~~~ "We're sorry, Don. We couldn't save the-," Sophia's eyes snapped open, and she sat up on the hospital bed with a jerk, ignoring the pain on her abdomen. She was wearing a blue hospital gown, and there was a bandage wrapped around her forehead. She could hear beep of the heart monitoring machine. Her hands went to her stomach. “My baby -" Her eyes went towards the other room of the bed, expecting to find a baby cot but found none. She tugged off the IV drip from her hand and jumped off the bed once she remembered what had actually happened to her. What of her baby? She limped towards the door and opened it, finding the hallway empty. Neither Chase, Lucas, Luciano or Valerie was there. Maybe her baby was in an incubator. After all, it was still premature. "Hey," She called the nurse she saw passing by. The nurse paled as she stared at Sophia. "How- how can I help you, Mrs.-," She cut the nurse off. “Take me to my baby," "Your baby is-," "Where's she?” She smiled and dram
~~~Chase clenched his jaw. “Sophia," "Don't call my name from your mouth! Don’t call my name! Is this how this is all going to end?! You destroyed my life, Chase. You took away everything I ever lived for and this is how you end up treating me in the end? You murdered my parents, stole my peace and kept me captive with you! It still wasn't enough. You went ahead to touch me without my permission. You did things to me. You used me to cheat on your fiancé. You endangered my life by using me to get rid of a woman who loved you! You married me and kept me as a dirty little secret, Chase. You impregnated me and now? You want to end everything. You want me to just forget every single thing that happened and get a divorce from you, abort my baby and just walk out of your life? If you knew all this would happen, you would have just killed me with my parents in the first place! I hate you! I hate that I love you! I hate that I still love you till date! I hate that I'm still willing to give y
~~~ Just like that, another four months passed away. Sophia was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, trying hard to adjust to Chase's absence and, at the same time, trying to cope with the pregnancy alone. Her baby bump was already visible, and she knew the gender of her baby. Her baby was a girl; exactly what she had wanted. Sophia never hesitated to miss her checkups, antenatal classes, and other necessary things for her and her baby’s health, especially as she was strictly told to be extremely careful because of her age. She had been told that she was also, likely to face complications during the pregnancy since she wasn't old enough to have a baby. It warmed her heart how Chase's cousins tried their best to take care of her. Lucas took her for morning exercises while Luciano did the same for evening. Valerie and Guilia were the ones responsible for making sure she took her meals and drugs on time. They were also some times when they did everything together, like on Saturdays
~~~ ONE TORTUROUS MONTH. That was what the past month had been like to Sophia. It had been a month since she last saw Chase after she fell unconscious on his birthday, and she hadn't set her eyes on him again. No one had. Sometimes, she used to have flashbacks where she normally saw Chase kneeling down in front of her bed and saying non-hurtful things to her. The flashbacks weren't clear, so she dismissed it as a dream that she might have had that night, which was still bugging her mind. She totally dismissed the thought when her doctor told her that thinking too much may cause stress for the baby. Their baby. Sophia looked down at her flat tummy, and a smile spread across her lips. The baby in her was literally the only source of her happiness ever since Chase left. Nothing made her happy apart from her baby. Not even Lucas, Luciano or Valerie's attempts to make her happy moved her. "Soph," Sophia looked up and found Valerie standing before her holding a tray, which contained
~~~Chase stared into her eyes, cupping her cheeks. “I’m not happy," "Why?” Her throat worked on its own. “You don't like the birthday gift?” When he said nothing, she continued. “This child is ours, Chase. It’s a symbol of our love," He rasped out. "Love?" He took her silence as a go- ahead. “We were never in love, Sophia. The child you're carrying is not a symbol of love. It can't be brought to this world," Her knees buckled and tears streamed down her cheeks. She passed him a pained smile. “You’re joking, right?” She shook her head. “You’ve got to be joking, Chase. This- this child was made out of love. I don't know when it was made, but I know we made it together. We wanted the same time the time we made it," "I don't joke around,” He whispered. “We can't be parents like this. You can't be a mother at this age. You’re just nineteen, Sophia and-," She cut him off with a smack on his chest. “Age doesn't matter! So what if I'm just nineteen? So what if you're thirty? Eleven year
~~~ 10TH DAY OF DECEMBER. That was the day Chase Romano was brought into the world. That was the day he was delivered to fulfil his father and uncle's dreams for their empire. That was the only thing he had been for those two Romano men. An heir. Chase rested his back on the couch in his bedroom, twirling a glass of scotch in his hands while his eyes narrowed in on his alarm clock that sat on the bedside table as the time struck twelve midnights. It was his birthday. His thirtieth birthday. The only day he was allowed to do anything of his choice when he was still under his uncle's training. On the tenth of December every year, he was always rewarded for being a good and obedient nephew by being given the freedom to spend his day any way he wanted it. Those were the times he enjoyed spending it with his mother and sister. But on his sixteenth birthday, his uncle changed that. Chase could still remember it clearly. His uncle took him to a club. He told him he was going to dictat