A Tainted Bloodline

“What did you say?” Darren’s pupils contracted instantly. “Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!”

He grabbed Tony by the collar, nearly lifting him off the ground.

“She was fine when I left her! How could she be dead?”

“A few shots don't just kill someone!”

“This must be a trick! A trick she cooked up with her lover to run away with that bastard!”

Tony was nearly suffocating from his boss’s fury. "Boss, our men saw the body..."

“They found her in the wasteland off the estate grounds. The DNA was a match. It was her.”

"The body?" Darren sneered. "How do I know what you bunch of idiots actually saw!"

Hearing the word "body," a sense of foreboding washed over Darren, but he refused to believe it.

He had to see for himself.

If that woman dared to deceive him, he would make her pay.

He snatched the car keys from the bedside table. "Take me there. If this is another one of her games, I want to see it for myself."

In the hospital room, Angelina sat up weakly. "Darren, where are you going?"

"To take care of some trash," Darren replied without looking back, not even glancing at his so-called heir. "Rest well. Take care of the child."

In less than twenty minutes, they arrived at the scene.

The convoy of cars stopped in front of a deserted factory.

From a distance, Darren could see a crowd of onlookers.

He jumped out of the car, roughly pushing people out of his way.

"Everyone, get the hell out of here!"

Leo stood beside a form covered by a white sheet, his face ashen.

"Boss..." Leo's voice trembled. "Are you sure you want to see this?"

"Uncover it," Darren commanded.

Leo slowly lifted the white sheet.

In the next second, Darren's world completely fell apart.

It was Scarlett.

Even covered in blood, even lifeless, he could still recognize that face.

Her eyes, once as bright as stars, were now tightly shut, never to open again.

Darren's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees in the dirt.

"Scarlett..." he knelt, his trembling hand reaching out to touch her cold cheek.

"No... this can't be..."

Beside the body, there was another, smaller white bundle.

A primal, blood-deep instinct stirred within Darren. He knew what it was, but he didn't dare to look.

"Scarlett! Get up!" he suddenly screamed, grabbing the "body's" shoulders and shaking it frantically.

"Why?" he roared at the empty sky. "Why couldn't you just confess?"

"You think dying absolves you of your sins? You think I can't find out who that man was?"

Tony couldn't bear to watch any longer and gently tried to intervene. "Boss, the madam is... let her rest in peace."

Rain began to fall from the sky, but Darren continued to clutch the "body," refusing to let go.

The rain washed away the bloodstains, and with them, the pain and anger in his heart.

Meanwhile, in far-off Sicily.

I lay in a bedroom in the Moretti family's ancient castle, my body still weak.

Stephan sat by my bed, his face devoid of any expression.

"The child didn't make it," his voice was flat, cold.

"The level of toxins was too high. His lungs weren't fully developed, and he was born with a heart defect."

I closed my eyes, silent tears rolling down my cheeks.

My baby, my little prince, had left me just like that.

I hadn't even had the chance to clear his name. Even his own father denied his bloodline.

I was such a useless mother.

"No..." I shook my head. "It's not possible... he was still kicking me... he was alive..."

"The doctors said he was very brave. He held on for a full six hours," Stephan's voice was like a blade of ice. "But in the end, he couldn't overcome the poison."

I hugged my knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

That little life, who never had a chance to see the world, had been murdered by his own father.

"I killed him," I choked out. "This never would have happened if I hadn't married Darren."

"No," Stephan interrupted, his eyes burning with the fire of vengeance.

"Those fools killed him."

Stephan placed a small urn in front of me.

"These are your son's ashes."