His Heir Dies While He Watches

I shook my head in confusion, wanting to deny everything, but only broken whimpers escaped my lips.

Enzo strode to the bed and gripped my shoulders fiercely. "Don't deny it! One of the kidnappers confessed. He said you were behind the whole thing!"

His eyes filled with scorn. "You actually used our child as a bargaining chip?"

His anger blazed, and his hands tightened on my shoulders so hard I thought my bones would crack.

Sharp pain radiated from my shoulders, and a cold sweat broke out over my skin as I tried to push him away.

In his eyes, my every move was just more proof of a guilty conscience.

Before I could react, he shoved me hard. "Still trying to fool the doctors? Drop the act!"

My back slammed against the sharp corner of the nightstand with a sickening thud.

The freshly bandaged wound tore open again. Blood seeped through the gauze as agonizing pain washed over me.

I curled into a ball, but he yanked me up as if I were a rag doll.

"Do you have to destroy everyone I care about? Wasn't Bianca good to you? What did my child ever do to you? Aren't you afraid they'll come back to haunt you?"

His voice was thick with anguish.

I shook my head desperately, gesturing wildly, trying to make him understand I was the victim. That I hadn't planned any of this.

But I couldn't make a sound. I could only stare at him with pleading eyes.

My gaze seemed to sting him. Enzo instinctively looked away, gritting his teeth. "How long are you going to keep this up? I won't tolerate it anymore. You will pay for what you've done!"

Despite my injuries, he dragged me to the Castello family's private cemetery.

My gaze fell on a new, unmarked tombstone next to Bianca's.

No name, no photo. Just a heart-stopping blankness.

A terrible thought struck me, leaving me breathless. I instinctively looked at Enzo.

He mistook my expression for fear and sneered, "The child you murdered is buried here. He never even had a chance to meet his father. You stole that from him!"

No! It wasn't me!

I wanted to scream that I would never harm my own child. The killer was someone else. He had to investigate.

But he ignored my frantic gaze, pressed down on my shoulders, and forced me to my knees.

The wounds on my knees tore open instantly, leaving bloody prints on the stone slabs, but he didn't even flinch.

I endured the agony and struggled to stand, only to hear his icy command to the two soldati beside him, "Make her kneel. She doesn't leave until she confesses."

"Yes, Boss!" The two soldati, Rocco and Sal, answered firmly.

Enzo didn't give me a second glance as he turned and walked away without a backward glance.

I watched his retreating back, trying to follow. One of the soldati, Rocco, thinking I was trying to run, kicked me hard in the back of my knee.

Excruciating pain sent me collapsing to the ground.

Before I could recover, I was hauled back into a kneeling position. My hair was pulled violently, a tearing pain shooting through my scalp. Forced to look up, I met Rocco's malicious gaze, and a chill ran down my spine.

He stomped on my leg. "The Boss said you kneel until you confess!"

Seeing my silent tears, he slapped me hard. My cheek immediately swelled, and blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

It was just like the kidnappers.

Terror seized me. I didn't want to go through that again. I looked at him with pleading eyes.

The other soldato, Sal, seemed unable to watch and stopped him, whispering, "Whatever she did, she's still... You shouldn't do this. If the Boss finds out..."

Rocco scoffed. "What is she? Everyone knows the Boss only has eyes for Miss Juliana now. He's only keeping this one around to torture. We're just doing his dirty work; he'll probably reward us! Besides, Miss Juliana is the future Donna. As long as we're on her good side, we'll be on the Boss's good side. What's there to worry about?"