Chapter 4

[Alessia's POV]

"First, give the medicine to Vito immediately so he has nothing left to worry about. Second, use every connection you have to get me divorced from Vito finalized as soon as possible," I said.

My father drafted the agreement on the spot. It spelled everything out clearly in black and white—once the divorce officially took effect, I would voluntarily give up all inheritance rights to the Moretti family fortune. In return, he would hand over the special medication to Vito.

I picked up the pen and signed my name on the agreement. Every stroke of the pen was a clean, ruthless cut.

After signing, I didn't go back to the Luca family estate. Instead, I headed to the nightclub I used to frequent.

I drowned myself there for three days straight. I knocked back one glass of hard liquor after another and danced on the floor until my body gave out. I tried to numb myself with alcohol.

At one point, a man reeking of booze stepped in front of me, reaching for my waist. "Hey, gorgeous. All alone? How about you keep me company for a dance?"

My eyes went cold. I was just about to explode when the sound of bone snapping rang out. Then, the man screamed in agony.

I looked up and saw a pair of icy eyes. It was Vito.

He was dressed in casual clothes. The wound on his abdomen hadn't fully healed, and his face was still a little pale. However, the murderous intent rolling off him was so intense that it made it hard to breathe.

He gripped the man's wrist, his gaze as cold as ice. "Get lost. Touch her again, and I'll break both your hands."

The guy had the living daylights scared out of him when he saw it was Vito. He scrambled away as quickly as he could, practically crawling out.

The noise in the room died in an instant.

I forced down the storm churning in my chest and put on a mocking smile. "Well, well. What a big show of power, Don Luca. What brings you to a place like this? Shouldn't you be with your beloved? What are you doing here looking for me?"

Vito frowned and looked into my bloodshot eyes. His voice came out low. "I had some emergencies to deal with over the past few days. The moment I got back, I heard you've been holed up here for three days. It's time to go home."

Emergencies? Did he mean getting stabbed for his precious Cecilia?

I didn't call him out on it. I just turned away, saying flatly, "I don't want to go back. That's not my home."

With that, I pushed past him, ready to leave.

He caught my wrist in one quick motion. Then, he bent down and scooped me up in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing, Vito? Put me down!" I kicked and struggled with everything I had, but his hold on me was ironclad.

He ignored my resistance and strode toward a dark, deserted corner at the back of the club. He pinned me against the cold wall before his burning-hot kiss came crashing down, overwhelming and unstoppable.

"You bastard! Let me go!" I shouted.

He grabbed my wrists with one hand and deepened the kiss. His breath was hot against my ear as he rasped, "Do you know how many days it's been since we last did it, Alessia? If you won't go home… then we'll do it here."

"No! I don't want this!" I was furious and humiliated, but more than that, my heart felt like it was being carved open.

Was he so desperate for me to conceive just to trade my child for Cecilia's medicine?

Vito thought I was just scared. His voice was rough as he panted in my ear. "Don't be afraid. The lights are off, so no one will see us…"

"You jerk!" Humiliation burned in my eyes, turning to tears.

I ducked my head and bit down on his shoulder with everything I had. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

He grunted, then chuckled. "You're like a wildcat…"

He didn't give me any more chances to fight back. The dry, burning pain made every muscle in my body tense. A strangled cry slipped from my throat.

"Breathe through it…" His voice was thick with desire. "If you can't handle a little pain like this, how are you going to get through childbirth?"

Childbirth. That word stabbed straight into my heart.

I jerked my head up and stared straight at his face, so close to mine I could see every detail. I said, "Vito, my mom died of a hemorrhage after finding out my father had cheated on her while she was having me. What if I told you that because of that, I'll never have children for the rest of my life?"

Vito's movements froze. In the darkness, I caught a flicker of something complicated in his eyes, but it vanished almost instantly.

"Alessia, I can agree to anything else, but not that. Give me a baby—our baby, who looks like you," he said quietly.

To anyone else, his words would've sounded tender and devoted. But to me, every syllable landed like a blade, slicing me apart inch by inch.

He couldn't see my pain, my despair, and my terror. In his heart, all that mattered was Cecilia's life and safety.

A wave of nausea and humiliation crashed over me so violently that it made me feel sick. I struggled like a madwoman. But against his absolute strength, my resistance was nothing.

Just as I was on the verge of complete despair, a choked, disbelieving scream suddenly rang out beside us. We both went rigid.

I turned to see Cecilia standing a short distance away. Her face was chalk-white and streaked with tears as she stared at us. The next second, she spun around and bolted, sobbing as she ran.

Vito's expression changed instantly. In a heartbeat, he pulled away from me. He threw out a cold command for me to wait for him there, then took off after Cecilia without a moment's hesitation.

I slid down the icy wall until I was sitting on the floor.

How ironic. The woman he truly cared about only had to catch a glimpse of us together, and he panicked so badly he couldn't even spare a single second for me. He wouldn't even give me one last look.

I staggered to my feet, straightened my twisted clothes, and walked out of that disgusting little corner one step at a time. The moment I stepped out the nightclub's back door, a blood-chilling scream exploded above my head.

"Someone jumped!"

My head snapped up on instinct. A blur of white plummeted from the second floor of the club, falling straight toward the ground. The body landed squarely on top of me, with a sickening impact that crushed the air from my lungs.

Agony ripped through every nerve in my body. Hot, sticky blood splattered across my face and drenched my clothes.

Right before everything went black, I saw who had jumped. It was Cecilia.