The Billionaire Secret surrogate

Chapter 2

Livia's POV

Maristella moved first. She wrapped both arms around Dante's neck and pulled herself closer to him, making it clear that she had no intention of being embarrassed by my presence. She looked at me over his shoulder with a small, deliberate smile that told me everything I needed to know. She had won, and she wanted me to understand that.

Dante did not even try to move away from her. He sat there with his shirt open and Maristella pressed against him, staring at me with a cold expression that made the man I had loved for three years feel like a complete stranger.

"You heard us," he said calmly. "So now you know the truth. That's the situation."

The tears came harder, and I hated every one of them. I hated that he could see me crying, and I hated that Maristella was watching me with obvious satisfaction while the tears ran down my face and fell onto the faded dress my mother had left behind.

"Why?" I asked, but my voice broke before I could finish. I swallowed and tried again. "Three years, Dante. You told me I was yours. You told me you would wait for me."

Dante sighed as if I was exhausting him.

"That's exactly the problem," he said. He removed one of Maristella's arms from around his neck, but he did not ask her to leave or even create some distance between them. "Three years, Livia, and you never let me get close to you. Always wait until we're married. Wait until the right time. Wait until everything is proper. You wanted everything to happen according to your rules."

He shook his head and gave me a look that made me feel foolish for ever believing his promises.

"Did you really think you were that special? Did you honestly think I would throw away my future and run away with you?"

"Don't say that."

"Why not?" His voice remained calm. "It's the truth."

He looked me up and down before continuing.

"You're a prude, Livia. You act as if your body is something precious that nobody is allowed to touch. I spent three years trying to make you feel comfortable, and you kept pushing me away. You always wanted to wait for marriage."

His eyes moved to Maristella, and his expression softened in a way I had not seen when he looked at me.

"Maristella isn't like that. She knows how to make a man feel wanted."

Maristella smiled and rested her head against his shoulder.

Her quiet laugh cut through me.

Something inside me finally broke, but it was not anger or humiliation. It was grief. I was grieving the boy I had loved, the one who used to hold my face in his hands behind the old storage building and tell me that I was the only woman he would ever want.

That boy had never existed.

I had spent three years loving a version of Dante that I had created in my mind, and now I was standing in front of the real man.

Footsteps sounded from downstairs, followed by the voices of several people entering the house. A man's voice soon echoed through the hallway, deep and formal, with the kind of authority that came from someone who was used to being obeyed.

"Miss Bellandi?"

The representatives from the Valenti family had arrived.

Maristella lifted her head from Dante's shoulder and smiled at me.

"Looks like they're here for you, sis," she said. "You should hurry. You don't want to keep the Valenti family waiting."

I bent down and picked up my mother's locket from the floor. My fingers shook as I closed them around it, but I refused to give either of them the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart in front of them.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand, picked up my bag, and walked away without saying another word.

Behind me, I heard Maristella laugh.

I did not turn around.

A black luxury car was waiting outside the house, its windows dark enough that I could not see inside. The Valenti Group's silver emblem was displayed on the side, and two security officers stood beside the vehicle.

I climbed into the back seat with my bag on my lap and dug my fingernails into my palms to stop myself from crying again.

The driver did not say anything. The security officer sitting in the front glanced at my faded cotton dress and simple appearance before looking away. I could tell that I was not what they had expected. The other women who had been selected for the programme probably arrived wearing expensive clothes and carrying designer bags, while I looked like a girl who had been pulled from an ordinary kitchen and sent away without even being given time to prepare.

I turned toward the window and watched my neighbourhood disappear behind us.

The familiar houses became smaller until I could no longer recognise them, and the roads eventually gave way to the large estates and private properties surrounding the Valenti family's main residence.

I kept hearing Dante's words in my head.

You're a prude.

She knows how to make a man feel wanted.

I tried to push them away, but they returned every time I closed my eyes.

I pressed my forehead against the cold window and breathed slowly. My heart still hurt, but the pain was beginning to change. It was no longer the sharp shock of discovering his betrayal. It was becoming something heavier, something that felt like the end of a life I had spent years planning.

I had thought I would marry Dante.

I had thought I knew where my future was going.

Now I had no idea what would happen to me.

The drive took less than an hour because the Valenti estate was located on the outskirts of the city, away from the noise and traffic. The moment we passed through the huge iron gates, I understood why people talked about the family as if they were royalty.

The estate was enormous, with a main residence made of glass and pale stone, several guest buildings, private gardens, and a separate medical facility used exclusively by the Valenti family. Security guards stood at almost every entrance, and cameras covered the property.

The car stopped in front of the main building.

A tall woman wearing a perfectly pressed grey suit was waiting for me. She looked to be in her late forties, and there was something strict about her expression that immediately made me straighten my back.

"Are you Livia Bellandi?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Signora Violetta Ferretti. I manage Mr. Alessio Valenti's household and coordinate the surrogate programme."

She looked me over from head to toe, taking in my dress, my old boots, and the small bag in my hand.

"Come with me."

I followed her inside.

The examination was the first thing they did.

I was taken into a private medical room where a female doctor checked my blood pressure, took blood samples, performed a general physical examination, and asked me several questions about my medical history. She also checked my reproductive health and confirmed that I had no medical conditions that would make pregnancy dangerous for me.

The process was professional, but it still made me uncomfortable because everything felt so impersonal. Nobody asked how I felt about being there. Nobody asked whether I had changed my mind. They simply checked my body as if it were another requirement on a business contract.

After almost an hour, the doctor spoke quietly to Signora Ferretti.

"She's healthy, and her test results are within the required range. Her reproductive health is also normal."

Signora Ferretti nodded.

"Good."

I lowered my eyes and held my mother's locket beneath my dress.

I wanted to go home.

But I knew there was no home waiting for me anymore.

Signora Ferretti led me through several long corridors until we reached a quiet section of the estate. Two security officers stood outside a set of double doors.

"Mr. Valenti's room is beyond here," she said. "You will remain in the estate until the doctors decide whether you are suitable for the programme. You will follow the schedule given to you and speak to nobody outside the authorised staff about Alessio's condition."

I nodded.

She opened the doors.

The room was large and quiet, with pale walls, expensive furniture, and several medical machines surrounding a large hospital bed. A private nurse stood beside the equipment, checking the monitors before quietly leaving the room.

And then I saw him.

Alessio Valenti.

The man whose name had been in newspapers for months.

The man whose face appeared on business magazines and television reports.

The man who was supposed to inherit the entire Valenti Group.

He was lying completely still beneath the white sheets.

His dark hair was slightly messy against the pillow, and his face looked almost peaceful despite the tubes and monitors around him. His features were sharp and striking, with a strong jaw and dark lashes resting against his cheeks.

I had seen photographs of him before, but photographs had never captured how powerful his presence was.

Even unconscious, he did not look like an ordinary man.

He looked like someone who was used to controlling everything around him.

I stood near the door, unsure what I was supposed to do.

"Wait here," Signora Ferretti said. "The other candidates will arrive soon."

Then she left.

The door closed behind her, leaving me alone with the unconscious heir of the Valenti empire.

I walked closer to the bed and looked at him.

I did not know why, but something about seeing him like that made my chest tighten.

Perhaps it was because his entire future had been decided for him while he lay unconscious, just as mine had been decided without anyone asking what I wanted.

I reached beneath my dress and held my mother's locket tightly.

For the first time since leaving home, I allowed myself to cry.

Then I noticed something.

His fingers moved.

I froze.

I stared at his hand, wondering if I had imagined it.

One of the monitors changed slightly.

Then his breathing became deeper.

I took a nervous step backward.

The man in the bed suddenly opened his eyes.

His dark eyes were sharp and completely awake.

And they were staring directly at me.