Never to Meet Again

The fake smiles and hypocritical faces made it hard for me to breathe, so I left the party and went for a walk alone in the garden.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of high heels clicking behind me.

I stopped and turned around to find that Lilia had followed me.

Since there were only the two of us in the garden, she immediately dropped her act.

With a smug smile, she began boasting about how she had made Giovanni call off his engagement with just a few tears, and how she had made the powerful Corleone completely obsessed with her.

"The childhood sweetheart you loved so dearly, and the husband you adore, are both crazy about me.

"Corleone personally gave me the design sketches for that ring set. So what if you know the truth now, though? You're just a pathetic woman nobody cares about."

Then she leaned closer and lowered her voice.

"You want to know something? One of those rings is on my finger. The other one is with your husband."

She smirked.

"You're just like your dead mother. Your husband abandoned you just like how your father abandoned her. The two of you are nothing but losers!"

I couldn't take it anymore and raised my hand to slap her.

However, before my hand could land, Lilia suddenly let out a scream and threw herself backward.

Her head struck a flowerpot beside her, and blood immediately trickled down her forehead.

Tears filled her eyes at once as she spoke in a trembling voice.

"Isabella, I know you don't like me, but how could you push me?"

The guests rushed into the garden.

As they gathered around us, they looked at me with undisguised contempt.

"Oh my God, call a doctor!"

"Isabella is so vicious. She must be jealous that her sister won the design competition!"

Corleone and Giovanni pushed through the crowd.

"Move!" Giovanni immediately shoved me aside. "Lilia is pregnant! Isabella, how could you push her?"

The force of the shove made me stumble and fall to the ground.

Just then, Corleone hurried over. He quickly helped me to my feet and raised his pistol at Giovanni.

"My wife is not someone you get to lecture."

For a moment, I almost believed he cared about me.

Giovanni glared at him. "But she pushed Lilia!"

Corleone froze.

Then, with a single sentence, he shattered my illusion.

"Lilia is pregnant. Isabella, you shouldn't have hurt her at a time like this. Apologize to her."

I looked at Corleone, speechless.

He didn't know that I was pregnant, too.

Wanting it to be a surprise, I had planned to tell him on our wedding anniversary. But now, I didn't want to anymore.

Curled up in Giovanni's arms, Lilia cried pitifully and complained that her stomach hurt.

Corleone immediately turned to look at her.

For the first time, I saw the concern and panic in his eyes that he had never shown me before.

In the end, he didn't spare me another glance and said coldly, "Mrs. Corleone is tired. Take her back to her room to rest. She is not to leave without my permission."

Those icy words severed the last shred of hope I had left.

I watched through the window as Corleone and Giovanni carefully helped Lilia into a car through the confines of the bedroom I shared with Corleone.

The way Corleone looked at her was as if they were a loving couple.

A sharp pain twisted through my lower abdomen, pulling me back to reality.

The fall had hurt my baby.

I gently placed a hand over my stomach.

"Just hold on a little longer. I'll take you away from here very soon."