Chapter 2

I endured the night alone in the hospital.

At dawn the next day,I handled Mom's death certificate and cremation arrangements by myself.

By evening,I held Mom's urn in my arms,called a cab,and returned to the Moretti family estate.

The pathetic thing was,aside from Damian's so-called home,I had nowhere else to go.

The money in my pocket was not even enough for one night at a motel.

The cab driver was talkative and kept chatting the whole way.

"I drove a big shot this morning.Guess who?Don Moretti."

"He and a woman were in the back seat.Their mouths didn't separate the whole ride."

His tone was casual.

But to me,every word grated.

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror.Perhaps he saw how terrible I looked and changed the subject.

"Miss,you look awful.Break up with your boyfriend?"

"If you ask me,you have to find someone who treats you well.Look at Don Moretti and that woman.So happy."

I smiled bitterly.

He did not know that the man he was talking about was the husband who had abandoned me on our wedding night.

And that woman was the friend I had once trusted most.

More than once,Lillian had said she envied me,that I had come from an ordinary background yet could marry Don Moretti.

Every time,I explained that I loved Damian for who he was,not for his last name or his money.

Back then,I did not understand the jealousy in her eyes.I even thought she was truly happy for me.

After she lost her job,I even introduced her to Damian as his personal assistant.

I never expected that I was sending her straight into Damian's bed.

The ridiculous part was,Lillian had once told me,"I'll keep an eye on Damian for you.If he ever dares to betray you,I'll deal with him for you."

And Damian had also made it clear that he did not like Lillian.

He said she was too calculating,too hungry for advantage.Unlike me,who was simple and clean.

Until the day I asked him to lend me money.

Everything changed.

At the time,I still did not understand how someone could change his heart overnight.

Only now,far too late,did I realize

that he had changed long ago.

In that case,then so be it.

A husband whose heart had changed,a friend who had betrayed me.I wanted neither of them.

I returned to the estate,intending to talk to Damian about divorce.

But when I pushed open the door,the first thing I saw was Lillian's smug face.

She was barefoot,stepping on the wedding photo of Damian and me.

When she saw me come in,she deliberately stepped on my face in the photo.

"Elena,you're finally back.Damian said he's taking me to Sicily for our honeymoon."

"Come help me see which dresses I should choose."

My clothes were scattered all over the floor.

Among them were several gowns Mom had altered for me herself before she got sick.

Holding back my anger,I said,"Those are my clothes."

She laughed,picked up the scissors on the table,and walked toward those gowns.

"Damian said everything in this house will be mine from now on."

"As for you?You're just the maid he bought for me for five hundred thousand dollars."

I hurried forward to stop her.

But she shoved me hard to the floor.

To protect the urn in my arms,my forehead slammed into the corner of the table.

Blood quickly began to flow.

Just then,footsteps sounded from the staircase.

Damian stood on the steps,his voice edged with urgency.

"Elena,you're pregnant?"

In his hand was the pregnancy diagnosis I had planned to give him as a wedding gift.