Chapter 3

Flora’s POV

Gunshots rang out everywhere. I reached for Luca’s hand, but the crowd surged, tearing us apart. Then a sharp pain ripped through my stomach.

I looked down. Blood. A bullet had gone straight into my belly.

The pain came a second later—what hit first was shock and paralyzing fear.

I tried to grab onto something—anything—but there was no one there, only me.

I gasped and sat upright. My chest heaving.

The same nightmare. The one that had haunted me for years. The one that made Luca call me “barren.”

It had happened not long after we got married. I went with Luca on what was supposed to be a routine arms shipment to Cuba. I never expected it to turn into a gang fight.

Everything spiraled too fast.

When I woke up three days later in a hospital bed, I learned the truth. The bullet hadn’t just taken my blood. It had taken my two months baby as well.

I remembered how I cried in Luca’s arms, how he held me, how he cried too. And then came the final blow—the damage to my body. I would never be able to have another child.

So when Luca called me barren yesterday… That was the moment something inside me truly broke.

I lost our child—and he was there. He knew. He remembered. But he still stood in front of me, throwing that pain back at me like it meant nothing.

I took a few steady breaths and pushed myself out of bed.

Luca hadn’t come back to the bedroom last night. I didn’t need to guess where he was.

I walked into the bathroom, and the sudden light made my head spin, then came the nausea.

I barely made it to the toilet before I started retching—but nothing came up. Still, my stomach churned.

A thought flickered through my mind.

No… It couldn’t be.

I threw on a simple dress, slipped out of the house quietly, and went straight to the nearest drugstore. I bought two pregnancy tests, just in case.

Then I rushed back, my steps quick, my heart pounding. I didn’t slow down until I was back in the bathroom.

I took a deep breath and used both tests. The waiting was unbearable, my thoughts pulling in opposite directions.

Part of me couldn’t stop the hope rising inside. If I was pregnant… then there was a life growing in me. My blood. My child.

But then I thought of Luca—how ironic. We had tried many ways for years, and I never conceived. Yet the moment he decided to have another woman carry his child… I did.

The timer finally ran out. I grabbed the first test. Positive.

My hand shook as I picked up the second. Positive.

My heart started racing, something fragile and fierce blooming inside my chest.

I was pregnant. I was going to be a mother.

It only took me a second to decide. Luca would never know.

But then Stefan’s words echoed in my mind, “Marry me.”

My hand instinctively dropped to my stomach. If I married him… what would that mean for my baby?

No. I would never give up my child.

The answer came just as quickly—I would tell Stefan. If he couldn’t accept it, then I would find another way to destroy Luca and Annie.

As that thought settled, the nausea faded. In its place came something unexpected.

Hope.

For the first time since everything fell apart… I felt like I could breathe again.

I stepped out of the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. I hadn’t felt like eating all morning, but now I had to. For the baby.

I had just sat down when I heard footsteps.

I looked up.

Annie stood there, smiling like she had already won. “Slept well?” she asked lightly.

I said nothing.

“Sorry Luca stayed with me last night,” she went on, one hand resting on her stomach. “I told him to go back to you, but he insisted. He was worried the first night here would be stressful for me… and the baby.”

My silence only seemed to encourage Annie. She moved closer, “Sis,” she whispered, “I have to admit… Luca was very attentive. That night we spent together… I still remember it clearly.”

I pushed back my chair and stood, the legs scraping loudly against the floor. “I’m not in the mood for your drama. It’s still early.”

The truth was, I couldn’t afford this. Not now. Not when every emotion felt like it might hurt the fragile life inside me.

But Annie mistook my restraint for weakness.

She let out a soft laugh. “Ouch, Flora. Are you turning into a coward? I said I enjoyed sleeping with your husband. Doesn’t that make you angry at all?”

I turned to walk away.

Her hand shot out, grabbing my wrist and yanking me back.

“Remember this, Flora,” she said, her voice dropping. “This is just the beginning. I’m taking back everything that should’ve been mine. Your place as Donna. The Kane money. All of it.”

Her grip tightened. “If it weren’t for your cold, disgusting mother, mine wouldn’t have died—she couldn’t even afford to see a doctor. She deserved the Kane name just as much as you did.”

That was it—the line Annie should never have crossed. Bringing up my mother, then calling her disgusting.

I turned sharply, trying to pull free. Annie held on. I pushed harder—And suddenly, she let go.

She fell backward, hitting the floor. I stumbled too, catching myself against the chair.

“What the hell are you doing, Flora?!” Luca’s voice.

He rushed in, dropping to his knees beside Annie, pulling her into his arms. Then he looked up at me, his expression dark.

“After everything we talked about last night—after everything you promised—this is what you do? Push her? You’d hurt the woman carrying my child?”

Everything had happened too fast.

For a split second, I almost questioned myself. Did I push Annie?

Then I saw the slight curl of Annie’s lips as she hid against Luca’s chest.

And I understood. It was all an act.

“I… I don’t know what happened,” Annie stammered, her voice trembling. “Maybe I said something that upset Flora. We were just talking… I told her how happy I was that we could finally be a family, and then she suddenly…”

Her words dissolved into soft sobs.

Luca’s head snapped toward me, anger blazing. “I don’t even recognize you anymore. Do you have any empathy left? Just because you can’t have a child doesn’t mean you get to hurt someone who can!”

“I didn’t push her—” I didn’t even get to finish.

Annie whimpered in his arms. “Ouch… my stomach hurts. Luca, please… what’s wrong with me? It hurts so much…”