Cruel.

I had never thought that would be Dante’s word for me.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand and took a slow breath.

“Then get rid of the child in my belly.”

The car lurched as Dante hit the brakes and pulled to the curb. He turned back to me, eyes dark with anger.

“Are you insane? Don’t ever say that again. I won’t lose your child, and I won’t let Serena lose hers either.”

I looked at him and suddenly found it almost funny.

He wanted both children kept, but only one of them was allowed to have a name.

The next morning, Russo men appeared around the villa. Dante took my phone and locked the outer gates, saying I needed rest and could not be allowed to act emotionally while pregnant.

I understood what he really meant.

He was afraid I would ruin Serena’s fake wedding.

Two days later, I woke to noise downstairs. When I walked out, Serena and her mother, Lucia De Luca, were standing in the entrance hall, directing servants to carry luggage, garment trunks, and sealed De Luca security cases into the house.

Lucia looked me over and gave a cold laugh.

“So this is the woman Dante keeps hidden. Pregnant with a child no one can acknowledge, yet still shameless enough to stay in his house.”

She wrapped an arm around Serena’s shoulders.

“My poor daughter. You’re carrying Dante’s child in public, yet he still keeps this woman under the same roof.”

Serena lowered her head, her lashes trembling just enough to look wounded.

“Mother, please don’t say that. Aria has been with Dante for years. If she hates me, I can understand. I only hope she won’t take it out on the baby.”

When Lucia went upstairs with the servants, Serena looked at me and smiled.

“So what if he says he loves you? My child is the one he’ll claim. My wedding is the one he’ll stand in. You’re the one he has to hide.”

I did not want to argue with her. I swallowed the pain and tried to walk past.

Serena suddenly caught my wrist and leaned close.

“You still don’t understand, do you? As long as this child exists, Dante will keep choosing me.”

Before I could pull away, she let herself fall against the staircase.

“Aria, why would you push me? I know you hate me, but my baby is innocent.”

Dante’s voice came from behind me.

“Aria, what did you do?”

I turned and saw him standing at the foot of the stairs, his face already dark.

Serena cried harder and reached toward him. Lucia rushed down from the second floor, furious.

“Dante, this is exactly what I warned you about. As long as she stays here, my daughter will never be safe. Either you send her away, or I take Serena back to her father and this wedding ends today.”

Serena buried her face against Dante’s chest, but over his shoulder, she looked at me and smiled.

Dante stayed silent for a long time. Just when Serena thought she had won, he gently pushed her back and walked to my side.

“If you want to leave, you can take Serena home,” he said to Lucia. “But I won’t throw Aria out.”

Serena’s expression froze.

For one brief second, something in my chest moved.

Then Lucia’s face hardened.

“You hurt my daughter, Dante. If you insist on keeping this woman here, then at least make Serena feel respected. She is carrying the child everyone believes is yours. She should not be treated like a guest.”

Dante looked at me.

He did not ask directly, but I understood.

Another sacrifice.

By that afternoon, I was moved out of the upstairs bedroom and into the old medical observation room on the first floor. Years ago, when I was still undergoing treatment, Dante had kept it prepared for emergencies. Now the monitors were gone, but the room still smelled faintly of alcohol wipes and closed windows.

Serena took the master bedroom for her pregnancy, the adjoining room for the nursery, and the east salon for her wedding gowns and De Luca gifts.

Dante came to me that evening.

“It’s only temporary,” he said. “I’m trying to calm Lucia down. Once the wedding is over, I’ll make it up to you.”

I did not argue.

Where I slept no longer mattered. I was already thinking about how to leave.

Every day, I watched the guards change shifts and memorized which servants still dared to speak to me. I even considered asking Serena for help. After all, she wanted me gone more than anyone.

But when I found her alone in the garden and asked whether she would help me leave, she only laughed softly.

“Aria, if Dante doesn’t want you to go, how could I help you? You still don’t understand us. Dante and I grew up in the same world. He may love you, but he trusts me in ways you’ll never understand.”

For once, she was not pretending.

That was when I realized she was right.

There was an understanding between them that had nothing to do with love, yet it was strong enough to crush me.

After that, the villa became Serena’s stage.

Dante came home every night and went to her room first. He listened while she spoke about the wedding guest list, De Luca protocol, the chapel flowers, and the baby. Sometimes he read to the child in her belly because Serena said the baby liked his voice.

By the time he came to my room, it was usually close to midnight.

I would lie with my back to the door and pretend to be asleep.

One night, he stood beside my bed for a long time before touching my shoulder.

“Are you asleep?”

I did not answer.

“I know you’re awake.”

I turned slightly, still facing the wall.

“What do you want?”

His voice was lower than usual.

“Do you hate me that much now? Do you really not believe I love you?”

For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him.

Then I remembered the pregnancy report, Serena’s smile, Lucia’s insults, and the room he had moved me into.

How could he still expect belief from me?

I kept my voice calm.

“I’ll carry the child to term. But locking me here is bad for the baby. I need fresh air, my phone, and internet access. I have medical records to review and research files I still need to finish.”

Dante slipped onto the bed behind me and carefully pulled me into his arms.

“All right,” he said, sounding almost relieved. “As long as you rest and don’t upset yourself, I’ll give you whatever you need.”

I closed my eyes.

He thought I was finally becoming obedient.

He did not know I had only stopped wasting strength on him.

I had no one left.

After I was diagnosed with cancer, my relatives stopped visiting, my parents slowly accepted that I might not survive, and the man I had been dating disappeared. Dante was the only person who stayed.

He sold what little he had, paid for my treatment, and made me believe that love could survive anything.

That belief had carried me through ten years of pain.

During treatment, I kept working remotely under Professor Evelyn Shaw. Her closed medical research project accepted only a few doctoral candidates each year. She had asked me more than once to join after my recovery, but I kept refusing because I did not want to leave Dante.

Now it was fading inside his own house.

That night, Dante stayed in my room. I did not refuse him, though the faint rose perfume on his shirt made me nauseous.

The next morning, he kissed my forehead, looking almost relieved.

“The two most important women in my life can finally get along,” he said. “Thank you, Aria. I’ll make it up to you.”

I said nothing.

After breakfast, he returned my phone and allowed me to walk in the garden, though two Russo guards still followed me.

The first thing I did was call Professor Shaw.

“If the project still has a place for me,” I said, “I want to join.”

There was a pause. Then she said, “Aria, I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

For the next few months, I stopped fighting Serena.

She had Dante hire a private chef, a prenatal doctor, and a stylist for the wedding. I stayed in the old observation room and ate whatever the servants brought me. Even when she flaunted the jewelry and wedding gifts Dante gave her, I felt nothing.

As the wedding approached, Serena’s doctor said her condition was unstable. Don De Luca insisted the ceremony could not be delayed, so Dante packed his things that night.

I sat in the corner of my room, one hand over my belly, feeling weaker than I had in years.

Dante paused at the door.

“Are you okay?”

I did not answer.

“Aria, I’ll come back as soon as the wedding is over. It’s only a fake ceremony. When I return, I’ll stay with you properly.”

I wanted to tell him that I needed him too, that our child needed him too.

In the end, I only nodded.

Dante stared at me for a moment, as if surprised I had let him go so easily.

He had almost reached the door when he suddenly came back and hugged me.

“Forget it. I won’t go. I’ll send someone else.”

For one brief second, my heart moved.

Then I remembered that whenever he was forced to choose, I was always the one asked to understand.

“You should go,” I said quietly. “If anything happens to Serena’s child, you’ll feel guilty forever.”

What I meant was: if anything happens to her child, you’ll blame me forever.

Dante slowly let go.

Just as he reached the front door, a maid hurried over.

“Mr. Russo, please let Miss Aria move back upstairs. The room she’s in is too damp. It isn’t good for her or the baby.”

Before Dante could answer, Serena said, “That won’t work. I’ll be coming back after the wedding. How can she take my room?”

“I don’t want to move back,” I said.

Dante’s expression softened.

“When I return, I’ll buy you a new house. I’m sorry you’ve suffered these few days.”

Then he got into the car and left with Serena.

I watched the convoy disappear, then went back to my room and began packing the research notes I had hidden for years.

After Dante left for the De Luca estate, I forced my weak body to endure the pain and began packing.

There were still six hours before Professor Shaw’s team came to take me to the closed research facility.

I looked through the window at the Russo guards stationed outside the villa and called Professor Shaw.

“There are Russo men outside the villa,” I said. “Dante left them here to watch me.”

Professor Shaw’s voice remained steady.

“Pack your documents and medical records. Do not confront anyone. Our legal team and security detail are already on the way.”

Just after I hung up, the door to my room was pushed open.

Lucia De Luca walked in with Don De Luca, a private doctor, a sealed consent file, and two De Luca guards.

Don De Luca looked at me as if I were a stain on his daughter’s wedding dress.

“My daughter will stand at the altar in six hours. No woman hidden in this house will ruin that.”

Lucia placed the consent form on the table.

“Sign it. The doctor will finish the procedure here.”

I gripped the edge of the table.

“This child is Dante’s.”

Lucia’s expression did not change.

“Dante has already chosen which child he will acknowledge.”

“Serena’s child is not his.”

Don De Luca gave a cold smile.

“Truth does not matter today. Silence does.”

Two guards grabbed my arms.

Panic rose through me so sharply I could barely breathe.

“No. Let go of me.”

The maid tried to stop them, crying.

“Miss Aria is very weak. If you force this procedure, she may die.”

“No one asked you,” Lucia snapped.

I struggled with what little strength I had left.

“The child in my belly is Dante’s. Serena’s child is not his.”

No one listened.

One of the men taped my mouth shut before I could say more. The doctor opened his case, and someone pressed my hand against the consent form. My body was too weak to fight them, and the pain in my abdomen grew sharper as they dragged me toward the old medical room.

Tears slid down my face.

I had once thought about giving up this child when Dante chose Serena’s reputation over us.

But when they truly tried to take the baby from me, I finally understood how much I wanted to keep him.

My vision began to blur. A hot rush spilled between my legs.

Just as they dragged me toward the door, the sound of cars broke through the villa grounds.

A moment later, Dante stepped out of the lead car in his black wedding suit. He was smiling faintly as he turned back to Serena.

“There’s still time before the ceremony,” he said. “I’ll find the ring I left behind and come right back. I won’t delay anything.”

Then he turned toward the doorway and saw me collapsed in a pool of blood.

His face went white.