Chapter 6

Early the next morning, all the servants in the house were nowhere to be found.

I had no choice but to leave alone for my prenatal checkup.

A black SUV silently glided toward me and stopped directly in my path.

Three men jumped out.

The man leading them was Edward’s distant cousin, Lorenzo.

“Donna.”

He flashed me a grin.

“Oh, no. I should call you a traitor.”

“Get out of my way.”

My voice trembled.

Lorenzo calmly pulled out a phone.

My profile photo was displayed prominently on the screen, with four words in red beside it:

FAMILY TRAITOR.

He tilted the screen toward me.

“You didn’t know, did you?”

“Miss Alice uploaded a detailed account of what happened back then to the Family’s internal network.”

“How do you still have the nerve to stay in Sicily, let alone remain by the Don’s side?”

He raised his fist and drove it into my stomach.

Pain exploded through me like a bolt of lightning.

My entire body doubled over, my knees crashing onto the ground as both hands instinctively shielded my abdomen.

But before I could recover, his second kick slammed into my back.

I fell face-first onto the ground, my cheek scraping against the rough stone pavement.

The skin tore open, and warm blood trickled down my cheek.

“Traitor! Get the hell out of Sicily!”

“Beat her to death!”

The voices around me blurred into a deafening buzz.

Someone yanked me by the hair.

Someone else stomped on my hand.

More fists and shoes rained down on my back, shoulders, and legs.

I curled into a ball, desperately trying to protect my stomach.

Then blood began seeping from between my legs, staining my dress red.

I opened my mouth and tried to scream for help, but only a hoarse gasp escaped my throat.

The roar of an approaching car sounded beside me.

I looked up hopefully.

It was Edward’s car.

But Edward didn’t even spare a glance at the chaos unfolding beside the road.

He carefully shielded Alice as he escorted her into the estate.

Edward…

Lorenzo delivered one final kick, striking me directly in the lower abdomen.

A wave of excruciating pain swept through me.

My vision went black.

My consciousness drifted away like a kite whose string had been cut.

The last thing I heard was Lilith screaming my name.

......

Just before I was wheeled into the operating room, Edward called me.

The moment I answered, his furious accusations came crashing down.

“Do you really have to keep fighting with me?”

“Alice only accidentally posted those things online.”

“Was it really necessary to run away from home over something like that?”

“You should be the one apologizing to her.”

I didn’t even have time to explain.

He angrily hung up.

The doctor beside me asked,

“Your injuries are severe. There’s no way we can save the baby.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to notify the baby’s father?”

I closed my eyes.

A tear slipped from the corner of my eye.

“The baby’s father is dead.”

After the surgery, I didn’t want to stay in the hospital any longer.

Unexpectedly, I ran into Edward at the hospital entrance.

Edward was carefully supporting Alice with one arm.

In his other hand was her prenatal examination report.

The moment he saw me, Edward instinctively stepped in front of Alice, shielding her from me.

Then he asked,

“Why are you here?”

I looked at his hand resting so gently on Alice’s belly.

My heart twisted with unbearable pain when I thought of our child.

Edward frowned slightly.

His gaze fell to my now-flat stomach.

Then his blue eyes suddenly lit up with delight.

He strode toward me.

For once, he looked completely flustered, like an inexperienced young man who didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Monica…”

“You had the baby?”

I gave him a pale smile.

“Congratulations.”

“You’re a father again.”

Edward didn’t notice anything wrong with my words.

His handsome face was filled with joy.

“Where’s the baby?”

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

“I’ve prepared so many things for the baby.”

“Let’s go home together…”

I cut him off.

“The baby has died.”