Chapter 4

My mind went completely blank. I felt like I'd been shoved into an icy lake.

Meanwhile, Camilla cackled gleefully.

"How does it feel to watch as your daughter dies right before your very eyes, Alessia? If anything, you can only blame yourself for not knowing your place. You stole my position as Giulio's wife and forced me to marry a man who wasn't right for me.

"It's too late. Nothing you say will change anything. Just slowly relish the feeling of losing everything!"

She strutted off triumphantly. The bodyguards had already disappeared down the corridor with Dr. Bruno.

I tried to go after them, but the panicked young nurse grabbed me, her voice trembling as she informed me, "Ms. Fontana, all the doctors in the hospital have been called away by Don Giulio… You need to think of something! The patient can't hold out much longer!"

I forced down the rising panic in my chest and called Giulio's again and again, but he didn't take my calls.

My body was shaking, and the situation in the operating room became more urgent. The nurse was on the verge of tears.

"Ms. Fontana, the patient really can't hold on any longer! If a doctor doesn't come to treat her soon, she'll die!"

I couldn't think straight. Giulio wasn't taking my calls, and Dr. Marino was refusing to see me. All of the doctors in the entire building had been called to the emergency room.

It felt like the entire world had abandoned me.

In the end, with my hands still shaking, I could contact Camilla.

"Please, Camilla. I'm begging you. My daughter is in the operating room right now, and she's in critical condition. Just let them send one doctor over, please? Even just one…

"As long as my daughter is safe, I'll leave Montelupo with her at once. We won't ever appear in front of you guys again."

Sending that voice message drained all the strength out of me. I slumped onto the cold, hard floor.

Seconds later, my phone started buzzing—but it wasn't Camilla who called. It was Giulio.

My eyes lit up, and I immediately answered the call.

But at the very next second, Giulio's outraged voice came crashing down on me. "Alessia! Haven't you caused enough trouble yet?"

My body froze. "Giulio, Romina is—"

Giulio cut me off harshly, growling, "I only asked them to bring over Dr. Bruno! There are tons of other doctors in the hospital. Are you saying no one other than him can perform the surgery? Are you seriously going to come up with such a ridiculous lie just to frame Camilla?"

All the color drained out of my face.

"I'm not lying to you! Romina is really in critical condition right now…"

Suddenly, Camilla's tearful voice came through the phone, "Giulio, don't be mad at Alessia… It's all my fault. She wouldn't hate me so much if Nico didn't have a sudden allergic reaction…"

She sounded like a pitiful, wounded soul trying her best to tolerate the injustice—as if she'd truly suffered a huge grievance.

Giulio's voice became even colder. "Why didn't I notice sooner just how cruel you are, Alessia? Nico is still receiving emergency treatment right now, yet you're doing this on purpose to scare Camilla? Don't you know that she almost fainted from crying just now?"

My lips parted, but I couldn't even utter a word.

The medical equipment in the operating room started blaring the warning alarms, and the nurse could barely hold back her tears as she cried out, "Ms. Fontana! The patient's blood pressure is dangerously low! If no doctor comes right away, she won't make it!"

That was the last straw for me. I cried into the phone, "Giulio! Your daughter is lying in that operating room right now! She's really going to die!"

But after a sudden silence, Camilla said weepingly, "I'm scared, Giulio… Nico almost stopped breathing again…"

Giulio didn't hesitate to terminate the call.

…

It was unnervingly silent in the VIP room on the top floor of the hospital. The air smelled of expensive perfume, and Giulio sat by the hospital bed with furrowed brows. Recalling my shaky, emotional voice from earlier, he felt a flicker of unease.

Nico was sitting up in the hospital bed, eating a piece of apple. Other than his slightly pale complexion, he looked completely fine and not the least bit in any danger.

Just as Giulio stood up to leave, Camilla immediately grabbed his arm.

"Giulio, if you go to them now, you'll just be proving to Alessia that her little temper tantrum works. Romy has plenty of doctors and nurses attending to her. She'll be fine. Alessia just likes making a big deal out of nothing."

Her words made Giulio waver, and he immediately became infuriated. Once again, he recalled how desperately I'd cried over the phone, and his expression turned icy.

"She's becoming more and more unreasonable. To think that she's even using her own daughter's surgery to get attention! It's time for me to teach her a lesson."

…

After the call ended, I kneeled on the floor outside the operating room, the alarms ringing in my ears.

The nurses and a few interns kept rushing in and out.

"Her blood oxygen levels are still falling! We need the anesthesiologist here!"

"The patient is going into ventricular fibrillation!"

But not a single surgeon or doctor who could take charge could be found in the entire building.