Chapter 2 A Painful Disappointment

Weeks later.

"Miss Victoria, here is your dinner." The maid set the plate on the table. Suddenly, at the sight of the food before her, Victoria felt her stomach churn. She shook her head and picked up the fork, determined to take the first bite.

But... she abruptly stood and ran to the bathroom, overwhelmed by a wave of nausea. It wasn't the first time this week. As she wiped her mouth in front of the mirror, a thought struck her like lightning: her period had been absent for a couple of months.

Could it really be what she suspected?

Without hesitation, she asked for a test at the pharmacy and, upon seeing the result, tears blurred her vision. After waiting so long for a miracle, it was finally there. What she had longed for so desperately was now reflected on the test strip.

«Positive.»

She jumped with joy and embraced her belly, unable to believe it. At that precise moment, the mansion's door opened. Eder had just returned from work and, upon seeing her bouncing with excitement, furrowed his brow.

"Hi, my love. Why are you so happy?" He dropped his briefcase on the floor as Victoria, eyes brimming with tears, approached him and held out the test in front of his eyes.

"My love, I have something very important to tell you."

Eder, feigning surprise, took the cassette in his hands. Upon seeing the result, he managed to smile.

"Is... is this true, Victoria?" he asked, a melancholy note in his voice. He looked into her eyes, and she, glowing with emotion, smiled back tenderly.

"Yes, my love, yes! We're going to be parents!" she exclaimed, radiant with happiness.

"What a joy!" Eder embraced her and lifted her into the air. "You make me so happy, my love. We're finally going to be parents!"

"I'm so happy, Eder. Finally!"

While Victoria celebrated, clinging to his chest, Eder's expression changed behind her back. His gaze turned dark and calculating, as though everything was unfolding exactly as he had planned.

Their euphoria filled the mansion. They celebrated fervently the miracle they had waited for so long. However, the insistent ringing of the doorbell interrupted the moment.

Victoria pulled away from her husband and looked at him, confused.

"Who could it be?"

She opened the door, and upon seeing Carolina's face, her joy was complete.

"Sister! What a joy to see you here."

She threw herself into her arms and hugged her tightly, unable to contain her excitement.

Carolina returned the hug, but behind her sister's back, she shot a threatening glare at Eder.

"I've come to visit you, little sister."

Carolina stepped inside and stared coldly at her brother-in-law. "I didn't know you were already home, Eder."

"How are you, Carolina?" he replied indifferently.

Victoria looked at them both, feeling her complete joy. Taking their hands, she exclaimed with enthusiasm:

"Let's celebrate. I asked Jacinta to prepare a special dinner."

Carolina frowned slightly, showing confusion.

"Celebrate what?"

"Sister, I'm pregnant," Victoria announced, her eyes shining with emotion.

Carolina smiled nervously, pretending to be happy for her.

"Congratulations, Victoria."

Amid that forced happiness, the three sat down to dinner while they chatted about plans for the future with the baby on the way.

"Well, I made the dessert myself. I'm going to bring it." Victoria smiled delightedly and stood up from the table.

"Thank you, my love." Eder took her hand and gave it an affectionate kiss.

Still wrapped in her joy, she ran off to the kitchen. While she prepared the desserts, she couldn't stop smiling. Sharing the news with the two people she loved most filled her with happiness.

She placed the three plates on a tray and returned to the dining room.

Upon arrival, her husband and her sister had vanished.

"How strange... Where did they go?" she wondered.

Quietly, she began to search for them throughout the house, still holding the tray in her hands. It struck her as odd that they had both disappeared at the same time.

Then, a sound coming from the end of the hallway, right in Eder's study, caught her attention.

Were those moans?

Victoria brought a hand to her mouth and froze beside the half-open door. What she saw on the other side shattered her heart completely. She couldn't believe it!

Carolina was clinging to her husband's neck, kissing him passionately. Her wet lips barely whispered in the air, and the intense moans confirmed the betrayal. But that wasn't what shocked her the most.

"And tell me, when are you going to get rid of my stupid sister, my love?" Carolina whispered seductively, caressing the back of Eder's hand.

"Very soon," he replied coldly. "Now that she's pregnant with that idiot Salvatore Mancini's baby, it'll be much easier to get rid of her... and of him."

"It's incredible, my love." Carolina wouldn't let go of his neck. "And tell me, darling, how did you manage to get her pregnant with that idiot's child?"

Every word Victoria heard was a dagger straight to her chest, tearing her apart inside.

"It was very easy," Eder confessed with disdain. "I just drugged her and paid Mancini's men to help me put her in his bed. And clearly, the slut didn't waste any time. He fell for it."

"And to think that for so long the dumb bitch was taking contraceptives thinking they were vitamins," Carolina burst into a mocking laugh, while Eder grabbed her face to kiss her wildly.

Victoria bit her lips, unable to utter a single word. She shook her head, trying to silence the phrases that still echoed in the air. Her mind clouded over. The child she was expecting... wasn't her husband's. And the pain of betrayal, carried out by the people she loved the most, pierced her soul like a burning dagger.

Her hands trembled, and the dessert tray fell abruptly to the floor. The crash of steel against the tile shattered the silence, startling Eder and Carolina, who turned their heads toward the door.

It burst open.

With her eyes full of tears and her chest burning with fury, Victoria stormed into the study, ready to confront them.

"You filthy traitors!!"