The Don’s Rejected Wife Chapter 04

The Don’s Rejected Wife Chapter 04

I looked up in shock and saw the hospital bill on his phone.

The man standing in front of me looked nothing like the Luca Romano I had once loved.

“Clear Bella’s name now,” he said, “or I’ll freeze your mother’s account.”

To keep Isabella free, he was using my mother’s life as leverage.

He knew exactly who had been behind the wheel.

I opened my banking app with shaking hands.

“I don’t need your money.”

Then the balance loaded.

$0.00.

Marco’s smug voice came from behind me.

“I used that money to buy Bella this dress. Mom, you’re way too old for pretty clothes anyway. You should stick to aprons.”

He snorted.

“And you made Bella cry. You deserved it.”

A violent pain drove straight through my chest.

That was the last money I had to keep my mother alive.

Her terrified face flashed through my mind, and something in me finally snapped.

I sank to the floor, pressed my forehead to the cold tile, and forced the words out through clenched teeth.

“I’m sorry, Miss Rossi,” I said, my voice shaking. “My mother was wrong to hurt you. I apologize for the trouble we caused.”

My voice broke on the last word. I lifted my head, and blood from the cut at my hairline slid down my face.

“Is that enough?”

Something flickered across Luca’s face.

Marco’s eyes went wide.

“That’s enough,” Luca said. “I’ll transfer the money for her treatment. Now get out.”

The guests whispered around me.

“That’s Luca Romano’s wife? She looks desperate.”

“Desperate and cheap. No wonder he replaced her with Isabella.”

I forced myself to stand.

The moment the payment notification came through, I finally breathed.

Then the emergency alert watch on my wrist began to vibrate violently.

A message from the hospital appeared.

[Ms. Romano, the funds have arrived, but the account is frozen. Please resolve this immediately.]

I lifted my head and met Isabella’s triumphant stare.

“Isabella! You froze my mother’s account?”

I lunged for her, but she collapsed to the floor first, playing the victim to perfection.

“Stella, please,” she cried, shrinking back as if I’d already struck her. “Don’t hurt me. I didn’t do anything.”

Then she leaned close enough that only I could hear her.

“You’d better hurry if you want to save her. Who knows what’ll happen in an hour?”

My heart dropped.

I went for her throat again.

“Let go!”

Luca shoved me away without hesitation.

“Stella, are you insane? You got your money. Now leave.”

“She froze my account!” I screamed.

Marco stepped in front of Isabella and sneered.

“Bella said Grandma’s old anyway. Treating her is just a waste.”

His eyes were cold.

“And you made Bella cry. You need to learn your lesson.”

He tilted his chin.

“Last month, I didn’t finish dinner, and you threw away my favorite robot. You said losing something teaches people. Now it’s your turn, Mom.”

The knife in my chest twisted deeper.

I had never imagined my own son could hate me this much.

Luca roared and shoved me hard.

“The money just went through. What danger could she possibly be in? Stop lying to the kid!”

I fell down the steps.

Isabella pretended to help me, but instead, she held her phone screen in front of my face.

“Her room is on fire,” she whispered. “Better hurry, or she’ll be ashes.”

My whole world collapsed.

I staggered toward the exit, but the bodyguards blocked my way.

Luca’s thunderous voice came from behind me.

“You think you can hit someone and run? Get back here and apologize!”

My phone kept buzzing. The hospital’s number flashed on the screen over and over.

I clenched my teeth, grabbed a steak knife from the nearby table, and drove it into my own shoulder.

Blood splattered across the floor.

“Is that enough?”

I dropped the knife and turned for the exit.

The ballroom went dead silent behind me, but I didn’t look back.

I ran.

Luca’s gaze stayed locked on my back, as if some massive, nameless weight had settled over his chest.

By the time I reached the hospital, thick black smoke was pouring from the windows.

“Mom, I’m here!”

I dragged her off the bed, tearing open the wound in my shoulder.

Then the door behind me slammed shut. It was locked from the outside.

Flames surged up, rolling toward us in waves.

As my mother’s heart monitor flatlined, I closed my eyes in the middle of the fire.

And just as Luca and Marco stepped through the hospital entrance, the top floor of the east wing exploded in a blast of heat and shattering glass.