Home / He Claimed Her Baby. I Ended Our Marriage. / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of He Claimed Her Baby. I Ended Our Marriage.: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

45 Chapters

Chapter 1

I had already taken off my wedding ring when the lawyer slid the documents across his desk.Alongside the divorce papers was an agreement ending my involvement in the Vito family’s financial arrangements.For years, I had managed Luca’s charitable foundation, attended dinners, and maintained the respectable face of a family whose real business rarely appeared on paper.Now I wanted to give it all back.“He hasn’t signed,” the lawyer reminded me.I looked at the blank signature line and called Luca.Sofia’s voice reached me before his did.“Luca, I want that lemon cake from the restaurant by the harbor. You promised you’d take me.”My fingers tightened around the phone.“There are documents you need to sign. They dissolve the financial arrangements between us.”“Now?” A car door closed on his end. “Elena, I’m busy. Whatever you decide is fine.”“You don’t want to read them?”“You’ve always handled those things, haven’t you?”There was even tenderness in his voice, as though my concern w

Chapter 2

“I came to—”“For her prenatal appointment, obviously.”Sofia was already on her feet, linking her arm through mine.“Did you forget Elena’s pregnant too?”Her fingers pressed directly over the place where my IV had been removed.I flinched.She acted as though she hadn’t noticed.“I’m sorry I’ve needed Luca so much lately.” Her eyes filled. “Every time I close mine, I’m back in that warehouse.”I stayed still.“If people knew this baby wasn’t Luca’s, how would they look at me? How could my father ever sit at the family table again?”Her voice broke.“I didn’t know what else to do. If you hate me, just say it.”“That’s enough, Sofia,” Luca said, approaching us. “Elena already agreed.”I looked at him.He adjusted Sofia’s shawl.“She knows what’s best for the family.”So that was what my silence had become.Consent.A small laugh escaped me.“Yes. I don’t mind.”Soon, none of it would be my problem.Sofia’s expression brightened.“Then come to lunch with us. Luca booked a table. You sho

Chapter 3

After my forehead had been bandaged, I found Luca outside the surgical wing.Sofia’s blood stained his shirt.A doctor who often worked for the Vitos approached him, speaking quietly.“She’s still bleeding. Compatible blood is on the way, but it will take time.”Luca went pale.Then he saw me.“Elena.”He caught my wrist.“You have the same blood type.”Cold spread through me.He knew I was anemic.The previous year, I had fainted at a family dinner. He had carried me out and spent the next month watching everything from my meals to my bedtime.Now he stared straight at the bandage on my forehead without asking what had happened.“She got hurt saving me,” he said. “Help her.”“I can’t give blood today.”“Just a little.”“Luca—”“She doesn’t have time!”His voice cracked through the corridor.People stopped moving.The doctor looked at my white face, then at him.Luca’s grip didn’t loosen.“Take her in.”It wasn’t a request.In places controlled by his family, his orders always found so

Chapter 4

I turned to leave.Several women stepped into my path.“So soon, Elena?”“Luca’s still here. You could at least show him some respect.”Red wine splashed across my skirt.The woman holding the glass widened her eyes.“How clumsy of me.”Laughter followed.I tried to go around them.They moved with me.“I heard Luca’s even willing to raise the child.”“He’s been more than generous.”“My husband wouldn’t have let you stay in his house.”I looked toward a nearby guard.He recognized me.Then he looked away.Every favor Luca had shown Sofia had taught them something.I no longer mattered.“Move,” I said.“What’s the hurry?”Someone pushed me.The pool was directly behind me.I caught a slick section of railing, lost my grip, and went under.Cold water closed over my head.My forehead burned.I struggled toward the edge and hooked my fingers over the stone.A hand wearing a diamond bracelet pressed down on the back of my head.“You humiliated the Vito family, and you still think you can act

Chapter 5

I placed another dress in a cardboard box.“Sorting out old clothes.”Luca watched me.“They won’t fit much longer,” I added. “I’m donating them through the foundation.”His gaze dropped to my stomach.His shoulders relaxed.“Let the staff handle it.”He took a card from his wallet and laid it on the dressing table.“Buy new things. Whatever you want.”I nodded.He reached for my face.I bent to tie the box shut.His hand hung there for a moment before he lowered it.“Sofia hasn’t been sleeping.”I said nothing.“She calls for me when she has nightmares. I’m going to stay with her for a few days.”A pause.“You haven’t had much morning sickness. You should be all right here.”My fingers tightened around the string.Of course I wasn’t sick.There was no pregnancy left.“Do what you want.”He seemed about to say more.Then his phone rang.He looked at the screen and walked out.“What’s wrong, Sofia?”His gentle voice faded down the hall.Over the following days, news of them filled the f

Chapter 6

My driver finally forced his way through and got me into the car.The Rossis’ men stood in front of the hood, shouting that I had to take responsibility.To get out of there, I agreed to have them taken to the hospital with us.The emergency doors had barely closed behind them when Sofia arrived.She crossed the corridor and slapped me.My ears rang.“You hate me? Then hurt me!” she cried. “Why go after my parents?”I touched my mouth.Blood stained my fingers.“They fell on their—”“Sofia.”Luca hurried toward us.The first thing he did was steady her shoulders.“Don’t upset yourself.”Then he looked at me.Coffee stained my clothes. My sleeve was torn. My lip was bleeding.He saw all of it.And frowned.“You went too far this time, Elena.”For a moment, I couldn’t speak.“Her father’s an old man. If you were angry, why didn’t you come to me?”I laughed.Quietly at first.Then I couldn’t stop.“What’s funny?”“What do you want me to say?”My voice sounded unfamiliar.“That I’m cruel?

Chapter 7

After Sofia moved in, I became the least necessary person in my own home.At breakfast, the staff asked what she wanted first.Guards accompanied her through the gardens.Luca moved meetings to the estate because she said being alone reminded her of the warehouse.Sometimes, when I came downstairs, he would ask how I felt.Before I could answer, she would take his hand and complain of some new discomfort.Eventually, I stopped trying.One afternoon, she blocked me at the top of the stairs.Luca was out.She didn’t bother smiling.“You really can take a lot.”I tried to move past her.She extended her arm.“The baby will have the Vito name.”“That’s between you and Luca.”“And a place in the family trust.” She watched my face. “Not some allowance to make us disappear. A real future.”My hand tightened around my glass.This had never been only about making me carry her shame.She wanted my marriage, my position, and everything that should have belonged to my child.She leaned closer.“Yo

Chapter 8

Only after we had left the Vitos’ neighborhood did I realize I was still gripping the seat belt.The driver glanced at me in the mirror. He didn’t ask whether I was all right. He simply turned up the heat.Streetlights moved across the windows. A restaurant where Luca and I had once celebrated an anniversary disappeared behind us, followed by the florist who knew his assistant’s number better than mine.I had once believed this city contained my entire future.My phone vibrated.Matteo.“Are you in the car?”At the sound of my brother’s voice, my shoulders loosened.“Yes. We’re going to the airport.”“The plane is ready. Dad and I will meet you when you land.”“All right.”He waited a moment.“Anything you couldn’t bring?”“No.”There were things I had left: my records, the chair by the bedroom window, the wedding albums Sofia had handled as though they already belonged to her.But none of them were worth staying for.Before we hung up, I told him the gift had gone to the party.“You’r

Chapter 9

After takeoff, I opened Claire’s video again.The camera shifted as she moved closer to the staircase. Sofia was speaking to Luca, her smile fixed and her fingers still on his sleeve.“Everyone’s waiting for the cake. We can look at Elena’s gift later.”He glanced down at the box.“It won’t take long.”He sounded almost indulgent, as though I had finally sent proof that I understood my place.Someone beside him laughed.“So she’s come around? I thought we wouldn’t see her tonight.”Luca didn’t correct him.“She knows when she’s gone far enough.”I stopped the recording.For a moment, I watched my own reflection in the dark window.He hadn’t recognized my silence as grief. He hadn’t understood the suitcase, the unanswered questions, or the way I no longer tried to keep him in a room.He thought I was waiting to be forgiven.Waiting for permission to sit at his table again.I pressed play.He pulled the ribbon loose and lifted the lid.At first, he seemed not to understand the document o

Chapter 10

Luca was still reading when one of his friends stepped beside him with a drink.“Well, this is good news.”He laughed too loudly.“She’s letting you off the hook. You don’t have to keep cleaning up her mess.”Someone else added, “And Sofia can finally stop being treated like a secret.”I recognized both men.They had eaten at my table. They had accepted invitations I arranged and raised glasses to our marriage.Apparently, changing their congratulations required very little effort.Luca didn’t answer.One of them picked up the second document in the box, scanned it, and smiled.“She took care of the pregnancy too.”The camera jolted.Claire must have stepped forward. I heard her voice, low and furious.“Put that down.”But Luca had heard.He turned.“What did you say?”“She terminated it.” The man still seemed not to understand. “Her name’s right here. Saves you having to—”Luca snatched the paper from him.He stared at it.Long enough for the conversation around him to falter.Long en

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