Serena stood in the doorway dressed in my pajamas, arms folded, looking annoyed as she asked me. "What did you come here for?"

Before I could even ask her anything, Marco happened to return. He quickly pulled Serena behind him in a guarding way and explained, "Bianca, don't think too much. After Serena became pregnant, she hasn't been sleeping well, so I let her stay here at the safe house."

"Besides, the rental near the clinic hasn't ended yet. You can stay there a little longer for the time being. After the baby is born and we get our papers signed, you can move back."

I said with shock, "I also paid half of the money for this property. What right do you have to let her live here without asking me? And what right do you have to decide so easily when I can come or leave?"

In truth, the safe house in this part of the territory cost much more than Marco believed.

My father didn't want me to suffer, so he had already paid eighty percent of the total price in advance. Don Valentini's money, moved through three shell companies so it would never trace back to him. On the surface, Marco and I each paid half to purchase it.

Marco looked away with a guilty face, his thumb drifting along the edge of his jaw, and in the next moment, Serena was already yelling with a proud tone.

"That's because the property papers have my name and my brother's name on them!"

"I only didn't have the boys throw you out because of my brother!"

I stared at Marco in shock. Only then did he explain, clearly unwilling.

"Serena grew up with me. She's basically part of my family. She won't be getting married later and still has to raise a child. I'm the child's father, so I need to give her some protection."

"Anyway, you and I will get married sooner or later. No matter what happens, I won't leave you. Does whose name is on the house really matter more than what we have?"

Seeing the twisted logic of the man standing in front of me, I almost couldn't recognize him.

I had once thought Marco just didn't love me that much. I never thought that even the small bit of feeling left had long been replaced by careful planning.

Was this really the man I bent myself to love for ten years? The man I'd funneled my father's resources to, the man whose every promotion I'd quietly arranged from the shadows?

Not worth it, truly not worth it.

When he saw my eyes turn red, Marco looked uneasy and, without thinking, took out a cigarette and lit it. After noticing that Serena was still pregnant, he quickly stepped away and put it out.

Using that moment, Serena walked over and jabbed my shoulder hard with her finger.

"I'm really tired of women like you, always complaining and picking at things! My brother is willing to take care of me. What does that have to do with you?"

"If you have any sense, hurry up and leave!"

Just as I lifted my hand to knock hers away, she suddenly used both hands to shove me with force, pushing me straight into the man-made lake at the edge of the property.

Hearing the sound, Marco hurried back. Serena spread her hands with a careless look.

"I didn't touch her."

Marco slowed his rushed steps, his eyes turning cool as he watched me struggle in the water. The night air off the lake smelled of stone and algae, and the lights from the safe house barely reached the surface.

"That's enough, stop acting. Serena isn't the kind of person who pulls fake sympathy acts."

"Stop using such awkward tricks to get pity. Get out by yourself!"

Water rushed into my mouth, and my legs began to cramp. "It was her! Help… help me!"

Noticing something felt off, Marco panicked a bit, reaching out as if to pull me up.

But Serena suddenly grabbed her belly and cried loudly, "Marco, the baby feels like kicking me. I'm hurting so badly!"

Marco paused for only a brief second before firmly turning back and lifting Serena into his arms, carrying her toward the villa.

With a heavy crash, the door slammed shut, as if it closed off my chance to survive.

I had no idea how long I struggled. Just as my consciousness was nearly fading away, a strong pair of hands finally pulled me out of the water.

When my eyes opened, I saw a familiar yet barely known face.

"Bianca, how did you end up looking this terrible?"

Dante Corsetti shrugged off his coat and covered it over me. His movements were polite, but his look and tone were still teasing and hard to control, like when he used to fight me.

I coughed hard, spitting out several mouthfuls of water, and asked him, "Why did you suddenly show up here?"

"This young guy heard from your old man that you're calling off your sanctioned courtship, so I came back on purpose to see if you got dumped, so I could laugh at you."

He raised his eyebrows and was about to get up when I suddenly grabbed the corner of his coat.

"Since you've already seen everything, then, do you want to go get our marriage certificate with me?"

Dante's expression froze. He went completely still. Not a shift in posture, not a visible breath. The silence between us held nothing but the sound of water dripping off my hair onto the stone.

"If you don't want to, then forget it. I can find someone else just as easily."

Hearing that, Dante quickly caught my wrist. "Who said I don't want to?"

He looked at me, his face serious.

"But Bianca, I need to say this clearly first. If you marry me, then there's no such thing as divorce."

He stepped on the gas, and Dante drove me straight to city hall to get our marriage certificate.

After taking me to a hotel to clean up and change clothes, Dante helped me dry my hair, carefully but a bit awkwardly. His hands, the same hands that had run a rival family's operations since he was twenty-two, moved through my wet hair like they were handling something that might break.

Not long after, a message from Serena suddenly showed up on my phone, followed by a livestream link.

[Bianca, to be honest, when Marco donated sperm last time, we didn't go through the clinic at all. We did it right here on this boat, just like this!]

[And after I got pregnant, he couldn't stay away from me anymore!]

My heart skipped a beat. My hands shook as I tapped the link.

On the screen, on the couple's bed inside the villa, Marco and Serena were wrapped around each other, completely unaware of anything else.

While gasping, Serena asked, "Between Bianca and me, who makes you feel better?"

Marco frowned. "Why mention her at a moment like this?"

He changed positions eagerly. "But honestly, after all these years, I've gotten a little bored with her."

"And you, I never thought that even though you usually act like such a tomboy, you could be this feminine. I'm starting to get hooked."

All kinds of rude poses and dirty words kept coming. I forced myself to keep watching for a long time.

Until my fingers went cold and my mind became unusually calm and clear.

I turned my mother's ring slowly around my finger. The garnet caught the bathroom light. The decision was already made.

After leaving the livestream, I called one of my father's associates and asked for the ten-million-dollar property payment my father had put up for the villa.

"Uncle, that property has nothing to do with me anymore. As for the remaining money, you can go ask the current owner to cover it."

Then I took out the marriage certificate I had just received with Dante, snapped a photo, and sent it to Marco's family group chat.

I also tagged Serena. [If you like garbage, I'll hand it over to you. I've already registered my marriage with someone else. From now on, I won't stand in the way of your two families being close.]