Pregnant by the Mafia Boss

23

L I L I A N A

Two months.

Two long, aching months since Alessandro cut me out of his life, and yet it felt like it had just happened yesterday.

The emptiness inside me hadn't healed, and the pain of losing him was still fresh.

The world hadn't stopped for me, though. It hadn't paused for the heartbreak or the betrayal.

The cameras still clicked, the lights still flashed, and the fashion industry kept moving, but inside I was trapped in time.

I had to keep going, at least that's what I told myself.

I had a job, and jobs didn't wait for anyone.

So, I buried my pain, masked it behind a smile, and kept stepping in front of the cameras.

Today, I was working on a photoshoot with Sophia Hawkins again.

But I couldn't shake my mind of the fact that Sophia had once been Alessandro's fling.

I knew it was nothing serious, but the thought of her in his arms made my stomach churn.

Still, I had to work with her.

The shoot was for a fashion commercial, and we were supposed to be the stars of it.

The shoot dragged on for hours. We moved from one set to another, changing outfits, adjusting our hair, posing in different ways.

I kept my focus, trying to drown out the voice in my head that kept whispering about Alessandro, about Bianca, and about everything I had lost.

I wasn't here to think about them. I was here to do my job.

At one point, while I was waiting for the next setup, Sophia approached me with that cold, calculating smile that I had learned to spot.

"Liliana," she said, her voice smooth but laced with something sharper underneath, "it's kind of funny, don't you think?"

I raised an eyebrow, not sure what she was getting at. "Funny?"

She tilted her head, her black hair falling over her shoulder. "You and Mr. Russo."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice a little more harsh than I intended.

"Oh, come on," she said, the mockery dripping from her every word. "You thought he would fall in love with you, you thought he would settle down for you even if you're married to his son... Don't you feel embarrassed?"

Her words cut deep. I swallowed hard, willing the tears to stay behind my eyes.

I wouldn't let her see how much she was getting to me.

Not now. Not here. Not in front of anyone.

Sophia leaned in a little closer, her voice lowering, the mocking tone turning darker. "It's kind of poetic, don't you think? How you thought you were different from the rest of us, how you thought you had him wrapped around your finger. But really... you were just another one of his distractions."

I could feel my chest tightening, the sting of her words sinking into me like poison.

I wanted to scream at her, to tell her that she didn't know anything about me or Alessandro or what we'd shared.

I wanted to defend myself, to tell her that she had no right to speak like that.

But I couldn't. I was frozen, trapped.

"From what I have heard, Mr. Russo has spent a lot of times with models these past three months then he usually does, I guess I have you to thank for that, right?"

Before I could respond, the shoot was called to begin, and she stepped away, a satisfied look on her face.

I tried to shake off the heavy feeling that clung to me as I returned to my spot, the camera flashing as I tried to push through.

But I wasn't present. I wasn't there.

I was somewhere else, somewhere deep inside my mind, where everything felt like it was crumbling.

After the shoot finally ended, the crew began to pack up, and the chaos of the day seemed to die down.

But I was left standing alone in the middle of it all, my legs unsteady, my heart in pieces.

I could still hear Sophia's voice echoing in my ears. Her cruel, taunting words.

I found my dressing room. I needed a moment to breathe, to gather myself before I completely lost control.

But as soon as I sat down on the chair, the barrier broke. The tears came in waves, hot, bitter, and unstoppable.

I pressed my hands to my face, trying to muffle the sobs, but they were too loud, too raw.

Everything that I had kept buried for months was now spilling out, crashing over me like an uncontrollable wave.

The hurt from Alessandro's abandonment. The shame from the accusations. The feeling that no one believed me, that no one saw the truth.

And now, the betrayal from Sophia, her words twisting the knife even further.

It was all too much. I had tried to be strong. I had tried to move on.

But I was broken. I was shattered, and there was no pretending otherwise.

I let the tears flow, the weight of everything pressing down on me.

I had been foolish to think I could keep going like this. I had been foolish to think that I could survive the wreckage of my heart without it completely consuming me. And now... now I was lost.

"Liliana?" a voice called gently from the doorway.

It was Mia, my assistant, standing there with concern written on her face.

I wiped my eyes quickly, but the damage was done. There was no hiding it now.

"I'm fine," I said, though it was a lie that tasted bitter on my tongue.

She stepped closer, her eyes soft with understanding. "No, you're not. I have watched you for these past three months, and you look like you're about to burst into tears."

I shook my head, though my heart felt too heavy. "I don't know how to keep going. I don't know how to keep pretending like everything's fine when I feel like I'm falling apart."

"You don't have to pretend," Mia said, sitting next to me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"You're allowed to feel everything. You're allowed to hurt. And you don't have to do this alone."

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to let someone in, to share the burden of the heartbreak that had become my constant companion.

But I was too afraid. Afraid of being vulnerable, afraid of letting anyone see how much I was hurting.

But for the first time in months, I allowed myself to lean into Mia's warmth, to let someone help me carry the weight.