Chapter 1 - The Ultimatum
Lucian stared at the legal documents as if the bold ink were written in a language he could not comprehend.
The silence inside the sterile hospital room grew so incredibly heavy that it felt like it might crush my ribs.
He looked slowly from the divorce papers to my exhausted face, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle jumped dangerously beneath his skin.
He dropped the envelope onto the small table and took a step toward my bed.
"You cannot divorce me, Serena, because you are my wife and this is my son," he stated with a cold, terrifying authority.
I tightened my protective grip around my sleeping baby, refusing to break eye contact with the man who had shattered my heart.
"You lost the right to call him your son the moment you chose Bianca Romano's bed over his birth," I whispered fiercely.
Lucian’s dark eyes flashed with a sudden, violent anger that usually made rival bosses beg for mercy.
"You do not understand what is happening, and I do not have the time to explain it to you right now," he growled.
He turned his broad back to me and walked swiftly toward the heavy hospital door.
"Guards, lock down this entire wing and do not let my wife leave this room under any circumstances," Lucian ordered his men in the hallway.
He glanced back at me one last time, promising that we would have a very different conversation when he returned.
The heavy door clicked shut, leaving the distinct, terrifying sound of the lock sliding firmly into place.
My younger sister Elena immediately rushed to the door and engaged the secondary deadbolt from the inside.
"I knew his arrogant pride would never let you walk away peacefully," Elena said, pulling a heavy duffel bag from beneath the visitor's couch.
I looked at her in complete shock as she tossed me a pair of comfortable clothes and a dark hooded jacket.
"I bribed the head nurse to leave the service elevator unlocked, but we only have a five-minute window before the shift change," she explained rapidly.
My heart hammered wildly against my chest as I carefully strapped my newborn son into a wearable baby carrier.
We slipped quietly through the adjoining bathroom, opening a hidden maintenance door that Elena had secretly propped open earlier.
We rushed silently down the dimly lit service corridor, flinching at every distant sound echoing through the hospital.
When we finally reached the service elevator, Elena frantically pressed the glowing call button.
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The metal doors slid open with a soft, agonizing chime.
Standing inside the elevator was Marco Vitale, Lucian’s most ruthless enforcer, holding a loaded weapon aimed directly at us.
