Page 62 of Coerced Wife

She leans a hip on the counter and crosses her arms with a fluent, elegant motion. “Did he tell you why I divorced him?”

“You never loved him.”

“Love.” She scoffs. “Do you think my father cared if I loved Saverio when he arranged our marriage? Why would he allow me to leave the man he values most in his organization becauseI never loved him?”

My stomach draws tight with a nasty foreboding. I have an inkling I’m not going to like what she has to say.

She drags a gaze over me, pausing on my bump. “Saverio is only marrying you because he’s desperate to have a child.”

I frown, not connecting the dots, but then she steps closer and says, “And he can’t have any of his own.”

The blow is so vicious it feels as if the roof collapsed on my head. I go cold. The first sentiment that assaults me is pain. I hurt for Saverio. An ache spreads through my chest, eating away the elation of not a moment ago and leaving a heavy and bitter darkness in the place of the light.

Oh no, Saverio.

Then the meaning of Rachele’s words sinks in, and betrayal burns a path through my body. That’s why Saverio wants to adopt my child so badly. He’ll never have one of his own. He never wanted to raise this baby with me. It’s never been about being a good father. It hasn’t even been about me. Yes, protecting me is detrimental to keeping him out of jail. But then he discovered I came with addedbenefits—sex on demand and something he wanted but couldn’t have.

Shit.

I almost sway as the truth slams into me with the force of a sledgehammer.

It’s always been about my child.

“We had tests done,” Rachele says. “I didn’t fall pregnant after trying for five years, so…” She untangles her arms and waves a hand. “It turned out the problem was Saverio.”

So many things suddenly make sense—how frantic he was that I saw a doctor after he attacked me, how diligently he attended every ob-gyn visit and prenatal class with me, how proud he was of satisfying my cravings, how much effort he put into the nursery… He does everything concerning my baby in the extreme because this is the one and only chance he has at being a father.

Fuck.

How am I supposed to feel about that?

I understand his behavior when I look at it from his point of view, but what I can’t ignore is that he hid this very important fact from me.

Why would he omit the truth?

There’s only one explanation.

Because his intentions are less than noble.

Because from the moment he found out I was pregnant, he was scheming to take my child for himself. Marrying me is just a way of putting invisible handcuffs on me. Who’s to say he won’t organize a fatal accident to get rid of me once he has what he wants?

“Ask him,” Rachele says. “He kept the test results in his desk drawer. I guess it was so that he could read it again and again to convince himself it was true. That desk is the only piece of furniture he took with him when he movedout of our house. I wonder why. It’s curious, don’t you think? I bet my life it’s still there, right on top of the gold pen engraved with his name that my father gave him as a wedding present.”

I stare at her, instinctively placing a hand on my belly as I hurt for Saverio while battling to process the facts.

“That’s why my father agreed to the divorce.” Her smile is rueful. “Us women aren’t allowed to study or work. We’re showpieces for our husbands. Our sole duty is to carry forward the family name. All we have are our babies. The only purpose of our life is the heritage we leave behind for our men. That’s the one thing no man will take away from us.”

“So Saverio let you go.”

“Let me go?” She chuckles. “No, Saverio would never let me go. When I left him, my father didn’t give him a choice.”

“Is that why you had an affair?” I ask with no small measure of blame, knowing it must’ve devastated Saverio when he found out.

She shrugs. “I will soon marry Archie. We’re already trying for a baby. At least, this time round, I get to do it with a man of my choice.”

“I hope you’ll fall pregnant soon,” I say, meaning it, because I don’t wish Saverio’s pain on anyone.

“We’ll see.” Her smile is smug. “I’m not in such a hurry, but my father is eager to have an heir. Someone has to take over the business when Giorgio will no longer be there. That’s how it works in our families.”