She Loved in Silence, Left in Silence Chapter 07

She Loved in Silence, Left in Silence Chapter 07

Dante, who’d been about to step in, took two steps back and leaned against the SUV’s hood.

A few coworkers heading home from the office froze a few yards away, openly pointing.

Enzo cleared his throat. His eyes locked on my stomach, refusing to leave it. “Come home with me. Don’t joke about the baby.”

I twitched my mouth. The cold air hit my throat and I broke into a dry cough. “Your mom’s going around showing off Michela’s ultrasound, telling everyone you’re going to be a father. And now you’re standing here pretending to be heartbroken?”

His head snapped up. The whites of his eyes flooded with red. “What Michela’s ultrasound? I’ve only ever seen one ultrasound-yours, hidden in your bag. I took a picture of it without telling

you.”

He fumbled for his phone, fingers swiping wildly across the screen.

A familiar black-and-white image was suddenly thrust in my face.

“There’s nothing between me and Michela. Yes, our families have been talking about an arranged marriage. I haven’t agreed to it. You suddenly broke up with me out of nowhere-I was furious. You wouldn’t even let me save face. I figured once the baby came it’d be even harder to fix.”

The desperate way he kept defending himself. It was almost ridiculous.

I stared at the photo. My stomach roiled.

So he’d known. The whole time.

He’d known I was pregnant, and he’d still seated himself half a table away at that family banquet. He’d known I was pregnant, and he’d still played the bachelor for Michela-because the Corleone marriage was too important to lose over an embarrassment of a girlfriend.

I knocked his hand and the phone aside. “I’d be hard to handle? Enzo. You make me sick.”

He stood frozen, his hand still suspended in midair.

“I know you’re angry. I posted the story. What more do I have to do to bow my head? Six years- haven’t you always wanted recognition? I made it official. My parents are pissed, sure, but they’ll come around. Are you going to take this all the way until both our families can’t even live in this neighborhood anymore?”

My nose stung “You think going public is the greatest gift you could give me? Enzo. You really think too much of yourself. You think I should be on my knees thanking you because your parents finally tolerate me?”

His jaw clenched. He stared at my stomach with grim certainty. “For the baby’s sake, I’m not going to fight with you. Come on. Let’s go home.”

I looked at his magnanimous, charity-bestowing face. Calmly, I unzipped my bag, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, and slammed it against his chest.

The paper drifted gently to the ground.

“Enzo. Take a good look. Tell me what that is.”

He glanced down, irritated-and then his pupils contracted to pinpricks. The blood drained from his face like a plug had been pulled.

It was a consent form. For a D&C. Stamped with a glaring red seal.

“That day on the stairs, while you were standing there ‘staying inconspicuous’ watching me fall- that’s when this baby was already gone.”

I watched his trembling hands reach down to pick up the paper. Each word I spoke landed like a

knife.

“That grandson your mother’s been bragging about? Already gone. Now take your family, your arranged marriage, and your sudden devotion-and get the hell out of my life.”

The color drained out of Enzo’s face inch by inch.

He was gasping, taking big, ragged breaths, both hands gripping the front of his shirt.

“No. No, you’re lying. You have to be lying!”