Chapter 1

Smack.

Shaking with rage, I slapped him hard across the face.

"How could you say that?"

Being illegitimate was the deepest shame of my life.

I never thought the person I trusted most would be the one to tear that wound open.

But he did.

Dante touched his cheek, his eyes going cold.

"What? Am I wrong? Or did you actually think you'd become Mrs. Locatelli?"

Each word was brutal.

Every syllable cut like glass.

Like he'd never loved me at all.

I swallowed my tears. "If you were never going to marry me, then what were we all these years?"

"Does it matter?" he said, frowning.

Like I was the crazy one.

Tears slid down my face. "Of course it matters. I won't let my child grow up like I did—illegitimate, judged from birth."

I didn't get to choose how I was born.

But I could save my child from the same life.

No matter what.

He gave a careless laugh.

"Then get rid of it."

His voice was light.

Like it meant nothing.

Before I could react, he added, "I'll give you money. Go get an abortion."

I stared at him, barely breathing.

A cruel smile spread across Dante's face.

"Alessa Ambrosi, how old are you? Why are you still this naive? What, you gonna pull what your mom did? Take the money, disappear overseas with the kid, then come back for more once they're old enough to call me Dad?"

"I'd never do that!"

That only made his eyes gleam.

"Bet your mom said that too."

My eyes burned. "My mother isn't me. I'm not her. I'd never use my own child as a bargaining chip."

Dante stepped closer and lightly pinched my ear.

"You really think anyone would believe you?"

I froze.

"Alessa, stay by my side and stop causing problems. Your birth mom took the money and ran. The Ambrosi family sees you as a stain. You're only worth something when you're by my side."

I just stared at him.

Like he'd won, Dante placed a hand on my stomach.

"You're about to be a mom, and you're still making a big deal out of nothing. If I really left you, who knows what you'd do?"

So that was it.

To him, this was nothing.

Me. The baby inside me.

Neither of us mattered.

Pain tore through my chest.