Semua Bab Don't Trust the Father of My Child: Bab 1 - Bab 10

I had never told my father I was pregnant.Yet four men were sitting at the dining table.Andrea, the man who had promised to run away with me, had a split lip.There was blood on the napkin he pulled away from his mouth. Renato, my father's right-hand man, offered him a fresh one. Andrea refused it.My fiancé, Matteo, turned a glass of water with the hand that wore his engagement ring. Nicola, a businessman with interests at the port, was counting the guards outside the window. In the chair closest to the door sat Luca, our family's bodyguard.Luca didn't eat with us. He was the one who stood while I ate."Sit down, Sera."My father held out one hand, palm up, indicating my place.There was water beside my plate instead of wine.I glanced back at the door I'd come through. The guard took his hand off the handle. It shut quietly, but the sound was enough to wipe the smile from Nicola's face."Who did that?"I was looking at Andrea.Before he could open his mouth, Father answered."I t

The next morning, Luca was waiting by the front entrance.He opened the car door. The cut at his mouth had swollen further overnight. Mother got in beside me. Father said he would come in another car.As we passed through the main gates, I looked in the side mirror. Luca's eyes met mine for a moment before returning to the road."Did you drive me that night?"Mother laid a hand on my knee.I pushed it away.Luca kept his gaze forward."I drove you as far as the villa."His speech was slightly slurred. I looked at the corner of his mouth, where Renato had struck him the night before. Luca avoided the mirror.I gripped my seat belt and waited for more."Did I tell you to go?""When you got into the car, yes.""Who was with me?"Luca's eyes rose to the rear-view mirror."Sera."Mother had spoken."He can answer me now.""Shall we pull over and talk?"I looked at her. She was watching the driver's seat. Luca slowed briefly.I turned towards the window.I couldn't explain why the prospect

The results arrived six days after the samples were taken.Four men's envelopes lay on the dining table. I opened the one addressed to me first. I thought of Dr Rossi, whom I'd asked to send the results to no one but me."These are the copies sent to each of them," Father said."Andrea and Nicola have been ruled out.""You've already read them?""Andrea explained the findings to me."Andrea was staring at the bottom of his paper. Beside Matteo's and Luca's names, it said further confirmation required. My finger shook as I traced the space between the two names.Andrea stood first."I should go back to the office. I still have the accounts to close.""Already done. We've got your signature too."At Father's words, Renato moved to block the door. Andrea seemed about to say something to me, but folded the envelope instead. Its edges didn't meet.I thought of the signature I hadn't written and the message I hadn't sent. In this house, things were finished before the people concerned were

I pulled the car door farther open.Andrea was slumped toward the steering wheel. When I caught his shoulder, his body turned toward me. There was a small hole in his shirt near his chest, with blood spreading beneath it."Why aren't you picking up?"His cheek was still warm. I took his hand. The edge of the bandage around his wrist caught against my fingers. Only days ago, he'd tried to keep that hand hidden from me."Andrea, I'm here."He didn't blink. I dialed emergency services. My palm was wet and my fingers slipped across the screen. Even as I told the operator which dock and parking lot we were in, I couldn't let go of his hand.A forklift went past in the distance. I raised my arm, and the driver looked our way. He saw Andrea. He didn't stop.I couldn't lower my arm. It wasn't that he'd failed to see us.I looked back at Andrea. While I was waving for help, he hadn't moved. His face, the one I kept thinking I could wake, was beginning to look like a stranger's. I couldn't bear

I clung to the edge of the sink with the phone against my ear."Then what exactly did I receive?""We need to see it. What we've confirmed so far is that it came through a different delivery channel. We'll compare its contents with the original results as well.""I'll bring the envelope exactly as I received it."After hanging up, I opened the bathroom door. My bedroom was empty. I took the envelope from the bottom drawer. My name, the hospital logo, even the bent corner were exactly as they had been that morning.I photographed both sides with my phone. As I unfolded the paper, my hand stopped.Further confirmation required.The same words appeared beneath Luca's name and Matteo's. Those few words had changed the way I looked at both men. Luca's silences. The way Matteo pushed a glass of water toward me.Someone had chosen to put those words there.The next morning I said I was going to the hospital.My father was drinking coffee at the table. A newspaper lay where Andrea had sat. I