Chapter 7 - The Crooked-Eared Rabbit
"Elena," Adriano whispered, his voice trembling so violently he could barely pronounce my name.
Lucia stood up from her chair by the window, her jaw set to order security to throw him out into the hall.
I raised a gentle hand, stopping my godmother before she could speak.
"It's alright, Lucia," I said softly, looking down at Victoria sleeping peacefully against my chest. "Give us five minutes."
Lucia hesitated, cast a scathing glare at Adriano, and stepped out into the corridor, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Adriano walked into the room with slow, hesitant steps, as if the floor beneath his polished shoes were made of fragile glass.
He set the flowers on the side table, but he kept holding the stuffed rabbit with both hands, clutching it like a shield.
"She is... she is breathtaking," Adriano whispered, tears welling in his red-rimmed eyes as he looked at our daughter.
"Can I... may I hold her for just a moment?"
"No, Adriano," I answered softly, my voice devoid of malice, carrying only the immutable weight of truth.
"You surrendered the right to hold her when you announced to four hundred people that her mother meant nothing to you."
Adriano flinched as if struck by a physical blow, a low, broken sob escaping his throat.
He sank to his knees beside the hospital bed, dropping his forehead against the mattress, weeping openly like a child.
"I was a fool, Elena," he choked out, his tears soaking into the white sheets.
"I threw away the only pure, true thing in my entire life because I let vanity rot my mind."
"I thought having more power, a younger woman, more headlines would make me feel alive."
"All it did was turn me into an empty husk."
"You made your choice on the stage beneath the chandeliers, Adriano," I said, gently stroking Victoria's dark hair.
"You thought you were breaking me. But all you did was show me that I was stronger than you ever were."
"I signed the divorce papers this morning," Adriano whispered, lifting his tear-streaked face.
"I signed everything you asked for. No alimony, full custody to you, and I surrendered twenty percent of my personal shares to Victoria's trust."
"I don't care about the money anymore. I just... I just don't want my daughter to grow up hating my name."
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"She won't hate you, Adriano," I promised, looking into his ruined eyes.
"I will never teach her hatred. But she will grow up knowing the truth: that a man is measured by his loyalty, not his wealth."
