Chapter 2

The call ended.

I closed my eyes.

Footsteps came from the master bedroom next door, then Isabella’s low crying.

And Lucano’s voice, coaxing.

“Silly, you saw it, so what. What are you afraid of?”

“But her look… it creeped me out.”

Lucano laughed.

“Relax. She’ll make things hard for me, for herself, but not for you.”

“With her methods, dealing with outside flowers is easy. Would she need to die eight times to force me?”

“She knows the crack was never with outsiders.”

“That’s the good thing about Milia. Too moral.”

I didn’t open my eyes.

My mouth moved.

I couldn’t tell if I was smiling or crying.

The next morning.

Lucano pushed the door open. My phone had just received a photo.

Isabella’s pregnancy test.

He leaned on the doorframe and watched me for a while.

“Didn’t sleep well?”

He walked over and bent close to look at me.

That face was still handsome. Even this close, there was nothing to fault.

“Your eyes are a little swollen.” He reached to touch.

I turned my head. His fingers missed.

He paused, then laughed. “Still angry?”

Just then, his gaze fell on the phone screen on my knees.

The smile froze for a moment, then melted away.

“Again like before? Investigating her with a dragnet?”

I didn’t look up. “She sent it herself.”

He looked at me for two seconds, then straightened.

“Fine. She sent it herself.”

His tone said, “Whatever you say.”

He didn’t believe I hadn’t investigated.

Nor did he believe Isabella sent it herself.

In his heart, the girl sneaking around to meet him was already wronged enough.

He couldn’t bear to add scheming to her.

I was different.

I had made scenes eight times.

The quieter I was, the more it looked like a prelude.

He loosened his collar. “I was going to tell you these two days. The baby is two months.”

When he said it, we both went silent.

After a while, I turned my face to him.

“Lucano, do you remember what you once said? If we had a child, what name?”

The smile didn’t fade.

“Boy: Lucano II. Girl: the pearl of the Moretti family.”

“Do you also remember you swore to heaven, if I don’t give birth, you won’t have children?”

He paused, elbow on his knee, looking at me.

“Milia, promises are precious. But I’ll be honest. Don’t get upset.”

“You tried to die eight times. You can’t even take care of yourself. How would I dare let you have a baby?”

He reached over. His knuckles brushed my cheek.

“Isabella is different.”

“She’s healthy, gentle. She won’t kill herself over everything. If she has the child, I don’t have to hang my heart up all day.”

“But I promise, after the baby is born, it calls you Mom. I won’t let her near your position.”

He didn’t say it like he was asking.

He was waiting for me to nod and say “okay.”

I opened my palm.

My voice was steadier than I expected.

“You thought it through.”

He smiled.

He reached out and ruffled my hair. “That’s why I’m your husband, right?”