Chapter 8

At the end of my sentence, I was almost roaring.

"Stop giving me excuses!" The look in Adrian's eyes was cold. "You want me to believe you, but look at what you're doing! You won't stop hurting Cecelia and the children! How many times have I told you that I'm only treating her well because of the children! Why do you insist on creating trouble every time? What do we stand to gain if she miscarries the baby?!"

My chest started heaving as all of my grievances and anger had nowhere to be released. I wanted to question him, to retort, to yell hysterically at him, that I never hurt anybody. I wanted to ask him if he had forgotten how he had once promised to trust me unconditionally. Did he forget about the promise he made to never doubt me?

In the end, all I could do was look at him tiredly as I said slowly in my trembling voice, "Fine. Since you don't believe me, let's end it between us. If you don't trust me, we should break up. I'm giving your relationship my blessing. Live a happy life with your family of four."

Adrian was taken aback as his eyes widened. "What did you say?!" He burst out with a growl.

"Didn't I make myself clear enough?" My eyes reddened as I looked stubbornly at him. "I want to break up with you. I'm willing to give you and Cecelia my blessing."

Adrian smashed the table next to the bed with a punch, and the glasses on it crashed to the ground with pieces of it flying everywhere. He grabbed my wrist with rage in his eyes. "What are you talking about, Ella?! You're the one I've always loved! How can you give me your blessings to be with another woman?!"

I teared up as I looked into his eyes stubbornly without saying a word. We stared at each other for a long time before Adrian finally took a deep breath to force his anger down. He pulled me into his arms forcefully and held me so tight that I could hardly breathe.

"Stop this. Cecelia, she… She has forgiven you, and I don't hold it against you either, but remember…" His arms around me tightened further as he continued hoarsely, "Never say you'll break up with me or tell me you want to leave me ever again! Don't ever! Everything I've done is for our future!"

I did not tell him that we no longer had a future, nor did I tell him that I had decided to leave. "Are you sure she's willing to forgive me so easily?" I asked softly in a numb tone. "Are there really no conditions attached to it?"

Adrian's body stiffened before he released me silently from his embrace and said cautiously, "She… wants a wedding. Cecelia says she wants her children to know that their parents had once been in love and had received blessings from the family. She wants our children to be legitimate."

He paused before turning back to look at me. "But this isn't a real wedding, it's just a formality to put up a show for the family and the children. You're my only wife, so please don't read too much into this."

My lips trembled, but I could not say a word. My heart felt like it was being clenched tightly by a pair of icy hands. I could feel searing pain with every beat of my heart as I wondered about how ridiculous everything was.

Adrian, oh, Adrian. He already had children with her, and they were about to have a wedding. What was pretend about that? Was I nothing to him?

He continued talking, and his voice became blurry to me. He kept explaining the importance of the wedding and how he would marry me after it was all over. I suddenly felt exhausted as I watched his mouth open and close.

I slowly closed my eyes as I let his words turn into dust that scattered around my dead heart, and I stayed silent throughout his speech.

…

Adrian stayed by my bedside for three days and took good care of me. When he fed me soup, he would gently blow on the soup to cool it before carefully feeding it to me. He would jerk awake if I made any movements in bed in the middle of the night and anxiously grab my hand until he was sure I was fine before going back to sleep.

When the doctor came to inject me with anti-inflammatory drugs, he hugged me while gently covering my eyes with his hand, and he whispered comforting words into my ears, "Don't look. It'll be over soon."

However, he started getting busy preparing for his wedding after I got discharged from the hospital. He went as far as to confiscate my phone and arranged for soldati to guard me around the clock to prevent me from creating trouble. Only a caretaker was left behind to look after me in the huge villa.

I got my phone back on the day of their wedding, and I found it filled with pictures Cecelia had sent me. They were photos of Adrian in a customized suit, putting on a ring lovingly on Cecelia's finger, of them kissing deeply in an embrace as everyone shouted their well-wishes, and of them cutting the wedding cake happily.

Every photo was like a blade to my already wounded heart.

Just as I was about to turn off my phone, my room door suddenly opened. The underboss of the Colombo family was standing at the door. "Your papers are all in order." He passed me a plane ticket. "I guarantee that Adrian will never be able to find you after you leave."

I took the plane ticket from him without saying a word and grabbed the luggage I had packed earlier. The sun was shining brightly when I walked out of the villa. I did not turn back as I strode toward a car parked at the side. I did not say goodbye to Adrian because from now until the rest of my life, we would never see each other again…