Chapter 1

The moment I opened my eyes, my head felt like it was splitting apart.

Matteo Bellandi was sitting at the edge of my hospital bed. His suit was wrinkled beyond recognition, and his eyes were bloodshot, veins webbing through the whites.

When he saw that I was awake, his whole body seemed to loosen in relief. He tightened his grip around my hand.

"Giana, you're awake."

I tried to speak, but my throat burned with sharp pain.

He immediately reached for the glass of water on the nightstand, carefully guiding the straw to my lips.

"Slowly. The doctor said your emotions spiked too hard. When you fainted, you hit your head and suffered a mild concussion."

"When... did you get back?" I asked.

"Last night. The second I got the call, I flew back from New York." He reached out and brushed his fingers across my forehead. "I handed that deal off to my team. Nothing is more important than you."

I knew which deal he meant. It was worth a billion dollars and had been negotiated over three months. The signing had been scheduled for today.

A man who would not even blink in the face of a gun barrel had thrown aside a billion-dollar deal and flown overnight because his wife fainted.

How devoted.

If I had not seen the children he had with his secretary, Sienna Vale.

At that moment, the door was suddenly pushed open.

"Mr. Bellandi, the doctor said—"

I lifted my head.

Sienna stood in the doorway, a baby in her arms. Behind her, a nanny carried another one.

She walked in, followed by the nanny. The two babies swayed before my eyes.

"The Donna is awake? That's wonderful." She stood behind Matteo, her tone gentle, but her eyes carried open provocation. "Mr. Bellandi stayed by your side for two days and two nights. He didn't even stop to drink water."

As she spoke, she looked down at the two babies, her eyes glowing with maternal warmth. "I brought them for their physical evaluation. I heard you were hospitalized, so I came to check on you..."

"Where is their father?" I asked.

I looked at her. Then I looked at Matteo. I knew that expression too well. Every time he lied to me, his Adam's apple would move.

Matteo's throat shifted again. He answered vaguely, "Their father is busy. He doesn't have time for now."

Sienna looked down at me from above, holding the baby as she let out a theatrical sigh. "Yes, their father is busy earning money. So I have to raise both children on my own. Unlike you, Donna. You truly are fortunate, having such a considerate husband."

I saw the mockery in the bottom of her eyes.

"Then again... since you don't have children, you probably wouldn't understand this kind of trouble."

Matteo abruptly stood up and slapped her across the face. "Who do you think you are, daring to speak to my wife like that?"

Sienna covered her face. Tears spilled from her eyes. "Matteo, how can you treat me like this? You promised you would protect me!"

"Have you forgotten? I saved your life!"

I had heard that story too. Supposedly, when Matteo was young, he had been kidnapped by a rival family. Sienna had risked her life to save him.

A year ago, when she returned to the country with no support and nowhere to go, he brought her into the company because of that debt.

Grateful to her, I treated her like a younger sister. I bought her a new apartment and even helped decorate it.

I never expected betrayal in return.

I looked at Matteo.

He gripped my hand tightly and turned his head, his voice low and sharp as he warned her, "Sienna, do you expect one life-saving favor to feed off me for the rest of your life? I'm telling you, Giana is my wife. No one gets to disrespect her."

His phone rang. He looked at me. "Something at the office. I need to handle it. I'll be right back."

He left the hospital room.

The grievance on Sienna's face vanished instantly.

"You saw it that day, didn't you?" She lowered her head and smiled at me viciously. "You saw Matteo holding the baby."

As she spoke, she took out her phone. "Look. Don't the two of them look exactly like him? Anyone can tell they're father and son.

"Giana, don't you think you're pathetic? A hen that can't lay eggs, and you still think you deserve to be Donna? You should hurry and leave on your own. Otherwise, when you're thrown out of the family, it'll be far more humiliating."

She turned and walked out.

I wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes. My departure would not be because I feared humiliation.

It would be because when faced with a man who betrayed me and a marriage polluted by lies, I chose abandonment over begging.

I picked up my phone and dialed a number I had never once initiated before.

"Mother, I need to speak with you."

My mother-in-law, Madre Isabella Bellandi's voice was as cold as ever. "What is it?"

"I agree to give up the title of Donna."

There was silence on the other end for several seconds, then surprise, and finally, unmistakable delight.

"What did you say?"

"Matteo will never agree to divorce me," I said. "So you need to arrange a new identity for me. I want to disappear completely. He must never find me."

She was silent for a few seconds more. Then she laughed. There was a satisfaction in that laugh I had never heard before.

"Giana, you've finally grown wise for once."

She hung up.

Ten minutes later, my phone vibrated.

Only one sentence appeared on the screen: "Three days from now, the private jet will be waiting at the airport at 3:00 p.m. Your new identity has been prepared."