He thought I was finally learning. I was finally leaving. Chapter 07
“Why wasn’t I told?”
Adriano’s voice sounded raw as it cut through the silence of the yard.
On speaker, Dr. Salerno paused before answering. “Mr. Morelli, we tried to reach you that day. More than once.”
Adriano’s grip tightened around the phone. “Then you should have tried again.”
“We did. Your office said you were not to be disturbed unless Mrs. Morelli went into cardiac arrest. After that, all updates were redirected through Ms. Costa.”
The blood drained from Viviana’s face.
Dr. Salerno continued, more carefully now. “Later, when the bleeding got worse, I called your private line myself. Your security team said you were at the harbor celebration and had left orders not to forward any more calls unless it could not wait until morning.”
“The hemorrhage caused irreversible damage. We saved Mrs. Morelli’s life, but there is nothing further to restore. She can’t carry another child.”
At that, I saw the memory hit him.
The shipping deal had closed that night. There had been champagne, investors, cameras, and Viviana at his side while the room celebrated him. To keep the evening clean, he had silenced his phone and let his staff filter everything that sounded inconvenient.
His head turned toward her.
Viviana took a step back at the look on his face. Tears rose almost instantly.
“Adriano,” she said softly, “please. I only did what I thought was best for you. She was hysterical, and I—”
“Give me your phone.”
His voice was so cold it barely sounded like him.
Viviana froze. “Adriano, that’s ridiculous. You know half your schedule runs through me. There are confidential—”
“Your phone,” he said again. “And your calendar from that day.”
The color left her face completely.
That was enough.
He closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, the story he had been telling himself was gone. I had not exaggerated. I had not lied. I had been asking for help, and he had chosen not to believe me.
When I walked out with one bag and divorce papers in my hand, it had not been a threat.
I had meant it.
Late that night, after the yard had emptied and the last truck lights disappeared beyond the fence, I stepped outside the temporary office for air and found Adriano standing just beyond the floodlights.
He looked worn down in a way I had never seen before. His jacket was gone, his collar open, his face drawn tight with exhaustion. When he saw me, he took a step forward, then stopped a few feet away.
“Serafina.”
My name sounded wrong in his mouth—careful, hoarse, uncertain.
“I removed Viviana from everything,” he said quickly. “Her signatory access is gone. Security took her out of the city. She won’t come near the house, the office, or my operations again unless I allow it.”
He watched my face closely.
“I didn’t know,” he said. “About the baby. About any of it. If I had known—”
He broke off and tried again.
“Give me one chance to fix this. I’ll get the best specialists anywhere. Zurich, London, wherever you want. I’ll call every private clinic, every surgeon, every fertility team I can reach.”
For a moment, hearing that gentleness in his voice, something old in me shifted.
Then it passed.
I no longer cared what had happened between him and Viviana after the truth came out. I only knew one thing with complete certainty: I did not love him anymore.
“Adriano,” I said, “do you really think this is only about Viviana?”
He looked honestly lost.
He took one more step, stopping just short of touching me.
“I know I should have listened to you,” he said. “I know I kept dismissing what you felt. But in my world, this is how things are handled. Wives are protected from the machinery. The people who run that machinery are trusted because someone has to be. I thought that was normal.”
I said nothing.
He kept going, faster now.
“Viviana’s family came with business ties I couldn’t ignore. I thought you understood that. I thought keeping her close was practical, nothing more.”
Then his voice dropped.
“If you forgive me, I’ll undo all of it. I’ll bury her career. If you want her gone for good, she’ll be gone. If you want to leave the city, I’ll take you anywhere. We can start over somewhere else.”