Chapter 1

I held my engagement invitation and went to find Nora, my friend of ten years.

I pushed open her apartment door, and my eyes landed on the TV.

On the screen, a video was playing of her and my fiancé, Dante, tangled together.

My blood ran cold.

Nora looked at me and smiled.

“For the past three years, every time he said he was on a business trip, he was actually here with me.”

I clutched the invitation in my hand and suddenly felt that everything I had given these past years was ridiculous.

She picked up a pregnancy report from the table and waved it.

“Two months. If you still want the wedding, you can be a free nanny for my baby.”

The fingerprint lock beeped, and Dante walked in carrying chicken soup.

Our eyes met, and his smile froze.

I folded the invitation and slipped it into my pocket.

From that moment on, there was no Nora and no Dante in my life.

…

“What were you doing here?”

Dante changed out of his shoes and casually set the soup on the entry cabinet.

His gaze swept over the report in Nora’s hand, then landed on my face.

After a brief pause, he loosened his tie and sat beside Nora.

“Since you’ve seen it, there’s no need to hide it anymore.”

He looked at me.

“The report is real. She’s pregnant with my child, almost two months.”

The invitation in my pocket crumpled little by little in my grip.

“So?”

My voice was barely there.

Dante frowned, clearly unhappy.

“What kind of attitude was that? I hadn’t even blamed you for coming here uninvited.”

He picked up a glass of water and took a sip, sounding completely justified.

“You had two miscarriages. The doctor said your body was too weak now, it would be hard to get pregnant again.”

“The Marchetti family needed an heir. Nora was willing to have the baby. She was helping us.”

“When the child was born, it would call you Mom. You got a child for free. What was there to be upset about?”

Ten years.

I stayed by his side as he rose from an ignored son to the head of the family. I took bullets for him. I even lost two unborn children for him.

And now he told me that cheating on me with my friend was for my own good.

Nora leaned against his shoulder and gently touched her flat belly.

“Aurora, I was an orphan. I always treated you like my own sister.”

“In the future, the three of us would live together. My child would be your child.”

She lifted her chin, her eyes full of triumph.

“Didn’t you always want a family? Now it was complete.”

Dante stroked her hair.

“See how understanding Nora is. Not like you, always with that long face.”

He pulled a document from his briefcase and tossed it onto the coffee table.

“This was a supplementary agreement. I had a lawyer draft it.”

“The wedding next month would go on as planned. You would still be Mrs. Marchetti.”

“But to everyone else, Nora was my cousin. She would move into our home to rest during her pregnancy.”

I stared at the document and didn’t reach for it.

“Nora would live in our home as your cousin?”

“Right.”

Dante nodded. “I wasn’t comfortable with her living alone.”

“What about after the baby was born?”

I curled my lips slightly.

“We would say it was your child. Nora was still young. She couldn’t be tied down by a baby.”

Dante took out a pen and held it out to me.

“I would give you an extra ten thousand dollars every month, just to take care of Nora and the baby.”

“Aurora, don’t be greedy. I gave you the best life money could buy. What were you not satisfied with?”

He looked into my eyes, sincere in a way that felt terrifying.

He truly believed he had done nothing wrong.

In his eyes, I was nothing more than someone without her own income, someone who couldn’t leave him.

As long as he gave me a little, I should be grateful.

Nora picked up the pen and pressed it into my hand.

“Sign it, Aurora. If you didn’t, these ten years of your youth meant nothing.”

“You didn’t even have a job. Without Dante, how would you live?”

The pen dug into my fingers.

I watched them echo each other, and suddenly this whole scene felt ridiculous.

Ten years of youth, in exchange for an agreement that turned me into a free nanny for his mistress.

I put the pen back on the table.

“I didn’t sign.”

Dante’s face darkened.

“Aurora, don’t push your luck. I always felt guilty about the two children you lost.”

“Take this child as compensation. What else were you making a fuss about?”

He stood and looked down at me.

“I gave you one last chance. Sign it.”

I stood, took the invitation from my pocket, and threw it into the trash.

“I would think about it.”

I turned and walked toward the door.

Behind me, Dante sat back down and handed the chicken soup to Nora.

“I knew you would come around. Tomorrow, go pick a diamond ring.”

“Nora liked pink diamonds. Pick one for her too.”