Chapter 8: The Recording

The mysterious gift box, the unexpected guests, and the material on the screen made his head spin. It was too much for Dominick to take in.

The chat logs displayed on the screen kept going, not giving him time to think.

Next, a voice recording was played.

Gia's voice echoed through the wedding hall.

"Dom, when are you going to divorce Luna? You promised me you would."

Dominick's recorded voice answered with unmistakable impatience.

"After the wedding. Once everything is settled, Luna will be gone."

A collective gasp swept through the room.

Gia's face turned deathly pale.

"No! That's not real! Someone edited it!"

But another recording immediately followed.

"What about the baby?" Gia asked.

"Don't worry about it," Dominick replied. "Luna doesn't even know she's pregnant. Once she's gone, nobody will know."

The hall fell into absolute silence.

Dominick's fingers tightened around the divorce certificate until the paper crumpled.

The baby.

His eyes suddenly widened as a terrible realization struck him.

Luna had been pregnant.

And he had never known.

He remembered the day she collapsed in the hallway. The way she had clutched her stomach. The panic that had flashed across her face before she lost consciousness.

He remembered the doctor trying to tell him something.

He remembered refusing to listen.

His breathing became uneven.

"Where is Luna?"

Nobody answered.

Dominick grabbed the nearest security officer by the collar.

"Where is my wife?"

The officer swallowed hard.

"Don Costa... Donna Costa left the country."

"When?"

"Yesterday."

Dominick's face went blank.

Yesterday.

The day before his wedding.

The day he had believed Luna was locked safely in the sub-basement.

His gaze slowly moved toward Gia.

For the first time, there was no tenderness in his eyes.

"What did you do to her?"

Gia stumbled backward.

"Dom, I swear I didn't—"

"I asked you what you did."

His voice was terrifyingly calm.

Gia shook her head frantically.

"She attacked me first. I was only defending myself."

Another screen flickered to life.

A hospital corridor appeared.

It showed Gia entering the sub-basement with a knife hidden beneath her coat.

The guests erupted.

"She had a weapon!"

"She went after the Donna!"

"This is insane!"

Dominick stared at the screen without blinking.

The next footage showed Gia leaving the dungeon while several men carried Luna away beneath a black cloth.

Dominick's blood ran cold.

He had ordered Luna locked away.

He had allowed Gia to enter.

And he had never once checked what happened afterward.

His knees nearly gave out.

The Underboss rushed forward and caught his arm.

"Don Costa!"

Dominick shoved him away.

"Find Luna."

"Yes, Don."

"I want every airport, private terminal, port, and border crossing searched. Find out where she went."

The Underboss hesitated.

"And the wedding?"

Dominick looked at the wedding decorations around him.

The flowers.

The champagne.

The woman standing beside him in a wedding dress.

Everything suddenly looked filthy.

"Cancel it."

Gia's eyes widened.

"No!"

She rushed toward him and grabbed his sleeve.

"You can't do this to me, Dom! You promised! You said you'd marry me!"

Dominick slowly looked down at her hand.

"I promised you a wedding."

His voice was devoid of warmth.

"I never promised you my heart."

Gia froze.

Dominick pulled his sleeve free.

"Take her away."

Two security officers immediately stepped forward.

"Dom!" Gia screamed. "I'm carrying your child!"

Dominick stopped.

The entire room went silent.

His expression changed for only a second.

"You're pregnant?"

Gia nodded desperately through her tears.

"Yes. That's why I did everything. I was afraid you'd leave me after the baby was born."

Dominick stared at her.

Then his gaze fell on the divorce certificate still clutched in his hand.

A thought suddenly struck him.

Luna had been pregnant too.

But there had been only one person in the entire family who knew about it.

The doctor.

Dominick turned sharply.

"Bring me the doctor who treated Luna."

Minutes later, the doctor was dragged into the hall.

He looked terrified.

Dominick stepped toward him.

"Tell me the truth. Was Luna pregnant?"

The doctor lowered his head.

"Yes."

The word hit Dominick harder than any bullet.

"How long?"

"Three months."

Dominick's face drained of color.

"And the baby?"

The doctor hesitated.

That hesitation was enough.

Dominick grabbed him by the collar.

"Answer me!"

The doctor closed his eyes.

"The pregnancy was lost."

The world seemed to stop.

Dominick released him.

He staggered backward, staring into nothing.

His child was gone.

And the woman carrying his child had left him without saying goodbye.

No.

That wasn't right.

Luna had always wanted children.

She had once held a tiny pair of baby shoes in a store and smiled for half an hour.

She had asked him what their child would look like.

He had kissed her forehead and promised to build a nursery himself.

Now that child was gone.

And Luna had suffered it alone.

Dominick's chest tightened painfully.

For the first time in three years, he understood something terrifying.

Luna hadn't been throwing a tantrum.

She hadn't been jealous.

She hadn't been waiting for him to come back.

She had truly left him.

The giant screen suddenly displayed one final message.

"This is my wedding gift to you, Dominick."

The guests stared at the words.

Then another line appeared.

"I hope you enjoy the life you chose."

Dominick's eyes reddened.

He knew that handwriting.

It was Luna's.

His phone rang.

The caller ID showed the private number of his overseas family office.

Dominick answered immediately.

"Speak."

A nervous voice came through.

"Don Costa, we located the flight information."

Dominick's heart slammed against his ribs.

"Where did Luna go?"

There was a long pause.

"Averia."

Dominick closed his eyes.

Averia was Luna's home country.

Her parents lived there.

The same parents she had abandoned three years ago for him.

The same parents who had warned her never to marry him.

Dominick suddenly remembered the message Luna had sent him days earlier.

"I'm going shopping tomorrow."

She had known.

She had already been preparing to leave.

His hand began to tremble.

"Book the fastest private jet to Averia."

The Underboss looked at him carefully.

"Don, what about Gia?"

Dominick turned toward the bride standing alone beneath the wedding arch.

"Let her wedding end exactly the way it began."

He glanced at the divorce certificate one last time.

"Without a husband."