Ashes of the Valentino

When I opened my eyes, I found myself locked in the underground storage room of the Valentino family hospital. Renato's sister stood at the door.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I crawled toward it and called for help.

Sophia Valentino turned around. There was no trace of urgency on her face—only something strange in her gaze.

"Ellen, don't blame Renato," she said. "He was afraid you'd go out and cause trouble, so he asked me to watch you."

I stared at her in disbelief, unable to understand a single word.

"Lina is carrying my eldest brother's posthumous child—the eldest grandson of the Valentino family. The position of Don is destined to be his!

"Besides, you're carrying a girl. Why put yourself through all this suffering?"

Sophia spoke as if to herself.

Clutching my stomach, I felt another wave of contractions battling against the drugs in my system. The pain blurred my vision.

"Sophia, please… call the midwife for me. I'm really about to give birth. The baby can't wait!"

She laughed.

Through the door, her voice dripped with mockery. "Give birth? To what?"

"The medication will last another three hours. Lina is already in the delivery room. Just stay here and behave. Once her son is safely born, you can give birth however you like."

Pain tore through me, over and over again. No matter how I begged, Sophia never looked at me again.

Just as despair set in, the phone in her hand suddenly rang.

It was Renato.

Hope flared inside me once more.

"Renato! Please, come save me and the baby—I really can't hold on any longer! The baby… the baby is coming!"

I clung to that fragile hope like a lifeline, shouting into the phone.

Renato's steady voice came through the receiver.

"Ellen, calm down. This is not the time to make trouble."

"Lina has already entered the delivery room. As soon as she gives birth, I'll have you brought out immediately."

The moment he finished speaking, a sudden rush of warm liquid surged from my body.

The baby was being forced out, inch by inch.

Agonizing pain struck, stealing my voice.

Watching from the side, Sophia suddenly panicked.

"Renato, she's bleeding a lot—could she really be going into labor?"

There was a brief pause on the other end.

For a second, I thought he would send someone to take me out.

But then he let out a cold laugh.

"Stop pretending, Ellen. Lina already told me—your due date is still more than ten days away."

Not due yet? That was impossible! The examination report had stated it clearly—Renato couldn't possibly not know!

I tried to explain that today was my due date, but before I could say a word, the call was cut off.

My heart sank halfway into despair. I could only pin my last hope on Sophia.

"Please… save me and my baby! Sophia!" I begged desperately.

But having just been reprimanded, she had no patience left for me.

"Didn't you hear Renato? Your due date hasn't arrived yet!

"Lina studied medicine. She already saw through your fake checkup report and the fact that you secretly used induction drugs… and told us everything."

My heart clenched.

So the real mastermind behind the lies—that my due date hadn't arrived, that I was carrying a girl—was my sister-in-law, Lina Caruso.

Half a year ago, the eldest son of the Valentino family, Ricardo, had died in a violent shootout, leaving behind his pregnant widow, Lina.

At the funeral, the old Don wept uncontrollably and declared that Ricardo's child would become the heir to the family.

I had thought it strange at the time.

Now, I understood—Lina had already begun spreading rumors about me back then. The child in my womb had been abandoned by the family long ago.

But I had no time to think about any of that now. All I wanted was for my baby to be born safely.

"Sophia, I swear to you—my child will never compete for the position of heir. I won't take a single cent from your family!"

My desperate promise made her hesitate.

Just as she wavered, one of Lina's subordinates hurried in.

"Miss, Madam Lina asked you to come at once!"

Noticing her hesitation, he quickly added, "Don't forget—the Don ordered that no one is to let Madre out to cause trouble. Otherwise, you'll bear the consequences."

At once, realization dawned on Sophia.

Without another word, she followed the servant out and slammed the iron door shut behind her.

The contractions surged in relentless waves, each one more violent than the last—only to be abruptly cut off by the drugs.

The inhuman torment left my body limp.

Lying in the dim storage room, the world spun around me, my consciousness slipping further and further away.

An overwhelming sense of helplessness and fear closed in.

I could feel death drawing nearer.

And then—

The storage room door was suddenly thrown open from the outside.