"What happened to you?"
Adolpho Rassi shot to his feet at the sight of his son stumbling into the living room. The middle-aged man seated across from him, a guest, looked just as startled.
Stefanos's head was a bandaged mess.
"Why do you look like that?" Adolpho demanded.
"What do you think, Dad?" Stefan growled and shifted his pissed-off gaze to the guest. "His daughter broke a damn bottle on my head."
The guest, Diana's father, Giancarlo Sorin, blinked. "What?"
Mr. Adolpho furrowed his brows.
"Stefan—"
"She did, Dad. His daughter broke a wine bottle on my head. That is why I am a mess."
Giancarlo Sorin couldn't utter a word. There was no way Diana could have done this, she wouldn't dare.
Mr. Adolpho turned to him. "Giancarlo, aren't you supposed to have your daughter under control?"
"Mr. Adolpho, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. Diana wouldn't—"
"A misunderstanding?" Stefans's voice rose. "You call this"—he pointed at his bandaged head—"A misunderstanding? Mr. Giancarlo, Diana smashed a wine bottle against my head for no reason! Your daughter is insane and it's about time you admit—"
"Enough," Adolpho raised his hand sharply, silencing him. Then he faced Diana's father, saying, "You said you had your daughter under a leash, Giancarlo. We had a deal and this marriage was a way to seal it. Care to explain her behavior?"
Mr. Giancarlo's eyes ping-ponged between the father and son and without further argument on the matter, he bowed to the both of them apologetically.
"I apologize for my daughter's behavior. I will speak to her and get to the bottom of this. Immediate punishment will be held as well."
"There better be!" Stefanos growled out and pushed past him. "Stupid bitch."
Mr. Adolpho lowered his gaze to the man who was still folded in a bow. "Leave my house. The next time I want to see you here is with an explanation of why your daughter acted out. Both of you shouldn't forget your place, Giancarlo. Or I'll crush you down."
"Get. Out."
"Of course."
Diana's father left obediently.
Once outside, he stormed towards his car, his face a mask of anger. He punched into the window and threw his head back to breathe out in frustration.
"Stupid girl!"
He yanked his phone out of his pocket and dialed Diana's number, but it didn't ring. He tried over and over again and even when it finally connected, no one answered.
Cursing, he got into the car and drove out of the compound at full speed.
————
Diana's head throbbed as her eyelids fluttered open. She stared at the white ceiling for a few moments before slowly forcing herself up into a sitting position on the bed.
"Ms, you need to be careful." The voice belonged to Hallow.
She turned her head.
He held a deeply apprehensive look on his face, which made her smile faintly. "I'm fine."
"Let me call the nurse for you." He left quickly, returning a few minutes later with a nurse. The woman, brown-skinned with a pair of soft chocolate eyes smiled at her.
"How do you feel, Ms. Sorin? He told me you'd woken up."
Diana returned the smile. "I feel okay."
The nurse nodded and cleared her throat, eyes shifting to Hallow. "Is he…?"
"What?"
"There is something…I would like to speak to you about…" she said. "Alone. But if you would like him to stay..."
"No, no." Diana waved Hallow off. "It's alright. I'll see you later, Hallow."
"Yes, ms."
Hallow bowed and left the room.
The nurse closed the door and approached her. She sat down at the edge of the bed and stared at her, yet to say a word.
"What's going on?" Diana asked. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
The nurse hesitated. But she exhaled. "Ma'am…did you know you were pregnant?"
"Huh?"
"You were a month pregnant."
The information took a few long seconds to settle in Diana's head and she widened her eyes at her. "Me? I-I was…?"
"Yes." The nurse nodded. "You were."
She wanted to smile, but she didn't because the look on the nurse's face stopped her. It was almost…a look of sympathy.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
The nurse was hesitant. She reached for Diana's hand, grabbed and rubbed her thumb on her dorsal as a way to soothe her.
"I'm going to need you to stay calm, okay?"
"Why?" Diana whispered. "W-what is going on?" Somehow she felt like she already knew.
"The baby…you um…you—"
"I lost it," she completed. "Right?"
The nurse blinked. "I am…so sorry…"
Diana couldn't speak.
"I am really sorry. There was nothing we could do. If there was, we would have… You'd already lost—"
"I'd like to be alone," she interrupted.
The woman didn't move an inch. "Ms. Sorin, I don't think you—"
"I'll be fine, I promise," Diana assured. "I just want to be alone. I…need to be alone, right now. So please just go. I beg you."
The nurse stared at her. She was reluctant to leave, still, there was nothing she could do other than get up and walk out of the door hesitantly.
As the door shut, Diana slapped a palm over her mouth.
She broke down, the suppressed sob pouring out of her throat. Her shoulders shook violently, tears spilled from her eyes and she clutched her chest, sobbing harder with every breath.
She'd always wanted a family. It wasn't working with Stefanos, so even if not a loving husband—a baby would have completed her either way.
But he took everything from her.
Little sobbing noises escaped her mouth as she sniffled.
Outside the room, near the ward's glass panel, Ian Basti stood, watching her. His face was blank, expressionless, well, except his eyes, because they were filled with suppressed rage.
It wasn't until a nurse gasped that he broke from his daze.
"Mr. Basti? Sir, you're bleeding! Are you hurt?"
Ian lifted his hands and unfurled his balled fists. His claws had extended and they'd dug into his palm without him even noticing.
He watched the blood drip off his palms to the floor and smiled at the nurse who didn't notice his claws because he'd retracted them.
"No. I'm not hurt," he said. Then pointed to the window. "The woman in there, take extra care of her, she belongs to me."
The nurse looked confused. Diana Sorin? Stefanos Rassi's wife?
Ian walked off but stopped after a few steps.
"One more thing," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "The bills, they're on me."