Reborn to Ruin the Don

Chapter 4 The Final Judgment

Enzo opened the manor door before I reached it. He glanced at my crutches and the bandage beneath my trouser hem, then moved aside.

The rubber tips knocked against the foyer marble as I crossed to the staircase.

I had reached the bottom step when Mia appeared above me in a white peignoir. She saw me, pressed a hand to her mouth, and gasped.

“Aria! You’re back?” Her hand flew to her flat stomach.

I looked up at her and waited.

She took one awkward step. Her ankle turned, yet she caught the rail long enough to lower herself over the last three steps. She landed beside me with a cry.

“Ah! My stomach! The baby!” She curled around her abdomen.

I stayed where I was. From below, I had seen her hand controlling the fall on the rail.

The front door struck the wall. Dante rushed in, took in Mia on the floor, and came straight for me. His gaze passed over my crutches and the bandage on my leg.

“What did you do?” His shout carried through the foyer. He grabbed my upper arm over the worst of the bruising. Pain ran into my shoulder, and I bit the inside of my cheek.

“She’s pregnant, Aria! And you push her down the stairs?”

His grip tightened as he dragged me in front of Mia.

“Apologize.” When I said nothing, he leaned close. “Kneel. You will get on your knees and beg for her forgiveness. For the forgiveness of my brother’s child.”

He tightened his hand on my arm and pointed at the floor.

I laughed once, and Dante’s grip faltered.

I met his gaze without trying to explain myself.

“No.”

I pulled my arm free and braced myself on the crutches.

“You never ask for evidence when the accusation is against me.” I took one painful step back. “I won’t kneel, and I won’t apologize.”

I turned away from Dante and Mia. My crutches knocked against the floor all the way down the hall to my study.

No one followed me down the hall.

I pushed open the oak door, stepped inside, and turned the key. The lock clicked.

On my desk lay the dissolution papers he would sign that night.