Chapter 3

Antonio gripped my arm and looked like he could not be more anxious.

"Why didn't you call me? Why'd you run to the hospital all by yourself?"

He looked me up and down, his eyes full of urgent concern. It was as if over these ten years, his love for me had never diminished by even half.

A chill settled into my hands and feet, spreading through me like frost. How could Antonio act so devoted?

While he called me "baby" over and over, his mistress was in a room not far away, checking whether she was pregnant. Yet he could stand before me without revealing a single crack in his facade—so much so that I could almost no longer tell which side of Antonio was the real one.

I lowered my eyes and avoided his too-burning gaze. My fingertips curled unconsciously. The smell of disinfectant hung in the air, stinging my nose until it ached.

"I'm fine. I just came to see a friend."

He let out a long breath and pulled me into his arms. "You scared me to death, baby."

His fingers stroked gently along my arm, the movement as tender as if he were handling a priceless treasure. But all I felt was the touch burning like a branding iron. I wanted nothing more than to shake him off immediately.

I could hear my own heartbeat clearly. One thud after another, heavy and powerless.

The door to the examination room next door seemed to move. I glanced over instinctively.

Antonio followed my gaze, then turned back with his smile still perfect. "What's wrong? Did you see someone you know?"

I shook my head. "No. I must've been mistaken."

People came and went in the hallway, everyone hurrying along. No one knew what unbearable truth lay hidden beneath this seemingly calm surface.

I looked at Antonio's broad back and suddenly felt he was a complete stranger.

I had loved this man for ten years. Did I truly know him at all?

"Antonio, are you really that worried about me?" I looked at him and asked quietly.

"How could I not be?" He held me tight. "When I married you, your health was a disaster. I spent three years painstakingly nursing you back, and you only just started to improve.

"Baby, do you know how terrified I was when I saw you just now? If something happened to you, how could I go on living?"

I wanted to laugh, but the corners of my mouth were stiff. My lips would not stop trembling.

I asked him, "So, why are you at the hospital?"

His arms around me tightened slightly. "Oh, I came to see a family member. He's admitted here."

This was the maternity ward. I did not call him out on it.

On the drive home, Antonio's phone kept ringing.

He simply turned it off. "Even if the whole Eastern Seaboard catches fire today, I'm staying home with you."

I said nothing. I only watched the Black Bay streetscape through the window.

The route home happened to pass by Biston University. Familiar scenes, one after another. What used to be sweet now felt like sugar-coated blades stabbing at my heart.

My vision blurred somehow. In that blur, I seemed to see the Antonio and Elena of the past.

"Elena, stop being mad, okay? Please, just let me explain. Just hear me out once."

"Fine. Once."

"Two times, okay? Just two?" The young Antonio grinned cheekily and tugged at my sleeve, refusing to let go.

"Get lost, Antonio."

"Don't cry. Hit me, Elena. Beat the hell out of me, just don't cry, okay?"

The phone in my bag suddenly chimed. It cut through my thoughts and yanked me back to reality in an instant. I pulled out my phone. The messages were from an unknown number.

[He said your health is too poor. You've never been able to satisfy him. Three years married and you've never switched positions. He's sick of it.

[He doesn't like using condoms. He feels bad for me, so he won't let me take birth control. He said if I get pregnant, he'll let me keep it. After all, you can't get pregnant anyway.

[Signora Rizzo, you're so useless. Why are you still occupying the position of the Rizzo family's Madre?]