Vincenzo chased after me and caught my hand in a few strides.

Realizing he'd been too harsh, he softened his tone, trying to calm me. "Ella, I know Sofia bothers you, but this is just a deal. I only care about you!"

I jerked my hand free and stepped back, keeping my distance. "A deal?"

I thought about what happened last month. He said he was handling family matters, but I ran into him and Sofia at a mall downtown.

They were holding hands. She leaned against him, trying on jewelry, and he helped her patiently. His gaze was filled with tenderness.

I confronted him on the spot, and he fumbled through an explanation. "Ella, don't misunderstand. I'm just finishing the task. I have to please her so she can deliver the baby safely. Once it's done, we'll leave."

That night, I received a message from Sofia.

A photo was attached, showing her and Vincenzo in a hotel suite. She was wearing the necklace he'd just bought her as she snuggled in his arms.

She wrote, "Ella, do you really think he still loves you? He cares for me far more than he ever did for you. You're just a spare."

"Vincenzo," I called out.

When I looked at his anxious face, I felt nothing but irony. "Your 'just a deal' meant shopping with her and staying in hotels? Meanwhile, I have been waiting year after year, and now she's carrying your baby?"

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but his phone rang.

It was Sofia. Her voice cracked. "Vincenzo, my stomach hurts. Please come back…"

Vincenzo's expression shifted instantly, and when he looked at me, there was a trace of guilt in his eyes.

However, he didn't hesitate. "Ella, go home. Once this baby is born, I'll make it up to you."

With that, he ran straight toward the hospital without even a glance back.

What he didn't know was that he would never get the chance to make it up to me.

Not long ago, my birth parents found me.

They hadn't abandoned me. It turned out that a tragic accident years ago had forced us apart, and they'd spent all these years searching for me.

Before, I had been hesitating over whether to go with them because of Vincenzo.

However, now, watching him run toward another woman without a second thought, I made up my mind.

I pulled out my phone and called my parents. "Mamma, Papa, I want to go with you."

Their voices erupted in joy.

Mamma choked on her words. "What about Vincenzo? You always said—"

"He's not important anymore," I cut her off. "Help me prepare a new identity. I want to start completely fresh."

They didn't question me and just agreed. "Okay, sure. We'll send someone to get you in three days. We'll make sure everything is perfect."

…

After hanging up, I returned to Costa Estate.

To make Sofia comfortable during her pregnancy, Vincenzo had long since kicked me out of the master bedroom.

I was shoved into a small, cold, damp room tucked in the farthest corner of the estate.

On the wall hung an old photo of us.

In it, he was smiling at the camera. He had said, "Ella, wait for me. I'll marry you."

Back then, he'd taken 99 lashes and knelt for three days straight, all for me.

Now, for another woman, he could dismiss my years of devotion and give our token of love to her.

I tore the photo from the wall and tossed it in the trash.

Then, I started packing. Not a single piece of clothing he'd bought me or jewelry he'd given me made it into my bag.

Eight years of love had turned out to be nothing but a mirage.

I was going to find the family that was truly mine—a home where I wouldn't be hurt, where I wouldn't have to wait endlessly.

Early the next morning, I was still resting when a group of black-suited bodyguards burst in.

Without a word, they grabbed me and started hauling me out.

"What are you doing? Let go!" I struggled, but it was useless against their overwhelming strength.

In the end, they threw me into the Costa family's council room. The elders of both the Costa and Camorra families were seated there.

The lead elder looked at me. His gaze was ice-cold. "Ella Pezzano, you're just a slum orphan who somehow earned Vincenzo's pity. You should've been grateful and stayed in your place!

"But you were ignorant and ungrateful. You kept going after Sofia. Last night, you even poisoned her food and caused a miscarriage! Do you admit what you've done?"

"I didn't do that!" I wrenched free from the guards and scanned everyone in the room before my gaze landed on Vincenzo.

"The miscarriage has nothing to do with me. I never harmed Sofia. You can't condemn me based on assumptions!"

My voice trembled, not from fear, but from the last flicker of hope. I wanted Vincenzo to stand up and say he believed me.

"Assumptions?" another elder scoffed.

"Who else would harbor such hatred toward Sofia but you? Vincenzo defied his family and went against Don Costa for you. The entire Costa family knows you can't stand her!

"Now that the baby is gone, the Camorra family has issued their final ultimatum. If we don't give them a satisfactory explanation, the alliance will be broken immediately, and our families will be enemies forever."

He turned to Vincenzo and said firmly, "Vincenzo, as the heir, you should know how to handle this."

All eyes were fixed on Vincenzo.

I looked at him and said softly, "Vincenzo, you have to believe me."

His lips trembled. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.

"It must be you! Who else could be so cruel as to hurt Sofia and our baby?"

At that moment, all my hopes turned to ashes. Our eight-year relationship couldn't withstand a single baseless accusation.

Vincenzo, the same man who'd taken 99 lashes for me, chose Sofia instead. He had never truly trusted me.

As I watched him, the last bit of light in my eyes faded completely. "Fine."

The guards seized me again. This time, I didn't resist.

They dragged me to the estate basement and began punishing me.

The whip's strikes raked across my body, sharp and relentless. The fiery pain spread quickly. Soon, my clothes were soaked with blood, and its metallic scent was thick in the air.

After an indeterminate amount of time, they finally stopped. They dragged me back to the secluded room and locked the door behind them. Only the mess and my battered body remained.

As I curled on the icy floor, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Sofia.

"Ella, see that? Vincenzo believes me in the end. So what if I lost the baby? I still have him and the entire Camorra family behind me. And you? You're nothing but a cast-off no one wants. A bitch like you deserves to die!"

I picked up the phone and typed three words. "As you wish."

The moment it was sent, I deleted all our chats and that number I'd had for eight years.

Late at night, there were three soft knocks at the window.

I struggled to my feet and made my way to the window, where a man in a dark trench coat stood in the shadows, signaling to me. It was the person my parents sent.

He deftly opened the window and handed me a set of clean clothes, a brand-new ID, and a passport.

"Signorina, everything is arranged. There's a car waiting outside," he said softly, pointing to the corner. "A fake corpse has been set up. Later, someone will set the room on fire. Just leave without worry."

I nodded.

The moment I stepped out, a loud boom exploded behind me. Flames shot skyward, and the heat hit my face.

I didn't look back. I followed the man to the black car waiting outside the estate.

As the car pulled away from Costa Estate, I stole one last glance through the window at the inferno.

The place that had trapped me for eight long years was now being consumed by flames.

"Signorina, your wounds need attention." The bodyguard in the front handed me a first-aid kit.

I shook my head and traced my fingers over the lingering whip marks. The pain kept me awake.

"No need. I'll keep them as a reminder."

The car sped through the night. Ten hours later, we reached the port. My parents were already waiting on a private yacht.

The moment they saw me, Mamma ran over and held me tight, muffling her sobs. "My Luna, I'm sorry you suffered."

That was my new name—Luna Kane.

The Kane family was a top-tier dynasty spanning Euronia and Vallancia. An abduction targeting them years ago left me stranded in the slums.

"Mamma, it's all in the past." I patted her back.

The yacht pulled away from the harbor. I stood on deck, watching the coastline fade into the distance.

"Goodbye, Vincenzo," I thought.

I hoped I'd never see him again.