After Losing My Memory Don Begins A Good Husband. Chapter 04
Ricardo was clearly stunned on the other end.
Then he raised his voice.
“Elina, have you lost your mind? Call the police over what?”
“Wasn’t the scene at the hospital today humiliating enough for you?”
The phone was snatched away by Giada.
“Elina, what is wrong with you!”
“Oscar is marital property—that makes him a Moretti asset. Why can’t we give him to Valentina?”
“Stop trying to scare us with the police. Go ahead and call if you’ve got the nerve!”
I didn’t waste another word. I hung up.
I dragged my suitcase out the front door.
The moment I got into a taxi, my phone exploded with messages.
All from old university classmates.
“Elina, is it true what they’re saying online? You really broke up someone’s marriage?”
“God, you really had us all fooled.”
Bewildered, I clicked the link they’d sent.
A long exposé from a local gossip account with millions of followers.
The headline read: Cuckoo in the Nest? The Sordid Rise of a Certain Miss E.
In the article, Giada and Massimo had gone on the record.
They accused me of using underhanded means to get pregnant with Ricardo’s child.
Forcing the “first wife” Valentina to leave in heartbreak, coerced into divorce.
They’d even attached a secretly filmed video of me confronting them at the hospital.
The footage had been maliciously edited.
All that remained was my line—”What business is it of yours, an outsider?”—and Valentina weeping pitifully.
The comments section was a flood of tens of thousands of hateful messages.
“Women like her deserve to burn in hell.”
“Strutting around with that belly—hope she miscarries.”
I took a deep breath and was about to type out a response to set the record straight.
My parents’ call came in.
The comments section was a flood of tens of thousands of hateful messages.
“Women like her deserve to burn in hell.”
“Strutting around with that belly—hope she miscarries.”
I took a deep breath and was about to type out a response to set the record straight.
My parents’ call came in.
The moment I picked up, my mother’s shrill voice stabbed at my eardrums.
“Elina! What on earth are you doing out there!”
“Ricardo just called and said you’re threatening to report them to the police? Have you completely lost your mind?”
“A man like Ricardo—with his status—was willing to marry you. You should be grateful! Why are you hell-bent on ruining this?”
My father barked in the background.
“Go apologize to your in-laws and Ricardo right now! Stop disgracing the Vittori name!”
I listened to the accusations from my own flesh and blood.
The tears finally broke free.
“They gave Oscar away. They’re spreading lies about me online, calling me a homewrecker—”
“Doesn’t anyone want to ask if I’m the one who’s been wronged?”
My mother let out a cold laugh.
“It’s just a stupid cat. So they gave it away—big deal.”
“As for the internet stuff, Ricardo said that as long as you behave and apologize, he’ll have it taken down.”
“Stop being stubborn and go home!”
The line went dead.
I stared at the black screen, and my heart died with it.
Just then, an unknown number called.
“Is this Ms. Elina? I’m calling from the Santa Maria Street veterinary clinic.”
“Your cat was attacked by a stray dog on the street just now. By the time he was brought in, he was already…”
“Could you come see him?”
My mind went blank with a deafening roar.
“Driver, turn around—Santa Maria Street!”
Shaking all over, I stumbled into the clinic.
I pushed open the door and saw, on the cold steel table, Oscar’s small, mangled body.
The vet let out a sigh.
“From what the person who brought him in told us, Ms. Valentina was walking him without a leash. He got startled and bolted into the road…”
“I’m sorry. We did everything we could.”
I dropped to my knees, my hands trembling too badly to touch him.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Ricardo.
“Elina, Oscar ran off. Valentina feels so guilty her heart condition is nearly flaring up.”
“It’s just a cat. Don’t blame her. I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow.”
“The online stuff—I’ve already told Massimo to handle it. All you have to do is post a statement saying it was a misunderstanding and apologize.”
“Stop making trouble. Be good and wait for me at home.”
I stared at the words, drowning in a tidal wave of absurdity.
My cat was dead. My reputation was destroyed.
And all he cared about was Valentina.
I held Oscar’s body and staggered out of the clinic.
Tears blurred my vision.
All I could hear was the blaring of traffic.
In a daze, a blinding beam of headlights cut through the night.
I felt my body lift, like a kite with its string cut loose.