Chapter 2

Dante frowned deeply.

"Vivienne, you're as good at acting as your mother."

"Bianca already confirmed it. Your mother took the five hundred thousand and ran abroad long ago!"

I held back tears.

"Dante, I'm begging you. Real or fake, just come to the hospital with me and you'll know!"

Dante was dazed for a moment.

But the car had already entered the neighborhood.

He lowered his voice in warning:

"Go home and sign the divorce papers. Don't play tricks in front of Mom."

"...I'll take you to the hospital later."

I wiped my tears.

Only when I found the divorce papers in the room and signed my name.

Did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But when I saw the withered jasmine in the corner.

My heart still ached with a fine, dense pain.

That was the flower we'd raised from a seed.

In fifteen days, Dante hadn't watered it once.

When we were dating, he played the poor boy and squeezed into a thirty-square-meter rental with me.

When he learned I liked jasmine, he spent a month's salary on the finest seed.

Now the flower was dead.

The Dante who loved me was gone too.

Dante followed my gaze.

A flicker of regret in his eyes.

He was about to speak when Caterina pushed the door open.

She saw the divorce papers and raised her voice:

"Divorce?!"

"Viv, are you being wronged? Don't rush. Tell Mom. Mom will back you up!"

I looked at her worried expression.

My eyes welled up again.

When my mother suddenly asked for fifty thousand, Dante hesitated for a long time.

It was Caterina who made the decision.

"A mere fifty thousand. The Vitale family can afford it! Viv must marry in today!"

So after I found out I was pregnant, I only told her.

I forced a bitter smile.

"It's fine, Mom."

Bianca said innocently:

"Exactly. What trouble could Miss Vivienne have?"

"Ma'am, even if Miss Vivienne is being sued by Don, her stealing Don's black card and swiping five hundred thousand is a fact!"

Caterina froze.

"Sue?"

"Yes," Dante's voice deepened, "the lawyer said, likely fifteen years."

Caterina's eyes went strange.

She looked at me with disappointment.

Then closed her eyes.

"The Vitale family's children must never have a mother with a criminal record!"

Bianca covered her belly.

Blushed, "Ma'am, didn't we agree to keep it a secret!"

I froze.

Dante was both shocked and delighted.

He quickly pulled my chair away and helped her sit.

I couldn't dodge in time.

My belly hit the table corner, pain contorting my face.

But I still endured it and said softly:

"Dante, it's four-thirty. Take me to the hospital. I need to claim my mother's ashes!"

Caterina calmly ordered:

"A child can't be without a father. Dante, drive Bianca to her prenatal checkup."

"Viv, the hospital isn't far anyway. Let the driver take you."

Dante nodded immediately.

Before leaving, Bianca gave the driver a look.

What should have been a ten-minute drive, he circled three times.

Took a full twenty-five minutes.

Even though I ran the whole way, the time was still 5:14.

The nurse regretfully informed me:

"Sorry, Miss Vivienne."

"We've already followed Mr. Vitale's instructions and scattered your mother's ashes into the sea."

My pupils trembled, my mind blank.

The driver held up the phone.

Bianca's sarcastic voice:

"Miss Vivienne, do you really think that just because we can't see the ashes, we'll believe you?"

Dante said disappointedly:

"And I actually believed your nonsense... What a waste of time!"

My lower belly suddenly dropped.

My heart turned to ash.

I opened the chat with Caterina:

【Ma'am, you were right. A child can't have a mother with a criminal record.】

【So, please schedule the abortion for me.】