Chapter 3

Vincenzo chased after me and caught my hand in a few strides.

Realizing he'd been too harsh, he softened his tone, trying to calm me. "Ella, I know Sofia bothers you, but this is just a deal. I only care about you!"

I jerked my hand free and stepped back, keeping my distance. "A deal?"

I thought about what happened last month. He said he was handling family matters, but I ran into him and Sofia at a mall downtown.

They were holding hands. She leaned against him, trying on jewelry, and he helped her patiently. His gaze was filled with tenderness.

I confronted him on the spot, and he fumbled through an explanation. "Ella, don't misunderstand. I'm just finishing the task. I have to please her so she can deliver the baby safely. Once it's done, we'll leave."

That night, I received a message from Sofia.

A photo was attached, showing her and Vincenzo in a hotel suite. She was wearing the necklace he'd just bought her as she snuggled in his arms.

She wrote, "Ella, do you really think he still loves you? He cares for me far more than he ever did for you. You're just a spare."

"Vincenzo," I called out.

When I looked at his anxious face, I felt nothing but irony. "Your 'just a deal' meant shopping with her and staying in hotels? Meanwhile, I have been waiting year after year, and now she's carrying your baby?"

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but his phone rang.

It was Sofia. Her voice cracked. "Vincenzo, my stomach hurts. Please come back…"

Vincenzo's expression shifted instantly, and when he looked at me, there was a trace of guilt in his eyes.

However, he didn't hesitate. "Ella, go home. Once this baby is born, I'll make it up to you."

With that, he ran straight toward the hospital without even a glance back.

What he didn't know was that he would never get the chance to make it up to me.

Not long ago, my birth parents found me.

They hadn't abandoned me. It turned out that a tragic accident years ago had forced us apart, and they'd spent all these years searching for me.

Before, I had been hesitating over whether to go with them because of Vincenzo.

However, now, watching him run toward another woman without a second thought, I made up my mind.

I pulled out my phone and called my parents. "Mamma, Papa, I want to go with you."

Their voices erupted in joy.

Mamma choked on her words. "What about Vincenzo? You always said—"

"He's not important anymore," I cut her off. "Help me prepare a new identity. I want to start completely fresh."

They didn't question me and just agreed. "Okay, sure. We'll send someone to get you in three days. We'll make sure everything is perfect."

…

After hanging up, I returned to Costa Estate.

To make Sofia comfortable during her pregnancy, Vincenzo had long since kicked me out of the master bedroom.

I was shoved into a small, cold, damp room tucked in the farthest corner of the estate.

On the wall hung an old photo of us.

In it, he was smiling at the camera. He had said, "Ella, wait for me. I'll marry you."

Back then, he'd taken 99 lashes and knelt for three days straight, all for me.

Now, for another woman, he could dismiss my years of devotion and give our token of love to her.

I tore the photo from the wall and tossed it in the trash.

Then, I started packing. Not a single piece of clothing he'd bought me or jewelry he'd given me made it into my bag.

Eight years of love had turned out to be nothing but a mirage.

I was going to find the family that was truly mine—a home where I wouldn't be hurt, where I wouldn't have to wait endlessly.