Chapter 2

"Isabella, being with you makes me feel truly alive!

"You helped me when I was at my lowest. Now that I've reclaimed my identity, I have to share this glory with you!"

"You hate Giulia, don't you? Watch me put her in her place. I'll make her disappear for good. You're the only woman fit to stand beside the heir!"

While the two of them carried on, I kept trying to stop the workers from destroying everything.

But there were too many of them. I watched my home get torn apart, then turned back to look at Marco.

The irony wasn't lost on me. I was the one who secretly took out the debt collectors' hitmen to keep him alive. And he thought his luck changed because he swapped girlfriends?

I instinctively touched the bullet scar on my back.

Three years ago, he racked up a massive gambling debt and got locked up in an underground fight club. I went in alone and took a bullet for him just to get him out.

I even drained every penny I had saved to convince them to spare his life.

I looked at him coldly. "Marco, have you forgotten? Three years ago, if I hadn't..."

Marco's face went rigid before he exploded. "Shut up! Don't bring up that filthy past!

"I'm the mafia heir now! Those memories only taint my status! A street rat like you needs to stay as far away from me as possible!"

Just then, Isabella clutched her stomach dramatically and let out a little "Oh!"

Marco immediately rushed to support her. "What's wrong, amore mio? Is our little heir kicking?"

Isabella shot me a smug look. "Sì, the baby seems to know his papa's about to inherit a fortune. He's excited."

I stared in disbelief. He had a kid? That was impossible! Marco had gotten tested, and he had severe oligospermia.

This wasn't some little heir. There was definitely something else going on. I couldn't help it anymore, and I laughed out loud.

Marco saw my cold laugh and instantly lost it. "What are you laughing at? Isabella got pregnant with my family's heir after just one month! You were with me for six years and couldn't even give me that!

"I used to think something was wrong with me, but now I see it clearly. You're just some slum woman with inferior genes who can't carry my child!"

I pretended to look surprised. "One month? Marco, are you sure the timeline adds up?

"Didn't you say you spent last month hiding in a basement eating plain bread because loan sharks were after you?"

Isabella's face went pale. She quickly grabbed Marco's arm. "Marco, don't let her drive a wedge between us!

"Don't you remember? Last month, when you were 'dodging debt collectors,' you were actually at my apartment.

"We were working day and night to give the family an heir!"

Marco's face lit up with a lecherous grin. "Right! Isabella really knows how to take care of me. Not like you, always making me suffer!"

In that moment, I felt nothing but cold emptiness. So his "hiding out and going dark" meant shacking up with her.

He had no idea that during that month, I'd been taking on job after job to scrape together his debt money. I stepped on the wrong toes and nearly got kidnapped to have my organs harvested.

If the man captured alongside me hadn't helped me fight off those thugs, if he hadn't taken a fatal bullet for me, I'd be dead. And while I was out there thinking I'd die just to see Marco one last time, he was rolling around in bed with Isabella?

My stomach churned.

Marco, eager to prove his loyalty in front of Isabella, kicked aside the broken glass on the ground and pulled out a document. He threw it onto the ruins.

"Giulia, don't say I'm heartless. Just sign this Severance Agreement and swear you'll never tell anyone we knew each other. Then I'll let you live.

"As for this pile of trash, keep it as a souvenir!"

I looked at the agreement and signed it without hesitation.

"Fine. I'll sign. After all, there's no point arguing with a dead man."