Before My Mafia Husband Returned from the Dead, I Rejected the Proposal My Best Friend Arranged Chapter 05

Before My Mafia Husband Returned from the Dead, I Rejected the Proposal My Best Friend Arranged Chapter 05

“What did you say?”

Luca’s grip loosened at once.

I collapsed to the floor, clutching my aching throat and coughing hard.

Before I could speak, Ethan stormed over.

“Stop talking nonsense. This is our wedding, and all our family and friends are here!”

“What are you afraid of, Ethan?”

I pointed at Vanessa.

“Whatever the two of you have done, whatever records you’ve tampered with, whoever you’ve paid off–do

you really think you left no trace?”

Vanessa froze for a moment, then her eyes reddened as she put on the look of someone being viciously

accused for no reason.

“Serena, what are you talking about? Everything Ethan and I have done has been for your own good.”

I got to my feet and said it plainly.

“That ultrasound report belongs to Vanessa. My mother kept me locked in the attic for the past two days. I tried to pick the lock with a piece of wire, and there are marks on both the doorframe and the wire. I never

left the Bell house, and I definitely never went to a hospital. The villa’s access records, neighborhood security

footage, and my phone location can all prove it.”

I opened my hands, showing everyone my injured palms.

Vanessa’s head snapped up, and she glared at me with her lips pressed into a thin line. The moment she

noticed everyone watching her, her eyes reddened again.

“That report isn’t mine. Serena, why would you accuse me in front of everyone when you know you have no

evidence?”

I wasn’t accusing her blindly. The floating comments had already told me the truth.

Vanessa was carrying Ethan’s child, but she hadn’t told him.

She had planned to wait until Luca killed me, then set Luca up by claiming the child was his so she could take my place.

The thought that she intended to use my death to get into the Moretti Family wiped out the last trace of friendship I still felt for her.

“You bitch!”

Mrs. Reed flew into a rage and lunged at me with her hand raised.

“Vanessa isn’t even seeing anyone. You’ve known her for years, and now you’re accusing her of something

like this in front of everyone? Are you trying to ruin her reputation?”

I stepped aside, avoiding her hand, and gave them the simplest solution.

“Let’s go to the hospital and get checked again. Whoever’s expecting and whoever isn’t, the results will tell us

everything.”

“Serena, the guests are still waiting. Stop making new accusations and just finish the ceremony first, all

right?”

Ethan deliberately ignored Luca’s rank within the Family and spoke to him as though he were an ordinary

guest.

“You’re Serena’s friend, right? I’ll have someone find you a seat. Sorry you had to see all this. She’s only upset because I missed her prenatal appointment yesterday and she doesn’t want to talk to me. She doesn’t actually want to cancel the wedding.”

I stared straight at Ethan.

“You keep trying to stop another examination because you’re afraid the evidence won’t hold up.”

Ethan sighed.

“Too many ultrasounds expose the baby to radiation. It’s not good for the baby.”

He reached out to steady me.

“Calm down. If you keep refusing to talk, everyone will only believe the medical record even more.”

I knocked his hand away and stepped back, still struggling to breathe.

“Stop pretending we’re married, and stop speaking for me! I never agreed to marry you. You promised my mother 500,000 so she’d force me to come here.”

Ethan sighed again.

“If you want another exam that badly, fine. We’ll do it.”

Relief washed over me.

Hospital equipment couldn’t lie. Once the examination was done, everyone would know I was innocent.

To make sure Vanessa couldn’t use a connection to tamper with anything, we went to a hospital outside Moretti territory, one with no ties to any Family–owned business. Luca’s Consigliere had an independent attorney accompany us throughout the process and asked the hospital to seal the examination records

afterward.

But the results stunned me.

“Serena Bell is fourteen weeks along. Vanessa Reed is not expecting.”

“That’s impossible!”

I snatched the report. The words “viable pregnancy” were printed clearly across the page, and for several

seconds I couldn’t even form a coherent thought.

In the three months Ethan had been around me, all he’d ever done was keep me company. Nothing had ever

happened between us.

How could I possibly be expecting a child?

I refused to believe it and made the doctor repeat the examination.

The result didn’t change.

“Now that you’ve seen the results, let’s go back and get married.”

Ethan grabbed my hand and tried to pull me toward the exit.

I didn’t move.

My hands were trembling, but I still lifted my head and looked at Luca.

One corner of his mouth pulled upward, but there wasn’t a trace of trust in his voice.

“The child can’t be mine.”

Luca’s mother had died from complications while giving birth to her second child. After that, he refused to let

me face the same risk, so when he was older, he’d had a vasectomy.

Only his private doctor, the Family lawyer, and I knew about it.

“So you’re Mr. Moretti.”

Ethan smiled.

“Welcome back. And welcome to our wedding. Whatever the reason you’re alive again, Serena is going to be my wife now. She got tired of the Family controlling her a long time ago, so please don’t use the Moretti

name to pressure her into going back.”

Then Ethan looked at my stomach with a blissful expression.

“This baby was unexpected. Over Columbus Day weekend, when you went to Canada to handle the dock partnership, Serena and I met in secret and lost control for a moment–in your bedroom.”

He smiled again.

“Oh, and by the way, that mattress was really comfortable. I ordered the same one for our new house.”