Chapter 3

The high fever knocked me out completely after that. When I woke up again, I realized that I was already in the hospital.

The doctor said that I had to stay at the hospital for a while for further observation. However, I would be free to go once my conditions improved.

While on the way to the pharmacy connected to the hospital, I happened to walk past the VIP ward and heard Angela's sobs from behind one of the doors.

"Luca… Nico is being bullied in school for not having a father… And then Nico broke his arm after getting into a fight with them…"

"Who are they?" Luca asked. His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

Angela rattled off a few names from her head.

"Got it," Luca said coldly. "Don't worry about it anymore. They won't be causing Nico any more trouble after this."

"Luca…"

Angela began sobbing even harder now. "Are Nico and I going to have to live in the shadows like this for the rest of our lives?

"I'm fine with it, but Nico's still very young, and he doesn't understand why his father won't attend his parent-teacher activities with him when he clearly has one."

"Don't worry," Luca said, his voice turning gentle all at once. "I'm here. Nobody will be able to hurt you both. I will deal with this issue myself. Trust me with it."

I didn't want to listen to them anymore and turned to return to my own ward.

A short while later, the door was pushed open.

Angela walked in, the tears long dried on her face. She looked smugly at me with her perfectly impeccable faceful of makeup as she shut the door behind her, giving me the once-over.

"Aw, did you fall sick, Rora? You're such a pitiful sight."

I didn't answer her.

"You heard everything just now, didn't you?"

Angela approached me and crouched over, speaking in a voice that only the both of us could hear.

"Nico is the lovechild of my relationship with Luca. We've been together far longer than you can ever imagine."

I felt a sledgehammer smashing right into my chest at her words, but I didn't let it show on my face.

"You're exactly like your mother," she chuckled lightly. "You're both useless bitches who can't even hold on to their own husbands."

I looked at her with determination and said, "So what? You want to be the next Mrs. Bernardi? It's just a title. I can just give it to you if you want it."

I then retrieved the divorce agreement from under my pillow and handed it to Angela.

"I've already signed it. Give it to him and let him sign it too. I only want my freedom back."

An inexplicable joy erupted in Angela's eyes as she practically snatched the document from me.

However, the joyous smile on her face immediately turned into a cunning, calculating smirk just a split second later.

"I don't think just a divorce is enough, Rora," she said in a low voice, her eyes turning hostile.

"Luca would never easily let you off like that. All of his feelings for you must die! That way, he'll never come looking for you again.

"I'm going to have to stage a more 'thorough' farewell for you…"

I could feel my heart trembling. "What do you mean?"

She didn't answer me. Her ears twitched ever so slightly as she looked outside the door.

Footsteps were coming closer, sounding firm, steady, and powerful. It was Luca.

Angela immediately stuffed the divorce agreement into her handbag and quickly switched her expression back to one of worry and weakness.

She then gave me a deep, resentful look, her eyes filled to the brim with malicious intent.

The moment Luca entered the room, she suddenly stumbled backward and fell to the floor on her butt with a loud cry.

"Rora! Why did you shove me off!"

Her face was covered in tears by then as she pointed at my bedside table, where a cup of pureed mango had suddenly appeared. I had no idea when or how it even came about.

"I know that you hate me and Nico, but how could you feed the mango to such a small child? He's deathly allergic to them! He nearly died from the allergy attack just now!"

I froze immediately.

Luca's eyes first landed on Angela before turning to me, his face cold and steely as he glared at me.

"Aurora Fasano," he said, his voice deep and frightening. "How could you attack a little child like that!"

"I never did," I hastily said, trying to explain myself. "She's lying! I… You should just check the surveillance cameras!"

A hint of panic appeared in Angela's face.

However, a split second later, Luca raised his voice at me and demanded sharply, "Surveillance cameras? I just came out of the emergency department! Nico himself told me that 'Aunt Rora' gave him the mango puree as a snack!

"He's just a five-year-old kid! Why would a kid lie to me?"

Luca's words were like an ice pick as they thwacked into my last shred of hope.

"I hadn't minded that you were infertile, Aurora," he said, taking a step closer to me, disappointment written on his face. "I even thought of adopting Nico as our son, and that would have given you the chance to be a mother!

"That way, nobody will ever dare to mock the Bernardi Famiglia for not having any heirs! But who would have thought that you'd turn out to be such a deeply evil person after all?

"I know that you have an estranged relationship with Angela, but Nico is just a child! Why did you have to hurt him?

"Stay here and reflect on yourself!"

Then, he went out and slammed the door shut behind him without waiting for me to say another word.

The ward was deathly quiet after he was gone.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. Then, I put on my coat, grabbed my handbag I'd prepared beforehand with my passport, flight ticket, and some cash, and walked out of the hospital in the blinding sunlight.

I never looked back, flagging down a cab and asking it to take me straight to the airport.

The city's outline rushed past the window outside while I was in the cab. The familiar buildings bearing Luca's Famiglia insignia eventually blurred into a gray mass.

I checked myself in, went through security, and sat down, waiting for my flight. Everything went so smoothly that I could barely believe it.

Luca was most probably too busy comforting his frightened and terrified "family" to even bother about me.

I boarded the plane and found my seat next to the window.

Soon, the plane engines roared to life, and the plane taxied onto the take-off strip, accelerated at full speed, and lifted off the ground.

As the feeling of weightlessness washed over me, I looked out of the window and saw everything on the ground growing smaller and smaller until it was finally obscured by the clouds.

Goodbye, Luca Bernardi.

I didn't want to be Mrs. Bernardi or his Donna anymore.