Dumped at Noon, Settled by Night

Blood soaked the sheets beneath Rosa. She raised a trembling hand and pointed at me. Her eyes were wide with terror and accusation as she said, "The cake… she poisoned it."

Before she could finish, her head lolled to the side, and she went limp.

I stared in shock, struggling against Giovanni's tightening grip.

"Giovanni, calm down! I have no reason to poison her!"

"Shut up!" Giovanni roared. "You murdered our child with your own hands!"

I felt my patience snap, and the words tore out of me. "Stop calling it our child! That was the cursed fruit of your affair with your stepsister!"

He released me and stumbled back. His expression was a tangled mess of shock, disappointment, and unfathomable pain.

"So that's why you've been trying to hurt Rosa all this time?"

I tried to deny his words, but he wouldn't listen. He motioned to two housekeepers, who forced me to kneel.

"Believing you was the most foolish thing I ever did. Stay here until Rosa wakes up and forgives you."

I sank onto the cold floor and watched him walk away. My knees quickly went dead beneath me.

Rosa finally stirred awake after a few hours.

The two of us were left in the room. Her face was pale, yet a gleam of triumph shone in her eyes. There was no sign of a woman grieving for her lost child at all.

"They all say Gio dotes on you and trusts you completely, but that clearly isn't true. Otherwise, why would he always suspect you first whenever something happens?"

I lowered my gaze and stayed silent.

Thinking she had crushed me, her smile widened. "Here's the truth. I took the abortion pills myself. The drug from that night was too strong. The doctor said the baby would've been deformed anyway.

"As for how my parents found out," she said, arching an eyebrow. "I told them, of course. If I didn't stir up a scandal back home, I wouldn't have been able to get those pills. How else could I use that doomed child to get rid of you then?"

I lifted my head. "Aren't you afraid I'll tell Giovanni the truth?"

"Tell him? You really think he'd believe you after all the times you've hurt me?"

Rosa laughed, almost doubling over.

"Besides," she continued, wiping the tears her laughter brought to her eyes. "I won't give you the chance. You 'killed' our child, and yet he still won't even think of breaking off the engagement. That means I have to take matters into my own hands."

She clapped her hands. "Come in!"

The door flew open, and two burly men entered.

"Throw this wretch out of the house while Gio's not around."

"Let go of me!"

I thrashed with what little strength I had left, but my weakened body couldn't put up a fight.

They dragged me across the floors and tossed me out into the mud beyond the gates. Rain pelted down in sheets, blinding me as it streamed over my face.

Damn it. Was I going to freeze to death out here before Angelo arrived?

I lay sprawled in the mud, gasping for air. I fumbled in my pocket until my fingers closed around the phone.

The screen lit up, showing it was midnight.

Headlights cut through the curtain of rain. A black armored car stopped in front of me. The door opened, and a pair of polished leather shoes stepped into the waterlogged earth.

A tall figure slowly stepped toward me beneath the shelter of a black umbrella. I could only make out his jawline and a pair of tightly pressed lips.

"Rebecca Costa?"

…

Giovanni had wrecked everything in the room before he finally calmed down. The thought of his child being gone because of me made his chest ache.

I never wanted children, but he was the Don. He needed an heir.

He wondered when I had turned into a monster.

"What am I supposed to do with you, Rebecca?" he muttered, staring at the smiling picture of me on his phone's lock screen.

A few hours later, he sighed. "She has kneeled enough. Bring her back to her room."

The child was gone, and punishing me further wouldn't bring it back.

"She's suffered enough," he told himself. "I'll make it up to Rosa, then Rebecca and I can start over."

He strode out of the house, bought Rosa a few gifts, and even stopped at a jewelry store to pick out a new ring.

He returned home by noon. He was already picturing how my eyes would light up when he showed me the wedding magazines he had brought.

"Rebecca!" he called as he pushed open the bedroom door.

He was met with an empty room.

Dread hit him, and he stormed into Rosa's room, shouting, "Rosa! Where's Rebecca? Did you see her?"