t.
And when I turned around, she was holding something in her hand that made my stomach tighten.
