Chapter 1

In the villa's greenhouse, Dante Pierce pressed me against the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, kissing me until my whole body went weak.

The bright sunlight and waves of floral fragrance made me increasingly dizzy with desire.

His large hands roamed freely over my body, skillfully removing my clothes. When I was completely bare, my face flushed red as I pressed my hands against his chest.

He chuckled softly and whispered in my ear, "I sent all of the maids away. What are you embarrassed about?"

"Be careful with the baby..."

"It's fine. The doctor said it's okay. I'll be gentle..."

The usually cold man's face was tinged red. His movements were tender yet dominant. I held him tightly, forced to endure his intensity as waves of pleasure left my mind completely blank.

Suddenly, an unexpected phone ring interrupted the intimate atmosphere filling the room. Dante frowned and reached for the phone to hang up, but after seeing the caller ID, he answered instead.

My consciousness slowly returned and I heard the voice of Dante's friend, Harvey Wells, coming through the phone.

"Dante, are you really going to..."

Before Harvey could finish, Dante interrupted him in fluent Italian, "Lily's still here. Watch what you say!"

The person on the other end fell silent for a moment before responding in Italian, "Have you lost your mind? You're really going to marry Nina? Five years ago, when she was kidnapped, you broke your leg saving her. Then, when the family abandoned you, she left you for another man. Can you actually forgive that?"

Dante's brow furrowed slightly as he replied calmly, "If she doesn't marry me, the Lace family will force her into an arranged marriage with that old man from the Boone family. I can't bear to see her suffer like that."

"What about Lily? When your leg was ruined and the family abandoned you in that old mansion, she was the one who stayed with you through it all. She loves you so much. How can you betray her?"

Faced with his friend's angry questions, Dante's expression remained unchanged as he answered coldly, "I'll prepare a fake marriage certificate for her. I love her anyway, so what does it matter if the certificate is real or fake?"

"If she finds out, she'll definitely leave you!"

"I won't let her find out, but even if she did, she wouldn't leave me. She's carrying my child."

I felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over me, chilling me to the bone.

No one knew that to get closer to Dante, I had deliberately learned all the mafia languages, including Italian. Therefore, I understood every single word they said.

Each sentence felt like countless sharp blades stabbing deep into my heart.

After hanging up, Dante released me with little interest. I slumped to the floor, my whole body trembling uncontrollably.

He had just finished getting dressed when his phone rang again. Watching him answer the call and hurry away, I finally let my tears flow freely.

Dante soon sent me a message.

"Lily, I have something urgent to handle. There's a nutritious meal I made for you in the kitchen. Be good and eat it all. I'll check when I get back."

I sat in the greenhouse for hours, letting the sunlight burn my skin, before finally forcing myself to leave. After wiping away my tears, I dumped all of the nutritious food Dante had prepared for me into the trash.

Once that was done, I opened my phone to order takeout, but accidentally came across Nina Lace's Instagram page.

What caught my eye was a photo of a stamped marriage certificate with their names, hers and Dante's, printed in the most prominent position.

The caption below read, "After going in circles, you're still the one by my side in the end."