The Five Years He Missed Chapter 07

The Five Years He Missed Chapter 07

By the time of Mrs. Gambino’s birthday, my face still hadn’t healed. Or rather, it would never heal. The guard had struck deep; the doctor said it would leave permanent scars.

Bringing a wife with her face wrapped in bandages to a birthday banquet was clearly inappropriate, but Dominic still insisted on taking me there.

The ballroom was a swirl of clinking glasses and elegant gowns. Dominic stayed by my side the entire time, until Brianna came running over. She was dressed in a haute couture gown—unlike her usual youthful, bubbly style, she looked considerably more mature. Dominic’s eyes lingered on her, unable to look away for a moment.

“Dominic, dance the first dance with me!” Her tone was light and breezy, but Dominic instinctively looked at me.

Everyone always said Dominic had pursued his wife with grand, earthshattering devotion. But in truth, at the very beginning, I had been the one to express my feelings first. At a campus dance, I had walked through the crowd and stood firmly before him. “Senior—would you like to dance with me?”

Now, looking into Dominic’s expressive, speaking eyes, I simply replied flatly, “Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

Dominic’s face plummeted instantly. Did he think I was speaking sarcastically? Smiling, I added another line. “Really. Don’t worry. I won’t make a scene.”

Dominic’s reaction caught me completely off guard. His face dark, he let out two cold laughs in succession, practically grinding his teeth as he said, “Fine. Very fine.”

With those words, he stepped forward and took Brianna in his arms. The two of them swept onto the dance floor, spinning in graceful circles.

The guests’ whispers wormed their way into my ears. “She’s about to lose favor, isn’t she?” “It was only a matter of time—a cop’s descendant, how long could she last in a mafia family?” “I heard she’s been disfigured. Tsk—she’ll be thrown out on the street any day now…”

I listened, but I felt almost nothing.

After a long while, the banquet ended and the guests departed. Only the four of us remained in the ballroom—me, Dominic, Brianna, and Mrs. Gambino. Mrs. Gambino had been talking to Brianna the entire time without sparing me a single glance. I was used to that. But then Brianna suddenly brought me up.

“Ma’am, I have something to tell you about Elena…” “What is it?” Mrs. Gambino swept her eyes over me, her expression imposing even in stillness. Brianna let out a sigh.

My heart clenched—I had a gut feeling something terrible was about to happen. Brianna produced two brown paper envelopes. Inside were several photographs and documents—two copies of each, handed respectively to Dominic and Mrs. Gambino.

Dominic flipped through them rapidly, his expression growing darker and darker, until finally it reached a truly terrifying degree.

I couldn’t help but step forward half a pace. “What is it?” “What is it? You still have the nerve to ask what it is!” Dominic was clearly still reeling, so it was Mrs. Gambino who spoke first. Her face filled with revulsion, she flung the photos and documents straight into my face. Ignoring the sharp stinging pain, I scrambled to pick them up with trembling hands.

The photos were obscene—all of me lying with various different men. No—I had never taken these kinds of photos! My face drained of color as I opened the document. It was a DNA report. The subjects were Dominic and Luca. The DNA test proved they had no biological relationship.

I felt the world spin around me! I barely managed to steady myself and looked at Dominic like a drowning person grasping for rescue. “These are all fake! Photos can be forged, and reports can be fabricated too! Luca looks so much like you—how could he possibly be someone else’s child?”

Even though Dominic had abandoned me so many times, even though he was so quick to believe Brianna… at the very least, he loved Luca deeply. He wouldn’t believe this kind of nonsense!

Sure enough, hesitation surfaced in Dominic’s eyes. But then Brianna’s voice cut in: “Why would I frame you? Every servant in the Gambino household can testify—you cheated!”

No, no, no—I watched, helpless, as the hesitation in Dominic’s eyes vanished, leaving behind only a towering inferno of rage.

He slapped me across the face, his voice full of pained fury. “Why? Haven’t I treated you well enough? Why would you do this to me?”

I could barely draw breath. “Dominic, I never betrayed you. I’m begging you—investigate one more time…” My tears fell in heavy drops, but Dominic didn’t spare me another glance.

He said coldly, “Drag this whore out. Tell everyone that I’ve divorced her. From now on, she is no longer my wife! And that bastard in the hospital—cut off his medical expenses! Let him fend for himself!”

It was winter, and heavy snow was falling outside. I was thrown into the snow like a corpse. My body temperature plummeted, despair engulfed me, and I almost closed my eyes right there in the snow.

No—no—I still had Luca… I gritted my teeth and climbed to my feet, staggering and stumbling all the way back to the hospital. Luca hadn’t been thrown out of the ward yet, but the withdrawal of medication had left him screaming in agony. “Mommy! Mommy, it hurts so much! Save me, Mommy!”

My heart felt like it was being carved apart by knives!

…

In front of the Gambino Group building, I knelt. I stayed on my knees. People around me pointed and whispered, and a dull ache ground into my kneecaps, but I paid it no mind at all.

I knelt from early morning until dusk before I finally saw Dominic. His eyes were frigid, his voice like something soaked in ice. “What are you here for now?”

“Luca is about to die. Please—I’m begging you, please donate your bone marrow to him.” My voice was weak, but my hand clutching his sleeve gripped with desperate, bonedeep strength.

Dominic scoffed. “You’re asking me to donate to a bastard?” “He’s not a bastard…” Under Dominic’s murderous glare, I changed my words. “Fine. He’s a bastard. I’m a whore. I cheated on you. It’s all my fault. For the sake of what we once had—please, save him. Please?”