Chapter 2 - WAKING IN THE FORTRESS
Consciousness returned in fragments: a cream-colored ceiling, soft sheets against my skin, and the steady, rhythmic beep of a medical monitor. To my left, Dante’s voice rose, raw and broken, interrogating his driver Marco about why no one had informed him of my condition. Marco defended himself by reminding him of his strict instructions regarding zero contact after the divorce, but Dante’s guilt was palpable as he confessed that he had thought he was protecting me from his violent underworld life. Salvatore, the older consigliere, entered the room and pressed the crucial question: "The baby. Is it yours?" Dante answered with absolute, unyielding certainty that the timeline matched the final night before the papers were signed. Salvatore warned him that rival families would use me and the child as leverage if they discovered a pregnant ex-wife living unprotected in a slum, prompting Dante to declare that anyone who threatened a Caruso would learn the fatal cost.
When Dante finally realized I was awake, he moved instantly to help me sit, handing me water and supporting my weight as if I weighed nothing. Looking into his bloodshot eyes and disheveled appearance, the anger I had bottled up for months finally boiled over. I demanded to know why he had abandoned me, revealing that I had called his office twelve times and attempted to visit him, only to be blocked by his security team threatening a restraining order. The room went dead silent as Dante realized his own men had actively sabotaged communication between us. When we discussed the financial settlement, my revelation that I had received only fifty thousand dollars shocked him into a cold fury, as his prenup had guaranteed three million in liquid assets and a monthly allowance for life. Someone had stolen from me, and more dangerously, from his child.
