Chapter 15
"Where’s my grandson?" Giulia’s voice cut through the air, imperious and cold, “I am here to take him!” as if Amber were some servant who had failed in her duties. There was no warmth in her gaze, no kindness. It was a demand, not a question.
Amber clenched her jaw, her fingers tightening into fists at her sides. She could feel the anger bubbling beneath her skin, but she kept it locked inside. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her break. Without a word, she stepped aside, her silence both an act of defiance and self-preservation. She wasn't here to make waves, but she wouldn’t submit to them either.
Chiara, with her sleek hair and sharp gaze, moved forward, bending down to Nico’s level. “Hello, darling. I’m your zia, and this is your nonna. Come say hello to her,” she coaxed with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Nico, confused but curious, looked to Amber for reassurance before slowly stepping towards them. Amber’s heart ached as she watched him go, her protective instincts screaming inside her chest. She didn’t want him anywhere near these women. Not after what they had done. Not after everything they had tried to take from her.
“Oh, my piccolino!” Giulia exclaimed, her voice suddenly saccharine as she knelt down to embrace Nico. “You look just like your father! Carlotta was right—such a handsome boy, just like your papa.”
The words hit Amber like a physical blow, a searing pain ripping through her chest. So much love, so much affection—*now*, Amber fumed silently, her stomach twisting as Giulia cooed over Nico, the grandson she once refused to acknowledge. *Now*, after years of brutal insinuations and relentless attempts to erase him from Luc’s life. These were the very women who had done everything in their power to discredit her, to cast doubt over Nico’s parentage from the moment they learned she was pregnant. They’d called her a liar, a manipulator, anything to tarnish her name and distance Luc from the truth.
Giulia and Chiara had been ruthless, circling her like vultures, picking apart her every word and action. They had spread their poisonous whispers, hinting that Amber had trapped Luc with a child that wasn’t even his. Chiara, with her smug superiority, had even insinuated publicly that Amber had slept around, throwing wild accusations at her character. They’d demanded a paternity test before Nico had even taken his first breath, and when that proved fruitless, they’d called it a mistake, clinging to their belief that he couldn’t possibly be Luc’s son.
Amber would never forget the venom in their voices, the way they had sneered and questioned every detail—his hair, his eyes, even the way he kicked in the womb—as if they could somehow detect a fraud in him. They had reduced her pregnancy, her son, to nothing more than a transaction, a scandal they were desperate to undo.
And now, after all their cruelty, they had the audacity to fawn over Nico like they had always wanted him? Like they hadn’t tried to bury his existence under a mountain of lies? The hypocrisy was staggering, suffocating, and it took everything in Amber not to scream in their faces, to rip Nico out of their clutches and never let these vile women near her son again.
“Excuse me,” she choked out, her voice shaking with barely contained fury. Without waiting for a response, she strode forward and pulled Nico from Giulia’s arms, her legs unsteady as she hurried towards the door. She didn’t care if she appeared rude. She couldn’t stand to watch this charade any longer.
“Amber! Don’t be such a bitch!” Chiara’s voice rang out, sharp and venomous. “That’s my mother’s grandson! She has a right to see him!”
Amber stopped dead in her tracks, her grip on Nico tightening protectively. Slowly, she turned, the years of bitterness rising to the surface, no longer something she could hold back. “Oh, does she?” Amber’s voice was like ice, each word cutting through the air. “I thought you’d never accept him as your grandson until a DNA test was done. Isn’t that what you said last time?”
Both women paled, their faces flushing with the shame they had long denied. Amber felt no triumph in it, only the cold satisfaction of speaking the truth they had tried to bury.
Giulia recovered first, her voice hard as steel. “We are here to take *my* grandson to the zoo,” she declared, her tone brooking no argument, as if Amber were nothing more than an obstacle to be moved aside.
Amber’s eyes narrowed, realization dawning on her with brutal clarity. “Where is Luc?” she demanded, her voice sharp.
Giulia’s lips curled into a tight smile, her bitterness barely hidden beneath the surface. “Luc is with his fiancée, as he should be,” she said triumphantly, stepping closer to Amber. “He’s going to be married in two months’ time, and he should be spending his time with Carlotta, his *soon-to-be wife.*” There was a venomous gleam in her eyes as she delivered the blow. “You broke their engagement once before with your... *whore-like* ways. But I won’t let that happen again.”
Amber’s heart froze in her chest, the truth hitting her like a punch to the gut. Luc hadn’t abandoned them on a whim. He had sent these women to take Nico to the zoo, while he played happy fiancé with Carlotta.
“I sent Luc and Carlotta away for the weekend,” Giulia continued, her voice dripping with triumph. “And by the time they return on Monday, I’ll make sure you’re gone from here. For good.”