Alessia POV
The lake house was supposed to be a sanctuary, a quiet retreat before the birth.
Luca had insisted that the city smog was toxic for the baby, that we needed purity.
But in reality, the house was a glass cage perched precariously on the edge of a stagnant, black lake, hemmed in by miles of suffocatingly dense forest.
It was beautiful, yes. But it was desolate.
I was in the kitchen, fumbling in the dark for a glass of water. It was past midnight, the silence of the house pressing against my eardrums. My ankles were swollen to the size of grapefruits, and a dull, throbbing ache radiated through my lower back.
Voices drifted down the hall from the study. The heavy oak door was cracked open just a sliver, spilling a razor-thin line of yellow light across the floorboards.
It was Luca and Ethan. Ethan had recently been promoted; he was Luca’s right hand now, the executor of his will.
"Everything is in place," Ethan was saying, his voice low and professional. "The medical team is on standby at the private facility."
"Good," Luca replied. I heard the distinct clink of crystal against crystal—whiskey, neat. "We can't take any chances this time."
"She’s massive, Luca. She’s at full term. Are you sure Clara is physically strong enough to handle the procedure?"
"Clara is ready," Luca snapped, the ice in his tone cutting through the warm air. "She's been waiting for this for years. The lung transplant bought her time, but she needs a reason to live. She needs a legacy."
I froze. The glass in my hand became slick with sudden sweat.
"And... what about Ava?" Ethan asked.
There was a pause. A hesitation that hung heavy in the air.
"What about her?" Luca’s voice was devoid of humanity. "She's done her job. The womb served its purpose. Once we cut the kid out, she's nothing but a loose end. We can't have her fighting Clara for custody."
"So... we stick to the plan?"
"Yeah. Post-birth complications. Severe hemorrhage. It happens all the time. Tragic, really."
I stopped breathing. The world didn't just spin; it tilted violently on its axis.
They weren't talking about a nursery. They weren't talking about a family.
They were talking about a harvest.
My mother. Her lungs. For Clara.
My baby. My son. For Clara.
Me. A corpse. For Clara.
I wasn't a wife. I wasn't even a person. I was an incubator. A biological spare parts bin.
I backed away from the door, my steps silent despite the blood rushing in my ears. My heart hammered against my ribs with such violence I thought it would wake the entire house. I made it to the bedroom and engaged the lock with trembling fingers.
I looked down at my stomach. My son moved, a slow, rolling wave under my stretched skin, oblivious to the death sentence hanging over us.
If I gave birth, they would kill me and hand him to the monsters. He would grow up calling Clara "mother." He would be molded by Luca's cruelty.
He would grow up to be a Vitti.
He would be poison.
I couldn't escape. The perimeter was guarded by armed men. I couldn't fight; I was slow, heavy, and exhausted.
But I had one card left to play. The only card.
I moved into the en-suite bathroom. I dropped to my knees and opened the medical kit Luca kept under the sink. I found the scalpel—cold, surgical steel he kept for emergencies. Beside it, I found the bottle of high-strength painkillers.
Tears streamed down my face, hot and fast. I was shaking so hard my teeth chattered, a rhythmic clicking sound in the quiet room.
I loved him. I loved him more than my own life.
And that was exactly why I couldn't let him be born.
I caught my reflection in the mirror. The naive girl who painted landscapes was dead. The hopeful wife was dead.
All that was left was a mother willing to burn the world down to save her child's soul.
I turned on the shower, letting the water thunder against the tiles to mask the sound of my coming screams. I picked up the tools.
I wasn't going to give them an heir.
I was going to give them a tragedy.
I gripped the edge of the sink until my knuckles turned bone-white, staring into the rising steam.
"I'm sorry, Leo," I whispered, my voice breaking.
"I'm so sorry."
Then, I did what had to be done.
