Ortensia stood shivering, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, staring at the man she loved… the man who had just dismantled her entire future with a single sentence of honor."What are your plans, Vito?" she had asked, her voice sounding like dry leaves skittering over stone. "If it’s true… what happens?"He looked like a statue of some ancient, unforgiving god. "If she carries to term," he began, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that seemed to vibrate in Ortensia’s very bones."I will conduct a formal paternity test the moment the child is born. And if that child is mine, Ortensia… I won’t reject it. I cannot abandon my own blood. I will provide for it. I will bring it into the fold."The words felt like a physical assault. Ortensia felt her breath hitch, a sharp, stabbing pain blooming in the center of her chest. It wasn’t just jealousy, it was a profound, soul-crushing sense of loss.She had spent countless nights imagining her own future with Vito, dreaming of the day sh
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