“Catherine, are you done? I’m waiting in the garage.”

The text was from Leo.

We hadn’t seen each other in a month.

Ever since I woke up on that operating table in the private clinic and found my baby was gone, he had vanished, claiming he was “handling business on the West Coast.”

His parents, the patriarch Carlo and his wife, had never liked me from the start.

Our marriage was arranged by the previous Don to repay a favor. My family needed the Morettis' protection, and the Morettis needed my family’s financial skills.

My grandfather had seen something in Leo’s ruthless ambition, thinking he would be a capable ruler who wouldn’t hurt me emotionally—because he had no emotions to begin with.

But my grandfather was wrong.

They didn’t just dislike me; they treated me like a complete outsider.

Leo hadn’t realized that I was no longer the compliant Catherine he knew.

It was normal for him not to contact me for a month.

Today was his mother’s birthday.

I knew why he was here. To play the part of a loving couple in front of all the family members and allies.

Even though I never fit in, I figured I could endure their fake compliments and judging stares one last time. In seven days, I’d be gone forever.

I walked out into the underground parking garage of the Moretti Tower.

Leo’s black, armored sedan was parked silently.

He leaned against it, tall and imposing, his tailored suit radiating power and danger.

He had a chiseled face and eyes that held no emotion.

There was a time I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him.

I had to admit, that man had carved a deep mark into my heart.

“I’m done.”

His voice was calm, as if the child he personally destroyed had never existed. He didn’t even offer a single “I’m sorry.”

I ignored him and reached for the passenger door.

A delicate doll was lying on the seat, as if claiming its territory.

How ironic.

A cold sneer touched my lips. I slammed the door shut, walked around, and got into the back.

I knew whose doll it was.

Isabella’s.

For her, he had personally snuffed out the life of our first child.

I lost my baby, and my heart was hollowed out.

And now, a doll was here to remind me of my failure?

I stared out the window, my eyes instantly welling up as I saw a mother on the street holding her daughter’s hand.

“How have you… been feeling?”

I snapped back to the present and answered coldly, “Fine.”

It had been exactly one month since I “lost the baby.”

I hadn’t taken a single day off. Work was the only thing that could numb the pain, pulling me away from my grief, even if just for a moment.

Leo glanced at me several times in the rearview mirror.

“Don’t drink anything cold. Get some rest. The baby… we can have another one.”

A wave of nausea washed over me.

He was pretending to care about me?

Our relationship had always been like a cold business contract, except for that one time.

He had told me to give up the baby and donate my marrow to Isabella again.

For the first time, I had screamed at him.

For the first time, I had lost my mind.

“I… was in the West Coast for a month dealing with some difficult business. That’s why I was so busy.”

He was explaining himself.

But I didn’t want to hear it anymore.

Before, I would have played along with these meaningless conversations. But today, I just wanted to watch the world outside the window. After all, in a few days, I would be saying goodbye to it all forever.