Chapter 4

Adrian was holding a cup of warm water, half-kneeling as he coaxed Bianca in her chair.

Bianca had a painkiller in her palm, tears streaming down her face.

"Why do girls even have to deal with periods? I hate it."

Adrian laughed, pinching her chin and giving it a little shake.

"How are you this cute?"

"Be good and take your medicine. I'll buy you a mystery box after, and then we'll go to that dessert place you liked yesterday."

"Today I'll make an exception and let you add sugar to your milk tea. Deal?"

In a daze, a saying drifted through my mind.

When a man calls you beautiful, he might just be admiring you.

But if he calls you cute, he's already thinking about what to name the kids.

Bianca sniffled.

"Adrian, are you really going to marry Elena?"

Adrian was quiet for a moment.

"She's been with me for three years. And she's carrying my child."

He didn't say like.

He certainly didn't say love.

Marriage was just an obligation he intended to fulfill.

The hand I'd been pressing protectively against my belly dropped to my side.

I turned and went to find the doctor.

"I don't want this baby."

Before I went into the operating room, my phone rang.

It was Adrian.

I hung up.

He called again almost immediately.

I hung up again.

The third time, he sent a text.

"Bianca went to the apartment to find a document for me and accidentally knocked over the miniature landscape on the desk. Go home and clean it up."

That was the birthday present I'd made him.

I'd spent a month building it, piece by tiny piece.

It was the home I'd imagined for us—the one I'd dreamed of a thousand times.

Now it was destroyed by Bianca's hands.

Like a cosmic joke.

I turned off my phone.

The last shred of attachment dissolved completely.

After the procedure, I bled more than expected. The doctor wanted me to stay overnight for observation.

The moment I powered my phone back on, dozens of missed calls and texts flooded in like a tidal wave.

All from Adrian.

"Elena, are you done throwing your tantrum? It's just a model."

"Didn't I tell you to leave her alone?"

"She was forced out of my office because of you. Hasn't she been humiliated enough?"

"Going dark on me? Do you even remember you're pregnant?"

"Nora says the model is shattered beyond repair. She's afraid to touch it. Get back here and clean it up."

"Pick up."

I blocked and deleted him.

The next morning, barely past dawn, the door to my hospital room swung open.

Adrian seized me by the collar, his eyes bloodshot.

"Elena, what the hell did you do to Bianca?"

I turned my head away from the cold radiating off him.

Adrian spoke through gritted teeth, his grip tightening.

"She's missing."

"I can't reach her. I've contacted every friend she has. No one knows where she went."

The fabric was digging into my throat. I had no choice but to look up at him.

"Adrian, I didn't do anything."

Commotion erupted outside. Grace burst in, frantic.

"Mr. Vitale, they found her."

"She has injuries all over her body. And she slit her wrists."

Grace shot me a hesitant look.

"She keeps saying Elena, I'm sorry, I'll leave—things like that…"

Adrian shot to his feet. The color drained from his face in an instant.

He followed Grace toward the door, then whipped back and yanked me upright.

"Don't sit there playing the victim."

"If anything happens to Bianca, you'll be the first person I come for."