Staring at Bella, my breath hitched.

But it wasn’t disgust I felt—it was the cold, sharp relief of a survivor.

Bella had tested positive for a severe infectious disease, the grim receipt for her reckless lifestyle. Throughout my seven years with Lorenzo, I had stood my ground, saving myself for our wedding night. No matter how many times he hinted or pressured me, I never buckled.

That "conservatism" he had mocked so often had just become my life-saving shield.

I looked at the festering skin near the crook of Bella’s neck and spoke coldly. "Does Lorenzo know about your condition? What the two of you are doing is slow-motion murder for that child."

"Shut up!" Bella snapped, her face twisting into a feral snarl as if I’d stepped on a raw nerve.

"Of course Lorenzo knows! He doesn't care about my past, and he doesn't care about my illness. He insisted that I carry his heir!"

Looking at her delusional frenzy, I found it almost pathetic. Lorenzo was a cold-blooded egoist. If he knew Bella was a walking biohazard, he’d be the first to dispose of her himself.

To shatter my doubts, Bella sneered and tapped a secret recording on her phone.

The audio filled the room—a nauseating exchange of heavy flirting. Bella’s cloying voice crawled out like a snake.

"Lorenzo, what if one day... someone hurt me and I got sick? Would you still want me?"

"Of course, baby. You’re the purest thing I know. Even if something happened, I’d only love you more. Now, come here..."

Then, Bella let out a calculated, pathetic sob. "But if that high-and-dry fiancée of yours found out, she’d look down on you forever."

On the recording, Lorenzo let out a cold, sharp bark of mockery.

"Why bring up that frozen block of wood? Seven years and she won't even let me touch her. If you ask me, she’s the one with the problem—a miserable, repressed freak."

"Let her die with her pathetic little 'sanctity' for all I care. Just touching her makes my stomach turn."

"Don't mention that dead fish while we’re in bed, baby. Let's see what other surprises you've got for me..."

Bella cut the recording, a vicious, arrogant smirk plastered on her face.

"Hear that? if you were that fiancée, you’d probably want to find a cemetery and bury yourself right now."

"Living such a failed life... honestly, she’s a disgrace to women."

Slap!

I stepped forward, my hand connecting with her arrogant face in a stinging backhand.

"Trash like you and Lorenzo don't even deserve to be parents to this child!"

"Are you insane?"

"Who do you think you are, judging me?"

Bella shrieked, her voice so sharp it nearly pierced the ceiling.

"A doctor assaulting a patient in postpartum? Is this your 'upbringing'? I'll make sure every media outlet in the city sees your ugly, malicious face!"

She slammed the emergency call button on her headboard, the piercing alarm instantly drawing the medical staff from the entire floor.

Bella clutched her cheek, her expression distorted. "This woman attacked me! Look at what she did! Call the police immediately—I want her to rot in prison!"

I let out a dismissive sneer, not even bothering to hide the contempt in my eyes.

"When the police get here, the first person they’re taking away is you—the walking infection."

"Knowing you have a communicable disease and maliciously spreading it... that slap was me educating you on behalf of your innocent victims. Go ahead, call them. Let’s see whose side the law takes."

I made a show of pulling out my phone, my thumb hovering over the dial pad.

The surrounding nurses exchanged uneasy glances. Bella’s lab reports were an open secret among the staff; they just hadn't encountered a patient this brazenly shameless before.

Seeing that no one was backing her up, Bella grew even more hysterical.

"So what? Lorenzo already knows! He actually gets off on the 'thrill' of it!"

She glared at me again, looking at me like I was a common cockroach.

"Regardless, you laid hands on me. You just ruined your career. I’ll have Lorenzo call the Chief of Medicine personally. You’ll never hold a scalpel again as long as you live!"

One of the nurses stepped forward despite the mounting pressure, her voice trembling as she tried to de-escalate the situation.

"Miss Bella, please. Dr. Joanna is a Chief Surgeon recruited from a top-tier medical school. We only asked her to perform this surgery as a rare favor because your case was so complex."

"Dr. Joanna has an impeccable reputation in the field," the nurse continued, her voice small but earnest. "There must be a misunderstanding. Please, just try to calm down."

Bella let out a derisive snort, her eyes—heavy with gaudy eyeshadow—dripping with disdain.

"Chief Surgeon? She’s just glorified labor. Who knows whose bed she crawled into to secure that title? She’s probably filthier on the inside than anyone else here."

A moment later, Bella’s phone vibrated violently. Lorenzo’s name flashed across the screen.

"Baby, my car is at the entrance. I brought your favorite cake."

Bella’s face transformed instantly. The predatory malice she had shown seconds ago vanished, replaced by a rehearsed, whimpering sob.

"Lorenzo… come up here, quickly. There’s a crazy woman trying to kill me."

The medical staff realized the gravity of the situation. A Head of the Family of Lorenzo’s caliber didn’t just get angry; he razed buildings. The nurse grabbed my hand, whispering urgently.

"Dr. Joanna, the surgery was a success. We’ll handle the rest. It’s Christmas Eve—since that gentleman is coming, you should leave through the back door. Don't let this ruin your engagement with your fiancé."

Bella caught the whisper and shrieked into the phone.

"Darling! The doctor didn’t just hit me—she cursed our baby, called him a cripple! And now they’re trying to let her slip away!"

"My face hurts so much… Hurry! I want her on her knees, begging for mercy!"

Lorenzo was the kind of man whose ego was a fortress; he would never allow his assets to be insulted. He gave the order immediately to lock down the entire hospital. Sleek black luxury sedans screeched to a halt, blocking every exit. No one was getting in or out.

"Anyone who dares touch my woman and my blood will vanish from the medical world forever."

"Wait for me, baby," Lorenzo’s voice roared through the speaker. "I’m going to shatter that doctor’s hands myself."

Bella flashed a triumphant, grotesque grin. The arrogance in her eyes was suffocating. The air in the room turned to ice; everyone was shaking. The Corleone family’s wrath was enough to incinerate this hospital by morning.

But I was calmer than anyone else in the room.

Bella walked up to me provocatively, shoving her red-manicured finger hard against my forehead.

"Regretting it now? Get on your knees and lick my heels clean. Maybe then I’ll ask Lorenzo to leave you with an intact corpse."

The nurse tried one last time to keep the peace. "Miss Bella, this really is just a misunderstanding—"

"Misunderstanding? She slapped me!" Bella tilted her chin up. "Either get on your knees, or get ready to wear concrete shoes at the bottom of the Hudson!"

The nurse looked at me helplessly. Everyone believed my career—and my life—had just been signed away with a single breath from Lorenzo Corleone.

"What? Too scared to speak? Kneel!"

I let out a cold laugh, my gaze as impenetrable as an Arctic vault.

"You want an apology? Neither you nor that piece of human garbage you’re with are worthy of one."

A flash of murderous insanity crossed Bella’s eyes. "You're asking for death!"

She turned and shrieked at the staff. "Do you want this pathetic hospital to burn? One word from Lorenzo and you’re all on the street!"

The nurse tugged at my sleeve in desperation, signaling for me to bow my head. I shoved her hand away.

Crack!

Another blistering strike. The force of it sent Bella collapsing onto the hospital bed.

"Trash like you… I’m afraid of contaminating my hands just by hitting you."

I moved forward to give her another lesson, but several nurses rushed in to restrain me.

Bella, clutching her face and abandoning all pretense of sophistication, bolted out of the room like a madwoman. She slammed right into the chest of a man who had just stormed through the doors.

It was Lorenzo, reeking of gunpowder and radiating a lethal, murderous aura.

"Lorenzo! Kill her! That woman hit me again!"

"I’ve never been so humiliated in my life! You have to get revenge for me and the baby!"

Lorenzo pulled her tight against him, his hawk-like eyes burning with feral rage.

"She must have a death wish. I’d like to see who has the guts to—"

Bella sobbed into his chest, playing the role of the helpless victim to fuel his protective instincts.

"Don't cry, baby. I'll make her die on her knees in front of you."

The moment Lorenzo kicked the ward door wide open, our eyes met.

In that instant, every ounce of Lorenzo’s brutality and arrogance evaporated. It was as if he’d been struck by lightning. He froze, anchored to the floor in paralyzed shock.

Still oblivious, Bella hid in his arms, pointing a shaking finger at me and screaming.

"Lorenzo! That’s the bitch! Have your men tear her apart!"

I stared indifferently at the man I had loved for seven years. My voice was a flat line, stripped of all emotion.

"Lorenzo, I thought the family meeting in Sicily was supposed to last until tomorrow morning. I didn't realize your 'meeting' was taking place on my operating table."