Chapter 1

For ten years,I kept our promise to stay child-free.Then I found a family photo tucked under the pillow of my husband,Dante Moretti,the Don of the mafia.

In the photo,he was holding a baby in one arm.With his other hand,he was holding the hand of his first love,Celeste Vale.

My hands and feet went cold.Clutching the photo,I rushed to the Moretti family headquarters.

But when I reached his office door,I heard the intimate sound of panting from inside.

Celeste was sitting on Dante's lap,her arms around his neck as she acted spoiled.

"I'm already pregnant with our second child.When are you going to make Evelyn Snow get out?"

I felt as if I had fallen into an ice cellar.Staring at the indulgent smile on Dante's face,I heard the words he had said to me over and over through the years.

"I hate children."

In the ten years I was married to him,I had been pregnant three times.

Each time,Dante had used the same excuse,that he did not need an heir,and had made me terminate the pregnancy without hesitation.

Before the third procedure,the family doctor said my body could no longer take it.If we continued,I might hemorrhage.

I cried and begged Dante to let me keep the child.

Even if the baby was never entered into the Moretti family records,even if the child could never call him father,I was willing.

But he only looked at me coldly.

"If you insist on having it,we end the engagement."

So Dante did not hate children.

He only hated children born from me.

I let go of the door handle.I did not rush in and question him.Instead,I booked a flight out for that night.

...

Clutching the photo,I walked out the front door in a daze.

Rain came down in sheets.I was cold all over.

Then I saw Dante's assistant hurrying a little boy in a raincoat through the entrance,warning him anxiously.

"Slow down,please.The steps are wet.Don't fall."

The child looked back and smiled,his voice soft and bright.

"I'm not afraid of falling.I can't wait to see Daddy and Mommy."

My breath stopped.

That face was almost a perfect copy of Dante as a child.

Without thinking,I placed a hand over my lower abdomen.

During my third pregnancy,the baby had already been five months along.

The family doctor performed an ultrasound for me.I saw the tiny outline on the screen,the brows and eyes so astonishingly like Dante's.

I brought the report home and begged him,humbly,to let me keep the baby.

But Dante did not even look at it.He moved straight into the study.

After that,we were in a cold war for half a month.

He treated me as if I were invisible.

Even when morning sickness left me too weak to stand and I asked him to pour me a glass of water,he simply walked around me with indifference.

I could not bear his cold violence and neglect,so I scheduled the procedure.

At last,he was satisfied.He said his first words to me in half a month.

"Good girl.I don't like children."

I looked at the boy who was about to disappear into the rain.

He must have been five already.

And my fully formed child had been forced away three years ago.

It turned out he had not wanted my child because he had already had an heir with Celeste.

Tears blurred my vision.I bit my lower lip hard enough to draw blood before I forced down the urge to sob aloud.

But when I turned,Dante happened to come out holding the child.

There was nowhere for me to hide.Through the downpour,our eyes met.

The child frowned and shook the extra umbrella in his hand.

"Daddy,why is that lady standing in the rain?"

"Can I give her the umbrella?She looks so pitiful."

The taste of blood filled my mouth.

I did not miss the warning that flashed through Dante's eyes.

He had his assistant bring me the umbrella,then shielded the child as they got into the car.

Celeste appeared after them with a little schoolbag in her hand.When she saw how wretched I looked,she laughed with pleasure.

Faintly,I heard Dante coaxing the child in a gentle voice.

"Nico,people who stand on the roadside in a storm staring into space are usually not right in the head."

"People like that are the easiest to lose control.If you see one in the future,keep your distance.Don't go near."

The car rolled slowly past me,splashing muddy water across the ground.

Through the window,I saw Dante and Celeste with their fingers intertwined.

And the child sat beside them excitedly building with Lego.

My phone suddenly vibrated.A message from Dante popped up.

"Go back to the estate first.I'll explain."