The moment the car threw her through the air, Elena had only one thought: *Finally. A reason good enough to see my husband.*
But even after she woke up in the emergency room of a private clinic with twelve stitches in her temple, Dante, the head of the De Luca family, still hadn’t come.
Elena called his encrypted number. She heard the sound of a running shower, and then Bianca’s breathy laugh.
“Dante’s in the shower… Oh, wait. He’s handling Family business.”
“The clinic called about a car accident? You sounded fine, so I told him it wasn’t urgent.”
“You’re not actually going to cry, are you? I’ll be sure to remind him once he’s out.”
Elena’s nails dug into her palm, her grip tightening on the phone.
She thought of her birthday, when Dante had shut down an entire stretch of coastline to celebrate Bianca’s new role as liaison between their two families. Bianca had even put a birthday hat on her hunting dog. The next day, the tabloids ran with it: *Dante Throws Lavish Fireworks Display for Dog’s First Birthday.*
She thought of the night her appendix had ruptured. It was three in the morning, and she’d driven herself to the clinic alone. Dante never answered his phone. A thunderstorm had knocked out surveillance in the harbor district, so he’d stayed at an ally’s safe house to oversee Bianca’s security himself.
It wasn’t as if she’d never asked him about it.
Every time, Dante said the same thing. “I grew up with Bianca. She’s in charge of secure communications now. Don’t make this sordid.”
Five years of marriage. Five years of making excuses for his coldness.
It wasn’t that he lacked warmth.
He just refused to give any of it to her.
Elena walked to the nurses’ station, retrieved her phone, and typed a message.
[I’m at the clinic. I’m terminating the pregnancy.]
A long time passed before the screen finally lit up.
One word.
[Received.]
A child would mean their name in the De Luca family records, binding them both forever to a system where a wife’s emergency calls could be screened and ignored.
Elena stared at the word on her screen and signed the consent form for the procedure.
He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 33 The next time Elena heard news of Dante De Luca was three years later. She was at home, organizing reinforcement drawings for an old hotel restoration. She was now the lead structural engineer on the project and had co-founded her own firm. Every contract
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 32 Elena stood at Luca’s side, her expression serene. “You and I are done. Why would I waste my energy trying to get back at you?” “I know exactly what kind of man Luca is, and I know what he’s done. I’m not handing my
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 31 A muscle worked in Dante’s jaw. “That’s okay,” he said, his voice rough. “You don’t have to love me. It’s enough that I love you.” Elena actually laughed, a short, bitter sound. “You love me?” “You love me, so you left me to bleed
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 30 The wound in Dante’s side hadn’t fully healed. He stood on the sidewalk, unable to straighten his back completely. The man whose very presence had once silenced entire rooms now looked worn and broken. Elena ignored him. She assumed that after a few days,
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 29 Elena sat on a bench in the stark white hallway of the private clinic. She still had Luca’s blood-soaked jacket draped over her shoulders, and the blood on the backs of her hands had dried to a dark brown. She was there not as
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 28 Elena’s body moved before her mind could catch up. She dropped to her knees and pressed both hands over the wound in Dante’s side. Warm blood seeped relentlessly through her fingers. “Call a doctor,” she said, her voice sharp and clear. “Now.” Luca already
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 27 The knife arced straight toward Elena’s abdomen. It all happened in a split second. Before Elena could react, a powerful force shoved her hard to the side. She hit the ground, her elbow slamming into the pavement in a burst of dull, throbbing pain.
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 26 There was no protectiveness in the gesture, only raw fury. Bianca staggered back, staring at him in disbelief. “Dante! I was defending you!” Dante didn’t look at her. His gaze was still fixed on Elena, but his voice was tight with a rage he
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 25 Dante came to a halt right in front of Elena. And then he just stood there, frozen. It was as if, in that exact moment, he finally understood that he no longer had any right to touch her. “Elena.” His voice was raw. “I’ve
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He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 24 Bianca lost her balance and fell hard to the pavement. Elena looked up. Luca was standing beside her. His suit was still immaculate, his cuffs perfectly fastened. His face was impassive, as if he had just moved a piece of furniture out of the
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