Chapter 4

My pulse quickened for just a moment as his eyes searched my face desperately for answers.

"Maria needed those documents to relocate to Sicily after her husband was killed last month."

"His enemies are still circling and she needs to disappear quietly before they find her."

"She borrowed my credentials because the Marchetti name provides protection in Sicily."

As I spoke, I reached out calmly and took the documents from his trembling hand without any rush in my movements.

Only then did his shoulders drop slightly with relief flooding his features.

He pulled me against his chest.

"For a moment I thought you were leaving me and I could not think straight, could not breathe at all."

I stood rigid in his embrace until he finally loosened his grip and stepped back.

Isabella appeared in the doorway wearing a new dress I had never seen before，and signed to me. "Mama, Papa bought you something special today, do you want to see what it is?"

Nico's expression turned hopeful as he led me toward the sitting room.

On the side table sat an enormous bouquet of lilies, their heavy scent already filling the entire room.

"I had these delivered this morning from that florist you always admired on Fifth Avenue."

He was watching my face carefully for any sign of appreciation or emotion.

I stared at the flowers and felt my throat starting to tighten.

Lilies had always triggered my allergies, making my eyes water and my breathing difficult within minutes of exposure.

Back when we were first married, Nico used to send me lily arrangements constantly because he thought they were elegant.

I would suffer through sneezing fits and watery eyes for days because he had spent so much money and effort selecting them.

Until one night he found me in the bathroom with my inhaler because the lily pollen had triggered a severe reaction.

"Why did you not tell me you were allergic, why do you keep accepting them when they make you this sick?"

I had smiled through my struggling breaths.

"Because you chose them for me, as long as the love is real, even things that hurt are bearable."

He had thrown out every lily in the house that night and sworn never to bring them near me again.

Now he stood there with his arm around me, presenting the exact thing that could send me to the hospital.

Either he had forgotten completely or he simply did not care anymore.

"Thank you, Nico. They are very beautiful."

Isabella had disappeared to the kitchen and I heard her rummaging through the refrigerator.

A few minutes later, Isabella's voice echoed from the kitchen.

"Papa, Mama, come look at what I made!"

We walked into the kitchen and found Isabella standing beside the counter.

She had made herself an elaborate ice cream sundae with three different flavors piled high.

Nico frowned immediately.

"Princess, you know you are not supposed to have that much sugar, your mother has rules about sweets."

Isabella's face fell and she looked at me with defiance.

For three years I had strictly monitored what she ate because too much sugar made her sick.

It was one of the main reasons she had grown to resent me.

I looked at the sundae and then at my daughter.

"Eat whatever you want, Isabella. I am not going to stop you."

Both of them stared at me like I had spoken in a foreign language. Isabella recovered first and grabbed her spoon with a triumphant smile.

Nico was still watching me with confusion written across his face.

"Giulia, are you sure? You always said sugar makes her stomach hurt."

"She is old enough to make her own choices now."

Something in my flat tone made unease cross his face but before he could question it, the security alert chimed on his phone.

He pulled it out quickly and his entire body went rigid when he saw the camera feed from the front gate.

"What the hell is she thinking coming here?"

He rushed toward the front door and I followed at a distance with Isabella trailing behind me.

Through the window I watched Valentina standing outside the estate gates wearing a dress that emphasized her pregnant belly.

Nico practically ran outside and I could see him talking to her with harsh gestures even from inside the house.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? Who gave you permission to come here? I told you never to appear in front of Giulia!"

Valentina's face crumpled and tears started streaming down her cheeks as she grabbed at Nico's jacket.

"I am sorry, I know I should not be here, but something is wrong with the baby and I am terrified."

"He has not been moving like he usually does and I cannot feel his heartbeat properly anymore."

She grabbed Nico's hand and pressed it against her swollen stomach.

"Please, I need you to come with me to the hospital right now, I cannot do this alone."

Nico shoved her hand away violently.

"I told you before to handle medical issues through Carlo, you cannot keep showing up here!"

But even as he said it, his eyes were filled with obvious concern.

Valentina took a step backward and suddenly her legs seemed to give out beneath her.

She started falling and Nico lunged forward to catch her before she hit the concrete.

His entire focus was on Valentina cradled in his arms, checking her for injuries with frantic hands.

"Are you hurt, did you hit your head when you fell?"

Valentina was sobbing against his chest.

"I am so scared Nico, what if something is wrong with our son, what if I am losing him?"

Isabella had come to stand beside me watching the scene unfold.

"Aunt Valentina looks really sick, maybe Papa should help her go to the doctor."

I said nothing and simply watched through the window.

Nico was on his phone now speaking in low urgent tones to someone.

A few minutes later he came back inside with his face pale and his hands shaking.

"Giulia, there is an emergency situation that involves Valentina."

"If I do not handle this immediately I will dishonor her father's legacy with our family."

His hands moved through the air signing the same careful explanation.

Such elaborate lies constructed to hide the simple truth that he was choosing her over me again.

I nodded once without expression.

"Do what you need to do."

Relief flooded his features like I had just granted him absolution.

"Isabella should come with me, she has been asking to see Valentina all day."

Our daughter was already grabbing her jacket like she had been waiting for this exact moment.

Nico kissed my forehead quickly and his breath was warm against my skin.

"I will be back late tonight but I have a surprise waiting for you when I return."

Then they drove away and I stood alone in the empty courtyard.

I waited exactly five minutes before getting in my car and following the route his tracking device showed.

The hospital was only fifteen minutes away, the private facility where the Marchetti family kept an entire wing reserved exclusively for their use.

The same hospital Nico had built and funded specifically for me after I lost my hearing, claiming he wanted me to have the best medical care available.

Now he was bringing his pregnant mistress to the facility he had created in my name.