Chapter 4

Stefan was sitting right by my side when I woke up. He had taken off his tailor-made suit and changed into a black turtleneck. "You're finally awake, Elena."

For some reason, he sounded joyful while Corey looked grim. He gave me a troubled look before saying, "Congratulations, Donna Gallo. You're three months pregnant."

My mind went blank as I slowly looked up to stare back at Stefan, who misunderstood my reaction. He pulled me gently into his arms and tightened his embrace around me, unable to suppress the happiness in his voice. "This is wonderful! I can't believe I'm going to be a father. You've given me such a beautiful surprise, Elena."

I had never seen him express his happiness this way before, but I found it difficult to smile.

That day, Stefan accompanied me for a long time at the hospital. It was only when he had 30 minutes left before his meeting that he finally left in a hurry. Before leaving, he said to Corey, "Increase the budget for the medical team. From now onward, your main focus is guaranteeing Elena's safety."

Corey agreed in a low voice, and Stefan failed to notice his chilly tone. Stefan turned back to look at me with tenderness in his eyes, just like he did when we first met. "I'll visit you again later tonight, Elena. Have a good rest." I nodded as I watched him leave.

When the door closed behind him, the room turned silent once more. It was so quiet that I could hear our breathing. I clenched my fists and remained silent for a long time before looking up at Corey. "Dr. Dickson, please help me abort this baby."

This time, Corey did not ask any questions because he had witnessed what Stefan had done that day. He nodded and replied with determination, "Don't worry about it. I'll help you." He paused before continuing, "But it's best that you take medication to cause the miscarriage before you leave, so you won't attract any attention.

"But…" He glanced at me and looked like he could not bear to imagine what I would go through. "Getting the abortion and having the plastic surgery afterward will cause you a lot of pain, and it has its risks."

I smiled softly as if I had just heard something that had nothing to do with me. "It's all right. I'll do anything to leave this place."

This baby had come at the wrong time, but to me, it was just an extra obstacle to remove in the process of my escape.

Since that day, I started to focus on nurturing myself and keeping my body healthy as I prepared for the surgery in accordance with the doctor's orders. In Stefan's eyes, I was being protective of our baby. He treated me lovingly during this time and would personally join me for all checkups conducted by the medical team.

Stefan would caress my belly when he came home at night, and he even customized a few precious toys for the baby before it was even born. He acted as if our baby were everything he wanted in life.

Unbeknownst to Stefan, I threw all those toys into a metal box after he left. Right at the very bottom of the box was the black, lacey underwear I found in his car. Whenever I saw it, the warm feeling I had when I received those toys would vanish. Once I was gone, I would return everything in the box to him. I wanted him to witness how dirty his love was.

Time passed quickly, and only two months were left until my surgery. That was when I suddenly received a call from the family elders. They sounded grim as they talked about what happened after the dinner event.

Trixie had posted a picture on her social media that revealed half of Stefan's face. The lighting on his side profile showcased his aloof yet handsome charisma, which instantly garnered millions of likes. This was causing distress within the core members of the family.

"Don Gallo has never revealed himself publicly."

"The high exposure will disrupt the family's discreet organization."

One of the elders paused before lowering his voice to say, "Besides, there has been a recent problem with the underground casino. If public opinion continues to spread, it's going to cause greater trouble."

They were silent before softening their tones. "Donna Gallo, we have no idea how to talk to Don Gallo about this. Do you think you'd be able to talk to him about keeping his distance from Trixie Carter?"

I laughed bitterly after listening to their request. "You should know how the Don can be. No one can interfere with his decisions."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the call. An elder lowered his voice. "But Donna Gallo, you're pregnant now. If…"

"That's enough," I interrupted him. "I won't involve myself with any of the family's internal affairs." I hung up after that.

All I wanted was to spend the rest of my time here quietly. Whatever happened within the family no longer had anything to do with me.

However, the matter eventually blew up. Reporters had snapped photographs of Trixie and Stefan getting into a car together outside the casino, and Stefan's face was clearly visible. News of this spread rapidly, and even though the media was quickly silenced and most of the pictures removed, it was still a fact that they had been exposed to the public from outside the casino.

Another family meeting was called under intense pressure.

"Why were there so many reporters around the casino? Our family's security has never made such a mistake before."

"We should focus on public opinion now that the situation has escalated. Sigh! If this continues, and the casino list is leaked, we'll be in big trouble. Plenty of politicians and public figures connected to our family have expressed their utmost concern."

"If this continues to escalate, it might affect our political ties…"

As the disagreements in the meeting room became louder, Stefan frowned with his hand against his forehead, as if trying to figure out a solution. That was when someone slammed the table and said, "We can get Trixie Carter to admit that she's been gambling and issue a public apology to pacify the public."

Everyone looked at each other when this idea was presented. It was a great idea that was both effective and minimized the risks. It would even pacify the public. They looked at Stefan, but he shook his head. "I can't sacrifice her."