I couldn’t tell how long I had been trapped in that icy void. My skin felt colorless and stiff, my lips split and dry, my breathing uneven and weak. My hands were curled tightly against my chest, clinging to whatever faint warmth my body could still produce. But right before the cold completely claimed me… the memories surged back.
“Put her in there,” Isabel snarled, every word sharp with cruelty. “If she enjoys stirring chaos in my house, then let the cold teach her a lesson.”
The two maids holding me hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances.
“She’s ill, Señora… this doesn’t feel right—”
“I said put her in!” Isabel barked. “She touched me with those cursed hands and nearly killed me and my grandchild! Layla was hurt too! Can’t you see it? She is the curse hanging over this family. Let the freezing air drain the poison out of her.”
“I didn’t mean to—please,” I begged, clutching my blanket weakly, my throat raw. “Please don’t do this. Call Mateo—he wouldn’t allow this… he wouldn’t…”
But even as I pleaded, the world began to blur.
Because then I heard hurried footsteps charging down the hallway.
Mateo.
I screamed his name with everything left in me.
“Mateo! Please! Mateo, I need you!”
He rushed past the corridor—Layla in his arms, shouting orders, his jacket barely clinging to his shoulders, panic blazing across his face.
“She’s bleeding again. Prepare the car for the hospital. Nothing can happen to this baby!”
He never once looked my way.
I reached out from the floor with shaking fingers.
“Mateo…!”
But his back was already disappearing around the corner.
Already gone.
“Wait… please…” My knees buckled beneath me.
“Do it now,” Isabel said coldly. “Before she causes more trouble.”
I jolted back to awareness when someone suddenly entered.
It was Mateo.
He wrapped a blanket around me hurriedly. “Isla—God, Isla! I didn’t know she truly went through with it. I thought she was bluffing. You know how my mother is when she’s angry—she says horrible things she doesn’t mean.”
My teeth rattled uncontrollably. I couldn’t even form words.
He rubbed warmth back into my arms, frantic with guilt. “I’m sorry… about the necklace too. I understand now—it was your mother’s. The last piece you had of them. I was an idiot. I should’ve stopped her.”
I stayed silent. The slight curl of my lips wasn’t relief—it was bitterness.
“You’ll feel better soon, okay?” he said quickly. “Tomorrow we’ll finalize the merger contract. I really need you present, so you have to recover. Afterward, I’ll buy you dozens of necklaces just like that one.”
He laughed faintly and kissed my forehead, as if survival had earned me a prize.
Ah. Of course.
The merger.
That was why I was rescued.
Because I was still useful.
He lifted me carefully into his arms and started toward the bedroom. “You’re burning up,” he said suddenly, alarm creeping into his voice. “You’ve got a fever. We need to get you to the hospital.”
“No.” My voice rasped weakly, barely sound—but I forced it out.
He stopped. “No?”
I pressed against his chest. “I want a divorce.”
He went completely still. “What?” His voice came out fragile, disbelieving.
“I want to end this, Mateo. I’m done.”
“No, wait—Isla. You’re sick. You’re emotional. I apologized, didn’t I? Please, don’t do this.” His eyes widened in panic. “I should’ve stopped my mother. I shouldn’t have believed Layla. But I was scared for the baby, okay? She said she was bleeding, and I panicked. I didn’t realize—didn’t know it was all an accident.”
A dry, painful laugh escaped me, followed by a cough.
“Of course. The baby.”
His gaze flickered, as if he could hear every accusation in my silence.
“It’s not mine.”
“Isn’t it?”
He swallowed. “No. Of course not. I just… she had no one. I felt sorry for her.”
Pity.
The same pity that let him erase me piece by piece.
Mateo stepped closer, brushing my hair back gently. “If you want me to cut her off, I will. I’ll focus only on us. No divorce. Please, let me take care of you now, okay?”
He lifted me again carefully, murmuring apologies under his breath.
Then the door creaked open.
Layla stood there.
Her eyes were red. Her voice trembled.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to be a burden,” she whispered. “Maybe I should leave again. Maybe that’s what you want—to get rid of me, right?”
Mateo turned toward her. “Layla—”
“But I’m bleeding again,” she said quietly.
Everything froze.
She clutched her stomach. “Maybe this baby deserves it… maybe I do too.”
Then she turned and ran down the hallway, sobbing.
“No! Layla!” Mateo shouted in panic. He set me down so abruptly my knees nearly gave out.
“Mateo,” I croaked. “You promised—”
But he was already rushing after her.
“I’m sorry!” he yelled back. “I’ll send someone to help you—Layla needs me right now!”
“What about me?!” I cried out.
He glanced back once, hesitation flickering across his face.
“You’re strong, Isla. You always have been. The butler will take care of you.”
Then he was gone.
The door slammed shut.
I waited.
Minutes passed.
Then nearly an hour.
No one came.
The cold from the freezer still lived inside my bones. My head spun, skin burning, vision trembling. I dragged myself upright using the wall for support, every step feeling like iron shackles dragging across my soul.
Somehow, I reached the car.
Somehow, I drove.
My hands shook on the steering wheel, sweat soaked through my clothes, my vision fading in and out—but I made it to the nearest hospital.
When I finally woke again, my phone rang.
Luigi’s voice came through the line, tight with urgency.
“I heard what happened,” he said. “I’m coming for you. Right now.”
