Chapter 3

The saleswoman brought out a gown with a beaming smile.

A satin mermaid-cut wedding dress, delicate seed pearls stitched along the waist.

Serena sidled over, eyes wide with envy.

"Isabella, isn't this the one you spent forever staring at? I thought this idiot hadn't been paying attention, but I guess he's got a shred of sense after all."

Dominic said: "I wasn't careless before. I just had more important things to handle. Doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention."

On any other day, I might have wept with gratitude.

But now, I simply looked at the white dress.

It was beautiful, yes.

Beautiful enough that a receipt fluttered out from inside the hem.

Same day. Same store. Dominic had purchased another gown.

Handmade couture. Ten times the price of mine.

He noticed my lack of reaction and assumed I didn't like it.

I shook my head.

"It's not that. I just—suddenly want to see my mom."

"Now?" Dominic hesitated. "But I still need to go drop off—"

"I'll go alone."

I cut him off and called a car to the nursing home.

Rosa lived in the long-term care wing. She heard the door open and fumbled upright, her trembling fingers finding my face.

"Why are you crying? Did something go wrong at the registration today?"

"No, mom. I just missed you."

"My eyes may be gone, child, but my ears work fine. Happy tears and sad tears don't sound the same. No matter how well you pretend, something always slips through."

I sniffled.

"Dominic and I talked it over. Things are hectic with his family right now, so we're pushing the registration back a bit."

Rosa frowned.

"He can afford to wait. The baby in your belly can't. Are you going to let that child come into the world without a name? Let people point fingers?"

The blood drained from my face. My fingers trembled as they pressed against my stomach.

Right.

There was still the baby. Mine and Dominic's.

I'd planned to tell him the good news after we'd registered.

Rosa groped for my wrist, and her fingertips found that strand of old beads.

Her hand went rigid.

"The Valentis—have any of them seen this?"

I blinked.

"What?"

She was silent a long time. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"This bracelet. Don't let them see it."

"Mom, why?"

Rosa's face had gone deathly pale.

"The Valenti name is not clean."

I assumed her illness was dredging up old memories she'd rather forget, and gently squeezed her hand.

"Mom, that's all in the past."

Just then, my phone rang.

HR. From my company.

"Ms. Isabella, your access to the Valenti Logistics project has been suspended. Please come in within the next two days for a handover."

I stiffened. "Suspended? On whose authority?"

"Mr. Valenti. He indicated that your pregnancy has caused health complications requiring extended medical leave. The project lead was reassigned this afternoon to Serena Hayes."

I gripped the phone.

"I never requested medical leave. I never agreed to relinquish the project."

"I'm sorry, but system permissions have already been updated. Mr. Valenti submitted all relevant documents, including your prenatal report."

I curled into a corner of the corridor, ice spreading through my veins.

I don't know how long I sat there before my phone screen lit up.

Serena had just posted on Instagram.

The photo showed Dominic in profile, a glittering skyline behind him.

The caption read:

At every crossroads in my life, you've been there to see me through.

I stared at that photo and suddenly laughed.

So that was it.

Serena and I worked at the same company, in the same department. My performance had always outpaced hers. Management had told me, finish this project, and the promotion is yours.

Dominic had yanked me off the track to make room for her.

Only by removing me could she rise.

Rosa came shuffling over on her cane, lowered herself beside me, and wrapped her thin arms around me.

I buried my face in her shoulder and wept.

"Mom, I don't want this baby anymore."

"Then don't keep it."

Her voice shook, but it was firm.

"As long as a woman is still breathing, she can start over anywhere."

I bit my lip and cried for a long time.

"Dominic—I don't want him either."

Rosa was quiet for a long while.

"I wanted you to have someone to lean on. But more than that, I want you to be happy. If he doesn't make you happy, then let him go."

Slowly, she raised her hand and ran her fingers through my hair, the way she used to when I was small.

"My Isabella is so good. You'll find someone who truly treasures you."

The OB-GYN clinic was in the adjacent building.

Rosa sat with me outside the consultation room, her hand clasped around mine—the way she used to hold me crossing the street when I was little.

After I'd made the appointment, I told her to go back and rest.

While I waited for the nurse to call my number, I spotted Serena at the end of the hallway.

She was supporting Rosa by the arm, chatting and laughing.

I shot to my feet, blood rushing to my head.

How dare she go near my mother?

Didn't she look at Rosa and think of the tuition, the living expenses—scraped together cent by cent over all those years?

Didn't she remember that it was us who took her in, gave her a bed to sleep in?

I rushed after them, burst into the ward.

It was empty.