Chapter 4

The next morning, Lux was still half asleep when the bedroom door was kicked open.

Lorenzo stood in the doorway, his face dark with restrained fury.

"You leaked those photos and medical reports online?"

Lux leaned lazily against the headboard, her expression so calm it bordered on cold indifference.

"Yes. Weren't you always desperate for the child in her belly? If you're with her openly, then the kid won't have to live as a b*stard. You should be thanking me."

"Lux."

Lorenzo strode to the bedside and grabbed her wrist hard enough to nearly crush it.

"You've gone too far."

But she did not even frown. She simply looked at him.

"Lorenzo, you're running out of time.

"I'm giving you two choices. First: let the story spread and allow everyone to see what kind of man you really are.

"Second: sign the divorce papers, and I'll clean up the scandal for you."

A vein twitched at Lorenzo's temple.

For years, he had only ever seen Lux gentle, restrained, endlessly tolerant. Even when she was wronged, she would merely redden her eyes and swallow the pain in silence.

This was the first time he had seen her refuse to back down.

"You really want to take this that far?" he asked coldly.

Lux handed him the freshly reprinted documents from her lawyer.

"Sign."

Lorenzo stared at her for several seconds before suddenly laughing. The smile carried obvious contempt.

"Fine."

He grabbed the pen and signed his name neatly at the bottom of the final page.

"Just don't regret it later."

He clearly believed this was nothing more than another jealous outburst. Once she truly lost her position as the Donna of the Antara family, she would come crawling back in tears.

"Remember your promise."

He tossed the pen aside, his tone arrogant and commanding.

"The banquet tomorrow night will be full of media. When you get on stage, you'll clear up every rumor personally."

Then he turned and left.

Lux lowered her gaze to the signed divorce papers and slowly smiled.

She had no intention of helping him clear his name.

She was going to give him something far worse.

By that afternoon, the scandal surrounding 'Don Antara involved with Vitale family's adopted daughter' exploded across the internet.

Secretly recorded footage, pregnancy reports, photos of Bianca moving into the Antara estate, everything was dug up and exposed one piece at a time.

Public outrage spread through the city like wildfire overnight.

"That's really Lorenzo Antara? Wasn't he the one who nearly collapsed crying at his wife's funeral?"

"Bianca's already four months pregnant? That means they were sleeping together before Lux's accident."

"So the devoted Godfather act was fake all along? Building his reputation on top of his wife's corpse is disgusting."

Unable to withstand the online abuse, Bianca locked herself inside and cried hysterically for days.

Lux could not care less.

She simply instructed her lawyer to officially file the signed divorce papers.

The banquet that night was even grander than she had imagined.

It was held at the most luxurious hotel owned by the Antara family. Politicians, financial elites, and representatives from several old Mafia families were all in attendance.

Everyone wanted to witness how this scandal, which had consumed the entire city, would finally end.

Lux stepped out of the car wearing a perfectly tailored black dress. The flashes from the cameras were so intense they nearly turned night into day.

Lorenzo himself stood outside waiting for her.

He wrapped an arm around her waist naturally, as though nothing had happened between them.

Beneath the roar of cameras, he leaned close and murmured into her ear, "Don't make a scene. Once tonight is over, I'll make it up to you."

Lux almost laughed.

"Cheating on me. Lying to me. Sacrificing me for someone else. And in your eyes, this is all just me 'making a scene'?"

Lorenzo's arm stiffened slightly.

She continued quietly, "Lorenzo, have you ever once asked me how I survived those ninety-nine days?"

The man fell silent for a moment before avoiding her gaze.

"This isn't the time to talk about that."

Of course it was not.

Right now, he needed her more than ever.

He needed her standing beside him again, helping him silence the public, helping him preserve the flawless image of the perfect Don.

Since that was what he wanted, she would give it to him.

Under the gaze of the entire ballroom, Lux accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and slowly walked toward the microphone at the center of the stage.

The room instantly fell silent.

Someone gasped in shock.

"That's really Lux Antara… she's actually alive…"

Camera flashes exploded wildly across the hall.

Standing beneath the lights, Lux looked through the crowd at Lorenzo.

The man she had loved for years was still handsome, powerful, untouchable. To everyone else, he remained the proud and invincible Don of the Antara family.

However, only she knew how rotten he truly was beneath the surface.

A faint smile curved her lips as her voice echoed clearly through the microphone across the grand ballroom.

"Thank you all for attending my return banquet. Since everyone seems so interested in the recent news, I suppose I should personally clarify things."

She paused for a brief second, the smile in her eyes deepening.

"Yes. The child Bianca is carrying belongs to my husband."

The entire hall fell into dead silence.

Lorenzo's expression darkened instantly.

But Lux continued as though she had not noticed.

"And I'm willing to give them my blessing."

The moment the words left her mouth, the ballroom erupted into chaos.

Reporters shoved forward like madmen as camera shutters exploded nonstop around the room. Lorenzo stormed toward the stage, trying to drag her away, but Lux had already released the microphone and turned gracefully toward the exit.

She knew that sentence alone was enough to dominate every major headline by morning.

And this was only the beginning.