The Wife You Never Wanted

Before the doctor could finish, Lucia grabbed the test tubes and hurled them to the floor.

"I said I don't want to have his child."

Her face was pale, but her eyes were stone cold.

"No matter what Jared paid you, I'll pay ten times more. Just don't tell him."

The doctor freaked. "But... if Mr. Dawson asks—"

"Then wait till he does."

She was done. If she was walking away, she'd burn every bridge on her way out.

Lucia stared at the broken glass on the floor, a dull ache tightening in her chest.

Once, she'd dreamed of having Jared's baby.

Now?

Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. She turned and walked out—never looking back.

***

Lucia checked herself out of the hospital on her own.

Back home, the scent of Jared still clung to every room. It was suffocating.

She needed air—needed space. So she headed to the hunting grounds.

Back in Italvia, riding and hunting had been her escape. Khelmark didn't have much for that at first, but when Francesca found out, she bought a whole mountain, turned it into a private hunting estate, and handed it over to Lucia.

Whenever things got heavy, this was where Lucia went to breathe.

Now, it was a hotspot for Khelmark's elite—state-of-the-art, exclusive, and entirely hers.

She pulled up to the gates—and froze.

A familiar black Maybach was already parked outside.

The door opened. Jared stepped out, carrying Alice like some fairytale prince.

"Jared, put me down," Alice said, all coy and breathy. "I can walk."

"It just rained. The ground's wet," he said.

Alice flushed deeper, pleased—until he set her down and she spotted Lucia.

She stiffened. "Lucia?"

Only then did Jared look up—and see her.

His frown kicked in instantly.

He remembered the call from the doctor—something about Lucia having a stress reaction.

She wasn't in danger, so he didn't bother checking in.

Didn't expect to run into her here.

Noticing how pale she still looked, a strange wave of irritation crept up his spine.

"What are you doing here?"

She blinked, steady and cool.

"I came to ride."

Alice and Jared hadn't shown up alone—they brought their usual crew of rich brats.

The second Lucia answered, the jeering started.

"Horseback riding? Lucia, do you even KNOW how to ride?"

"You think hunting on horseback's like riding a donkey back in the sticks? Don't snap your neck!"

Lucia had always kept quiet about her background. With her adoptive parents tied to serious power in Italvia—and whispered mafia rumors—she stayed lowkey. Even the Lynch family barely knew the full story.

So the crowd just assumed she was some bumpkin who lucked into wealth.

Jared's guys started whistling, loud and gross.

"No stress if you can't ride, Lucia. I'll take you. Front or back?"

"Back, obviously. Those two big ones bouncing against me? Man, that'd wake ANYONE up."

The group roared with laughter, eyes crawling all over her like they had zero shame.

Jared's fists clenched. His jaw tightened, gaze turning ice-cold.

Then Alice stepped in, soft and sweet.

"Alright, don't say that about my sister."

The fake little defense only made it worse.

One of the girls scoffed, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Well, no wonder people talk, Alice. Your sister's got the face of a total seductress."

Another jumped in, smirking.

"Yeah, twins? Please. Lucia looks nothing like you. She just screams cheap."

When the Lynch family found Lucia, her real parents—Michael and Joanne—couldn't bring themselves to let go of Alice. So they spun the perfect story—both girls were their biological daughters, separated at birth in a hospital mix-up.

Everyone bought it. Lucia and Alice—'twins.'

Alice shot a nervous glance at Lucia, afraid she'd finally spill the truth.

But Lucia didn't say a word.

She just turned and walked into the hunting grounds without looking back.

Only then did Alice exhale and quickly shift gears.

"Anyway, enough about that. Let's go hunting! I heard there's a white fox out here," she said, voice light and sweet. "Legend says if you catch one and gift it to your beloved, you'll never be apart."

She looked at Jared, all shy smiles.

The group geared up and headed into the mountains.

Lucia took a separate trail, wanting nothing to do with them. But the skies turned fast—rain started falling hard.

The mountain was risky in weather like this. Landslides weren't rare.

Lucia turned back fast.

When she got to the lodge, chaos had already broken out.

Alice and the others were in full panic mode.

No sign of Jared.

Lucia walked over, brows tight. "What's going on?"

"It's bad, Lucia!" Alice sobbed. "Jared's trapped in the mountain!"