Chapter 5 - A Father’s Unforgivable Vow
The pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced—a tearing, violent agony that stole the air straight from my lungs. My vision blurred around the edges, dark spots dancing across my field of view.
“Dominic... the baby...” I gasped, clutching my stomach as another contraction seized my body. “Call an ambulance... please...”
Dominic watched the blood spread across the mattress with unfeeling detachment. He lowered the gun slightly, checking his gold wristwatch. “Nature seems to be taking care of my problem without me needing to waste a bullet. Once you bleed out, I’ll take the private jet to Zurich and let the Falcone family clean up whatever is left of Adrian’s loyalists.”
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the master suite didn't just open—they exploded inward with a deafening roar.
Dominic spun around, raising his weapon, but he was far too late.
A gunshot cracked through the room, precise and devastating. The bullet tore straight through Dominic’s right shoulder, sending his pistol flying across the hardwood floor with a sharp clatter. Dominic shrieked in agony, crashing against the bureau, blood spraying against the ivory wallpaper.
Standing in the doorway was Adrian Moretti.
His face was streaked with soot and blood, his dress shirt torn across his ribs, his eyes burning with the terrifying, unbridled fury of a demon unleashed from hell. Behind him, Marco and two armed guards secured the hallway, automatic weapons raised.
“Did you really think,” Adrian’s voice rolled through the room like thunder, deep and horrifyingly calm, “that I wouldn't notice a three-millimeter brake line tamper on a vehicle I inspect myself every morning?”
Dominic slid down the wall, clutching his bleeding shoulder, whimpering like a wounded dog. “Adrian... please... the Falcones forced my hand... they threatened my family...”
Adrian didn't even look at him. His eyes swept across the room, landing instantly on the blood-soaked bed and my pale, trembling form.
The absolute terror that flashed across Adrian’s face was tenfold worse than any anger he had displayed toward his traitorous lawyer.
“Claire!” he roared, dropping his weapon and crossing the room in two massive strides. He dropped to his knees beside the bed, pulling me into his arms. His hands were shaking violently as he pressed a clean towel against my bleeding body. “Claire! Look at me! Stay with me!”
“Adrian...” I wept, my voice barely a whisper as darkness threatened to pull me under. “The baby... she’s coming... it hurts so much...”
“Dr. Vance! Get in here now!” Adrian bellowed, his voice breaking with sheer desperation.
The private medical team rushed into the room, pushing mobile surgical carts and oxygen tanks. Dr. Vance, a seasoned trauma surgeon, took one look at the blood and my vitals monitor, which was blaring an urgent, high-pitched alarm.
“Her blood pressure is eighty over forty and dropping fast!” Dr. Vance shouted to his team. “The placenta has suffered an acute rupture! We cannot transport her to the hospital—she will bleed out before the ambulance reaches the highway! We have to perform an emergency cesarean section right here, right now!”
The nurses immediately swarmed the bed, slicing open my clothes, swabbing my abdomen with iodine, and slipping an oxygen mask over my mouth.
Adrian grabbed Dr. Vance by the collar, pulling the surgeon’s face inches from his own. The billionaire Don had tears streaming down his soot-stained cheeks.
“Save them,” Adrian whispered, his voice trembling with a father’s primal agony. “If you save them both, I will give you half of everything I own. If they die... do not bother trying to leave this house.”
“I’ll do everything humanly possible, Adrian,” Dr. Vance replied solemnly. “Now hold her hand. Keep her conscious.”
Adrian turned back to me, gripping both of my hands, pressing his forehead against mine as the surgical team administered the local anesthetic.
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“Look at my eyes, Claire,” Adrian pleaded, his voice breaking. “Don't close your eyes. Look at me. You are the strongest woman in this world. You survived six months without me. You survive this. Do you hear me? You survive this!”
As the cold steel of the scalpel made contact with my skin, the world dissolved into blinding white light.
