Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Chapter 2
Scarlett's POV
The room went silent.
I watched Viviana pick up the paper with shaking hands. Her face went white. Then red. Then almost purple.
"You're... what?" Her pupils dilated. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish drowning in air.
"Pregnant," I repeated. I kept my voice flat. "Four weeks along."
"You lying little whore!" Viviana screamed. Spit actually flew from her mouth. "How could you do this? How could you—"
I smiled. "I can still marry into the Santoro family if you want," I said. My voice was so reasonable it probably made her want to scream more. "As long as they don't mind that their heir's wife is carrying another man's baby. I'm sure that won't cause any problems at all."
I watched her realize exactly what I had just done to her precious alliance.
Viviana raised her hand to slap me.
I didn't flinch. Didn't move. Just looked straight into her eyes.
I had been hit by men twice her size. By foster father. I had survived things that would shatter someone into a thousand pieces.
Her hand? Please.
My eyes must have shown all of that, because her hand froze in mid-air. For just a second, I saw something I had never seen before.
She was afraid of me.
God, that felt good.
"Don't worry," I said softly. "I don't mind eating their food, wearing their clothes, living in their house. I'll let them raise my baby too. I'm very practical that way."
Viviana's hand dropped. She looked like I had just punched her in the stomach. "You have no shame," she whispered.
"Scarlett." Zelda's voice was honey-sweet. Concern dripped from every word. "You don't have a boyfriend though. The baby... it's not from... I mean, I don't want to assume anything bad, but..."
She trailed off. The suggestion that maybe I was a slut. Maybe I didn't even know who the father was. Maybe it was rape. Maybe it was something even worse.
I looked at her. Those innocent blue eyes. Zelda was good. I had to give her that.
"Are you asking if I was raped, Zelda?" I asked. "Is that what you're getting at?"
Her eyes widened. "No! Of course not! I just—"
"Because if that's what you think happened, you could just ask directly," I continued. "No need to dance around it."
Zelda's face went pink. She looked flustered. "I didn't mean—"
Sal slammed his fist on the table.
The coffee cups jumped. Liquid sloshed over the edges. Zelda actually jumped too.
"Enough," Sal said. His voice was ice. "You have two choices, Scarlett. Option one: you terminate the pregnancy and marry Adrian Santoro as planned."
"Option two," he continued, "you get out of this house and never come back. The Romano family doesn't want trash like you."
Funny how fast blood meant nothing when it became inconvenient.
I looked at my father. At my mother. At Lorenzo, who looked disappointed. At Zelda, whose eyes were gleaming with satisfaction even as she pretended to be upset.
"Please," Zelda said, turning to Sal. "I'll marry Adrian instead. This is all my fault. I should have—"
"No." Sal cut her off. He put his hand on Zelda's shoulder. The way he had never touched me. "You're not marrying that cripple, baby girl. I'll figure something else out. You don't have to sacrifice yourself."
"But Dad—" Zelda's voice was small now.
"No," Sal repeated. His voice was firm. He looked at me. "Your sister, on the other hand, needs to learn some respect for the family that took her back in."
Lorenzo shook his head. "You've been here six months, Scarlett. Six months, and you haven't shown any appreciation for what we've done for you. The least you could do is show some respect."
That was the word that broke something inside me. I felt something cold and sharp settle in my chest. It felt like freedom.
"Respect?" I smiled. "I'm sorry, but no. I don't have any respect for you people."
I stood up.
Viviana gasped. Like I had just committed some terrible crime by standing in her presence.
The smile disappeared from my face. I looked at each of them. One by one.
"I'm keeping the baby," I said. "And I'm leaving. We're done. All of us. As of right now, I'm cutting all ties with the Romano family."
I paused. Let them absorb that.
"Don't call me. Don't look for me. Don't pretend I exist. Because to me, none of you exist anymore."
I walked over to Viviana. She actually flinched when I reached for the paper in her hands.
I took the lab results back. Folded them carefully. Put them in my pocket.
"Wait." Viviana's voice was different now. Confused. Almost panicked. "You can't just leave. You have nowhere to go. You don't have any money. You don't have any resources."
She looked at me like I was stupid. "We never gave you anything," she continued. "No bank account. No credit cards. You've been here six months and you don't even have a car. Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?"
I smiled again. This time it was real amusement.
"I know," I said. "That's why I made my own plans."
The look on her face was priceless.
I turned and headed for the stairs.
Behind me, I heard Viviana's voice rise in pitch. Almost hysterical now. "She won't last three days. She'll come crawling back, begging to marry Adrian. She has nothing. Nothing!"
I heard Sal's low rumble. "Let her go. She'll learn."
I walked up the stairs slowly. Let them think I was making the biggest mistake of my life.
They had no idea.
From the day I decided to come back to New York, I had been preparing. The apartment in Manhattan was already purchased. Paid in full. Under a name they would never trace.
I had learned a long time ago that you never, ever depend on people who can take everything away from you.
I packed my duffel bag in my tiny servant's room. Twenty minutes.
When I walked out of that mansion with my backpack and duffel bag, I felt lighter than I had in months.
I stood on the street and pulled out my phone. I had one problem to solve before anything else. The father of my baby.
Damon Wolfe.
The most feared man in New York. The king of the underground. The man who supposedly never touched women.
Except he had touched me. One month ago, at the Champlain Hotel. One night that neither of us planned.
I dialed his number. He answered on the second ring. "Who is this?"
His voice was deep and cold. I had only heard it once before, in that hotel room, and it had sounded very different then.
"Do you remember what happened at the Champlain Hotel a month ago?" I asked. "We need to talk."
There was a pause.
"Meet me at my office in one hour," I continued. "Wolfe Global Enterprises. Top floor."
"My name is Scarlett Romano," I said. "Tell your security to let me through. If you make me wait, you're going to regret it."
I hung up before he could respond.
I flagged down a cab and gave the driver the address for Wolfe Global Enterprises in Manhattan.
Time to tell Damon Wolfe that he was going to be a father.