"You still don't know the truth, do you?" Camilla's smile widened with cruel delight. "Tomasso has loved me from the very beginning."
My fingers curled into tight fists. The thin gold ring that had once belonged to my mother dug painfully into my skin.
"W... what did you say?" My voice came out hoarse, trembling despite my efforts.
She laughed.
"Do you really think Tomasso spends every night locked away in that study because he's busy? That room is filled with every ounce of his longing for me."
She stepped closer, her eyes glittering with triumph.
"He even promised me that if you ever became pregnant, he'd make sure that child never lived long enough to be born. He would never allow anyone to threaten my baby's place as the true heir of the Graziano Family."
Her laughter rang through the room.
"Isn't that romantic?"
A surge of rage nearly stole my breath.
"You aren't afraid Alessandro will hear you?"
Before she could answer, steady footsteps echoed down the staircase.
Unhurried.
Confident.
The footsteps of a man who believed every inch of this house already belonged to him.
Camilla reacted instantly.
Without warning, she grabbed my wrist and slammed my hand hard across her own face.
The sharp crack echoed through the hall.
The next second, she deliberately threw herself backward.
She landed perfectly in Alessandro's waiting arms.
Almost simultaneously, furious voices exploded from the doorway.
"Serafina!"
Tomasso's voice.
"Have you lost your mind?"
My parents rushed in behind him.
Camilla buried herself against Alessandro's chest, clutching her reddened cheek.
Tears streamed down her face as though she had suffered the greatest injustice imaginable.
One trembling hand protectively covered her swollen stomach.
"Alessandro..."
Her voice broke into sobs.
"I never imagined... after all these years... my sister would still hate me for marrying you."
She shook her head pitifully.
"But you didn't choose me because you stopped loving her."
"It was for the alliance... for the bloodlines of the Vitale and Graziano Families."
Fresh tears spilled over.
"She's jealous because I'm carrying your child."
"She said..."
Camilla's lips quivered dramatically.
"She said she wanted me to suffer the same fate she did."
"To lose my chance of ever becoming a mother."
I hadn't spoken a single word.
Yet when I looked up...
Alessandro.
Tomasso.
My own parents.
Every one of them stared at me with the same icy condemnation.
Disgust.
Disappointment.
Judgment.
Alessandro's expression turned frigid.
"If anything happens to Camilla's baby..."
His voice carried absolute authority.
"...you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
Without another glance, he swept Camilla into his arms and strode out of the mansion.
His soldiers closed ranks behind him like an iron wall.
Bang!
Tomasso slammed his fist against the doorframe so hard the wood shuddered.
His eyes burned with anger.
"Serafina!"
"I never thought you could become someone this vicious!"
"What happened to you wasn't Camilla's fault!"
"So why are you taking your hatred out on her?"
Even my parents joined in.
They rebuked me without hesitation.
Called me reckless.
Disgraceful.
A stain on the Vitale Family's honor.
Nothing to do with Camilla?
Tomasso actually had the audacity to say those words.
The fury inside me exploded.
I wanted to expose everything.
I wanted to tell him exactly who Camilla really was.
But before a single word could leave my mouth...
The room spun violently.
My vision blurred.
Darkness swallowed everything.
...
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying in one of the Family's private hospitals, hidden far from public records.
Tomasso sat beside my bed.
Both of his hands tightly wrapped around mine.
The moment he saw I was awake, relief flooded his face.
"Serafina..."
His voice shook.
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"
A faint, icy smile surfaced deep inside me.
So...
He finally knew.
Perfect.
Then I'd simply make the surprise even bigger.
My eyes slowly filled with tears.
"The doctor said..."
My voice was barely a whisper.
"...it's only been a little over a month."
"With my condition..."
I lowered my eyes.
"There's no guarantee I'll be able to keep the baby."
"I didn't want to tell anyone until I knew for certain."
Tears rolled silently down my cheeks.
"Why would I be jealous of Camilla?"
"I'm carrying your child."
"I would never hurt her."
"She framed me."
Tomasso tightened his grip around my hand.
His thumb unconsciously rubbed against his wedding ring as guilt washed over him.
"I'll speak to Alessandro."
"And to your parents."
His voice hardened.
"Camilla has gone too far this time."
I slowly closed my eyes.
"I'm tired."
"I don't want to see anyone."
He understood.
Or at least he believed he did.
After gently tucking the blanket around me, he stood.
"Rest."
"I'll clear your name."
Then he quietly left the room.
Only a few hours later, my parents arrived.
The same people who had condemned me without hesitation now wore warm smiles.
They praised my good fortune.
Blessed the child in my womb.
Right in front of me, they even criticized Camilla for acting impulsively and forgetting the dignity expected of the Family.
As though none of the previous humiliation had ever happened.
Then, almost casually, they remarked that if I safely delivered this baby...
The Graziano bloodline would gain another heir.
Lena Sterling slowly twisted the rings on her fingers as she spoke.
One.
Then another.
Her calculating eyes never stopped moving.
Watching her made my stomach churn.
I claimed exhaustion and asked Tomasso to send them away.
The moment the room finally fell quiet, I called my consigliere.
I instructed him to prepare the documents to dissolve our blood-pact.
When the papers arrived, I quietly slipped them between my prenatal reports.
Later, with a few soft smiles and carefully chosen words, I convinced Tomasso to sign everything without even looking.
One month.
After the mandatory waiting period...
Our marriage would officially end.
The effective date?
Tomasso's birthday.
The very day I intended to disappear from his life forever.
For the next month, he lived in complete happiness.
He couldn't stop talking about our baby.
About our future.
Completely oblivious to the fact that both were already slipping through his fingers.
He even ordered two nurseries to be renovated.
One decorated in soft pink.
The other in pale blue.
"So we're ready either way," he said with a smile.
"If it's a boy or a girl, everything will already be perfect."
Soon he was talking about a second child.
A son.
A daughter.
A complete family.
I merely smiled.
Tomasso...
I truly hope you're still smiling when your birthday arrives.
Finally...
The day came.
Early that morning, he wrapped me gently in his arms.
"It's my birthday," he whispered.
"Let's spend the whole day together."
Before we could leave...
His phone rang.
Camilla.
Over the past month, she'd repeatedly used visits to me as an excuse to get close to Tomasso.
Again and again, she'd tried to lure him back into her bed.
To my surprise...
He had refused every single time.
He kept telling himself he had chosen me.
Chosen our child.
That he owed us his loyalty.
Just when I almost believed he might truly have changed...
Camilla played her final card.
She claimed she had only wanted to deliver his birthday present.
But on the way...
Her car had been involved in an accident.
Her stomach hurt.
She was terrified something had happened to the baby.
Exactly as I expected...
Tomasso panicked.
Turning toward me, he lied without hesitation.
"There’s urgent business."
"I'll be back soon."
His thumb absentmindedly rubbed over his wedding ring as he spoke.
I smiled sweetly.
"When you come back..."
"I'll have a very special surprise waiting for you."
His eyes softened.
He noticed the small gift box in my hands.
Leaning forward, he kissed my forehead with unmistakable tenderness.
"I can't wait."
"We'll open it together."
The moment he walked out...
My phone rang.
Camilla.
I answered.
Her smug laughter came first.
"Serafina."
"It was me."
"Two years ago, I was the one who hired the men to snatch you."
She laughed again.
"I only found out the rest a few days ago."
"It wasn't your parents who rescued you."
"It was Tomasso."
"He spent a fortune protecting me."
"And the only reason he married you..."
"...was to stop you from digging any deeper."
Her voice grew even crueler.
"While I stayed in your house..."
"He came to me every single night."
"In that study."
"Again and again."
"He told me touching you made him sick."
"He had to imagine it was me..."
"...just to endure sleeping beside you."
A long silence followed.
Then came the final blow.
"Did you honestly believe..."
"...he could ever love the child inside your womb?"
She burst into triumphant laughter.
The call ended.
I stared at the dark screen.
Every word had been recorded.
Then I glanced at the scheduled message waiting to be sent at exactly the right moment.
A slow smile spread across my lips.
Camilla...
Enjoy your laughter while you still can.
It won't last much longer.
Just then, Tomasso called.
I watched the screen light up.
Then I let it ring.
Until it stopped.
After that...
I blocked his number.
And every remaining path that could ever lead him back to me.
Without looking back, I tightened my grip on the ticket in my hand and walked toward the airfield.
Toward the Yvora Republic.
Toward a future where neither Tomasso nor anyone else would ever control my life again.
