001

SCARLETT

I killed her. God no.

I ran toward Matteo so quickly that I nearly slipped.

My eyes were fixed on the body lying on the floor, my hands were shaking and my heart was desperately beating against my chest.

“Valentina!”

She wasn't moving. Her cold empty eyes looked back at me.

For a second, I couldn't understand what I was looking at. My mind refused to connect the woman lying there with the one who had been standing in front of me only moments ago on the balcony, screaming and fighting and very much alive.

Then I saw the blood.

It had gathered beneath her head in a dark pool, spreading slowly across the floor. Her red hair was soaked in it, strands sticking to her pale face and neck. One side of her body was twisted awkwardly, her arm lying limply beside her.

A sound escaped my throat. "Oh God." I stopped a few feet away from her.

My entire body went cold. "No." I shook my head. "No, no, no."

This wasn't what I had wanted. I hadn't meant for this to happen.

I hadn't meant to kill her. "Valentina," I whispered.

Matteo stood over her without moving, his face had lost all color.

For several seconds, he simply stared down at her, and I could see the exact moment reality finally caught up with him. His knees gave way beneath him.

He dropped to the floor beside her. "Valentina." His voice was barely audible.

I watched him reach for her with trembling hands. He slid one arm beneath her shoulders and lifted her into his lap, cradling her against his chest. Blood immediately transferred onto his shirt and hands, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Valentina." He touched her cheek. "Baby, open your eyes."

Nothing.

His breathing changed. "Come on." He shook her gently. "Valentina, look at me."

I stood frozen, my hands pressed against my mouth as tears began gathering in my eyes.

"Matteo..."

He didn't hear me. Or maybe he did and simply didn't care.

"Don't do this," he whispered to her. "Please don't do this."

His voice cracked.

He pressed his forehead against hers, and his shoulders began to shake. "I'm here. I'm right here, baby."

The sound that came from him next made my chest tighten.

It was a sob, raw and broken. "Please come back to me."

I had never seen Matteo cry like that.

I had seen him angry. Cold. Frustrated. I had seen him lose his temper. But I had never seen him fall apart.

And now he was holding Valentina's lifeless body in his arms like he could somehow force life back into her by refusing to let her go.

"Don't leave me," he whispered.

Then his hand moved. It slowly slid down her body until it rested over her stomach.

Matteo froze.

I watched his fingers press against her belly. "My baby." He painfully cried.

I frowned through my tears. "What?"

He didn't look at me.

"She's pregnant."

My heart stopped.

I stared at him. "What did you just say?"

His lips trembled. "She's pregnant." His voice became quieter. "My child."

Everything inside me seemed to drop.

Valentina was pregnant?

I looked down at her stomach, then back at Matteo.

No. That is not true.

Matteo lowered his head, his hand still resting over her stomach. "My baby."

The words broke apart as they left him.

"She was carrying my child."

I felt sick. "Oh God."

Matteo suddenly lifted his head, the grief in his face had changed.

The moment his eyes found mine, I took a step backward.

There was so much anger in them that fear immediately crawled through my body.

"You."

My lips parted. "Matteo..."

He slowly placed Valentina's body back onto the floor. "You did this."

My heart began racing. "I..."

"You killed her."

"No." The tears began falling down my face. "Matteo, please listen to me."

He rose slowly to his feet.

I instinctively stepped back.

"You killed her."

"I didn't mean to!" My voice broke. "It was an accident."

"An accident?"

"Yes!"

He stared at me as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Matteo, everything happened so fast. I didn't mean for her to die."

"You didn't mean for her to die?"

"Please." I could barely breathe through the tears. "I swear to you, I didn't mean to kill her."

His jaw tightened. "You hated her."

"No."

"You were jealous of her."

"No, Matteo."

"You hated everything she had with me."

"That's not true."

"You wanted her gone."

"I didn't!" My voice echoed through the room. "I didn't want this! Look at me and tell me if I am capable of hurting anyone. "

He moved so suddenly that I didn't have time to react. His hand closed around my throat.

I gasped as my back slammed against the wall. "Matteo!"

His fingers tightened immediately. "You're lying!"

I grabbed his wrist with both hands. "I can't breathe."

"You hated her."

"No."

"You were always jealous of her!"

"I wasn't!"

His face was wet with tears, but there was nothing soft about him now. "You wanted her out of my life."

"I didn't mean to kill her!"

"How could you do this to me?" He screamed the words directly into my face.

I struggled against his grip, but he was stronger.

"She was my life!"

My fingers clawed desperately at his hand. "Matteo, let me go."

"I loved her!"

"Please!"

"How could you take her away from me?!" His grip tightened.

My body began to panic. I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. "Matteo..."

"You took everything from me."

I shook my head desperately. "I'm sorry."

He stared at me.

"I'm sorry," I repeated, tears pouring down my face. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

"You killed my child." His words made me freeze. His hand loosened slightly. "Valentina was carrying my child."

"I didn't know."

"That was my child!" His voice cracked. "She was pregnant!"

"Me too!"

The words came out before I could stop them.

Matteo went completely still. His hand remained around my throat, but the pressure eased.

I dragged in a painful breath.

He stared at me. "What?"

I was crying so hard that my entire body shook. "I'm pregnant too."

For several seconds, he said nothing.

I stared back at him desperately.

Then Matteo laughed. It wasn't a normal laugh. It was sharp and broken, like something inside him had snapped.

I felt fear crawl through me again. "Matteo, I'm serious."

He shook his head. "Of course."

"I'm telling you the truth."

"You're always the drama queen."

My chest tightened. "Matteo..."

"Always competing with Valentina."

"I'm not competing with anyone."

"But you can never be her." His words hurt, but I didn't care.

Not when I could see what was happening to him.

"No," I said desperately. "I swear to you, I'm pregnant."

He stared at me.

"I found out today."

His laughter stopped.

"I was going to tell you."

"Then why didn't you?" The question came out quietly.

I swallowed. "Everything happened too fast."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't get the chance."

"You had the whole day."

"I was going to tell you!" My voice cracked. "I swear I was."

He stared at me for a long moment. Then his hand finally dropped from my throat.

I immediately moved away from him, coughing and rubbing my neck.

"Please," I whispered. "I'm sorry."

Matteo didn't respond.

I looked up when his hand had moved toward his pocket.

My eyes followed the movement. Then I saw the knife.

Every part of me froze. "Matteo."

He pulled it out.

"No." I backed away. "Matteo, don't do this."

He started walking toward me and my heart began pounding violently.

"Please don't do anything stupid."

His expression remained empty.

"I'm pregnant!" I placed both hands over my stomach. "I'm carrying your child."

"You don't deserve to live." The words came out quietly.

I stared at him. "What?"

His eyes filled with tears again. "You need to pay for what you've done."

"Matteo, please." I backed away until my body hit the wall.

There was nowhere else to go. If I try to run, he might panic and do something stupid because he'll catch me either way. I have to calm him down.

But he grabbed my throat again, violently.

"Please don't."

He raised the knife.

"Matteo!"

The first stab tore into my stomach.

A scream ripped out of me.

The pain was immediate and unbearable. My entire body folded forward, but Matteo's other hand shot out and grabbed my throat again before I could collapse.

"Matteo, stop!"

The knife came down again and I screamed.

My hands flew toward his arm, trying desperately to push him away.

Another stab.

My body jerked violently.

"Please!"

Another.

The pain became impossible to separate. It was everywhere, tearing through my stomach and spreading through my entire body as warm blood soaked through my clothes.

"Stop! Please, I'm pregnant!"

Matteo was crying, tears streamed down his face as he held me against the wall.

"How could you do this to me?"

Another stab.

I screamed until my voice became nothing but a broken sound.

"How could you take them from me?"

Another.

My knees began giving out. He kept holding me up by my throat.

My hands slipped against his arms. I was becoming weaker.

"Matteo..."

Another strike.

"Please."

My body jerked helplessly.

I couldn't count. I only knew that he kept stabbing me.

Again.

And again.

Each time sending another violent wave of pain through me.

By the time he finally stopped, my body could no longer hold itself up.

He released me.

I fell heavily onto the floor.

The impact knocked the little breath I had left from my lungs.

I lay there shaking and jerking as blood spread beneath me.

My hands moved weakly toward my stomach, but I couldn't seem to make myself understand what I was seeing.

I tried to breathe. My chest rose painfully. Then fell.

Everything around me had become blurry.

I could hear Matteo crying.

I looked up and he was staring down at me.

His face was completely broken.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he dropped to his knees beside me.

"Matteo." My voice was barely there. Just a faded whisper.

He reached for me but I flinched slightly.

Maybe he has come to his senses and wants to take me to the hospital.

His hands closed around my throat again.

My eyes widened. "No." I groaned.

I tried to pull his hands away but I had nothing left. My arms barely moved.

"Mat…."

He began crying harder. "How could you do this to me?"

I couldn't answer him. I couldn't breathe.

His fingers tightened slowly around my throat.

I clawed weakly at his hands.

"How could you take her from me? Die you fat fuck."

Tears rolled down my cheeks and my vision began growing darker.

"Matteo."

His face blurred.

He was still crying.

His hands were still around my throat.

And somehow, even then, I could see the pain in his eyes.

The same eyes I had once loved looking into.

The same man I had planned to tell about our baby.

I tried to speak.

My lips trembled.

There were so many things I wanted to say.

‘I'm sorry.’

‘I didn't mean to.’

‘I love you.’

But nothing came out.

My body slowly stopped fighting. The world around me disappeared into darkness.

The last thing I could see was Matteo's face above mine.

Tears falling from his eyes to my face.

His hands taking the last of my breath away.

And with everything inside me fading, only one name remained on my lips.

"Matteo."

Then I took my last breath.