บททั้งหมดของ He Claimed Her Baby. I Ended Our Marriage.: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

The third-floor room facing the water became my studio.We removed the rug, protected the floor, and placed the easel where the morning light fell.Mom offered to order new supplies.I opened the boxes from the Vito estate instead.Some brushes had warped beyond saving.Others softened when I soaked them. I worked the dried paint out carefully, restoring what I could.That was easier than painting.On the first day, I sat before the canvas for three hours.Nothing.It wasn’t that I had nothing to say.There was too much.The warehouse door.Hospital walls.Light shaking over the pool.Luca’s sleeve caught in Sofia’s hand.Every image crowded the others until I couldn’t choose a beginning.When Leah brought fruit, I was about to turn the canvas toward the wall.“Not going well?”“Maybe it’s been too long.”She set the plate within reach.“Then try again tomorrow.”She didn’t tell me I was gifted.She didn’t demand that I stop doubting myself.I could fail to paint for one day without di

A few days later, on the way to a follow-up appointment, I saw a black sedan parked along the road.The windows were dark.I couldn’t see the person in the back.But I recognized the car, and I recognized Nico, Luca’s assistant, sitting in the front with his phone against his ear.Our driver slowed.“Would you prefer another route?”“No.”We continued.As we passed, I saw movement reflected in the window. A door seemed to open slightly, then close.I kept facing forward.When I got home, I asked Matteo how long Luca had been there.His expression changed immediately.“Did he approach you?”“No. I saw the car.”Matteo sat down.Luca was still recovering from his burns. He had rented a place on the north side of the city and came near our house most days, although he had no permission to enter.“You don’t have to keep me inside to keep him out,” I said.“We aren’t—”“I know you’re worried. But I don’t live in his house anymore. I don’t want my schedule built around his whereabouts.”Matt

Mara accepted an invitation for me to attend an arts foundation dinner.Originally, I was only expected as a guest. After seeing my new work, the organizers asked whether I would speak at a small discussion upstairs.I took two days to answer.Not because I didn’t want to.Because wanting something didn’t keep fear from arriving beside it.Eventually, I said yes.I couldn’t wait until every frightening feeling disappeared before allowing myself a life.Mom helped me choose a dress.She brought out several soft, elaborate options.I chose a dark red one with clean shoulders and a skirt I could walk in easily.It wasn’t the kind Luca used to prefer.That helped me recognize it as mine.“Good choice,” Mom said.In the mirror, I still looked thin.The mark near my hairline hadn’t entirely faded.But I no longer looked like the woman leaning against a hospital wall, waiting to be noticed.Matteo drove me.At the entrance, he asked, “Want me to come in?”“As far as reception.”He smiled.A l

Matteo was quiet on the way home.I watched him open and close his hand.“Do you think I should be angrier?”He turned immediately.“No.”“Then why aren’t you talking?”Streetlights moved across his face.After a while, he admitted he had wanted to drag Luca out of the building himself.“I know you don’t want another confrontation. But seeing him keep pushing—”“I know.”I laid my hand over his.The marks from the estate were still faintly visible on his knuckles.“I don’t want every evening out to become a fight you have to have for me.”He looked down.He didn’t argue.After a few minutes, I told him about the people surrounding Luca.“The things they said didn’t make me feel better.”“They don’t have to.”“I asked the staff to check on him.”Matteo glanced at me.I gave a tired smile.“Does that make you think I’m changing my mind?”“No.”The answer came quickly.“Elena, you don’t have to become cruel to prove you’ve left him.”My throat tightened.I had been examining every reactio

The dressmaker’s shop stood on a narrow stone street.Mom had ordered dresses there when she was young. The original owner had retired, and her daughter now ran it.They talked about old neighbors and weddings until somehow it was decided that I needed a dress for my birthday.“Try the sample,” the dressmaker said. “We can change the waist and shoulders.”I began to protest.Mom was already holding a pale fabric against my arm.“Just try it.”The fitting room was small, with a full-length mirror.I took off my trousers and stepped into a dress that ended below my knees.Only then did I see how clearly the scars showed.Some had faded.Others remained darker and slightly raised.They came from the end of the kidnapping.Luca had been told to choose who would be released first.He had barely looked at me before choosing Sofia.Later, when they brought me outside, someone shoved me down the gravel slope beside the dock.I remembered the stones, the impossible speed of falling, and the sho