Chapter 7

The moment the black bag was pulled off my head, I grew dizzy from the swaying, blinding lights. When I finally regained my sight, I could hardly breathe as I realized I was in the basement of a casino. I was instantly overcome by fear.

I forced myself to calm down as I stared coldly at the man in front of me. "What do you want?"

The man seemed to be the leader, and he suddenly gave me a backhanded slap. He used so much force that my ears could not stop ringing. "What do we want?"

He sneered. "That's a question for your husband. He used my casino as a shield for his. Not only is my business destroyed, but I've been left with a huge debt."

In that instant, I suddenly understood how Stefan managed to resolve the issue with his casino. Not only did he pay a lot of money to get out of trouble, but he also used a diversion, placing another casino in the spotlight as the scapegoat. That was definitely Stefan's modus operandi.

The man came closer and said viciously, "I didn't plan on kidnapping you, but Stefan Gallo is always with that woman, leaving us no chance to get our hands on him." He suddenly laughed leeringly.

"I bet you don't know this, but I saw for myself how he f*cked that slut on the balcony. They really went all out with all sorts of positions. You see how I had no choice but to kidnap you instead, even though a wife who got cheated on doesn't have much value to begin with."

He looked down slowly and stopped at my belly. "Fortunately, there is still something of value in that belly of yours."

Bam!

He kicked hard at my belly, making me curl up with intense pain on the ground. After that, he turned to his recording equipment, clicked it on, and pointed the camera at me. "Stefan Gallo," he sneered into the camera. "I might not be able to touch you, but I can still kill one of your women." He crouched and patted my face. "I heard that she's pregnant. How nice! She can die with her baby."

I was in so much pain that I could hardly breathe. My eyesight started to blur, but I still stared right into the camera.

Stefan sat in front of the screen, looking extremely grim. His eyes were filled with murder, and he was on the brink of losing his sanity. However, his voice remained unusually calm. "Let her go, and I'll let you live."

The man turned red with agitation from Stefan's cold and firm demeanor, but he still did not dare touch me because I was his only bargaining chip. He raised one finger to the camera. "I want $100 million in gold."

His demand caused a huge commotion in the meeting room. All the elders stood up from their seats immediately to protest, but Stefan did not hesitate for a moment. "All right."

The man was stunned by Stefan's quick agreement, as he did not think I was worth that much money. It also did not give the man any gratification to see Stefan accept his demand without a second thought. "That's not enough." The man's eyes narrowed. "There's another thing I want."

Stefan stared darkly at him. "What is it? I'll give it to you if I can."

The man smiled slowly. "I want Trixie Carter." His subsequent demand left tension in the air. "She was the one who started all of this, and it's only right that someone pays for my loss." He looked into the camera with malevolence and said slowly, "Bring her to me, and I'll let your wife go. To be honest, I haven't had the opportunity to taste a top celebrity before. I'll consider the debt paid once my men and I have our fill of her in bed."

Everyone went quiet in the meeting room, and the look in Stefan's eyes became colder. "Change your demand." His tone was nonchalant but firm.

The man sneered. "Why should I? Is it because the Don can't bear to do it?"

Stefan did not react to his taunting and raised the bank card in his hand. "Either take the money and let her go, or end up with nothing.

The man gulped, but it was clear that he refused to relent and wanted to force Stefan's hand further. However, the screen suddenly went black the next second. It looked like Stefan had made his choice. The warehouse became quiet, and the man's face fell.

He kicked me hard to vent his frustration, and I was instantly in great pain as the air filled with the scent of blood. In that moment, I suddenly saw my father in him. They had the same uncontrollable look and twisted rage. "No! Please don't…" My memories started to intertwine with reality, and I hugged my head as tears streamed down my face.

I had no idea how much time had passed. All I knew was that everything seemed so far away. It was spinning everywhere, and after all I had been through, I had returned to square one.

Bang!

There was a gunshot.

Blood splattered from between the man's eyes, and he fell face down. Several more gunshots were heard, and the men in the warehouse fell one after the other.

Stefan was standing at the door, red-eyed. He took off his coat to wrap me tightly in it, and his voice trembled as he said to me, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

He had saved me once again, but this time, I did not look up at him because I knew very well that I would never have returned to this place if it were not for him. His eyes widened when he saw my skirt drenched in blood. "Dr. Dickson!"

The door was pushed open, and Corey walked in quickly. Stefan stood to the side for Corey to get to me, and I grabbed Corey by the sleeve to say to him in an almost inaudible voice, "Let this be a chance for the baby to die…"

He paused and gave me a troubled look. It took a while for him to finally reply in a low voice, "All right."

Corey walked out of my room thirty minutes later while shaking his head slightly. Stefan did not move, looking like he had lost every ounce of strength within him. He took a deep breath and hesitated for a long time before pushing my room door open. "Elena…" He choked.

It was the first time I had seen him so helpless. "I'm sorry I came too late." I smiled. I had no idea he knew how to apologize. He held my hand tightly as he teared up. "We'll have another baby. I promise you that."

I pulled my hand away gently and said calmly. "I know. Maybe you should leave the room first." I turned away with my back facing him and did not say another word. Stefan was silent for a long time before he finally closed the door softly behind him.

Not long after, I heard from someone that Stefan lost control. He did not go home right away, but returned to the family to call an emergency meeting. He destroyed every family that backed that man and gave everyone a horrible end. This move would earn Stefan powerful enemies, but he went ahead with it anyway.

"I heard that he did it for you." Corey was seated next to my bed as he burst out with a laugh. "If he were truly worried about you, he should have just handed Trixie Carter over. You're pregnant with his child, after all."

"He probably didn't do it because she's pregnant too," I said with a smile.

Corey was stunned. "W-what did you say? Trixie Carter is pregnant?"

I nodded. "She came looking for me a couple of days ago to show me her pregnancy report." I took out the report and laughed self-depracatingly. "The baby is older than mine."

The room turned silent, and Corey eventually said angrily, "How dare a mistress act so brazenly!"

I smiled without another word as I slipped the report into an envelope. "It's fine. It's all in the past now. The most important thing right now is to make sure I'm in great condition for the surgery. There's only a month left, after all."

As I looked out the window at the sunlight, I caressed my flat belly, unsure whether I felt calm or just numb to the world. I focused on regaining my health during my last days in the hospital.

Stefan hired the best medical team and paid for the most advanced medication for me. He was relieved that I did not reject his offer and was obedient enough to take my medication on time, which eventually made him stop feeling nervous around me.

Half a month passed, and I was much healthier than before. On my last afternoon with him, I planned to ask Stefan to let me go on vacation for half a month. He agreed without blinking an eye and even hired someone to help me plan my trip, but I rejected his offer. Stefan did not think much of it as he figured I needed some time alone.

"Where are you planning to travel to?"

"Somewhere with a lot of beaches."

He was about to say something when Trixie suddenly knocked on my hospital room door. She was wearing a relaxed outfit to play the part of a pregnant woman, with a loose shirt and flats, despite her bump not showing yet. It was as if she was trying to hint to everyone that she was pregnant. Stefan's expression froze, but all I did was smile at Trixie. "It's just a minor ailment I'm suffering from, but I'd still like to thank you for taking the time to visit me."

Trixie was taken aback as she did not expect this reaction from me. Stefan quickly spoke up, "Yeah, she's really concerned about you. Look, she even brought lots of supplements for you." He took the things from Trixie and handed them to me.

I had seen them before as Stefan bought the same things for me when I was pregnant, but I did not expose him. Instead, I smiled and accepted them from him. Trixie approached me with tears in her eyes. "Don't be sad, Donna Gallo. Don Gallo loves you a lot, and you'll soon have a baby again." I thanked her in a distant yet polite tone.

"All right. You should be leaving. I remember you have a television appearance later," Stefan reminded her. He turned to me and said, "I'll be seeing her home and attending a meeting later tonight. I'll come visit you tomorrow."

I shook my head and showed him my plane ticket. "It's fine. I'm leaving for my vacation tomorrow."

"You're certainly in a hurry." Stefan stroked my head tenderly. "I promise I'll be there to see you off at the airport tomorrow."

Stefan had no idea that I would not be boarding the plane but lying on a surgery table instead. From tomorrow onward, I would disappear into the crowd with a new face. I was suddenly curious if Stefan would be able to recognize me. "All right. I'll be waiting for you."

When Stefan left, I immediately discharged myself from the hospital and went home to burn the rest of my things to ashes. I let out a sudden laugh as I watched the fire slowly consume my wedding dress. It was all finally over. This time, I would only depend on myself.

Once I had everything ready, I took my place on the cold, surgical table while Corey began marking my face with a marker. As the anesthesia started to take effect, I slowly blacked out. "Goodbye, Elena Gallo. Goodbye to my past." With that, my eyes gradually closed.

I had no idea how much time had passed. My eyelashes flickered, and I slowly regained consciousness. I could hear Corey choking back a sob. "Nice to meet you, Miss Lenore."

That was when Stefan called me on the phone. "Why did you get discharged early? Where are you?"

"My flight got pushed to an earlier time, and I didn't have enough time to tell you about it. I just landed."

Stefan sounded relieved. "That's good to know. Remember to have fun." I grunted a reply and hung up.

I spent the next few days resting to recover from my surgery. Stefan would call me sometimes to check on my situation, and I would share old vacation pictures with him to cover my tracks, but he failed to notice he had seen them before. He was probably too focused on Trixie as they were also on vacation.

Trixie had been very active on her social media, her face beaming with happiness in her pictures. I swiped through all of them and liked them until the day the bandage on my face was finally removed.

The woman in the mirror had seductive eyes and plump, sexy lips, and she looked completely different from the gentle, docile woman she used to be. I was very happy with my new face.

I still had one last day before my 'vacation' ended, and Stefan called me before I was supposed to return. "What time is your flight tomorrow? I'll come pick you up."

"It's three in the afternoon." I gave him a random time.

I did not expect to bump into Stefan and Trixie as I was about to board my real flight. Trixie was wearing a face mask and had pressed her hat down to cover the rest of her face. She was holding Stefan's arm tightly.

My head was lowered as well, and Stefan walked past me without noticing me at all. In that moment, I smiled as I finally boarded the flight that would bring me to a new life I could call my own.