Chapter 8

Matteo’s eyes widened. He could hardly believe what he had just heard.

His eyes filled with rage.

Before he could react, Sophia screamed even louder. It dragged his attention back.

“Matteo! My head hurts so much! I’m bleeding so much! I’m scared! Am I going to die, Matteo? Ahhh!!!”

“You won’t. Don’t be afraid. I’ll take you to a doctor right away!”

He could not think about anything else. He leaned down and lifted Sophia, who was crying so hard she seemed about to faint.

In his urgency, he shoved Alicia aside with force.

Alicia was already weak. She sat unsteadily in her wheelchair.

The push sent the wheelchair tipping backward toward the lake.

Splash!

The icy water swallowed her instantly.

She could not swim.

The heavy wheelchair dragged her down.

Cold stabbed through her bones, and water filled her lungs. She struggled with all her strength and hit the surface with her hands. Her voice came out in broken cries. “Help… someone… save me…”

On the shore, Matteo kept his eyes on Sophia, who was still screaming in his arms.

He did not glance back once at Alicia as she sank and fought in the lake.

The water covered her mouth and nose. Before darkness took her completely, one icy thought formed in her mind.

He chose Sophia. He had watched her sink almost to death. He gave up on saving her.

Alicia woke in a cold, empty hospital room.

No one was beside her. Only the pale moonlight filtered through the window.

She reached for the phone on the bedside table. The screen lit up. One unread message from Matteo appeared.

[Alicia, your actions made Sophia’s injuries worse. She’s emotionally unstable. I need to stay and care for her to make up for the harm you caused. I can’t come back to you tonight. Take care of yourself.]

Alicia read the message. Her face remained expressionless.

There was no anger and no sadness. There was not even a flicker of emotion.

She quietly put down the phone, just like the countless nights when he had left her alone.

She rang the nurse herself. She drank water. She endured the pain in her body and her mind alone.

On the day she was discharged, she handled everything on her own. She carried the cold storage box that held the baby the doctor had given her and returned home.

As soon as she opened the door, before she could turn on the lights, a hand holding a wet cloth shot out from behind. It pressed tightly against her mouth and nose.

A sharp, choking smell filled her senses.

She could not see who it was before her consciousness began to fade. Her body went limp.

Through the haze, she felt herself being moved. A harsh surgical light blinded her eyes.

She forced one eye open a crack. She realized she was lying on a cold operating table.

Her arms and legs were strapped down. She could not move.

Outside the operating room, she heard muffled voices. Matteo and his underboss, Luca Romano, were talking.

“Don Vitale, are you really going to donate Donna Alicia’s bone marrow to Sophia?”

Matteo’s voice was cold and firm. “Sophia has acute leukemia. Only Alicia’s bone marrow matches hers. This is the fastest and most effective way to save her.”

“But does she know about it? Has she agreed?”

“I can’t let her know.” There was no trace of emotion in his voice. “She’ll never agree. You handle it. Make sure it’s done discreetly. Treat it as an anonymous donation.”

Luca hesitated. “Don Vitale, are you sure you won’t regret this? Donna Alicia just went through—”

“I won’t regret it,” Matteo interrupted him sharply. His tone was impatient. “For Sophia, I have to do this. Start the procedure.”

Alicia lay on the operating table as if struck by lightning. Her blood felt frozen.

She had to donate her bone marrow to Sophia?

The man she had loved for nine years was sending people to knock her out, strap her to a cold operating table, and take her bone marrow to save the other woman. He was doing this at a moment when she had just lost her child, and her body was still weak.

Could anything be more absurd or cruel?

She wanted to struggle free. She wanted to scream. She wanted to ask him why.

But her body was held down tight. Something covered her mouth. She could not make a sound.

She felt the cold sting of the anesthetic needle pierce her skin.

The next second, a sharp, tearing pain shot from the injection site.

Her body reacted badly to the anesthesia.

The doctors did not notice. The surgery continued.

The pain of having her bone marrow forcibly taken from her felt unbearable. Without proper anesthesia, every second felt like torture.

She could hear and feel the drill bite into her bone.

Her body convulsed. Her eyes bulged. Her nails dug deep into the operating table.

At last, the pain became so extreme that she lost consciousness completely.

When she woke up, she found herself back in the hospital room.

Matteo was sitting by her bedside.

The moment he saw her open her eyes, he leaned forward. His expression was composed.

“Alicia, you’re finally awake! The doctors say your body is weak after the surgery, and the cold affected you. That’s why you suddenly fainted at home.”

Weak after surgery.

Alicia stared at him. A faint, bitter smile appeared on her pale face.

Had she really fainted at home?

She looked at his handsome face, full of concern. She wanted to yell at him, demand answers, and tear apart his careful disguise.

But in the end, she only let out a faint, exhausted smile, filled with endless weariness.

It was pointless.

What was there left to ask? The truth was clear.

Matteo would never admit it.

She could only hope that for the rest of her life, he would keep his word and never regret anything.

In the following days, Matteo treated her with almost unnatural attentiveness.

He answered every request. He was gentle and careful, as if they had returned to the first days of their love.

But Alicia’s heart had turned into a frozen wasteland.

No warmth could melt even a little of it.

One day, Matteo went to the family headquarters. The hospital room was quiet. Her phone rang. It was Jenna.

“Alicia, the divorce papers you asked me to send to the court have been finalized. The court issued the official judgment, and the filed copy is ready. Do you want to come pick it up, or should I deliver it to you?”