Chapter 2

On the way to the auction, Valentina sat beside me in the car.

"Alessia, Salvatore said you're like a corpse in bed. He only married you for your pretty face. But after seven years, even that gets boring," she said, voice dripping with mockery. "He needs a woman like me. Someone who actually knows how to keep a man interested."

I closed my eyes. I was too tired to entertain her chatter. My thoughts were focused on the escape plan three days from now.

Right after breakfast, my high school senior, Luca Bellini, messaged me.

Everything was in place. As long as I could board the ferry, Nicola and I would finally be free.

When the car reached a highway on the outskirts of the city, another vehicle suddenly rammed straight into us. The car instantly lost control and slammed into the roadside guardrail.

Then, a storm of gunfire erupted.

I instinctively covered my lower abdomen with my hand as the force of the crash threw my body forward.

In the chaos, Valentina suddenly shoved me hard. I was completely unprepared and was pushed out of the car.

"Salvatore told you to protect me! Distract them!" she screamed.

Before I could react, a bullet grazed my shoulder. Blood poured out, and a wave of pain flooded my body.

Inside the car, Valentina was completely unharmed. Still, she clutched her face and screamed louder than I did.

After two gunshots rang out, she fainted on the spot.

Salvatore and his men arrived right on time. Within seconds, they had the situation under control.

Salvatore rushed toward us like a madman and yanked the car door wide open. When he saw the unconscious Valentina, his voice trembled. "Tina!"

Meanwhile, I was lying right at his feet. Blood had already soaked most of my clothes.

He anxiously picked Valentina up and walked straight past me. He had passed by me three times without sparing me a glance. It was as if I were nothing more than a piece of garbage in the way.

"Take Tina to the hospital! Now!" he roared at the bodyguards.

One of them hesitated before speaking. "Don Falcone, Donna Falcone is still bleeding…"

Salvatore paused for a beat. I thought that he might turn around and look at me.

Even just once.

Instead, all I got was his cold voice. "She's tough. She won't die. She can get a cab home."

With that, he left.

I wasn’t even worth as much as a dog. Even a dog would get some concern from its owner when it got hurt.

With the last bit of strength I had left, I forced myself up from the ground and began moving forward, one step at a time.

I don't know how long I walked, but I eventually found a small private clinic by the roadside.

The doctor was an elderly woman. She froze when she saw me covered in blood.

"Miss, what happened to you?"

"A gunshot wound. Please help me remove the bullet fragment," I said calmly. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

"You'll need anesthesia. It'll hurt badly if you don't."

I shook my head and clutched my abdomen. "I can't take anesthesia. I'm pregnant."

The woman stared at me. Her eyes were filled with shock. Removing a bullet without anesthesia was basically torture.

I bit down hard on a towel. Cold sweat soaked through my back. As the doctor searched through my flesh with tweezers, my whole body trembled with pain.

Soon, she pulled out the bloodied fragments.

She dressed my wound, then sighed. "Miss, you should have your husband pick you up. You need rest. You can't keep pushing yourself."

Husband?

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips.

"My husband's dead."