A few minutes later, Darren's second-in-command, Tony, strode over.

He saw me, covered in blood, and his brow furrowed. He anxiously pulled out his phone and called Darren.

"Boss, there's a woman at the hospital entrance, covered in blood. She looks a lot like... the madam."

"You fell for it too? I told you, a little shot of that drug couldn't make her bleed like that."

Tony spoke cautiously. "Should I come up to confirm? If it really is the madam, she's in grave danger..."

"I said it's impossible!" Darren roared hysterically.

"Scarlett is obsessed with her appearance. If it were that serious, she would have stormed in here to find me herself. Why would she let herself get so disheveled?"

Meanwhile, the head of the emergency room was pleading for a single set of surgical equipment.

But Darren responded with a cold threat.

"I don't care who it is. Not a single resource meant for Angelina will be touched by anyone else!"

"Angelina and the child in her belly are the true bloodline of the Falcone family!"

“Anyone who touches anything knows the consequences.”

The doctor finally gave up in despair, shaking his head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do."

Having already crawled out of hell, I refused to give up on even the slimmest chance for my child's survival.

Enduring the tearing pain, I took Leo's satellite phone with a trembling hand.

I dialed the number I had once sworn never to call again.

It was my brother Stephan's private line.

"Stephan..." my voice was a bare thread of sound. "I was wrong. I'll never defy you again..."

"Save me..."

Stephan's voice was as cold as ice, asking no questions.

"Address."

The moment I heard his voice, all my pent-up grievances and despair erupted.

I cried hysterically, like a lost child trying to find her way home.

Regret, anger, desperation… a flood of emotions poured out.

In less than eight minutes, the low thrum of a helicopter filled the night sky.

A black, state-of-the-art medevac landed on the hospital rooftop, its rotors kicking up a powerful gust of wind.

A team of heavily armed, professional medics descended.

I was quickly carried onto the helicopter, which was equipped with medical facilities more advanced than any hospital.

"Prepare for a C-section!" a doctor commanded.

A precision scalpel sliced across my lower abdomen. Even with a powerful anesthetic, I could still feel the agony of flesh being separated.

I could hear the doctors' tense conversation and the urgent beeping of the monitors.

After a long while, the lead surgeon finally let out a sigh of relief.

"The baby's out!"

But the cabin was filled with a dead silence.

There was no cry of a newborn, no breath of new life.

Only the beeping of the equipment and my own desperate heartbeat.

A terrible premonition washed over me like ice water. I choked out the question.

"My baby... how is he?"

The doctors exchanged heavy glances, then one gently touched my shoulder.

"The baby suffered severe toxin exposure and prolonged oxygen deprivation..."

"We need to transport him to the medical center in Sicily immediately. They have the most advanced neonatal intensive care equipment there."

My world collapsed in that moment. I could only nod numbly.

Meanwhile, in a maternity room at St. Mary's Hospital.

Darren stood guard outside the operating room like a loyal hound.

When the door opened, he rushed forward to ask.

"How is Angelina? Is the baby healthy?"

"Mother and son are both fine, Boss," the doctor reported respectfully.

Darren walked into the warm, comfortable room and gently picked up the swaddled infant.

His eyes filled with a father's love as he whispered.

"He looks just like you. A little angel."

After he spoke, he seemed to drift off for a moment.

He allowed himself to imagine what his child with Scarlett would have looked like.

If it were a girl, she would definitely have her beautiful eyes...

After lulling the baby to sleep, Darren checked his watch.

It was already the next morning. It was time to have someone bring Scarlett over.

He tossed his car keys to Tony.

"Go back to the estate. Bring my wife here."

“Whatever it takes, that child needs to be delivered. I want a DNA test the moment it's born.”

Tony stood frozen, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.

He didn't dare look Darren in the eye, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

Darren noticed something was wrong and frowned.

"What is it? Get a move on."

Tony finally summoned the courage, his voice shaking.

"Boss... Madam Scarlett... she's dead..."

“What did you say?” Darren’s pupils contracted instantly. “Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!”

He grabbed Tony by the collar, nearly lifting him off the ground.

“She was fine when I left her! How could she be dead?”

“A few shots don't just kill someone!”

“This must be a trick! A trick she cooked up with her lover to run away with that bastard!”

Tony was nearly suffocating from his boss’s fury. "Boss, our men saw the body..."

“They found her in the wasteland off the estate grounds. The DNA was a match. It was her.”

"The body?" Darren sneered. "How do I know what you bunch of idiots actually saw!"

Hearing the word "body," a sense of foreboding washed over Darren, but he refused to believe it.

He had to see for himself.

If that woman dared to deceive him, he would make her pay.

He snatched the car keys from the bedside table. "Take me there. If this is another one of her games, I want to see it for myself."

In the hospital room, Angelina sat up weakly. "Darren, where are you going?"

"To take care of some trash," Darren replied without looking back, not even glancing at his so-called heir. "Rest well. Take care of the child."

In less than twenty minutes, they arrived at the scene.

The convoy of cars stopped in front of a deserted factory.

From a distance, Darren could see a crowd of onlookers.

He jumped out of the car, roughly pushing people out of his way.

"Everyone, get the hell out of here!"

Leo stood beside a form covered by a white sheet, his face ashen.

"Boss..." Leo's voice trembled. "Are you sure you want to see this?"

"Uncover it," Darren commanded.

Leo slowly lifted the white sheet.

In the next second, Darren's world completely fell apart.

It was Scarlett.

Even covered in blood, even lifeless, he could still recognize that face.

Her eyes, once as bright as stars, were now tightly shut, never to open again.

Darren's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees in the dirt.

"Scarlett..." he knelt, his trembling hand reaching out to touch her cold cheek.

"No... this can't be..."

Beside the body, there was another, smaller white bundle.

A primal, blood-deep instinct stirred within Darren. He knew what it was, but he didn't dare to look.

"Scarlett! Get up!" he suddenly screamed, grabbing the "body's" shoulders and shaking it frantically.

"Why?" he roared at the empty sky. "Why couldn't you just confess?"

"You think dying absolves you of your sins? You think I can't find out who that man was?"

Tony couldn't bear to watch any longer and gently tried to intervene. "Boss, the madam is... let her rest in peace."

Rain began to fall from the sky, but Darren continued to clutch the "body," refusing to let go.

The rain washed away the bloodstains, and with them, the pain and anger in his heart.

Meanwhile, in far-off Sicily.

I lay in a bedroom in the Moretti family's ancient castle, my body still weak.

Stephan sat by my bed, his face devoid of any expression.

"The child didn't make it," his voice was flat, cold.

"The level of toxins was too high. His lungs weren't fully developed, and he was born with a heart defect."

I closed my eyes, silent tears rolling down my cheeks.

My baby, my little prince, had left me just like that.

I hadn't even had the chance to clear his name. Even his own father denied his bloodline.

I was such a useless mother.

"No..." I shook my head. "It's not possible... he was still kicking me... he was alive..."

"The doctors said he was very brave. He held on for a full six hours," Stephan's voice was like a blade of ice. "But in the end, he couldn't overcome the poison."

I hugged my knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

That little life, who never had a chance to see the world, had been murdered by his own father.

"I killed him," I choked out. "This never would have happened if I hadn't married Darren."

"No," Stephan interrupted, his eyes burning with the fire of vengeance.

"Those fools killed him."

Stephan placed a small urn in front of me.

"These are your son's ashes."