Chapter 2 The Price of Silence

chapter 2

Carina's POV

The words echo in my skull like a death sentence. "We're getting a paternity test. Today, Dante said."

Dante's voice is sharp, final. Vanessa's smile is the sharpest knife I've ever felt.

I stand frozen, my fingers holding the door-frame like it's the only thing holding me up. My knees tremble. My chest is tight. I'm not ready for this...not like this.

"Get out," I said, and my voice cracking. Dante steps forward. "Carina..."

"I said get out!"

I slam the door, but his hand stops it. For a second, our eyes lock...his full of anger and betrayal, mine brimming with fear. But behind it, I see something else.

Hurt. He's not just furious. He's wounded, and somehow, that hurts me more than his threats.

"Just talk to me," he says, quieter now. "If you'd just told me..." "I don't owe you anything," I snap. "You disappeared, Dante. You walked away and never looked back."

He flinches. "You told me not to." "And you listened," I said, my heart breaking.

He says nothing. Vanessa scoffs. "Pity party later," she sneers. "Let's swab the brat and settle this."

My blood turns cold. "Don't call my baby that," I growl. She raises a perfectly plucked brow. "So it is his."

I step out and slam the door behind me. "Fine. You want a test? Let's go."

We went to the Clinic

The nurse tries to smile, but I see the pity in her eyes. Pregnant girl. Expensive suit. Socialite leeching poison into the air. I don't fit here, and everyone knows it.

Dante stays silent the whole time.

I try not to shake as the nurse swabs my cheek. Then Dante's. Then a small sealed vial of my blood, labeled "Mother."

They don't need the baby. DNA tech has evolved. A few drops from me, him, and the truth will come out in 48 hours.

The longest 48 hours of my life. Vanessa walks out like she's won a war. Dante lingers behind. "I wasn't trying to hide her," I say softly. "I was trying to protect her."

He stay at the door. Then, barely audible, he murmurs, "From me?"

I don't answer. Because I don't know the answer I don't know what to say.

Later That Night

I curl up on the couch, the dim light flickering from the cracked bulb above. My hands rest on my stomach, and I let myself cry...real, shaking sobs that wrack through me until I'm breathe for air.

I thought I was strong. I thought I could do this alone. But facing him again... seeing the storm in his eyes... being dragged through humiliation by the woman he once loved...it broke something in me.

I touch the place where she grows. My baby. My secret. My world. "I'm sorry," I said. "I tried to do what was right. I don't know if I failed you."

The door creaks open. I jolt, but it's just Leo. He stops in his tracks when he sees me. His expression hardens. "He found you, didn't he?" he aske me

I nod. "Damn it, Carina," he says, sitting beside me. "You should've told me. You're not alone."

"I was scared, I said." " Scared Of him?" no, "I am scared of everything."

Leo pulls me into a hug, and I finally let myself collapse in someone's arms. For the first time in weeks, I feel a sliver of safety. A moment of peace. But peace never lasts long in my world.

The Next Day

I walk into the diner like a ghost. The whispers start immediately. "That's her."

"She was pregnant with Santiago's baby." "Gold-digger."

I push past them and grab my apron. The manager glares at my belly, then sighs. "You've got two shifts left, Carina. Then you're done."

My throat tightens. "What? Why?" "Can't have gossip in here. We're a classy joint."

"Classy joint, oh really?" I scoff. "You serve microwaved pancakes to drunks at 2 a.m."

"Still better than your kind." I walk out. No tears this time. Just rage.

Later that Night

I walk the streets in the rain, no umbrella, no plan. My boots soak through, my sweater clings to me, and my belly feels heavier than ever.

People stare at me, but I don't care. But then I hear a voice behind me. "Carina!"

I freeze. Dante. Again.

I turn slowly. "What now? Want to accuse me some more? Drag me in front of another nurse?"

He doesn't respond immediately. Instead, he walks toward me... slowly... like I'm a wounded animal he's afraid to scare away.

"I came to apologize." My heart skips. "I shouldn't have said those things at your door," he says. "Or let her say them. Vanessa... she's not the same person I knew. She's dangerous."

"Yeah. I noticed."

He runs a hand through his wet hair. "I was shocked, okay? You disappeared, then suddenly I find out you're pregnant...with possibly my child. You didn't even give me a chance to..."

"I gave you a night!" I cry. "That's all you ever wanted." He's silent. And then, he takes off his coat and gently drapes it around my shoulders.

"I want more now." That stops me. "What?"

"I want to be part of this. If it's mine... I want her." Tears rush to my eyes. "And if she's not?"

"Then I'll walk away. But if she is..." He looks me dead in the eye. "....I'm not leaving again."

My walls tremble, and for the first time in a long time... I let him in. Just a little.

He takes my hand. We walk in the rain. In silence. But it's the kind of silence that feels like a beginning.

Two Days Later

The envelope arrives. I stare at it on my kitchen table for what feels like forever.

Dante sits across from me, hands shaking, jaw tense. "You open it," I said. He hesitates. "Are you sure?"

I nod. He tears the seal and pulls out the paper. Then he goes still. His eyes scan the words.

Once. Twice.

He looks up at me, then down at my stomach. Then back into my eyes. "She's mine."

I can't breathe.

Relief, fear, joy-it all crashes into me at once, and then he does the unthinkable. He kneels in front of me, his hands on my stomach, and kisses it.

"Hi, baby girl," he said. "It's Daddy." I sob into my hands, and this time, I don't stop him when he holds me.

Later that night, after Dante leaves, my phone buzzes. It's an unknown number. I answer, everything went silence. Then I hear a voice. Low. Menacing. Female.

"You think this story has a happy ending, sweetheart?"

Vanessa. "I'm not done with you yet." The line goes dead, and the baby kicks for the very first time.