Chapter 2

At midnight, I ripped out the IV cannula attached to the back of my hand. Then, I stepped onto the cold tile floor barefoot.

I did not know where I was going. Perhaps I just wanted to escape that cage.

When I was at the end of the corridor near the smoking area, I stopped in my tracks. Through the half-closed door drifted the smell of cigarettes and the sound of a familiar argument.

I pressed myself against the wall and held my breath.

"Are you nuts? Why are you smoking here?" Lorenzo asked with fury, but soon softened his tone.

"Sofia, put it out. It's bad for your body."

Sofia snickered. "My body? Hah! Vittoria's child is gone, and you're here talking about my body? Lorenzo, that was your child, too!"

Lorenzo snapped softly, "It was an accident! No one knew that she would open that safe!"

Silence hung thickly in the air.

A long time later, Sofia said with a trembling voice, "I'm pregnant."

"What did you say?"

"I said, I'm pregnant, Lorenzo."

I covered my mouth as tears subconsciously streamed down my face.

My heart ached so much as if someone were squeezing it tightly. It was so painful that I could not breathe.

So, that was the truth.

My best friend and my husband. Just when I had lost a child, they were discussing the arrival of another new life.

"That night was a mistake," Lorenzo said bitterly, but barely able to contain his delight and surprise.

Sofia sneered. "Mistake? So, what do you want to do now? Do you want me to get an abortion? Lying on the operating table just like what happened to Vittoria?"

Lorenzo answered definitively. "No! No way! You must keep the child. Vittoria can't have any more children. The doctor said that her womb was damaged. Sofia, this is God's way of making up to our family. It's his way of giving me an heir."

He continued, "I'll send you to Swisserland to carry to term. When the baby is born, we'll say that it's adopted, or an orphaned child by a distant relative. Vittoria is kind. She'll treat the child as her own."

'Treat the child as her own'.

Those words were like a huge slap to the face. Were they planning on using me to raise their illegitimate child?

Were they using me to love and care for the product of my husband's and best friend's betrayal?

At that moment, any hope I had left for them completely vanished. It turned out that there was no limit as to how cruel one could be.

I did not rush in to cause a scene or question them loudly. I merely stood in the shadows listening to their conversation.

They consoled each other as if they were star-crossed lovers. It was as if I was the evil witch who was in the way of their happiness.

I turned around and headed back to my room.

In my room, my thoughts drifted back to the past.

When I was 18 years old, when I realized that my feelings for Lorenzo were more than friends, I unreservedly told that to Sofia.

Back then, Sofia was at first stunned. Her expressions stiffened.

Then, she furrowed her brows in disdain. "Vittoria, have you gone mad? How could you fall for him? His hands are covered in blood. He doesn't deserve you."

From that point onward, Sofia hated Lorenzo even more. They started giving each other cold shoulders.

The day that Lorenzo and I got together, Sofia and Lorenzo fought in the training yard. She came out with red eyes, jaw clenched, refusing to say a word.

Later, when Lorenzo took over the family's affairs, he became the new Don.

Sofia went on to study law and economics. She later returned to be a core member of the family, becoming Lorenzo's most trusted Consigliere.

She held my hand and swore to me, "Vittoria, don't worry. I'll look after Lorenzo."

When Lorenzo proposed to me, Sofia cried terribly hard at our wedding. She grabbed Lorenzo by the collar.

"Lorenzo, if you ever mistreat Vittoria, I'll chop you up into pieces and feed them to the sharks."

Lorenzo did not argue. He had not yet shown the authoritative demeanor of a Don.

With reddened eyes, he looked at Sofia's quivering lips and replied softly, "I promise."