Chapter 1

[Isabella's POV]

After coming out of the doctor's office, I immediately rushed into the elevator and went all the way to the VIP ward on the top floor of the hospital. I needed Vincenzo Cursley to explain himself to me.

Just as the elevator doors closed before me, I suddenly heard two very familiar voices speak up right next to me.

It was windy today, and I'd put on an extra coat over my usual clothes. I'd also put on a cap, so the people next to me didn't realize who I was.

"Vincenzo, aren't you worried that Isabella will find out one day? Why did you have to beg her to come back last time? If you'd married Claudia earlier, you wouldn't have to be so careful every time you come out to visit your son at the hospital."

That was Fabian Granger's voice. He had known Vincenzo since they were kids.

Vincenzo replied in a cold voice, "She won't ever find out. Fabian, you should know to keep your mouth shut when you see Isabella. Don't you dare run your mouth when you see her."

"I really don't understand what's going on in your head," Fabian replied with another chuckle. "Claudia has been living at your place since she was five, and you both were set to marry each other after coming of age.

"You used to be so fond of her when you were younger. Yet, you let yourself get smitten by Isabella as soon as you got older. You even sent Claudia away for Isabella's sake. But later, you did everything you could to get Claudia back again. Who are you actually in love with?"

Vincenzo went silent for a long while. Finally, he said, "I love Isabella, but I also can't just give up on Claudia. I feel bad after knowing that she hadn't been having a good life in Chemora.

"Since Isabella already has the title of my wife, I thought that Claudia could be the mother of my child instead. At least, she'll know that she still has me as her backup."

Fabian sighed. "But what if you also end up having a child with Isabella? What are you going to do about Claudia and her child? You know that Claudia is my cousin. I don't want to see her and her child abandoned and lonely for the rest of their lives."

The elevator suddenly dinged when it finally reached the top floor.

Vincenzo said in a soft voice, "It won't happen."

Fabian was momentarily stunned. He didn't know if Vincenzo meant that I wouldn't have a baby, or if he wouldn't abandon them both. He just followed Vincenzo out of the elevator doors.

However, I knew what Vincenzo meant. He meant that I wouldn't be having a baby with him.

That was because he had already given me a slow-acting poison that would cause me to be infertile, and I would not be able to bear him children.

The elevator grew hot and stuffy inside. However, I only felt as though I had been plunged into a tub of ice-cold water in the middle of winter. The cold seeped into my bones.

I stood rooted to the ground and didn't go out after them. There was no need to.

It wasn't until the elevator went back down to the first floor that I suddenly gasped loudly for air, as if it were my first gulp of fresh air after drowning for a long time. Then, I couldn't stop coughing my lungs out.

My phone wouldn't stop vibrating in my pocket. The screen lit up, showing that I had just received a text message from Vincenzo.

"Isabella, I'll meet you at the port tomorrow. Don't forget to bring along the protection charm I gave you."

I could feel my emotions about to explode. Huge tears began rolling down my cheeks.

Vincenzo was the head of the mafia, the Don, and he was always very busy. However, ever since we got married, he would insist on waiting for me at the port every time I came back from my business trips overseas.

He would also always book a restaurant in advance, give me a bouquet of flowers, and welcome me back home. It had always been that way every time.

His friends once told me that I was Vincenzo's first love, and he had gone out on a limb, maybe even two, to pursue me until I finally accepted him back then.

He went against the foreign mafia to snatch their deals, thus threatening their businesses, which ended up with him getting hunted down and nearly losing his life. It was all just so that I could return to my home country.

He also spent a great fortune to hire a team of international experts to manage the motorsports company my parents left me in Westside Quay and helped me expand the company there, just so that I would stay by his side.

Vincenzo spoiled me even more after we got married.

Since I often raced as a hobby, he spent a pretty penny building a designated race car track just for me. He'd even gift me a new race car that was modified to have the best and latest technologies on every anniversary.

Once, I had just mentioned to him that I missed Mom, and he had immediately gotten to work in the middle of the night, calling up every contact he had and locating the heirlooms that Mom left for me before the sun even rose the next day.

However, it was also precisely a man as romantic as him who had secretly formed another family behind my back.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

No wonder Claudia Henderson was more familiar with Cursley Mansion's ins and outs than I was. No wonder someone who had supposedly spent the better part of her life in Chemora could still refer to Vincenzo's friends by their nicknames.

No wonder an "adoptive sister" like her could make him set his work aside and accompany her on a trip around the world.

Claudia wasn't his adoptive sister at all. She was obviously someone who had already been betrothed to Vincenzo at a young age. She was his fiancee.

And I had been the third wheel in their relationship the entire time.

My phone buzzed again. This time, it was a family photo from Claudia.

Accompanying the photo was a text message that said, "Bella, stop hoarding the spot that has never belonged to you. I thought that you'd know better, but I guess you're a lot more stubborn than I expected.

"Vincenzo said that the kid looks a lot like him. What do you think?"

I just glanced briefly at the text message before exiting the chat window. If she wanted him so badly, then I would let her have him.

I opened up my contact list and tapped on the number that I'd nearly forgotten by now. "Alexander… Does the bet from back then still count?"