Tyrese rushed away with the Family doctor at his side.
Cradling the bleeding Serafina in his arms as though she were his wife, he disappeared down the corridor without sparing me a second glance.
To him, I was invisible.
The panic on his face, the desperation in his eyes, the concern etched into every line of his expression, none of it was for me.
It was all for her.
And in that moment, I realized something that shattered what little hope I had left.
He had never looked at me that way.
Not even two years ago during the Calabrese ambush, when I stepped between him and a blade and took the knife graze meant for him.
Not then.
Not ever.
The truth struck me with brutal clarity.
Serafina was never just some low-ranking companion brought in through the associate families to preserve the Valente bloodline.
She was his.
And now she was carrying his child.
I slammed my bedroom door behind me.
The loud bang echoed through the room, but it brought me no comfort.
Nothing could.
Crossing the room, I stopped by the window.
Below, the city lights illuminated Valente territory, casting a golden glow over rooftops and darkened streets. Out there, life carried on undisturbed, untouched by the chaos unraveling inside this house.
I would have traded anything to be out there.
Anywhere but here.
Anywhere but trapped inside this nightmare.
Yet I couldn't leave.
I was bound by a marriage covenant.
Bound by a name that had been stitched to mine for eight years.
Slowly, I sank onto the edge of the bed and closed my eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A year ago.
The day Serafina first arrived in Valente territory.
It had been an ordinary afternoon.
Marcello and I were sitting in Tyrese's study, discussing ways to strengthen patrols along the northern routes while waiting for him to arrive.
When the door opened, Tyrese walked in smiling.
A petite blonde woman followed closely behind him.
I frowned.
I'd never seen her before.
But I stayed silent.
"This is Serafina," Tyrese said. "She comes to us through the Ferretti associates as a companion. Some of our senior soldiers and capos who lost their wives have requested arrangements. They want children to carry on their names. She's here to help."
At the time, I hadn't fully understood the need for companion arrangements.
The concept felt crude.
Uncomfortable.
But if it helped maintain loyalty among our men and eased the grief of those who had buried the women they loved, then who was I to object?
Serafina appeared shy and soft-spoken.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Yet something about her felt off.
Tyrese introduced her as a kind-hearted woman who had lost everything and was willing to offer herself to the Family in the most selfless way possible.
I had even felt sorry for her.
Now, looking back, I realized that was exactly what Tyrese had wanted.
My sympathy.
My trust.
He had played his role perfectly, presenting Serafina as a victim when in reality she was already becoming my replacement.
The very next day after her arrival, I found a flower-shaped earring lying on the couch inside Tyrese's study.
I picked it up and frowned.
It wasn't mine.
I never wore flower-shaped earrings.
More importantly, Tyrese hated having women in his study unless absolutely necessary.
He had even established a strict rule years ago that we would never be intimate there because it was where Family business was conducted.
So I confronted him.
His response was laughter.
"C'mon, Catalina," he said, pulling me into a hug. "Are you seriously jealous over an earring?"
He kissed my forehead.
"People come and go from this room all the time. It probably belonged to someone who attended one of my sit-downs."
I wanted to believe him.
So I did.
For most of that first year, I barely saw Serafina.
She spent her time around the men desperate for heirs.
Whenever I saw her, she smiled sweetly and politely, appearing grateful for the attention they gave her.
And every time I imagined what her role required, my stomach twisted.
The thought of being passed from one man to another until I produced a child was unbearable.
But Serafina always looked content.
Happy, even.
At the time, I believed it was because she had found acceptance within the Family.
How foolish I was.
Meanwhile, Tyrese became increasingly busy.
Weeks would pass without us spending meaningful time together.
He worked late nights in his study.
He traveled frequently.
He claimed he was dealing with investor meetings for our shipping front and hotel operations.
He spoke endlessly about rival crews testing our northern border.
Back then, I believed every word.
Now, with tears burning behind my eyes, I understood the truth.
Those late nights.
Those trips.
Those excuses.
That was when Tyrese and Serafina were together.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The reason those grieving soldiers remained childless.
The reason no arrangements ever seemed to work.
The reason Serafina never disappeared from Valente territory despite supposedly serving so many men.
She wasn't serving them.
She was serving him.
While those desperate men waited for children that never came, Serafina was seducing the Don himself.
And Tyrese, a man who desperately wanted an heir, had fallen willingly into her arms.
Tyrese and I had spent years trying for a child.
Every day, I prayed.
I lit candles in the small chapel tucked away in the east wing.
I begged God for a son.
A daughter.
Anything.
But my prayers were never answered.
We had been married for eight years.
By our sixth year together, I felt Tyrese had accepted what everyone else already believed.
That I was barren.
He stopped trying.
Stopped hoping.
Or so I thought.
Last year, his hope suddenly returned.
He began saying we should try again.
That maybe things would be different.
But somehow he never had the time.
Never had the opportunity.
Now I knew why.
His renewed hope had nothing to do with me.
It wasn't because he believed in us.
It was because he had found a younger woman who could give him what I couldn't.
And Serafina hadn't disappointed him.
She had given him more than a child.
She had captured his heart.
The realization ignited a fresh wave of rage.
I grabbed a pillow and hurled it across the room.
It struck the framed photograph hanging on the wall.
The one from our blood oath ceremony.
The picture crashed to the floor.
Glass shattered.
A long crack split the image directly between us.
Separating us.
Just as reality already had.
"Damn you, Tyrese!"
My voice broke as tears streamed down my face.
For one ugly, bitter moment, I wished Serafina would lose the baby.
The thought horrified me.
But I didn't care.
Not then.
They had betrayed me.
Humiliated me.
Made me feel worthless.
Part of me wanted them to feel even a fraction of the pain they had caused.
That child should have been mine.
That future should have belonged to me.
But God ignored my bitterness.
Two hours later, Marcello called.
Serafina was out of danger.
Alessia had managed to stop the bleeding.
Even more astonishingly, despite the blood loss, the baby remained perfectly healthy.
As though nothing had happened at all.
Shortly after the call ended, my phone vibrated.
A message from Tyrese.
"Catalina. Dinner with Serafina. 6:00 PM at the Mirage. Make sure you come."
My first instinct was to refuse.
To ignore him.
To let them both go to hell.
But then I reconsidered.
Perhaps it was finally time to remind the companion exactly where she belonged.
So I replied with a single word.
"Yes."
