Chapter 3

[Elena's POV]

Giuliano only came downstairs once everything upstairs had finally gone quiet, looking completely satisfied. There was a hint of guilt on his face as he said, "Elena, don't overthink it. You're the only one in my heart. Everything I'm doing now is just to get back at Eva."

I'd heard enough of that disgusting nonsense in my previous life. I swallowed down my mockery. Before I could say anything, he noticed the suitcase by my feet.

His eyes widened, and he grabbed my wrist in a crushing grip, like he meant to grind my bones to dust. "Elena, why have you packed your things?"

I gently pulled my hand free, my expression calm and unreadable. "Eva's going to be living here, isn't she? I'll move my things to the servants' room. It'll be more convenient."

The tension in Giuliano's shoulders visibly eased. He followed me as I walked into the cramped, narrow servants' room.

While I folded a few simple changes of clothes, I said evenly, "Tomorrow, let's go see the Don and the council and dissolve our engagement."

Giuliano frowned deeply. After a moment of silence, he softened his tone and said, "Elena, if you don't want to end things, we can still go ahead with the wedding. Publicly, you'll still be my wife. I'm only registering my marriage with Eva to control her and get revenge on her."

I straightened up and gave him a faint smile. "That won't be necessary. I believe you, Giuliano."

With a numb, practiced familiarity, I repeated the lines he'd fed me over and over. "You hate Eva to the core. She's the one who killed your mother. She's also the one who spread rumors and slander, who made my mother so angry she's been bedridden ever since. You won't let her off the hook, right?"

Having his own words thrown back at him made his face twist with embarrassment. He could only give me a stiff nod.

Maybe it was because of the weight of his guilt, but before he left, he transferred a large sum of money into my account. It was enough to pay for all of my mother's medical expenses.

That worked just fine for me. Once my mother was in stable condition, I would take her far away from this filthy, godforsaken city and never come back.

It wasn't long before Eva's imperious voice sounded again, ordering me upstairs to tidy up the bedroom for her.

The moment I pushed open the door, the thick, cloying haze of sex hit me in the face. I'd already made up my mind to let go, but my heart still twisted in my chest, completely beyond my control.

I forced down the sting in my nose, kept my gaze straight ahead, and grabbed the tangled, dirty sheets and duvet. Then, I turned to leave.

Eva suddenly stuck out a foot, deliberately blocking my path.

"How pathetic," she drawled, her contempt utterly undisguised as a lazy smile played on her lips. "The man you've given your whole heart to is nothing more than a well-trained dog groveling at my feet.

"Oh, right." She deliberately stretched out the words, gloating like a victor flaunting her spoils. "I sent that text that told you to get an abortion on a whim. Giuliano knew about it from the very beginning. Do you wanna know why he keeps letting me do what I want?"

I stared straight at her, my eyes turning to ice.

Eva's smile widened, her every word a knife to my heart. "Because I'm pregnant. To Giuliano, only my baby is a true symbol of love. As for that child of yours who never made it into this world, it was nothing but a worthless piece of trash."

A tidal wave of rage crashed over me, burning everything in its path. Eva had ruined my life and destroyed my family. Now, she was trampling on the memory of my dead child.

I raised my hand high, ready to slap her as hard as I could. Before my palm could even land, her eyes instantly reddened. Her expression flipped in a heartbeat as she let out a broken, tearful wail.

"Exactly! What does my fight with my family have to do with you? With your background, do you really think you can boss me around and tell me what to do?"

I was taken aback. The very next second, a tremendous force slammed into me, sending me flying backward. I stumbled, crashed to the floor, and smashed my lower back against the edge of the coffee table. White-hot pain ripped through my body. All the color drained from my face.

I looked up and met Giuliano's eyes. They were bloodshot, furious, and almost feral.

"Elena, how can you be so vicious? How dare you bully her the second I'm not around!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he seemed to notice something off about my expression and hesitated, as if he might apologize.

Eva immediately clutched at his shirt, curling in on herself like she was in agony, her voice weak and pitiful. "Giuliano, my stomach hurts… Our baby… I don't think our baby is going to make it…"

In an instant, Giuliano pushed all thoughts of me out of his mind. He scooped Eva into his arms, cradling her like she was the most fragile treasure on earth. Then, he bolted for the door like a madman.

"Elena, if anything happens to her or the baby, I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death!" he roared.

A fate worse than death, huh? In my previous life, he'd kept his word.

I stared at Giuliano's back as he left without looking back. At long last, the tears I'd been holding back slipped free, silently soaking my face.

My phone suddenly rang, the sharp sound slicing through the air. It was a call from the hospital. A suffocating sense of dread surged up from the depths of my chest, threatening to swallow me whole.