The Day My Husband Didn’t Answer Ended Me

Her sobs were so loud that Donna Valente came rushing in. "Serafina! Sweetheart, are you alright?" She rushed to her side before turning her glare on me. "Bianca, have you lost your mind? How could you destroy this nursery?!"

My chest heaved. "This was my baby's room! You took everything from me. Even this—"

"Enough! Serafina's pregnant." Donna Valente cut me off, shouting. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Then Nico appeared in the doorway. "What the hell is going on here?"

Serafina was sobbing into his chest before I could even speak. "She… she came in here screaming! She ripped everything apart, Nico. Our babies' nursery!"

"That's because you all killed my son!"

"Stop," Nico said, voice flat. "You need help, Bianca. You're acting crazy."

Something in me broke completely. I pointed at the walls, at the mess, at everything I had once loved. "This was our baby's room, Nico. Ours! And you let her take it? You let her take everything!"

Nico stormed into the room, face twisted with rage. Before I could even speak, his hand came flying. The slap cracked across my face so hard I stumbled back. Warm blood ran down my nose.

"Nico—"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted. "You've completely lost it!"

Donna Valente rushed to Serafina, wrapping her arms around her like a precious doll. "My poor child. Are you alright?" she cried.

Serafina sobbed harder. "Ever since we were kids, you've hated me, Bianca. You had everything. Our parents' love, the perfect life, and I was the one always left behind! And now you're still jealous?" she screamed. "Even after losing your baby, you can't stand that I'm carrying Nico's twins. At least my children are the true Valente heirs!"

I froze, her words slicing through me. She smirked through her tears. Her fingertips drifted to the hollow of her throat, resting there, featherlight.

"You have no right to hate my babies just because your bastard child died!"

The room went silent. My blood roared in my ears.

Nico turned away from me like he couldn't even stand the sight of me. "Guards!" he barked. "Get her out of here. Now."

Two soldiers came in and grabbed my arms. I tried to fight, but they dragged me across the floor like I was nothing. My blood smeared the tiles.

Donna Valente's voice rang behind me, cold and sharp. She adjusted the pearl rosary on her left wrist, one deliberate rotation of the beads. "I don't ever want that woman stepping foot in this house again, Nico. Do you hear me? Ever."

The last thing I saw before they threw me out was Serafina clutching Nico's shirt, pretending to cry, while he held her like she was the only thing worth protecting.

Then they dumped me in the basement of the compound.

Then I heard it.

A hiss.

My eyes flew open, and I froze.

Snakes.

There were snakes all around me. Big ones, small ones, dark ones coiled in the corners, their bodies sliding over the stone floor. One of them brushed against my leg, and I bit back a scream.

The single bulb above flickered and the wire door was padlocked shut. My whole body started shaking. The compound walls were thick enough to swallow any sound I made. No soldier posted at the door. No one had been told to check.

"Nico!" I screamed, my voice cracking. "Please! Get me out! You know I can't—please!"

The door creaked open after a few seconds, and there he was, standing with his hands in his pockets, looking down at me like I was something disgusting. His right fist clenched and unclenched at his side, slow and rhythmic.

"Maybe this will teach you to stop losing your mind," he said flatly.

"Nico, please," I begged, tears burning my eyes. "You know I'm terrified of snakes. Please, I'll do anything, just get me out!"

He didn't even blink. "You should've thought of that before you ruined Serafina's nursery."

A hiss came from behind me. I turned just as one of the snakes, thick, black, and slow, slithered closer. I kicked back, screaming, but the thing lunged and sank its fangs into my ankle.

Pain exploded through me. I screamed until my throat went raw. "Nico! It bit me! Please, please, it bit me!"

But he didn't budge. He left me down there for ten hours. And when he opened the room again, I was shaking and crying. He ordered his soldiers to drag me out by my wrist and dump me in the car. I could barely breathe, my leg was burning, my skin felt like fire. Everything blurred.

I woke up again to the sound of rain hitting the windshield. My body was shaking uncontrollably. Nico was driving, his jaw clenched tight. No driver. No enforcers in the back seat. Whatever he was doing with me, he didn't want witnesses.

"N-Nico…" I whispered, barely able to speak. "It hurts. Please, the hospital—"

He didn't answer. He didn't even look at me.

Then his phone rang.

Serafina's voice filled the car. "Nico! Please come home! The babies… something's wrong! They're not moving inside me."

Nico's hands tightened on the wheel.

"Nico…" I croaked, "please don't—"

He slammed the brakes and pulled over. The rain was coming down hard now. He didn't even look at me when he spoke.

"Get out."

I stared at him, confused. "What?"

"Get out, Bianca," he said again, his voice flat. "Serafina needs me."

"You're leaving me here? I can't even stand—"

He finally looked at me, and there was nothing in his eyes. Nothing. "You'll live. Those snakes are mildly venomous. You won't die," he said.

Then he pushed open my door and shoved me out. I fell to the wet pavement, the rain soaking through my clothes. The road was dark. No streetlights. The territory between the Valente compound and the nearest neutral ground, a stretch where anyone found alone at night was assumed to be a message left for someone else.

The car door slammed shut.

Then he was gone.

I tried to stand, but the pain in my leg was unbearable. The world tilted, my vision blurred, and before I could take another step, a gunshot rang on the air.

I winced from pain and dropped.

…

When I came back, everything was wrong.

A man in scrubs stood over me, his face careful and tired. "Mrs. Valente, you were brought in with a gunshot to the abdomen. You were in a coma for five days. We did emergency surgery. I am sorry. The damage was too bad. You won't be able to carry a child anymore."

The words hit like a door slamming. "What do you mean?" I croaked.

He looked down. "The bleeding was severe. We removed what we had to to save your life."

My hands grabbed the sheet. My thumb pressed hard against the inside of my ring finger, against the skin where my wedding band sat, pressing until the knuckle ached and the rage had somewhere to go that wasn't my voice.

Then the door opened and Serafina glided in like she was a cloud. Soft pink dress, hand over her belly.

"Oh, sister," she cooed. "I heard. How terrible about… your womb. What a tragedy. But think about it this way. Now you can focus on helping me raise my babies."

I tightened my fingers until the fabric bit my skin. "Why are you here?" I said, weak and burning. "Why are you always here?"

She laughed. "I just wanted to admire my work," she said and looked around the private clinic room like she owned the air. "I told them what needed doing. You survived the shooting, unlucky for you. But at least now you can never replace what I have."

A hot, stupid rage flared and I lunged for her hair. "You shot me!" I sobbed. "You had someone shoot me. How could you?! My baby is dead because of you."

Serafina screamed then, high and sharp. "Help! Help me! Nicooo!" she called, clutching at her belly, stumbling like I'd hurt her.

The door burst open.