Chapter 2

Vivian came to the Moretti estate early the next morning.

The moment she stepped into the main hall, she frowned.

“Clara, this place is still suffocating.”

She looked around, then laughed.

“If I stayed here for three days, I’d probably forget how to hold a gun.”

I leaned back on the sofa and said nothing.

Lucien had come in with her.

He was still wearing the same black suit jacket, which meant he had probably left a family meeting and personally gone to the gate to pick her up.

Vivian crossed the room in a few quick steps.

“Oh my God. Why do you look so pale?”

Then, as if she had only just remembered herself, she touched a hand to her mouth.

“Listen to me. I’ve spent too much time out there. I say whatever comes into my head.”

“You’ve been the Donna for so many years. All those rules, all those responsibilities... I guess it’s only natural you’d look tired.”

“I took medicine,” I said. “That’ll do it.”

Lucien’s expression shifted.

Vivian blinked.

“The birth control pill?”

“I only said that if Clara had a baby, Lucien would never come out and spend time with me anymore.”

“I didn’t think he’d actually have the doctor send you one.”

She lowered her gaze, her voice softening.

“Clara, you’re not mad at me, are you?”

I shook my head.

“There’s nothing to be mad about.”

She caught Lucien by the sleeve.

“See? Clara barely even talks to me now.”

“She used to sneak over walls with me and teach me how to ride. If anyone bullied me, she was always the first one to step in.”

She laughed, loud and carefree.

“Now she’s been the Moretti Donna for so long, it’s like she’s a completely different person.”

Lucien frowned.

“Clara isn’t well. Stop bothering her.”

The words were stern, but his voice had already softened by the time he looked at Vivian.

Vivian tipped her face up toward him.

“Sometimes I wish you weren’t the Moretti Don.”

The hall went still.

Then she laughed again.

“Then you could come with me to the West Coast. Down to the Mexican border. Up north into the snow.”

“No family meetings. None of this endless family business tying you down.”

Lucien smiled too.

“Vivian, you’re still as wild as ever.”

I lowered my eyes.

Once, I had been an excellent rider and a crack shot.

I was the one who taught Vivian to ride.

The first time she ever took apart a gun, my hands had guided hers.

Yet somehow, everyone later praised her for being vibrant and free while calling me dull and boring.

I had never liked this walled-in estate either.

A sudden cramp twisted low in my abdomen.

The teacup slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor.

Only then did Lucien look at me.

“Clara, what’s wrong?”

He reached out to steady me.

I moved away.

“I’m fine.”

His face darkened.

“Who told you to actually take the birth control?”

I looked up at him.

“You had the doctor send it. I could hardly refuse.”

Lucien went still.

Vivian quickly tugged at his arm.

“Don’t yell at her. Clara’s been stuck inside this estate too long. She overthinks everything.”

“I’m not like that. If something bothers me, I throw a few punches and get over it.”

Lucien stared at me, his voice rough.

“Clara, you’re allowed to make a scene.”

“You used to smash the glass when I told you to take birth control.”

“When I tried to give you sedatives, you said they tasted awful and refused to touch them.”

“How was I supposed to know you’d actually swallow it this time?”

I had almost forgotten that I, too, had once been that alive.

Lucien let out a humorless laugh.

“You agreed to marry into the Moretti family.”

“Now you’re the Donna, enjoying all the wealth and prestige that come with the family, and somehow you act like I’m the one who wronged you.”

“A few days ago, Vivian and I went to the relief center in the South District. She saw those children freezing and took off her leather jacket on the spot.”

“She said if she owned all the gold and expensive decorations in this estate, she’d sell them for food and medicine.”

“And you? You sit here in the main house feeling sorry for yourself.”

For one brief second, guilt flashed across Vivian’s face.

After all, I was the one who had funded that relief center.

I simply hadn’t appeared there in person.

I nodded.

“You’re right.”

Lucien abruptly stood.

“I’m tired of looking at you like this.”

He took Vivian by the arm and left.

The moment the door shut, agony tore through my lower abdomen.

Blood ran down my skirt.

Mia burst into tears and ran for the doctor.

The family physician arrived quickly.

After examining me, all the color left his face.

“Mrs. Moretti, the bleeding is severe. The baby... I’m sorry. You’ve miscarried.”

I nodded.

“I understand.”

Mia was crying.

“Should I get the Don?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

Ten years.

This had been my first child.

The last thing still tying me to the Moretti estate.

Now it was gone.

Good.