Five Months Pregnant, My Don Let Them Break Me for His Mistress

Five months pregnant. That was the day Anna, the Romano estate's head housekeeper, led me to the edge of the spiral staircase. The marble was slick. Too slick. "Madam," the old woman said, her tone devoid of warmth. "Someone left flowers for the Don downstairs." My hand instinctively went to the swell of my belly as I took a step down. My foot slipped. There was no time to grab the railing. Gravity took me. I tumbled down the sharp, unforgiving edges of the marble steps. The pain tore through me, white-hot and blinding. Blood quickly soaked through the fabric of my white dress, pooling on the cold floor beneath me, dripping steadily down the steps. I slumped against the base of the wall. My trembling fingers left crimson smudges across my phone screen. Twenty-seven missed calls. Lucas hadn't answered a single one. Later, under the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital, a doctor pressed a pen into my shaking hand. The room was freezing. I was entirely alone when I signed my own child’s death certificate. A passing nurse mentioned that Lucas was in the family lounge at the end of the hall. Clutching the wall, my body hollowed out and aching, I dragged myself toward him step by ag…

Oleh Ashley