Chapter 4

“The Don has also canceled your outstanding waiting penalties as compensation,” Marco said.

I couldn’t speak.

“He’s expecting you at the hospital for your scheduled prenatal appointment this afternoon. Please be punctual. The Don especially said so.”

The line went dead.

I stood alone in the mansion. Dante had turned my mother’s final gift into jewelry for another woman.

And in exchange, he had generously decided not to make me wait anymore.

I opened the drawer of my desk. Inside were the divorce papers I had prepared.

I signed them.

Then I placed three documents on Dante’s desk.

Our divorce agreement.

The medical report confirming our child’s death.

The paperwork recording the final arrangements for our baby.

I took off my wedding ring and placed it on top.

For a long time, I stared at the ring.

Three years ago, Dante had slipped it onto my finger inside the Vitalino family chapel.

He had promised that nobody would ever hurt me while I carried his name.

Now I knew the truth.

The person who had hurt me most was the man who had given me that name.

I walked out of the mansion without looking back.

By the time Dante arrived at the hospital for the appointment, I was boarding a plane.

My phone lit up with missed calls. I turned on airplane mode. And walked away from the Vitalino family forever.

Dante Vitalino had called me seven times.

I hadn’t answered once.

He stood outside the private maternity clinic, staring at his phone.

His patience was wearing thin.

“Marco,” he snapped when his Consigliere answered. “Check the security cameras at home.”

“Of course, Don.”

“And tell Elena that if she doesn’t arrive within fifteen minutes, all her waiting penalties will be reinstated.”

Dante ended the call and approached the reception desk.

“My wife has an appointment today. Is she here?”

The receptionist looked up.

“Name, please?”

“Elena Vitalino.”

A few moments later, the woman frowned.

“I’m sorry, sir. There are no upcoming prenatal appointments under that name.”

“Check again.”

She did. Still nothing.

A strange feeling settled in Dante’s chest.

I scheduled everything weeks in advance.

Then he remembered my words.

“Our baby is gone.”

And the way her stomach had looked when he returned home.

Flat.

Her face pale.

Her body frighteningly thin.

He had assumed she wasn’t eating properly.

What if…?

No. Impossible.

“Don Vitalino?”

A doctor approached.

“I’m Dr. Harris. I treated your wife last week.”

Dante straightened.

“Then perhaps you can explain why her appointment has disappeared.”

The doctor’s expression changed.

“Mr. Vitalino, your wife doesn’t have a prenatal appointment because her pregnancy has ended.”

Dante stared at him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Mrs. Vitalino was brought to the hospital with severe complications. Despite emergency treatment, we were unable to save the baby.”

“That’s not funny. She told you to say this to me?”

“I’m not joking, sir.”

Dante’s voice dropped dangerously.

“You should be very careful what you say next.”

The doctor showed him the relevant medical documentation.

Dante looked down.

The date.

The hospital.

The confirmation of fetal death.

He recognized the date immediately. That night, he had been with Sofia. Celebrating her birthday.

A second birthday, in a different time zone.

While Elena had been begging him to come home.

His phone rang.

Marco.

“Don, we’ve checked the mansion.”

Dante could barely hear him.

“Elena isn’t there.”

“What?”

“She was last seen leaving through the rear entrance with a suitcase.”

Dante’s grip tightened around the phone.

“When?”

“Approximately thirty minutes ago.”

For the first time in his life, Dante Vitalino felt something more terrifying than a loaded gun pointed at his head.

He felt completely powerless.

But Marco wasn’t finished.

“Don... there’s something else. Mrs. Vitalino left several documents on your desk.”

Dante’s heart pounded.

“What documents?”

Marco hesitated.

“One of them is a signed divorce agreement. I’m sorry, Don… Mrs. Vitalino had already left.”