Chapter 5

The next morning, Dante took me to family breakfast.

Rosa Moretti was already seated, reading glasses on, coffee in hand.

"Sit. Eat. You're too thin. Women who are too thin don't conceive."

She asked about the orphanage I grew up in.

And when I told her about the children, she listened like it mattered.

Warm glow spread through my chest.

"When the baby comes, we redo the east nursery. Yellow walls. Yellow is lucky."Rosa said.

"Mother." Dante tried to stop her.

"What? I'm planning."

For one moment, I let myself imagine it.

A few years from now. A baby arguing with Rosa about breakfast.

This was what a real family felt like.

I placed my hands gently over my lower stomach.

More than ever, I dreamed of holding a child in my arms and giving him a warm home.

"Well, well. Isn't this cozy."

Bianca strutted into the room in high heels.

"A pathetic little barmaid playing lady of the house."

"Did you really think one night in his bed makes you part of this family? Wake up from your daydream."

[This stupid woman! You’re the one daydreaming!]

[Good thing I’ll be leaving soon. You’ll live to regret this!]

Cupid’s indignant voice echoed in my ears.

I set my fork down and met her cruel gaze directly.

"I am invited here. Unlike you, Bianca. I do not see a child as a bargaining chip."

Bianca’s face darkened instantly. "You insolent little—"

"Quiet!" Rosa slammed her teacup onto the saucer.

"I invited Nina. Watch your tongue in my presence, Bianca."

Then, Bianca let out a chilling laugh.

She pulled out a small glass bottle and held the bottle up for everyone to see.

Abortion pills.

"You think you can just discard me and let this beggar give you a baby? What a joke."

She pointed a finger directly at me.

"I heard some information last night."

"The clinic diagnosed Nina with total infertility years ago! She cannot carry a baby!"

My heart plummeted into ice.

Bianca threw her head back and laughed.

"And that is not all! Dante, you know the truth about your own body, don't you?"

"The odds of you fathering a child are practically zero!"

Rosa gasped. Her face turned chalky white.

"Dante, is that true?"

Dante did not answer. His face was entirely in fury.

Bianca shook the bottle of abortion pills.

"The baby in my womb is a medical miracle. He is your one and only chance to ever have an heir, Dante!"

"The syndicate meeting is in exactly one month."

"If you want this baby born alive, you will stand before all the families and grant my demands."

"Otherwise, I will swallow every single pill in this bottle, and your bloodline dies forever."

She spun on her heel toward the door.

Before she walked out, Bianca stopped and cast a mocking glance at me.

"Stop your pathetic daydream, little orphan!"

"You can never give him a child. You will never be a mother."