Camilla lounged across the sofa like a queen surrounded by loyal subjects, basking in every ounce of attention. A smug smile curved her lips as she lazily rested one hand over her swollen belly.
"Oh, honestly," she laughed, her tone dripping with self-satisfaction. "You're all treating me like I'm made of crystal just because I'm pregnant. Isn't everyone being a little dramatic?"
Before anyone else could answer, she turned to me with feigned innocence. Her fingers stroked her stomach almost theatrically, as if she had rehearsed the gesture.
"Oh... I completely forgot." Her eyes sparkled with cruel amusement. "You can't have children anymore, can you? Tell me, Serafina... you're not jealous of all the attention the little pregnant woman is getting, are you?"
A chill settled over my face.
The Vitale matriarch immediately sensed the tension and hurried to smooth things over before the atmosphere collapsed.
"Of course not," she said with an uneasy smile. "Serafina has always been generous. She loves you just as much as the rest of us."
Camilla's lips curled ever so slightly.
Then she turned toward Tomasso.
"What about you, Tommy?" she asked sweetly. "Do you love me too?"
Tomasso froze.
The question had caught him completely off guard.
His eyes instinctively drifted toward me before quickly looking away. His thumb unconsciously rubbed over the gold wedding band on his finger, betraying the conflict he tried so hard to hide.
I looked around at every familiar face before me.
The made men.
The false daughter.
The smiling elders.
Every one of them wore the same carefully crafted mask.
Behind those warm expressions was nothing but deception.
The last trace of warmth inside me quietly died.
"Of course," someone answered with an easy laugh. "To Tomasso, you're family. Naturally he loves you."
I didn't stay another second.
Without another word, I offered a casual excuse, turned around, and walked out.
I had no desire to keep performing in their carefully staged little family play.
By the time I returned to the compound after finalizing every detail of my escape to the Yvora Republic with Iris Everett, it was already well past ten that night.
The Vitale couple had long since departed.
The mansion was wrapped in silence, every hallway swallowed by darkness.
Only a thin strip of light leaked from beneath the door of Tomasso's study.
Almost on instinct, I opened the hidden camera feed I had secretly installed weeks ago.
The image that appeared made my blood run cold.
Camilla.
She wasn't asleep in the guest room where everyone believed she was resting.
Instead, she lay sprawled across Tomasso's desk, her dress hanging carelessly from one shoulder, looking entirely at home.
She circled her arms around his neck, smiling with effortless confidence.
"So..." she purred, her lips almost brushing his ear. "You married Serafina just to keep Alessandro loyal to me?"
One slender finger slowly traced the center of his chest.
"You've loved me for so many years."
Her voice became softer, sweeter.
"And yet you ended up blood-bound to a woman who can never give you an heir."
She tilted her head.
"Tell me, Tomasso... don't you regret it?"
His breathing turned uneven.
He deliberately looked away from her.
"As long as you're happy..."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"...nothing else matters."
Camilla smiled in victory.
She caught his jaw between her fingers and forced him to look directly into her eyes before pressing her lips against his.
The kiss lingered.
Deliberate.
Possessive.
When she finally pulled away, her eyes shimmered with dangerous temptation.
"You've done so much for me."
"I should reward you."
Her fingers slipped over his collar.
"Tonight..."
"I want to belong to you."
Tomasso's entire body stiffened.
For a fleeting second, hesitation flashed across his face.
Seeing it, Camilla only laughed softly.
"Relax."
She rested a hand on her rounded belly.
"I'm already seven months along. The doctor said we'll be fine... as long as we're careful."
The final thread of his restraint snapped.
He pulled her fiercely into his arms.
The distance between them disappeared.
Outside, lightning tore across the night sky above the compound.
A deafening clap of thunder rolled through the estate, shaking the windows.
Just as Tomasso reached his breaking point, something suddenly flashed through his mind.
His expression changed.
"Serafina..."
His voice caught.
"She's terrified of thunderstorms."
He hurriedly gathered his clothes, threw them back on, and rushed upstairs without another thought.
When he pushed open our bedroom door, only the warm glow of the bedside lamp greeted him.
I lay beneath the blankets, breathing steadily, seemingly fast asleep.
Only then did he finally release the breath he'd been holding.
Relief softened his features.
He leaned down, pressed a feather-light kiss against my forehead, then quietly slipped into bed beside me.
For the next two weeks, he played the perfect husband whenever the sun was up.
Gentle.
Patient.
Attentive.
But every night, once darkness covered the estate, he disappeared behind the closed doors of his study...
...into Camilla's waiting arms.
At last, Alessandro arrived.
The Don himself had come to bring Camilla home.
The moment his eyes landed on me, surprise flickered across his face.
Perhaps regret.
Perhaps admiration.
For a brief moment, neither of us spoke.
Finally, he sighed.
"I did think about you these past two years."
His voice carried unmistakable guilt.
"It wasn't that I didn't care."
He lowered his eyes.
"But for the honor of the Family... I didn't have another choice."
After a long pause, he looked back at me.
"I hope... you don't hate me."
Bang!
The bedroom door upstairs burst open.
Camilla swept down the grand staircase, her heels striking the marble floor with sharp, echoing cracks like gunfire.
"Alessandro!"
She smiled brightly as though nothing in the world had ever gone wrong.
"I forgive you."
She waved toward the second floor.
"Go upstairs and pack my things."
"I'm coming home with you."
The instant Alessandro disappeared upstairs, the sweetness vanished from her face.
Her smile twisted into something vicious.
She slowly turned toward me.
"Serafina."
Her voice was filled with naked contempt.
"You pathetic little castoff."
"You actually believed you could compete with me for Alessandro?"
I didn't even bother answering.
I simply turned and walked away.
That only made her angrier.
She rushed after me, grabbing my arm with enough force that her nails pierced my skin.
"I really thought fate had finally smiled on you."
She laughed mockingly.
"Even after Alessandro threw you away, I figured at least one man still wanted you."
Her smile widened.
"But what a joke."
"Tomasso never loved you either."
Every word landed like another blade.
"Isn't that pathetic?"
Her eyes glittered with cruel satisfaction.
"So what if you were the Vitale family's real blood daughter?"
"So what if you were Alessandro's original fiancée?"
"In the end..."
She leaned close enough for only me to hear.
"...he still put his ring on my finger."
The room fell deathly silent.
Camilla's smile became almost inhuman.
Her whisper was soft.
Venomous.
"Remember this, Serafina."
"As long as I'm alive..."
"No one in this world will ever choose you."
"Not Father."
"Not Mother."
"Not Tomasso."
"And certainly..."
"...not Alessandro."
