"Penelope, what nonsense are you spouting?!"
I struggled to break free, and the wound below tore open again. Blood soaked through the bedsheets in an instant.
Omero panicked at the sight. He gathered me into his arms, clumsy and desperate. "Penny, stop moving. Please."
I pried his hands off me and glared straight at him. "Omero, you've been lying to me for years. Was it worth it?"
"Hundreds of lives. And my two children. Don't you lose sleep at night?"
Omero's hand hung frozen in midair, trembling beyond his control. His right hand drifted toward the inside of his left wrist, pressing hard against the pulse point before he caught himself.
"You know about all of it?"
When I said nothing, he rushed to explain. "Penny, I had no choice. People in Millhaven saw you with the Valente heir. If the pregnancy got out, it would have torn the Commission apart."
I let out a bitter laugh. "Was it really about the Commission? Or were you afraid your precious Chloe would lose her position?"
Omero's brow creased. Whatever guilt had been in his eyes vanished, replaced by cold displeasure. "That was all my decision. Chloe had nothing to do with it. Leave her out of this."
Even now, he was still shielding Chloe. The last thread of hope in me snapped.
"Then what about my children? The first one, fine. I'll blame myself for grieving too hard to protect it. But the second?"
Omero saw that I had ripped away the final veil, and he stopped pretending. "Yes. I had someone take care of it."
"I wasn't ready to be a father."
"Even now, you're still lying to me..."
"Penny, stop this. Whatever I've done, I owe you. I've sworn a blood oath. I'll make it up to you. I'll give you a life of wealth and protection, secure in your place as my wife for the rest of your days."
I didn't want to hear another hollow promise. "Omero, I don't want any of it. I'll give up everything. Just grant me the annulment and set yourself free."
"If you're worried I'll expose the massacre, you can have my life too."
"All I'm asking is that you save Ruby."
I thought the weight of hundreds of dead souls from Millhaven on his conscience would be enough to buy one life. I still underestimated how shameless he was.
"Penny, stop. I can't help you this time."
"Chloe's been through a trauma. She's always been sensitive and stubborn. If Ruby doesn't die, Chloe won't be able to sleep."
And then I finally understood. In Omero's heart, the lives of ordinary people weren't worth as much as one good night's rest for Chloe Volpe.
I shoved him away and dragged my broken body across the floor toward the courtyard. The compound was silent around us, the household staff pressed against walls, eyes averted, the way people in this world learned to become invisible when blood was on the ground. I collapsed at Chloe's feet, clutching the hem of her skirt. "Signora, please spare Ruby. It was all my fault."
Chloe looked down at me with a satisfied smirk. Her fingers traced the edge of her sleeve with slow, almost loving precision. "Your fault how?"
"I'm lowborn. I should never have troubled the Family doctor."
"I should never have displeased you."
"Enough. The sight of you covered in blood is revolting."
Chloe kicked me away in disgust and turned to Omero. "Omero, I'm tired. Walk me back?"
Omero looked at me sprawled on the ground. He hesitated for a moment. But in the end, he chose Chloe.
I reached for Ruby beside me, her breath barely there, and called after him one last time. "My lord, could you at least send for Dr. Pastore?"
Omero opened his mouth to give the order, but Chloe cut him off. "No one calls for any doctor. I've already spared her life. Whether she survives is her own fate."
Omero looked back at me, something unreadable churning behind his eyes. His jaw tightened. Then he walked away.
Everything I had held together shattered in that moment. I screamed at his retreating back, "Omero Rossetti, I want an annulment!"
Chloe had just reached the doorway. She laughed out loud and nudged Omero playfully. "She says she wants an annulment. Aren't you going to go coax her?"
Omero glared at me, visibly annoyed.
No need to coax her. She's just throwing a tantrum. She'd never survive outside this compound.
Besides, she's been pregnant twice and she's a second-time bride. Who else would want her but me?
He was right. Leaving the compound might very well be a death sentence. A woman alone, with no Family name and no protection, in territory carved up between men who killed over a sideways glance.
But staying was a fate worse than death.
I forced myself up through the pain, set the annulment papers on the table, and found a rickety service cart near the back entrance. I loaded Ruby onto it and walked out of the Rossetti compound.
The soldier at the gate watched me go. He didn't stop me. The Don's seal on those papers outranked every man in that house.
This time, I was finally free.
