Chapter 2

On the day I was discharged, Leonardo came to pick me up himself.

He buttoned my coat, pushed my wheelchair to the car, and bent down to help me into the back seat.

The guards held the door open for him.

No one else stepped forward.

The first time I attended a family dinner with him, my shoes rubbed my feet raw. When he noticed, he carried me back to the car in front of all the guests waiting at the entrance and skipped the dinner entirely.

Back then, people laughed at him.

They said a woman like me, with no family name behind her, was fine to keep around but not worth marrying.

Later, his family arranged a marriage for him.

He walked into the engagement party holding my hand instead and slid the ring onto my finger.

During the years he fought for power, I treated his wounded men, looked after the families of the brothers we lost, and knocked on the doors of people who refused to meet with him.

When he was seriously injured, we hid in a house where we did not dare turn on the lights.

I stayed by his side until he could stand on his own again.

When he finally became Don, those people began calling me the Donna.

I had always believed I was part of this family too.

Only after I lost the baby did I realize this family would not even let me keep my own child's belongings.

When we returned to the estate, a moving cart stood there.

Baby bottles and baby clothes were packed into open cardboard boxes. The wooden cradle lay disassembled at the bottom.

"Where are these going?" I asked.

A maid spoke immediately after me. She turned to Leonardo's mother.

"Madre, the baby's things are all packed. Should we take them out?"

Leonardo's mother, Graziella Romano, looked at me.

"I had the baby's things packed away. Leaving them out would only upset both of you. Isabella will take that room for now.

"She's been too frightened to sleep these past few days. If she stays next to the two of you with guards nearby, she'll feel safer."

I picked up one of the cradle's side rails.

Leonardo had sanded it by hand, and the wood still felt smooth.

He had once placed the cradle beside his side of the bed and said that if the baby cried during the night, he could simply reach over and take care of it.

"Elena, I'm sorry."

Isabella emerged from the living room with red-rimmed eyes.

"The second I heard the gunshots that night, I thought of my dad. I really didn't know you were trapped in the car."

She gripped the back of the sofa as though she could barely remain standing.

Leonardo immediately reached out to steady her.

He guided her onto the sofa and instructed a maid to bring her some water.

I was still sitting in the wheelchair by the door, holding the pieces of the dismantled cradle.

"Leave these here for now," Leonardo told the maid.

Then he turned to me.

"If you can't bear to part with them, we'll keep them. I'll have the staff redo the nursery."

"And Isabella? Where is she going to stay?"

Leonardo paused.

"Once things settle down, I'll find somewhere else for her."

Rocco came in carrying a file and placed it in front of me.

Word of the ambush had already spread.

People were asking why, if the Don had personally ordered his men to protect the Donna first, Isabella had been the first person taken to safety.

According to the report, I had volunteered to let them evacuate Isabella first and had chosen to remain in the car while waiting for help.

"That wasn't her idea. Take that line out," Leonardo said suddenly. "Change it to say I believed the car was safe for the moment, so I had Isabella evacuated first."

He had only changed the wording.

He still refused to admit that he had left me behind.

I read through the report once.

The fact that my leg had been pinned and that I had cried for help when the pain became unbearable was nowhere in it.

Even the guard who had reached my car, only to be called away by Leonardo himself, had been erased from the record.

"Maybe we should just let it go." Isabella lowered her head.

"Elena's been through enough already. I can move to another room. If my father's men end up fighting with you because of me, I..."

Graziella cut her off.

"Your father gave his life for this family. Do you really think we would throw you out?"

Leonardo pulled over a chair and sat in front of me.

"Elena, we still don't know who was behind the attack, and people in the family are already arguing about what happened that night. Her father's men are asking questions too. My explanation alone isn't enough. I need you to sign this statement."

I looked at him.

While I was helping him fight for power, someone once offered their support on the condition that he give me up.

Leonardo had stood up on the spot, grabbed the wine they poured for him, and thrown it in their face.

Back then, every ally he lost increased his chances of dying out there.

Now that his position was secure, he needed me to explain why he had not saved me first.

I said nothing.

I turned to the last page and signed my name.

Only after I finished the final stroke did Leonardo release a breath.

He bent down and wrapped his arms around me.

"Once all this is over, I'll take proper care of you."

Isabella walked over and placed a glass of water beside my hand.

As she bent down, she leaned close to my ear.

"I didn't make him leave you. I only called his name once. How was I supposed to know he'd come running?"

I did not look at her again.

After they left with the file, I asked a maid to bring all the baby's things back to my room.

I folded the small blanket and placed it inside the travel bag along with the old phone that contained the recording of the baby's heartbeat.

Leonardo came in while I was packing the last of the baby clothes.

"Stop packing. You're still recovering. Let the maids handle it."

"I'd rather do it myself."

He crouched beside me and tried to fold the clothes for me.

The outfit was so tiny that he had to turn it over twice before he found both sleeves and folded it properly.

"Elena..."

I took the tiny outfit from him, folded it neatly, and placed it in the bag.

He looked at the baby's things and said nothing more.

He never noticed the clothes I had packed for myself underneath them.