Chapter 4: The Envelope She Left Behind

Luca POV

I felt the world tilt beneath me before my body hit the ground.

Voices blurred. Someone shouted my name. My head was spinning, my vision full of white noise.

Valeria couldn’t be gone.

She couldn’t.

I forced myself up, stumbled out of the mansion, and half-ran toward the garage.

I didn’t care about the guards, the questions, the eyes that followed me.

I just needed to find her.

The moment I got into the car, I saw the envelope she’d left on the passenger seat.

The one she told me to open two days later.

My fingers shook so violently that I could barely tear it open.

A medical report slipped onto my lap.

At first, my mind refused to understand what I was reading.

Then the words finally sank in.

Pregnancy confirmed.

Eight weeks.

I stared at the paper as if it had become another language.

Valeria was pregnant.

After years of hospitals, failed IVF treatments, endless tears, and nights when I held her while she cried herself to sleep...

She had finally given me the child we'd prayed for.

And I never knew.

My breathing became ragged.

Another item fell from the envelope.

A flash drive.

I plugged it into the car's screen.

The video started playing.

Bianca's face appeared first.

Then mine.

I watched myself feeding the twins.

I heard Bianca asking for the island I had bought for Valeria.

I watched myself hesitate.

Then I nodded.

The screen went black.

Silence filled the car.

For the first time in my life, I couldn't recognize the man staring back at me from the reflection.

It wasn't business.

It wasn't responsibility.

It was betrayal.

And Valeria had seen every second of it.

She had known.

She knew about Bianca.

She knew about the twins.

She knew my family had accepted them.

She knew I had lied to her every single day.

My chest tightened until I couldn't breathe.

A broken sound escaped my throat.

No.

No... no... no...

She boarded that jet believing I had chosen another family over her.

Believing our child would never be enough.

I slammed my forehead against the steering wheel.

Blood trickled down my temple, but I felt nothing.

I deserved worse.

My phone exploded with calls.

My assistant.

The Coast Guard.

The aviation authority.

I answered only one.

“Find the plane.”

“Sir, rescue teams are already searching the Atlantic.”

“I don't care how much it costs.”

“Empty every account if you have to.”

“Until I see my wife's body with my own eyes...”

“She is alive.”

I hung up.

Minutes later, I stormed back into the birthday party.

Music stopped the moment everyone saw my face.

Bianca smiled as she walked toward me.

“Luca, what happened?”

I looked at her like she was a stranger.

Then I slapped her.

Hard.

She crashed into the dessert table.

Glasses shattered across the marble floor.

The twins burst into tears.

No one moved.

Even my parents froze.

I threw the pregnancy report onto the floor.

“She was carrying my child.”

My voice echoed through the hall.

“Did any of you know?”

Silence.

I laughed.

It sounded more like a man breaking apart.

“Congratulations.”

“Every single one of you helped destroy the only woman who ever truly loved me.”

Without another word, I walked away.

Behind me, the birthday party collapsed into chaos.

Ahead of me...

There was only the ocean.

And the impossible hope that somehow...

Valeria was still alive.