I cried out from the pain immediately. “Xander please...” I begged weakly while stumbling beside him. “I’m bleeding...”
But he kept walking.
“Poor woman… look at her, she can barely stand.”
“He’s dragging her like a ragdoll. Doesn’t he see she’s hurt?”
“I feel so sorry for Miss Lorraine. He used to love her so much before that witch came.”
“Her bandages are red again… she’s losing so much blood.”
Their whispers pierced my ears, but Xander acted like he heard nothing. My hospital gown brushed against my legs while warm blood slowly soaked through the bandages around my stomach again, and still he didn’t stop..
The elevator opened directly onto the luxury VIP floor. The difference between our rooms made me feel sick. Mine looked like somewhere strangers went to die quietly.
Claudia’s private suite looked like a five star hotel with a private kitchen, luxury furniture, fresh flowers everywhere, and several doctors standing around her nervously.
And Claudia herself? She's perfectly fine. She was sitting comfortably on the couch eating strawberries while watching TV. The moment she saw me, she immediately frowned and leaned closer to Xander.
“Why does she look at me like that?” she complained softly. “I’m the one who got traumatized.”
I almost laughed again. Traumatized? I was the one lying in blood on the pavement. But suddenly I felt too tired to fight anymore... So tired.
I lowered my head quietly. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t have disturbed Miss Claudia.”
Anna looked devastated behind me but Claudia still looked unhappy.
“Pff! That apology doesn’t sound sincere at all,” she huffed while crossing her arms. “You’re acting like I bullied you or something.”
I clenched my fists silently.
“In my hometown,” Claudia continued proudly, “people apologize properly when they hurt someone. Not like this cold rich people nonsense.”
Xander nodded immediately like everything she said made perfect sense.
“She’s right.”
Then Claudia suddenly smiled sweetly.
“You know what? I’ll forgive you if you cook for me.”
I looked up slowly.
“What?”
“I’m hungry,” she said casually. “And I heard you’re good at cooking. I want a full dinner. Like... a really huge one. Make it yourself.”
Anna looked horrified. “Mrs. Moretti can barely stand!”
Claudia shrugged. “Then don’t force her. I guess she just doesn’t feel sorry.”
Xander looked at me coldly.
“Go cook.”
My stomach twisted painfully. “Xander...” My voice shook badly. “I’m injured.”
“You’ll survive,” he answered indifferently. “Doctors are right here if something happens.”
Something happens.
Like I wasn’t already falling apart in front of him.
I stopped arguing after that because what was the point anymore? I dragged my weak body toward the private kitchen inside Claudia’s suite while trying not to cry from the pain every time I moved. The floor felt cold under my feet and my hands shook so badly I could barely hold the knife properly.
Still, I cooked.
Soup. Steak. Pasta. Seafood.
Dish after dish while sweat and tears mixed together down my face. Several times I had to grip the counter because the pain in my stomach got so bad my vision blurred, but every time I slowed down, Claudia found another problem.
“This steak’s overcooked.”
“The soup’s too salty.”
“I wanted truffle pasta, not cream pasta! Xander, why can't she cook properly? I'm starting to get annoyed.”
Xander sat beside her the whole time saying nothing. Not once did he tell her to stop. Not once did he look at me with concern.
Hours passed.
By the time I finished the last dish, my legs were shaking so badly I could barely stay standing. I carried the tray toward Claudia with numb hands.
Then one of the nurses suddenly gasped loudly.
“Oh my God! Mrs. Moretti!”
I looked down slowly.
Blood was dripping heavily from beneath my hospital gown onto the white floor tiles. Anna screamed my name and rushed toward me.
I tried opening my mouth. I tried saying something but the room suddenly spun around me and everything went black again.
…
When I woke up again, the doctor was already standing beside my bed with his head lowered. Anna was crying quietly in the corner.
The second I saw their faces, I already knew. Still, my voice came out shaking. “What happened...?”
The doctor hesitated before speaking carefully. “Mrs. Moretti... you were pregnant.”
My entire body froze. Pregnant?
My hand slowly moved to my stomach without thinking. “No...” I whispered weakly.
The doctor looked devastated. “The injury and blood loss were too severe. We couldn’t save the baby.”
The room went completely silent... I stared blankly at the ceiling. Another baby. Another child gone.
And suddenly all I could remember was Xander years ago when I got pregnant with Kyle and Cora.
He was insane with happiness back then.
The terrifying mafia boss the whole country feared had cried while kneeling beside me in our bathroom because the pregnancy test came back positive.
He canceled meetings. Canceled shipments. Canceled negotiations with mafia families overseas.
Nothing mattered except me and the babies.
Every night he came home early just to touch my stomach and talk to them.
“Daddy’s here,” he’d whisper softly.
God.
What happened to us? What happened to him?
Anna broke down crying harder. “This is all because of them,” she sobbed angrily. “They destroyed you...”
I slowly rubbed my flat stomach.
There had been a tiny life there. And now there was nothing. Just emptiness. Just like my marriage.
The hospital room door suddenly opened hard.
Xander walked in quickly. For the first time in months, he actually looked shaken.
His hair was messy like he’d been running his hands through it for hours. His shirt sleeves were rolled up unevenly and there were dark circles under his eyes.
“Lory...” His voice sounded rough.
I turned my face away immediately. He walked over fast and sat beside my bed, then tried reaching for my hand but I pulled away.
The movement hurt my body badly but I still did it.
Xander froze for a second before sighing heavily. “We’ll have another baby, you can get pregnant again."
I laughed quietly. Hearing those words from him felt cruel.
Another baby?
“No,” I whispered weakly while staring at the ceiling. “We won’t.”
He frowned immediately. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I didn’t answer.
Xander adjusted my blanket carefully. “You need rest,” he muttered quietly. “I’ll stay here with you for a few days.”
I closed my eyes. I didn’t wanna look at him anymore and somehow, he actually stayed.
...
For the next several days, Xander barely left my side. He fed me medicine himself. Helped me sit up. Even brushed my hair once when he thought I was asleep. It almost felt like the old Xander again.
Almost.
But every time I looked at him, all I saw was the man who stood beside Claudia while our children’s ashes exploded in the sky. Nothing could erase that anymore.
I kept asking him to leave and every single time he refused.
Then on the fifth day, everything changed again.
One of his men suddenly burst into the hospital suite looking panicked. “Boss! Miss Claudia disappeared!”
