We Begin At The End

16

Chapter 16 It was eerie how the scenes from the past were slowly bleeding into Amber's present. The weight of memory, thick and suffocating, gripped her as she watched Chiara desperately coax Nico. "Come, piccolino, we'll go to the zoo," Chiara called sweetly, but Nico remained glued to Amber's side, clinging to her leg like a lifeline. The same boy they had once tried to erase, to deny as Luc's own. The same boy whose very existence had been questioned by these women, with their venomous disbelief. Amber remembered it all, every cruel word, every sideways glance. It had been three years, but those memories were as sharp as ever. She could still recall the hospital room where she had given birth to her beautiful son. The sterile smell of antiseptic still lingered in her nostrils, the room quiet save for the soft, steady breaths of her newborn. Nico, her sweet baby boy, with his chubby cheeks and tiny, perfect fists. She could have watched him forever—watched his peaceful slumber, the way his lips pouted in sleep. But then, outside the door, the sound of voices pierced the serenity, dragging her out of that tender moment. Her name—her name being hissed like a curse. Amber shifted painfully in bed, her body aching as if it had been torn apart. The stitches from the birth tugged at her every movement, the diaper she wore soaked in blood as her body continued to recover from the trauma. But none of that mattered. She had to know what was being said. Despite the pain, she forced herself out of bed, waddling toward the door like a wounded animal. The door was ajar, and as she neared it, the venomous words became clear. "You are not signing that birth certificate, Luca!" Giulia's shrill voice cut through the air, filled with disgust and hysteria. "That puttana has bewitched you! I won't let you make this mistake!" Amber's heart pounded in her chest as she peered through the crack, her breath catching in her throat. Giulia stood there, gripping Luc's shoulders with clawed fingers, her face twisted in rage. Luc, her husband, the man she had trusted, looked torn. "Get out, Mother!" Luc spat, his voice trembling with restrained anger. "Nico is my son, and I will not allow you to disrespect him or Amber. If you keep this up, you'll never see either of us again!" There was a brief moment of silence, a pause so thick with tension it could've suffocated the room. Then Giulia lashed out again, her voice dripping with malice. "Fine! Sign the birth certificate then! But at least demand a paternity test. If that child is really yours, Amber should have no problem proving it." Amber's world collapsed in that moment. Her legs, still weak from childbirth, barely carried her back to bed. She lay down next to her son, her heart shattering in her chest. The man she loved—the father of her child—wasn't cutting his toxic family out of their lives. And she knew, deep down, that it was only a matter of time before Giulia wormed her way into Luc's head, planting seeds of doubt. The thought of Luc demanding a paternity test one day haunted her. It would be the end of everything. The next day, they were released from the hospital. No sign of Giulia, Chiara, or any other family member greeted them, but that silence was as loud as a slap. They refused to acknowledge Nico. They refused to believe he was truly a De Santis. Amber had felt a brief, twisted sense of relief at their absence. At least, for now, she had her family to herself. But the peace didn't last. The days that followed were filled with the exhausting demands of a newborn. Feeding Nico at all hours, changing him, soothing his cries—it left Amber drained, even with the help of the nanny Luc insisted on hiring. Luc himself was distant, spending more and more time at the office, barely speaking to her when he was home. She told herself it was the stress of having a newborn, that they would get through it together. But then, everything shattered. What had once been whispered in private, cruel conversations behind closed doors, was now splashed across the tabloids. The headline was a dagger to Amber's heart: **"The Illegitimate De Santis? Questions Surrounding the Heir's Parentage."** Her blood had run cold. That day, she cried until she couldn't breathe, until her throat was raw and her eyes swollen. She had waited for Luc, certain that he would be furious. As he had been. But his anger hadn't helped them.Luc had handed her a stack of papers—papers that felt heavier than anything she had ever held in her life. "What is this?" Amber asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. "An agreement for a paternity test. For Nico," Luc replied. That was the moment Amber knew—*the beginning of the end.* Luc sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Amber, I need to do this. I need to prove to everyone that Nico is my son. That there's no question about it. This will shut them up once and for all." The words were still haunted her nightmares. Now, standing in the present, with Chiara's voice ringing in her ears, Amber couldn't take it anymore. She looked at Nico, clutching her leg, refusing to go to the people who had once denied his very existence. "Come, Nico," Chiara repeated, her voice sweet but condescending, as though she could erase the past with a trip to the zoo. Amber had had enough. "*Get out!*" she shouted, her voice shaking with the fury of years of pent-up pain. "Get out of this house! Now!" Giulia, smug and unbothered, took a step forward. "This is my son's home, you don't get to tell me—" "Fine," Amber cut her off, venom dripping from her voice. She grabbed Nico's hand, her grip tight, her determination even tighter. "Then we'll leave." Without waiting for a response, Amber marched toward the door, her heart pounding as she pulled Nico along with her. She flung the front door open and stepped onto the street, feeling the weight of her decision bearing down on her. She wasn't going to stay in a place where her son's worth was questioned. She wasn't going to let them break her spirit any longer. She was done being at their mercy.