Giving Birth to The Italian Billionaire’s Baby

“I myself don’t understand, what ‘new beginning’ you want. Because my cousin clearly started a new beginning since you chose to leave him,” Antony responds in his flat tone.

The man’s eyes glance back at Adaline hiding. Perhaps to make sure Adaline hears all of his words. And now Adaline realizes who Jovanka is, her status, and the reason why the woman is here and searching for her husband.

“Please, Antony. Give me one more chance.” The woman looks so pitiful. Her face seems pleading.

“It’s useless to plead to me. I’m nobody. I have nothing to do with your relationship.

“If you really want to meet him, just find him. Because if you truly know him, you’d know where he is,” Antony says before leaving the lobby area toward the executive elevator, followed by Gian and Duncan.

From her spot, Adaline can see Jovanka sitting back on the sofa. The woman’s shoulders appear to be trembling, her face covered by her hands adorned with diamond rings.

On one hand, Adaline feels pity. On the other hand, she feels that she must show more compassion to herself. Because now, the figure her husband once loved is back. And that makes Adaline realize that her own position is not secure. The beloved wife has returned, which means she must revert to her role as the substitute mother. Yes, she’s just a surrogate mother figure, and she shouldn’t expect more.

Unconsciously, Adaline strokes her belly. Her presence now seems significant because of the fetus inside her. But if the fetus is no longer there, she’s clearly nobody.

Adaline turns her body, walking towards the elevator, passing the other side of the door so Jovanka wouldn’t notice her.

Fifteen minutes later, she notices Tessa’s presence at her desk.

“Everyone’s buzzing about Jovanka Lawrence being in our company?” That was the first sentence the girl uttered.

Adaline nods in response.

“What is the supermodel doing in our company? Is our company making an ad with her as the model?” She asks curiously.

Adaline shrugs. It feels more appropriate for her to pretend not to know.

“Maybe I can ask Duncan about it later,” she mumbles, ending their conversation for the afternoon.

Altezza came home late that night. He said he’d have dinner out with his colleagues. But Adaline, alone in the apartment, instead thinks of bad things. She suspects that Altezza didn’t really go out with his client but met Jovanka Lawrence, his ex-wife.

But she quickly dismisses her negative thoughts. Even if in reality, he did meet Jovanka Lawrence, she has no right to forbid it. She’s nobody to him. She only holds the status of a wife. But in fact, she’s nothing more than a surrogate mother. A woman needed by Altezza to carry his descendants.

Adaline glances at the clock on the living room nightstand. It’s already nine o’clock, and the man still hasn’t returned. She checks her phone, but he hasn’t sent any messages either. Eventually, Adaline rises. She’s tired enough tonight. Her heart feels weary.

She gets up from the couch and decides to go to bed. When she’s about to enter the room they’ve been sharing, Adaline changes her mind. From the start, that place wasn’t suitable for her.

She walks back and enters another room that Altezza had given her from the beginning. Locking the door from inside, Adaline finally lays her body on the bed that she hasn’t used in months.

She closes her eyes but still can’t drift off to sleep. The day grows later, but she also doesn’t hear any signs of Altezza’s presence. Where is he? Why doesn’t he even want to contact her? Why doesn’t he give any updates on his whereabouts or when he’ll come home?

Adaline feels utterly unimportant to him. She feels unconsidered. Her heart feels tight and painful. She knew about all of this from the beginning, but why can’t she accept it gracefully?

Adaline suppresses her tears, trying to calm herself down. But even though she holds back her tears from falling, they still stream down her cheeks. Adaline eventually falls asleep, still with tears on her eyelids, unaware of the time.

Adaline wakes up with swollen eyes and a throbbing headache. She’s late. She quickly gets up from her bed, finishes her chores, and heads to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The atmosphere in the apartment is so quiet. She wonders what time Altezza came back last night. Did he look for her? What was his reaction when he found out that Adaline didn’t sleep in their room but in her own room with the door locked?

All of her questions were answered in a piece of paper. The man was no longer in the apartment because he had to catch an early flight to Lombok. There was an issue with his father’s branch hotel in that city.

He didn’t attempt to wake Adaline up. He also didn’t try to ask or wonder why Adaline chose to sleep in her own room instead of theirs.

Adaline’s sense of inferiority resurfaces. Whether it’s due to pregnancy hormones or her becoming a bit more sensitive, she feels like she’s no longer needed.

Or perhaps it’s because the man’s desire to have a child will soon be fulfilled, so he no longer needs to bother paying attention to Adaline.

Adaline sits quietly at the dining table. Her interest in making breakfast has vanished. She doesn’t even feel hungry anymore, despite only eating a little last night.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Adaline stands up and gets ready to go to work. She gently taps her cheeks. Encouraging herself. Trying to keep thinking positively for the sake of the baby she’s carrying.

Everything will be okay. She just has to play her role. She may be the man’s legal wife, but she’s not the woman he loves.

She’s just a woman carrying his son or daughter, but not a mother to his children. That sentence keeps revolving in her mind. More as a reminder that she shouldn’t expect something she shouldn’t hope for.