Ignazio said, "She made Chiara suffer, so she deserves to suffer the same kind of discomfort."

My entire body instantly stiffened. It felt as though my heart had been torn out of my chest and crushed over and over again. It hurt so badly that I could barely breathe.

The next day, Chiara and I were discharged from the hospital together.

Ignazio came to pick us up personally. I didn't want to ride in the same car with them, but he pushed me into the vehicle anyway.

But not long after we set off, the steering wheel suddenly malfunctioned. The car sped straight toward the roadside guardrail.

At the most critical moment, Chiara suddenly threw herself in front of me to shield me. As a result, she slammed hard against the car seat.

By the time Ignazio reacted to what was happening, he saw Chiara protecting me with her body. His hand instinctively reached toward her, but when his gaze met mine, he suddenly came back to his senses.

"Carlotta, thank goodness you're okay," he said.

Even as Chiara was taken away in the ambulance, he didn't look at her again.

But in an empty hospital room, Ignazio pinned her beneath him, his eyes filled with suppressed anger.

He growled, "Why did you play the hero and throw yourself over her? You're a pregnant woman! Are you trying to drive yourself to an early death?"

The next second, Ignazio kissed her fiercely.

So Chiara was pregnant again.

My heart had already gone numb by then. Silently, I turned and walked away.

…

That night, Ignazio didn't come home. It wasn't until the next morning that he stood by my bed with eyes full of disappointment.

"I checked that car. Someone tampered with the steering wheel," he said.

I looked up at him in disbelief. "You suspect it's my doing?"

Ignazio let out a sigh and said, "I told you before. I'm only using Chiara. Once I'm done with her, I'll send her away. She can't threaten your position. She even risked her life to protect you. Why can't you tolerate her?"

In the middle of the sweltering summer heat, I felt a chill creep deep into my bones.

Ignazio didn't trust me at all. In the days that followed, he began deliberately neglecting me.

However, I no longer cared. In just two more days, I would be taking Antonio with me and leaving for good.

The day before my departure was the fifth anniversary of my marriage to Ignazio. I had thought he would continue ignoring me.

To my surprise, he chartered a luxury cruise ship to celebrate with me. But the moment we boarded, one of his men informed him that Chiara had gone missing again.

That night, Ignazio practically turned the entire city upside down searching for her, but he still could not find any trace of her. He smashed a vase, and its shards scattered across my feet.

"Honey, tell me where Chiara is," he demanded.

I shook my head and mumbled, "I don't know… I really don't know…"

This wasn't the first time he had suspected me because of Chiara. Still, my chest ached as if it were being torn apart.

Soon, someone handed over Chiara's phone from before her disappearance. The last call she had made was to me.

Ignazio rubbed his throbbing temples and barked, "Carlotta Zucco, the evidence is right here. Are you still going to deny it?"

I laughed coldly and retorted, "Just because of one phone call, you've decided that I hired someone to kidnap Chiara. Is that it?"

I remembered the phone call Chiara had made to me before she disappeared.

She had confessed shamelessly, "I caused the allergic reaction myself, and I deliberately damaged the steering wheel too. I knew I wouldn't really get hurt, so I threw myself onto you and put on a show.

"A man's sympathy and guilt are the strongest shackles. I'm going to make Ignazio soften toward me little by little and compensate me bit by bit until I completely replace you."

Her ambition had been unmistakable through the phone.

She had gone on, "Carlotta, I know you and Ignazio have a child. Do you dare make a bet with me? Let's bet on which one of us is more important to Ignazio—you and your child, or me and my unborn child in my belly."

Her disappearance was nothing more than a performance she had staged herself.

Sadly, Ignazio didn't believe a single word I said.

Ignazio looked at me in disappointment and said, "Carlotta, Chiara is critical to the famiglia's grand plan. Can you stop making trouble?"

Time passed by, and there was still no word from the men he had sent out.

Ignazio finally lost his patience.

In an ominous voice, he said, "Chiara told me that you adopted a child from a children's home."

My back instantly stiffened.

He raised a hand to signal to his men. Someone dragged in a burlap sack with a living thing struggling nonstop inside.

Ignazio picked up a steel pipe from nearby with a menacing expression on his face. "Carlotta, this is your last chance. If you still won't tell me where Chiara is, this child won't survive."

"Antonio!" I cried out, my eyes reddening instantly.

I lunged forward, only to be held back forcefully.

Ignazio raised the steel pipe high and brought it crashing down.

"No!" My pupils dilated sharply as I let out a blood-curdling scream.

Everything before my eyes turned red, as though the blow had landed on my own body.

A muffled whimper came from inside the sack. The person inside was struck so hard that the body bounced up before crashing heavily back down into silence. A pool of blood seeped from the opening of the sack.

"Ah!" I broke down completely.

My entire world turned red as the second blow came crashing down.

"Stop hitting him! That's your child! He's your son!" I screamed hoarsely and hysterically as Ignazio's men continued holding me back.

Tears mixed with drops of blood streamed down my face, and my eyes were filled with utter despair.

Ignazio's hand, which was holding the steel pipe, stopped mid-air.

He sneered, "Stop joking around, Carlotta. We agreed we wouldn't have children. Why lie to me about something like this?"

I could no longer care about anything else.

After struggling free, I crawled to his feet and pleaded through tears. "He really is your child. Antonio is your son… Please… let him go. Call a doctor. Save him…"

Ignazio bent down and grabbed my chin. "Be good. Tell me where Chiara is, and I'll let him go."

I shook my head desperately, flinging my tears everywhere. "I don't know. I really don't! Let Antonio go. Please let him go!"

The warmth vanished from Ignazio's eyes.

The second blow came down hard. A muffled groan sounded from inside the sack. Then, all movements stopped.

"Ah! No..." I coughed up a mouthful of blood, and my body began convulsing violently.

The third blow followed, and then the fourth…

Ten vicious blows had rained down on the sack. Not a single sound came from it anymore.

I whimpered, "Antonio…"

Seeing that there was no movement from inside the sack and that the floor had been stained completely red, I collapsed to my knees. My body stiffened as though struck by electricity, and I trembled uncontrollably.

I vomited another mouthful of blood, staining the floor before me.

Ignazio walked over. His black leather shoes stepped into the pool of blood before grinding viciously against the sack.

"You still won't talk, Carlotta?"

He stomped down again.

I heard the unmistakable sounds of bones breaking.

"Antonio!" I screamed in utter despair, crawling forward only to be restrained again.

I roared in fury, "Ignazio, I curse you! You'll never have another child for the rest of your life!"

Ignazio's body suddenly froze.

At that moment, someone rushed in and reported, "Don Corelli, we've found Ms. Linetti!"

Ignazio's hand, which had been stroking my hair, paused at that moment.

"Tell me the exact location!" He got up and rushed out without a single backward glance.

Not long after Ignazio left, two men entered and tried to take Antonio from my arms.

It was as though I suddenly woke from a nightmare.

I clutched Antonio tightly and demanded, "What are you doing?"

"Don Corelli gave orders. We're throwing him into the sea to feed the sharks."

The men showed no mercy. They forcibly tore Antonio from my arms and stuffed him back into the sack with disgust before turning to leave.

"Antonio!" I chased after them hysterically, only to be locked inside the ship's cabin.

When Ignazio returned with Chiara, he saw me sitting on the floor in a daze.

"Was it you who ordered them to throw Antonio's body into the sea to feed the sharks?" I asked.

I slowly got to my feet, my eyes filled with burning hatred.

Ignazio's face darkened as he responded, "Do you have any idea about the harm that you caused? Chiara lost her baby because of your abduction scheme!"

Without warning, I burst into laughter. I emitted a shrill, haunting cackle that sounded like demonic wails that came from the depths of hell.

I bellowed, "Ignazio, I curse you and Chiara to be doomed to the darkest and most fiery pits of hell!"

Ignazio's expression turned drastically frosty as he seethed, "If you hadn't arranged for Chiara to be abducted and had a group of beggars violate her, she wouldn't have lost the child!"

He locked his icy gaze onto me and growled, "Since you enjoy getting people to humiliate others so much, then you should get a taste of your own medicine!"

My pupils dilated sharply. It felt as though all the blood in my body had frozen in an instant.

I wanted to explain, but Ignazio refused to listen. He brought in that group of beggars he mentioned and locked me in a room with them.

Even with my desperate pleas, all he did was say one cruel sentence.

He sneered, "They're the people you hired. What could possibly happen?"

Then, he left with Chiara without looking back.

After Ignazio left, the beggars swarmed toward me. Before long, the cabin was filled with the sounds of tearing fabric, struggling, and despairing screams. My body was treated like a rag doll, which they toyed with mercilessly at their whim.

The next morning, the filthy men finally got off me. They pulled up their pants and left the room in satisfaction.

I lay sprawled on the floor, feeling as though my soul had been ripped away from my body.

Antonio was dead, and I had been violated by those beasts.

All of a sudden, I stood up and staggered toward the deck. Without hesitation, I climbed over the railing and jumped.

Following a splash, a huge burst of water shot up on the surface of the sea. But soon, everything returned to its previous calm, as though nothing had ever happened.

At that moment, my phone, which had fallen onto the deck, vibrated, displaying a message I would never see.

It read, "Ms. Zucco, all the procedures have been completed. At noon today, we will come to take you and Antonio away."

Unfortunately, Antonio and I would never be able to leave.

Ignazio didn't look for me for half a month. He thought that this time, he needed to give me the cold shoulder and stop spoiling me so much.

So, he decided that after he was done hosting a birthday banquet for Chiara to make it up to her, he would only then come and see me.

On the day of the birthday banquet, the giant screen began playing the surprise video Ignazio had prepared for Chiara. It was a compilation of vivacious photos of her.

Before the slideshow began, Ignazio lowered his head and took out his phone to text me.

He wrote, "Honey, I'm sorry for everything. I just didn't want you to make a mistake. If you hurt Chiara and caused the famiglia's plan to fail, they would demand an even harsher punishment for you. Once I've settled things with Chiara, I'll come back."

After he sent the message, he imagined the delighted expression on my face when I received it. His lips curled up into a smile without him realizing it.

The next second, the giant screen began to play a different video altogether.

Ignazio's eyes widened in surprise as my figure appeared on the screen. Inside the sealed cabin, the group of beggars held down my arms and legs. I screamed in terror and despair, but I was pinned to the floor, unable to move.

The guests took out their phones and began recording.

All color drained from Ignazio's face as he rushed forward to shut off the screen.

His eyes were bloodshot as he shouted hoarsely, "Carlotta!"