Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Elena
I woke to the sharp smell of disinfectant filling my nose. Opening my eyes, I saw a white ceiling, white walls, the steady beep of machines beside the bed—everything felt foreign.
It took me several seconds to figure out where I was. A hospital.
Lucia sat beside the bed, eyes red and swollen. When she saw me open my eyes, she leaned in quickly. "Elena, you're awake! How do you feel? Does anything hurt?"
I shook my head. My throat was too dry to speak.
Lucia helped me sit up and handed me a glass of warm water. After a few sips, I found my voice. "What happened?"
After Dante left last night, I remembered wanting to go downstairs for food. But the moment I stepped out of my room, everything spun, and I blacked out.
Lucia's expression shifted, complicated. Her eyes reddened again, but her lips curved into a smile. She gripped my hand, voice both thrilled and moved. "Elena, you're pregnant."
I froze.
"The doctor said over a month along." She looked at me. "You fainted from low blood sugar combined with emotional stress, but they checked—the baby's fine. Perfectly healthy."
Over a month. With everything that had been happening, I hadn't even noticed my period had stopped.
My hand drifted to my stomach. A month ago—that was my first time with Dante. That night when we'd both been drugged. I thought it was just a forced beginning, never imagining this child had existed since then.
Tears flooded out without warning.
Joy. And relief. I'd finally conceived the Moretti heir.
Once I delivered this baby, I'd have fulfilled my promise to Salvador. By then, even if Dante wanted a divorce, I could leave the manor and raise the child on my own.
Lucia frantically wiped my tears. "Pregnancy's a good thing. Stop crying, think of your health."
She was right. For me, getting pregnant was huge. Whether Dante welcomed this child or not, at least I'd completed Salvador's two tasks. Once I gave birth, I might finally escape this manor.
I wiped my tears, forcing a smile. "Sorry, Lucia. I'm just so happy."
But my happiness didn't last. Fear came rushing back.
Valentina had returned. Dante's attention was completely on her now. Yesterday he'd even brought her back to the manor, flaunting their closeness right in front of me.
To Dante, I was just his wife in name. That title was all I had.
Dante cared so much about Valentina—if he found out about this baby, would he even want me to keep it? He operated ruthlessly in both business and the mafia world, always decisive. If he wanted this pregnancy gone, he had plenty of ways to make it happen.
"Lucia." My voice trembled with worry. "If Dante... doesn't want this baby, what do I do?"
Lucia saw right through me. She shook her head firmly, squeezing my hand. "He won't, Elena. I watched Dante grow up. Deep down, he's a kind boy. I know he loves children. When people at the manor had babies, he'd always visit, bring gifts. You're carrying his own child—he'd never hurt his own."
Her words eased me slightly, but the unease lingered.
Since I was fine, Lucia helped with the discharge paperwork. Outside, the sunlight was brilliant. I squinted, clutching the pregnancy report, feeling like I'd survived something catastrophic.
Yesterday, I thought it was all ending. But today, a tiny new life was growing inside me.
"Elena."
Two people stepped out of a car nearby. The moment I saw them, nausea churned in my stomach again. Though with how little I'd eaten, there was nothing left to throw up.
Valentina called my name, walking toward me with a pretty smile. She was so well-maintained she looked barely older than me, wild curls blowing in the wind. Someone this beautiful didn't belong in a hospital setting.
She reached me and took both my hands, face soft with what looked like guilt. "Are you okay? I heard you were hospitalized. I was so worried."
I glanced at her, then at Marco standing behind her like a pillar, confused about what was happening.
Valentina looked back at Marco as if confirming something, took a deep breath, and spoke. "Elena, I'm here to apologize."
I frowned, more puzzled. And when Valentina got close, her perfume was too familiar—identical to what I'd smelled on Dante. I pulled my hands away instinctively, stepping back.
"For yesterday." She kept her voice low, her posture humble.
"There's nothing between Dante and me. I was the one clinging to him, insisting on coming back with him.
He was just soft-hearted, didn't know how to refuse me.
I'm here to explain—this was all my own delusion. It had nothing to do with him."
She turned to Marco. "Marco can verify this."
Marco was silent for several seconds, then met my eyes and nodded seriously. He was a man who rarely smiled and had no reason to lie to me, so Valentina's words seemed credible.
But I couldn't process it immediately. "Last night you two seemed so close. That was all fake?"
Did Valentina feel sorry because she thought she was the reason I ended up in the hospital? Oh, please. God, I really hated people who made everything about themselves, especially this woman who made me jealous.
Valentina nodded, looking sincere. "Dante's heart belongs to you. He brought me back yesterday to make you taste jealousy for once. He just didn't expect it to blow up like this. He regrets it deeply."
My heart suddenly raced.
Valentina told me Dante's heart belonged to me. No one had ever said this so definitively before, but now I'd heard it with my own ears.
I looked down at the pregnancy report in my hands. If Valentina was telling the truth, did that mean Dante would welcome this child? The corners of my mouth lifted involuntarily.
I raised the report, about to speak.
The next second, the paper was snatched from my hand.
Valentina moved fast—too fast for me to react. She grabbed the report, scanned it quickly, then looked up at me with a meaningful smile.
"Elena, I have something to tell you. Privately." She tilted her head toward a nearby tree. "Let's talk over there?"
Her smile seemed genuine. I didn't want to create conflict that would disgust Dante. Lucia and Marco looked concerned, but I nodded and followed her.
Under the tree, away from Marco and Lucia's line of sight, Valentina turned to me and her smile vanished instantly.
Replacing it was a cold, appraising look. She crossed her arms, looking down at me, voice cutting like an ice pick.
"Elena, I'm warning you—don't let Dante know you're pregnant."
Her face changed faster than a circus clown. I covered my stomach instinctively. "Why?"
This master of disguise smiled without warmth, eyes full of mockery. "Because Dante belongs to me. The woman by his side can only be me."
She said it calmly, like stating a fact.
"What are you talking about?" I tried to keep my voice steady. "Dante sent you to explain to me. That means I matter to him. If he hadn't sent you, you wouldn't even be standing here."
Valentina didn't rush to argue. She looked down, playing with her nails casually.
"Elena, you don't understand the situation.
Dante's just been away from me too long.
He's confused about your importance. How long have you even known each other?
We dated for years, were apart for over a decade, and the whole time he searched for me, waited for me.
If you hadn't appeared, I'd be the lady of Moretti Manor now. "
She stepped closer, dropping her voice lower. "Dante already agreed to keep seeing me. He feels guilty, promised to give me money monthly, arrange my life. We'll see each other often. Over time, guess what he'll remember about me?"
My fingers clenched my skirt.
"When that happens, what will you do?" Valentina tilted her head, pretty face full of calculation, voice almost pitying. "You think you can keep him? He loves me. Once he realizes that, you'll have no place left."
I didn't want to believe it, but I knew it was all true.
Dante had never expressed his feelings to me. Even if his heart held me somehow, was it love? Or guilt? The difference was enormous.
But I wouldn't back down. I glared at Valentina fiercely. "That's all your fantasy. Do you really think Dante's the type to abandon his wife?"
Valentina laughed. "Did you forget? Just yesterday he fought with you at the manor because of me. I just got back, and he already brought me home. If he didn't love me, would he go that far?"
Every word stabbed like needles into my heart, puncturing it, making it bleed drop by drop.
"And you're pregnant. What a gift from heaven.
" Her laugh turned vicious, eyes on my stomach like I was prey.
"The baby's your biggest weakness. All your attention will go to protecting your little brat.
Meanwhile, I have a hundred ways to hurt your child and pull Dante's attention away. In the end, you'll have nothing."
A chill ran down my spine. A breeze blew past, and I realized I was drenched in cold sweat.
Her voice was light, like discussing something trivial. "You're pregnant now. You can't run, can't hide, can't even protect yourself. What if you slip on the stairs? Or eat something you shouldn't at dinner..."
She painted such vivid pictures. I could almost imagine losing this child, how much my body—and my heart—would hurt.
Valentina saw my expression and smiled with satisfaction, then put on a tone of earnest concern. "Elena, face reality. Dante's only interested in you temporarily. Once the novelty wears off, he won't even look at you. If you can't see that, you're too stupid."
She leaned in, voice gentle like coaxing a clueless child. "What you should do now is terminate this pregnancy, divorce Dante voluntarily, and step aside. At least then you'll keep some dignity. Understand?"
My lips trembled, but I bit down hard to keep tears from falling.
"I don't believe you." I kept my voice even through gritted teeth. "Dante will protect me and the baby. And he'll hear everything you've said."
Valentina froze, then laughed behind her hand, crossing her arms confidently. "Go ahead and tell him. Who do you think Dante will believe? You, who just fought with him and is still upset? Or me, who's been so gracious, who came to apologize?"
She was like a devil, precisely manipulating every emotion. This conversation left no evidence. To Marco watching from a distance, we probably looked like girlfriends chatting.
Today Valentina played gentle and generous, seemingly remorseful. But if I turned around and complained to Dante, he'd just think I was stirring up trouble, jealous and petty.
Valentina saw my expression and knew she'd won this smokeless war. She didn't spare me another glance, turning and walking toward Marco with light, elegant steps.
I stood there, watching her get in the car, watching it drive out of the hospital gates.
I stood frozen in place, body feeling paralyzed.
Lucia ran over, looking worried. "Elena, what did she say? Why do you look so pale?"
"Nothing. Let's go back."
After returning to the manor, I locked myself in my room, sitting on the bed in a daze all afternoon. I stared out the window, Valentina's words carved into my brain.
I looked down at my stomach, placing my hand gently over it.
A tiny life was growing inside. But he knew nothing. He didn't know his mother was being threatened, didn't know he might not be welcomed when he came into this world.
But I had to protect him.
For once I had an appetite. Even for the baby's sake, I needed to eat. Near the first floor, I didn't notice what was under my feet—something slick had been smeared on the stairs. My foot slipped, and my body pitched forward.
My heart stopped.
Instinctively, I fell sideways, hands slamming against the wall. My palm hit with a dull thud, pain shooting through my wrist. But I didn't care, using every ounce of strength to steady myself, pressing against the wall as I slid down, wrist useless. Finally I crumpled to my knees.
Cold sweat covered me, my supporting hand throbbing, but my other hand still protected my stomach as I gasped for air.
I knelt there for several minutes before my heartbeat slowed. Tears fell without me realizing, and when I tried to wipe them away, more came.
Trembling, I stood up. I had nowhere to go, so I just sat down on the stairs.
Was this Valentina's doing? Did she have people in the manor?
I looked around. I'd lived here over a year, knew every corner. But in this familiar place, danger lurked everywhere, impossible to guard against.
Dante's attitude was unclear, Valentina circling like a predator, anyone in the manor could be her spy. I could barely walk without falling—how could I guarantee I'd safely deliver this baby?
If Salvador were awake, maybe he could help protect this child. But lately, Salvador hadn't regained consciousness at all, kept alive by cold liquids, doctors saying he didn't have long.
I had to leave this place.
Once the thought appeared, I couldn't suppress it.