The Heir He Gave Away, The Empire I Took Back

The word spread through the wives' network on a Sunday afternoon, the way these things always do. Not a phone call. Not a whisper at Mass. Silvana Ricci told the world herself, right there at the social club luncheon where anyone with eyes and a grudge could hear it.

She'd been carrying on about gratitude, about hope, about how she'd almost given up on having a child. And then she said it, bright-eyed and glowing, her hand resting on her still-flat stomach: Grateful to my donor. I was almost hopeless... but now, look. I'm having a baby.

She didn't say his name. She didn't have to.