I woke up to shouting outside, the kind that shakes you out of sleep before you're ready. When I opened my door, I saw a woman in the garden of the neighboring villa, clutching at a man's shirt.
"Tino, I gave you ten years of my life. I even had your children," she sobbed. "When we got married, you swore you'd love me forever. And now, just a few years later, you're sneaking around with another woman?"
It was barely sunrise, but plenty of people were already out along the lakefront walk, stretching, enjoying the morning air beneath the cypress trees. Now they all stopped, staring, whispers rising as the scene unfolded.
The man, Tino, someone everyone in the gated community knew, went pale when he saw the crowd. He yanked the woman inside and snapped at her.
"What's wrong with you? How many times do I have to tell you? No man stays loyal."
His words cut like glass. I stood frozen, the echo of them clawing at me. Then a warm hand slid over my ear from behind, shielding me.
"Don't listen to that nonsense, Arianna," Marcello murmured.
I didn't turn to him. "Tell me, Marcello… do all men cheat in the end?"