A Halloween Prank Killed My Baby, I Left My Mafia Husband

On Halloween, my mafia husband's assistant, Chloe Ferri, knocked on my door with her son, Ron. "Trick or treat!" When I turned around to grab the candy, Ron slipped in behind me and poured honey all over the floor. Then he charged straight into me. The floor was slick, and I went down hard. My rounded belly slammed into the corner of the table. Pain ripped through my whole body. The color drained from my face, and within seconds the hem of my dress was soaked with blood. But my husband, Oliver Marino, ran to the frightened, wailing boy first. Luca Ferri, one of Oliver's longtime men, had taken a knife meant for Oliver and died. Ever since, my husband had kept Luca's widow, Chloe, at his side as his assistant. From then on, Chloe and her son came first in everything. When the hurricane made landfall, Oliver got Chloe and Ron to safety first. While I was scrambling for cover, a falling billboard slammed into my arm. On our wedding anniversary, he left me standing in the freezing wind for four hours, all because he had to go fix Chloe's broken bread maker. Once, because Ron said he hated the smell of my perfume, Oliver even dumped me in the middle of nowhere and made me walk 19 miles along a mountain road to get home. And now he was ignoring me again, rushing to that kid instead. Something inside me died for good. If he wanted so badly to take care of another man's wife and kid, then fine. I'd step aside. Chapter 1 Pain. It seared through every nerve in my body. I couldn't breathe. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my belly, but the blood kept pouring out of me. Before I passed out, I heard Oliver tell one of the staff to take me to the hospital. He stayed behind, holding Ron and gently soothing him. When I woke up in a hospital bed, a nurse looked at me with pity and told me they hadn't been able to save the baby. The tears came, and I couldn't stop them. Oliver held my hand tight. His fingertips trembled, and his voice was low and rough as he tried to comfort me. "It's okay, Selena. We're still young. There'll be other babies." I thought he was grieving our baby the same way I was. But a second later, he said, "The way you looked back there scared Ron half to death. Let's go see him together, okay?" I thought I'd heard him wrong. I stared at him, swallowing a sob. "Have you lost your mind? You want me to go see Ron? He killed our baby." I was so worked up that a sharp pain tore through my belly. Oliver couldn't quite meet my eyes, but he still wouldn't back down. "Ron's just a little kid. He only wanted to play a Halloween prank on you. He never thought it would end like this. Luca gave his life for me. Can't we please forgive Ron?" That excuse again! Oliver had used it more times than I could count. He felt he owed Luca, so Chloe and Ron always came first. He'd walked out on me for them over and over. At first I understood. I even respected him for taking responsibility, so I forgave him every single time. But did her husband's death mean she and her kid could get away with anything? Her husband was dead. But my baby was gone too. My whole body sagged, and I let out a weak, bitter laugh. Before I could answer, Oliver tugged at my hand. "Come on, Selena. Don't be difficult. We're just going to check on the kid." I wouldn't go. I grabbed the edge of the bed and held on. Oliver's patience finally ran out. "You're weak right now, and I don't want to hurt you. But Ron is terrified. He really needs you to calm him down." I fought him, but he picked me up and carried me to Ron's room, a private VIP suite. Ron had only had a scare, yet he was getting the VIP treatment. I'd just had a miscarriage and was still weak, but my own husband had dragged me out of my regular room to comfort him. When we walked in, Ron was giggling and playing with Chloe. The moment he saw me, his face crumpled and he let out a wail. Oliver gently patted my shoulder. "Go on, Selena. Tell Ron you're okay so he won't be scared anymore." My eyes red, I shoved Oliver away. "Don't even think about it. He knocked me down and killed my baby, and you want me to comfort him? Then who's going to comfort my baby?" Chloe looked wounded at that. Then she touched her earring and patted Ron, pretending to be gracious. "Ron, sweetie, your little prank upset the Donna. Go tell her you're sorry, okay?" Oliver was upset to see Chloe looking so wronged. He frowned and turned on me. "Selena, look how understanding Chloe is. When are you ever going to be more like her?" I gave a humorless laugh and slapped Oliver across the face. I was the one who'd lost the baby, and yet I was supposed to forgive the killer? He was playing daddy to someone else's kid a little too well. So well that he'd forgotten how hard it had been for us to have this baby. Throughout our marriage, we'd prayed and donated to charity, hoping I'd get pregnant soon. Some nights, I'd even hear Oliver murmur the name we'd picked for our baby in his sleep. But now, unbelievably, all he cared about was protecting another man's son. The slap caught Oliver off guard, and fury blazed in his eyes. He looked ready to explode, but when he saw how pale I was, he held back. Once everyone saw that Oliver hadn't hit me back, no one dared to interfere. "I'm sorry." Ron wiped at tears that weren't there and shuffled over to me. Then, in a tiny voice only I could hear, he added quickly, "But Mommy says Uncle Oliver's gonna be my daddy. You're the bad lady. You were gonna have a little boy and steal my daddy away!" Each word hit me like a blow. So that was it. Mother and son had planned it from the start. They'd meant to kill my baby. Chapter 2 Rage burned through me. I couldn't hold back. I swung again, and this time my palm cracked across Chloe's face. "You bitch, it was you! You killed my baby, and I'm going to make you pay for it!" She clutched her cheek, dazed from the blow. Oliver grabbed me. "Selena, you've lost your mind! It was an accident!" Chloe's eyes were red. Still holding her cheek, she bowed her head in a show of remorse. "Donna, it's all my fault. I didn't raise Ron right, and you got hurt because of it. Punish me however you want." But even with her head bowed, I could see the contemptuous smirk on her face. I wanted to rip her to pieces, and I raised my hand to slap her again. Oliver held me back and took me to my room, struggling to control his temper. "Selena, calm down. You're too weak right now. Focus on getting your strength back. You're not leaving this room until you've recovered." His cold command sent tears streaming down my face. My baby was dead. But instead of letting me punish the killer, my husband stood in my way, decided I was too emotional, and shut me away. If Chloe and her son were all he could see, all he cared about, then I'd step aside and let them be a family. So I called Professor Walter Hale. "Professor, remember the Antarctic expedition you told me about? I want to go." He sounded thrilled. "That's wonderful, Selena. You've finally changed your mind! You have no idea how much it hurt when you left the team to be with him! Get yourself ready. The team leaves in a week." A week. That was enough. Enough time to rest a little. Enough time to get out of Oliver's life. That night, Oliver realized he'd been too harsh with me. He gently wrapped me in his arms. "Selena, I know losing the baby broke your heart. I'm the baby's father too. I'm hurting just as much as you are. I'll deal with Ron and Chloe, and I'll make this right for you. "I bought you those diamond earrings you love. Don't be sad anymore. Just rest and get better, and we'll have another baby." They were gorgeous. Anyone could see they'd cost a fortune. But I didn't want them. I'd just seen an identical pair on Chloe. Still, Oliver insisted on putting them on me himself. "Selena, these are going to look amazing on you. I told you I'd give you the best of everything." When he proposed, he had nothing. He was a nobody, a low-level soldier in the organization. He'd been stabbed, but he was so afraid of missing my birthday that he didn't even stop to bandage the wound. He stumbled home and pulled out a ring. "Selena, I love you. Will you marry me?" That was when I found out he'd been taking one dangerous job after another for the extra money to buy that ring. He'd promised me a happy life. He worked himself to the bone and clawed his way up the ranks until he became the Don. I knew what it looked like when he loved me. Now I could tell he was just going through the motions. His love had been split into countless pieces, and I got the smallest piece of all. I tossed the earrings aside and looked at him. "I bet Chloe loves these. Giving two women the same jewelry at the same time? Do you think you're clever, or do you just think I'm easy to fool?" Caught out, he froze, then said awkwardly, "When Chloe went shopping with me, she said she didn't have a single piece of jewelry, and she happened to like them too..." Of course. It was Chloe again. There was always someone else in our marriage. I blamed him for never knowing who should come first. But I blamed myself even more for still expecting anything from him. "Oliver, I want a divorce." Chapter 3 Oliver stared at me in disbelief. When he realized I wasn't joking, he gripped my jaw. His voice was raw with pain. "Selena, have you lost your mind?! You'd throw away all our years together over this one thing? All I'm doing is helping look after Chloe and Ron. Why can't you understand that?" "Understand what? Because of them, my baby is gone, and my husband has walked out on me again and again," I said slowly, my eyes locked on his. He shot to his feet and studied me. "They already apologized. What more do you want?" I jerked upright. A sharp pain tore through my wound, and I went white. Oliver panicked and hurried over to steady me. He sighed. "Fine. If it really bothers you that much, I'll have Chloe reassigned—" Before he could finish, his phone rang. It was Chloe. I didn't know what she said, but his expression changed. "Okay, I'll be right there!" he said in a rush. He abruptly let go of me and hurried out. Without his support, I fell back hard onto the bed. Pain seared through me, and cold sweat broke out on my forehead. The man who'd once promised he'd never let me get hurt kept leaving me behind. He'd become the one who hurt me the most. Then I finally understood. Maybe Oliver did love me. But whenever Chloe showed up, he'd forget I existed and use his ridiculous sense of duty as an excuse. He didn't even realize that he, Chloe, and her son had become as close as a family. Our relationship had settled into routine, something he no longer thought he needed to work at. There was no reason to keep groveling and bending over backward to hold this rotten marriage together. So I contacted Daniel Reed, a divorce lawyer, to find out what I needed to do and get the process started. For the next few days, Oliver didn't come to the hospital once. The moment I walked into the house after being discharged, I stopped dead. Our vintage decor was gone, replaced with sleek, understated luxury. Our wedding photos had been swapped out for childhood pictures of Ron. Lilies sat on the table. I was allergic to them. Even the little room that had belonged to my cat, Happy, had been turned into a kid's bedroom. Happy had been locked in a tiny cage and dumped in the bathroom. Her food bowl was empty. When she saw me, she let out a pitiful wail and clawed frantically at the cage door. My heart ached as I held Happy close and turned on Oliver. "This is my home. What gives you the right to get rid of her room and redo the whole place?" But he sounded cheerful as he laid out his plans. "Baby, Ron loves this house, so I want to give it to them. Once the new place is ready, we'll move there, and then it'll be just you and me. "Until then, we'll all live here together for a little while. Think of it as me doing my duty by Luca." All the anger I'd been holding back burst out. I smashed the vase on the table. So this was the wonderful husband I'd loved for years. What a joke. While I was in the hospital grieving our baby, he'd been busy redoing our house, all to please another woman! The scent of the lilies made me feel like I was choking again. It was unbearable, just like our marriage. Oliver held me back. "Enough, Selena. Stop making a scene! Come eat. Chloe made all this food especially for you. She wants to apologize." He practically dragged me to the dining table and sat me down. Chloe came over with a glass in her hands, looking fragile. "Selena, I'm so sorry Ron scared you. I've been wanting to apologize this whole time, but Oliver was worried about Ron's health, so it had to wait until today." Her apology was really just a way to show off how much Oliver cared about them. Too bad for her, I didn't care anymore. I sat there, stone-faced and silent. Chloe's eyes instantly filled with tears. "Selena, hit me, yell at me, whatever you want! You just lost your baby. Don't keep it all bottled up." Ron started crying too. He held his arms up to Oliver and whimpered, "Daddy, pick me up..." Oliver gently scooped him up. "There now, don't cry." When he turned to me, irritation crossed his face. "Selena, you've made enough of a scene. Chloe already apologized. She hasn't been sleeping well these past few days because of all this. If I hadn't been comforting her this whole time, she wouldn't have eaten..." Oliver stopped short, as if he'd realized he'd said too much, and searched my face warily. Chapter 4 What a joke. Clearly things had moved fast while I was gone. Ron was even calling him Daddy now. "Oliver, you really are a great dad. It's fine. I'll step aside and let you be a family." I got up to leave, and Oliver grabbed me in a panic. He sounded anxious and a little irritated. "Don't get the wrong idea. Ron's been having nightmares every night since the scare. I was only trying to calm him down..." Oliver wanted to say more, but Chloe suddenly went weak and collapsed. The back of her hand knocked over a glass on the table. Scalding water splashed across the top of my foot, leaving a large red patch. Oliver caught Chloe first. Only after he'd steadied her did he remember me. "Did you get burned?" He sounded worried, almost tender. Then came the blame. "How could you be so careless? You saw the boiling water and didn't even think to move?" Fury burned in my chest. I couldn't take it anymore. I'd wanted to leave with some dignity. But these people just kept pushing me and hurting me. If none of them really meant their apologies, then nobody was eating this dinner. I grabbed the tablecloth and yanked it down hard. Food and dishes crashed to the floor. Plates shattered everywhere. Everyone looked up at me, stunned. "Selena, apologize," Oliver ordered. Ignoring all of them, I picked up Happy, turned, and walked out without looking back. Behind me, Chloe simpered, "Don, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have come and gotten in the way. Hurry, go after her..." "Don't blame yourself," Oliver said. "I've spoiled her rotten. She'll come back on her own once she calms down." I stroked Happy's head and smiled wryly. No, Oliver. I'm not coming back. He'd forgotten that I had a life to be proud of before I fell for him and gave up everything to stand by his side. Exceptional talent. A respectable job. A bright future. I sent Daniel an itemized list of everything Oliver had spent on Chloe, including the property he'd bought her. I gave him full authority to handle the divorce and the division of assets on my behalf. Then I got on the plane. Before takeoff, I blocked Oliver's number. This time, I was leaving that toxic relationship behind and finding my way back to myself.