Chapter 7 - The First Pregnancy
Sofia had been pregnant once before.
Three years earlier.
She and Julian were engaged.
Only eight weeks along.
Sofia miscarried during a weekend at Bianca’s country house.
The doctors called it spontaneous.
Sofia blamed herself for months.
Bianca stayed beside her at the hospital.
She held Sofia while she cried.
She told her, “Sometimes babies simply aren’t meant to stay.”
Now Victor’s words poisoned that memory.
“What happened to my first baby?”
Bianca looked offended.
“Nothing.”
Lorenzo’s face changed.
“Answer her.”
“I had nothing to do with Sofia’s miscarriage.”
Victor leaned back.
“I didn’t say you did.”
That frightened Sofia more.
“What did you mean?”
Victor looked at Julian.
“You really don’t know?”
Julian stared at his brother.
Victor smiled without humor.
“Mom had a fertility specialist pull Sofia’s records before the wedding.”
Sofia’s mouth fell open.
Bianca snapped, “I was protecting Julian.”
“From what?” Sofia demanded.
“From marrying into a family without knowing whether there would be children.”
The cruelty of it stunned even Lorenzo.
“You had my daughter’s private medical records stolen?”
“I made inquiries.”
“You committed a crime.”
Bianca ignored him.
She had wanted confirmation Sofia could have children.
Why?
Because Lorenzo’s estate plan mattered.
Unknown to Sofia, Lorenzo had established a generation-skipping family trust years earlier.
If Sofia ever had children, a large block of Romano voting shares would eventually move into that descendant trust.
The arrangement was meant to protect future grandchildren.
Julian learned fragments of this structure during the engagement.
Bianca learned more.
Suddenly Sofia understood why Bianca became obsessed with grandchildren immediately after the wedding.
Why every dinner included questions.
Why every vacation seemed scheduled around Sofia’s fertility treatments after the miscarriage.
It wasn’t affection.
It was access.
Nico represented a future claim to Romano wealth.
Not because the Hales legally owned it.
Because they thought marriage and custody could position Julian to influence it.
Lorenzo looked devastated.
“I should have told you about the trust.”
Sofia shook her head.
“You created it to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“And they turned it into a target.”
Bianca finally lost control.
“You Romeros—”
“Romano,” Lorenzo corrected coldly.
“Whatever you call yourselves, you act as if money makes you morally superior.”
Sofia stared at her.
“You tried to steal my baby.”
Bianca looked away.
That was when Nurse Claire entered with a hospital pharmacist.
They had tested the cup.
The sedative came from a specific prescription.
It had been dispensed four days earlier.
To Julian Hale.
Sofia’s eyes moved toward her husband.
Julian looked stunned.
“I never picked that up.”
The pharmacist checked the signature.
Someone else had collected it.
Bianca Hale.
Julian stared at his mother.
For the first time, fear replaced anger.
“Mom?”
Bianca said nothing.
Julian whispered, “You told me you only wanted Sofia asleep.”
Sofia stopped breathing.
There it was.
Julian knew.
Maybe not everything.
But enough.
Lorenzo looked at him with disgust.
May you like
“You knew your mother was drugging my daughter.”
Julian’s silence answered.
