Chapter 1

It was already late at night when I returned to the hospital from the archives.

Antonino had just pulled through. My husband, Adriano Moretti, was keeping watch beside his bed.

The moment he saw me walk in, he glared at me furiously. "Is this how you take care of Antonino? He got sick under your care!"

In the past, I would have tolerated his angry accusation. Now, I only found him terrifyingly unfamiliar.

I looked at the face on the hospital bed that was so much like his. It turned out that it wasn't a mere resemblance between nephew and uncle. It was the resemblance between a son and his father.

Antonino reached out to me, asking to be held. "Mama."

I stopped in my tracks. I had heard him call me that for more than two thousand days and nights. For seven years, he would only let me hold him whenever he was sick. When nightmares woke him in the middle of the night, I was the only one he wanted beside him.

But now, that one word felt like a knife piercing right into my chest. The pain was so sharp that even my breathing was shaky.

Adriano noticed something was wrong with me. "Lucrezia?"

I walked over and tucked the blanket around Antonino. "I'm fine. I just have a bit of a headache."

Vittoria Moretti, who was sitting in a reclining chair, stirred at our voices. The moment she saw me, the first thing that came out of her mouth was criticism.

She berated me. "You're finally back. Antonino just came out of surgery. He can't be left alone right now. You're his mother. How could you run off at a time like this?"

I looked at her.

Seven years ago, she had told me that every night when she closed her eyes, she dreamed of Luca Moretti, who had unfortunately died. She had said that Antonino carried the Moretti bloodline and couldn't be left to wander the streets with a woman who couldn't even protect herself.

Her tears softened my heart, and I personally brought Antonino into the Moretti estate.

When he first arrived, he couldn't sleep in an unfamiliar bed. He cried so hard all night that he could barely catch his breath. I carried him through the halls, walking back and forth until he finally calmed down.

When he had a high fever, I stayed by his side until dawn. I took him to school on his first day. When he lost his first baby tooth, I tucked it away in a small silver box.

The first time he called me "Mama", even Adriano's eyes turned red. To take care of him, I gradually stopped involving myself in the family's affairs.

Everyone told me that Antonino might not have been born to me, but after I'd raised him for so long, he was practically like a son to me. I kept telling myself those words to deceive myself for seven whole years.

I met Vittoria's gaze steadily and said, "Once Antonino recovers, take him to the family chapel to see Luca. He's ten now. It's time to formally add his name to the family's records as Luca's son."

Vittoria's expression stiffened visibly. Adriano looked up at me too.

I continued, "Have the lawyers prepare a formal paternity declaration as well. It'll come in handy when he eventually inherits his share of the family's fortune."

Vittoria immediately waved her hand and said, "Luca has been dead for years. Let him rest in peace. Everyone in the family knows who Antonino's father is. There's no need to complicate things."

I smiled faintly and responded, "You're right."

Adriano kept staring at me. "Lucrezia, what's gotten into you tonight?"

I slipped my handbag onto my shoulder. "Nothing. Stay here with him. I'm going back to the estate to pick up a few things."