Chapter 3

I lay frozen in front of the carpet of thumbtacks. He wants me to crawl through these? I lifted my head and stared at the dense sea of metal gleaming in the moonlight, thousands of sharp points like demon eyes watching me.

My hands were already bleeding, my knees too. And now he wanted me to crawl through this hell?

"Marco..." My voice trembled. "Are you insane? I'm nine months pregnant..."

"I said, keep crawling," he cut me off, his voice devoid of any warmth.

I stared at him through my tears. Was this really the same Marco I knew? The man who used to panic over a tiny cut on my finger was now forcing me to crawl through thumbtacks?

Behind me, I heard the hissing of snakes getting closer. I had no choice.

I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and pressed my palm onto the first section of tacks.

"Ahh—!"

Sharp, searing pain shot from my palm through my entire body as dozens of thumbtacks pierced my skin simultaneously, driving deep into my flesh. It hurt, God, it hurt so much. My palm felt like it was on fire, every nerve screaming.

Tears blurred my vision as I forced my knees forward. More tacks stabbed into my kneecaps, that bone-deep agony nearly making me black out.

"I can't..." I moaned through the pain. "I can't do this..."

Marco's cold voice drifted from the glass house: "Then stay there and let the snakes catch you."

He said it so casually. My heart tore open again, he truly didn't care if I lived or died.

A snake slithered up my ankle. The cold touch made me scream. I crawled forward desperately as tacks drove deeper. Blood ran from my palms, leaving bright red trails across the metal.

With every movement, new tacks pierced me while old ones tore the wounds wider as they pulled free. I wanted to stop, but I couldn't—the snakes kept coming, their hissing right at my ears.

Another violent contraction hit. My body arched, my belly hard as stone, the pain so intense I couldn't breathe.

"No... not now..." I gasped, pressing hard on my stomach. The baby kicked frantically inside, he was suffering too, he was scared too. I'm sorry, baby. Mommy's trying, I'm really trying.

But the contractions came faster now, each one stronger than the last, the intervals getting shorter.

In the glass house, Gianna leaned against Marco, a triumphant smile playing on her lips.

"Marco, she looks like she's really suffering..." she said with fake concern.

Marco kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, she's just acting."

Acting? He said I was ACTING?! I was lying in a pool of thumbtacks covered in blood, my baby about to come out any second, and he thought I was acting?!

Rage and desperation flooded through me. I used every ounce of strength to shout: "Acting?! Marco! I'm REALLY delivering! Please take me to a hospital!"

My voice echoed through the forest, but Marco just sneered.

"Women used to give birth in the wild all the time," he said. "Why can't you?"

I froze. Why? Why was he doing this to me? What did I do wrong? Was it really just because I sent Gianna back to the slums? But she betrayed my trust! I didn't even hurt her, I just had her taken home. What did I do wrong?!

The snake venom was spreading. My vision blurred more, breathing became harder. My arms had no strength left, my whole body about to collapse onto the tacks.

But I couldn't. If I fell, the tacks would pierce my belly. My baby would die.

"I can't..." I said weakly, tears mixing with sweat. "If this baby dies, I will NEVER forgive you..."

Another contraction, even stronger this time, like someone hammering my womb with an iron mallet. I felt more warm liquid running down my thighs.

Panic washed over me like ice water, extinguishing my last shred of hope. This meant the baby could come any moment now. If I was still here, the baby would die.

"Please..." I sobbed desperately. "For our baby... please..."

I didn't care about dignity anymore, didn't care about pride. I was a mafia boss's daughter, raised to be strong, to have backbone. But I didn't care about any of that now. I just wanted to live. I wanted my baby to live.

Marco walked to the glass wall and looked down at me.

"Your baby?" His smile was cruel and cold. "I don't care about that bastard."

That word again. Bastard. My heart felt like it was being ripped apart by bare hands. This man, this man who swore to my father he'd protect me forever, was calling our child a bastard.

I hated him. I hated him so much. If I survived this, I would make him pay.

The glass door suddenly opened. Several men walked out, their footsteps eerily loud in the quiet forest. They came toward me. One of them held a knife, the blade glinting in the moonlight.

My breath caught. What were they going to do? Fear made me tremble all over.

"No..." I shook my head frantically. "Don't..."

Marco threw the knife in front of me. It landed in the pile of tacks with a sharp clink.

"You want this baby so badly?" he said. "Cut it out yourself. Or we can help you."

My eyes went wide. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was insane. Completely insane. He wanted me to cut myself open?! Or have his men slice me open alive?!

The bulky guard picked up the knife. The others surrounded me, their hands clamping down on my arms, on my legs.

"No! Let me go!" I struggled desperately, but I was too weak. Snake venom, blood loss, contractions, all the pain hit me at once. I had no strength left.

"Hold her down!" one guard shouted. "This will be quick!"

"No... please... don't..." I sobbed.

The knife moved closer, the tip pointing at my belly.

"Papà..." I closed my eyes and used the last of my strength to call out. "If you can hear me... help me..."

Marco and his men burst into laughter, their mockery ringing through the trees.

"Your papà is dead!" they jeered. "No one is coming to save you!"

I closed my eyes as tears slid down my face. "I'm sorry, baby..." I whispered, my hand weakly pressing on my stomach. "Mommy tried..."

I really tried. I crawled through snakes, crawled through tacks. I begged, I cried. But it wasn't enough.

The guard raised the knife. I felt the cold tip press against my skin. I closed my eyes, waiting for the piercing pain.

Suddenly, a distant roar filled the air.

A helicopter.

My heart skipped a beat. The sound grew louder, closer, like thunder exploding overhead. A powerful searchlight beam shot down from the sky, illuminating the entire forest, so bright I couldn't open my eyes.

BANG!

A gunshot.

The guard with the knife screamed, the knife clattering to the ground as he fell, clutching his wrist. Blood poured between his fingers.

A deep, authoritative voice thundered from the night sky, echoing through the forest with a rage I knew in my bones.

"Who dares to hurt my daughter?"