CHAPTER 2: THE LIE THAT MADE HER RUN
CHAPTER 2: THE LIE THAT MADE HER RUN
The room fell into a silence so complete that even the fetal heart monitor seemed too loud.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Every pair of eyes shifted between the billionaire standing at the foot of the bed and the woman fighting through another contraction.
Genevieve's chest rose in ragged breaths.
Tears streamed into her hairline.
She stared at Alessandro as though death itself had walked through the hospital door.
"You..." she whispered.
Another contraction hit.
Her entire body arched against the mattress.
A doctor rushed to her side.
"Genevieve, stay with me. Breathe. Don't hold your breath."
She obeyed for only a second before grabbing the doctor's sleeve with surprising strength.
"Please..."
Her voice cracked.
"If he comes closer..."
She looked directly at Alessandro.
"...he'll kill my baby."
Those words landed harder than any bullet Alessandro had ever taken.
Mateo instinctively stepped forward.
"Mrs. Romano—"
"Don't call me that!"
She screamed so violently that everyone flinched.
"I'm not his wife anymore!"
The delivery room froze.
Even the nurses stopped moving.
Alessandro's face drained of color.
Not his wife?
She had left the wedding ring.
She had disappeared.
Now she refused even his name.
His heartbeat pounded inside his ears.
"Eve..."
His voice was barely recognizable.
"What are you talking about?"
She laughed.
It wasn't laughter.
It sounded like someone breaking from the inside.
"You still don't know."
Another contraction slammed into her.
She cried out, gripping the bed rails until her knuckles turned white.
The obstetrician looked toward Alessandro.
"If you care about her at all, you need to leave."
"No."
The answer came instantly.
"I've spent two hundred fourteen days looking for my wife."
His eyes never left Genevieve.
"I'm not leaving again."
"You already did."
She whispered it.
But everyone heard.
"You left me the night your father died."
Alessandro blinked.
His father.
The memory hit him like shattered glass.
Seven months earlier.
The Romano estate.
The funeral.
Three days of politicians, judges, businessmen, and men whose names never appeared in newspapers.
Three days during which Alessandro had practically lived inside his office trying to stop rival families from tearing apart everything his father had built.
He remembered Genevieve bringing him coffee.
He remembered kissing her forehead without looking up from the endless files.
He remembered telling her—
"I'll come upstairs in a minute."
He never had.
The minute became dawn.
Dawn became another day.
But that wasn't why she had disappeared.
Was it?
His thoughts were interrupted by another scream.
Genevieve buried her face in the pillow.
The monitor accelerated again.
The baby's heartbeat remained strong.
Thank God.
Alessandro took one cautious step closer.
"I'm here now."
"No."
She shook her head violently.
"You're exactly where he wanted you to be."
He frowned.
"He?"
Genevieve's breathing became uneven.
Her eyes darted around the room.
Every corner.
Every face.
As though expecting someone else to appear.
Then she spotted Vincenzo Bell standing in the hallway beyond the broken door.
The family counselor.
The trusted adviser.
The man who had served Alessandro's father before serving his son.
The moment she saw him...
She screamed louder than she had during labor.
"HIM!"
A nurse nearly dropped a tray of instruments.
Genevieve pointed with a trembling finger.
"Don't let him in here!"
Vincenzo looked genuinely surprised.
"Evelyn—"
"Don't say my name!"
She looked at Alessandro with pure desperation.
"Please..."
"For once..."
"Believe me."
Alessandro slowly turned toward Vincenzo.
The older man adjusted his expensive tie.
Calm.
Collected.
Almost annoyed.
"She's delirious."
His voice remained smooth.
"Women in labor often become confused. She's frightened."
Genevieve began shaking her head so hard tears flew from her face.
"No..."
"No..."
"He's lying."
The doctor finally lost patience.
"I don't care who any of you are."
She stood between Genevieve and the men.
"My patient is under extreme stress."
"If this continues, you're putting both mother and baby at risk."
Alessandro looked at Genevieve.
Then at Vincenzo.
Then back again.
For the first time in months...
Something felt wrong.
Not with Genevieve.
With everything.
He noticed details he'd ignored before.
Genevieve wasn't wearing jewelry.
Not even earrings.
Her hands were rough.
Tiny scars crossed her fingers.
There was bruising around one wrist.
Old bruising.
Weeks old.
And she looked...
Thin.
Far too thin for a woman at full term.
As though she'd spent months surviving instead of living.
He swallowed hard.
"What happened to you?"
She closed her eyes.
"I ran."
"I know."
"No."
She opened them again.
"You still don't."
Another contraction ripped through her.
She screamed.
The obstetrician checked the monitor.
"Cervix is complete."
The room exploded into motion.
"We're delivering now."
"Nurse, prepare suction."
"Increase oxygen."
"Where's NICU?"
A pediatric team rushed inside.
Machines rolled across the floor.
Metal clattered.
Gloves snapped into place.
The doctor looked directly at Alessandro.
"If you stay, stay silent."
"If you interfere..."
"I'll have security sedate you if I have to."
He nodded once.
He couldn't speak.
Genevieve suddenly reached toward the young nurse beside her.
With trembling fingers, she grabbed the woman's wrist.
"There..."
Her breathing hitched.
"There should be..."
"A backpack."
The nurse looked confused.
"What backpack?"
"In my closet."
"Blue."
"Hidden underneath the blankets."
She looked straight at Alessandro.
"If..."
"If I die..."
His face went white.
"Don't."
She ignored him.
"Give the backpack..."
"To Detective Claire Donovan."
The name meant nothing to anyone in the room.
Except Vincenzo.
For less than half a second...
The color disappeared from his face.
Alessandro saw it.
Just a flicker.
Gone almost immediately.
But it had happened.
Genevieve saw it too.
A weak smile touched her lips.
"You thought..."
She whispered toward Vincenzo.
"...I'd destroy everything before I disappeared."
Another contraction.
She screamed.
Then shouted with every ounce of strength she had left—
"You were wrong!"
Vincenzo took one slow step backward into the hallway.
Almost unnoticed.
Almost.
Mateo noticed.
His instincts had kept Alessandro alive for fifteen years.
He quietly placed one hand inside his jacket.
Watching.
Waiting.
Inside the delivery room, the doctor shouted—
"I can see the head!"
"Genevieve, push!"
She cried out with unbearable pain.
Alessandro instinctively moved toward her.
She looked at him.
For the briefest second...
The terror in her eyes softened.
Not into trust.
Into sadness.
"So much of this..."
She whispered between pushes.
"...could have been different..."
"What are you talking about?" Alessandro pleaded.
Tears rolled down her face.
"He told me..."
Her voice broke.
"...that you ordered my baby to disappear."
The entire room stopped breathing.
Alessandro stared at her.
"What?"
"He said..."
Another scream.
"...you couldn't allow an heir..."
"...that wasn't yours."
Silence.
Even the machines seemed quieter.
Alessandro slowly turned his head.
Toward the hallway.
Toward Vincenzo.
But the doorway...
Was empty.
The trusted counselor was gone.
Mateo's eyes widened.
"Boss..."
May you like
He reached for his earpiece.
"Vincenzo just ran."
