Chapter 4
Meanwhile, in a maternity hospital room.
Elvira rested in a hospital bed. Her face was flushed with color as she stroked her flat stomach.
“Is it true, doctor? Am I really pregnant? Is the baby healthy?”
The doctor smiled and nodded. “Rest assured, Ms. Keller, the baby is perfectly healthy. You just need to be especially careful during the first trimester.”
The room erupted in immediate congratulations from the people gathered around her.
Purchase completed
“Congratulations, Gio! This is your first child, right?”
“Exactly. Gio and Elvi are perfect for each other. Not like that idiot, Charlotte, who couldn’t even have a kid after all these years.”
“And even if she did, she couldn’t keep it. Think about it-she’s had so many electroshock treatments. Who knows what kind of radiation damage that caused? If she gave birth to a child with birth defects, it would be nothing but tragedy…”.
“Shut up!” Giovanni, who had been dead quiet the entire time, suddenly snapped. “I told you that no one is allowed to say anything negative about Lottie in front of me.
“Lottie is my wife. If I hear one more disparaging remark about her, I
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will shut down all of your companies.”
The color drained from everyone’s faces. They apologized profusely
and scrambled out of the room.
Giovanni sank back onto the edge of the bed. Charlotte’s face kept flashing through his mind, twisting his gut into a tight knot of unease.
Elvira noticed him drifting and looped her arm through his. “Gio, what’s wrong? You’re a million miles away. Aren’t you happy about the baby?”
He didn’t know why, but looking at Elvira, all he saw was Charlotte- pale and desperate, just like the last time she’d caught him cheating.
He remembered her screaming, demanding to know why he’d lied. She’d called him a fraud and a lousy husband, and demanded a
divorce.
Divorce…
The word always hit him with a sickening wave of panic and rage. Losing her just wasn’t an option. It was why he’d gone to such extremes, forcing her to have her memories wiped again and again.
In the beginning, she’d just been a means to an end. Now, the mere thought of her walking away terrified him, and he couldn’t quite figure out why,
“Gio? Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?”
Elvira’s voice snapped him back.
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She was trying to play the sweet, considerate girlfriend, but he could see the flash of annoyance in her eyes, the silent blame.
Charlotte would never passive-aggressively fish for reassurance like that. She would have just demanded his attention, unapologetically speaking her mind.
For once, Giovanni didn’t bother comforting Elvira. He just rubbed his temples and tossed out an excuse. “Lottie, I haven’t slept right in days. I’m exhausted. Just get some rest. I’ll crash on the couch outside.”
He stood up and walked out of the room.
“Lottie?”
Elvira stared at the empty doorway. Her hand balled into a fist, and she slammed it down hard against the mattress. “Charlotte, I’m going to make sure you leave him! I’m going to be his wife!”
Out in the hall, Giovanni pulled out his phone. Nothing. Not a single message from Charlotte.
She hadn’t reached out all day.
She’d just gone through another round of electroshock therapy to wipe the bad memories clean. Why would she go this long without calling?
Unless…
Heart pounding, he found her contact and hit dial.
One ring, two, three…
Then, the automated voice came, “We’re sorry, the number you have
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reached is turned off.”
He snatched his car keys, ready to go track her down, but his phone buzzed in his hand. It was Spencer.
“Mr. Castillo, we’ve got a problem,” Spencer said, his voice tight with panic. “You need to look at the trending news. Right now.”
Frowning, Giovanni opened his social media app.
The number one trending story slapped him in the face.
“Castillo Group CEO Cheats on Wife with Secretary, Gets Her Pregnant.”
Right below the headline were crystal-clear photos of him carrying Elvira into the maternity hospital that morning, plus shots of them leaning affectionately against each other in line for a blood test.
“Gio? What’s going on?”
Elvira had followed him out.
She peeked at his screen, the color draining from her face. “What is this? This is really bad, Gio. It’s everywhere! Do you think Lottie’s going to see it?”
She’d just named his worst nightmare.
He didn’t care about the PR hit, he could always throw money at a scandal until it went away,
His only concern was Charlotte.
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If she saw this…
Giovanni shoved the phone into his pocket.
“I’ll have the driver pick you up later. I need to find Lottie right now.”
He turned and sprinted down the hall.
The moment he was gone, Elvira wiped away her fake tears.
Pulling out her own phone, she wired a sum of money to an unsaved number with a quick text, “Good job. Here’s the final payment for leaking the story.”
She locked the screen, a smirk pulling at her lips. “Make a scene, Charlotte. Don’t let me down.”
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