The Don Prayed for Me, Then Betrayed Me Chapter 05

Silence stretched on the other end of the line for so long the nurse feared the call had dropped.

She spoke up again, uncertain. “Mr. Vitale? Are you still there?”

Lorenzo clutched his phone tight, all color draining from his face in an instant.

The officiant stood beside him, smiling as he prompted the ceremony forward. “Don Vitale, it’s time to exchange rings.”

The crowd of wealthy family guests murmured and cheered from the banquet tables.

Mara stood across from him in her wedding gown, her expression soft and glowing from his attention.

She tilted her head, confused. “Lorenzo? What’s wrong?”

Lorenzo acted as if he couldn’t hear her.

His Adam’s apple bobbed harshly, his voice cracking to a raw rasp. “What did you just say?”

The nurse repeated herself slowly. “Mrs. Vitale just completed a termination surgery. You’re her designated emergency contact on all medical paperwork. We haven’t been able to reach her cell phone.”

Termination surgery.

The two words crashed over Lorenzo like a lightning strike.

His grip crushed the phone in his palm. “Elena was pregnant?”

The nurse paused briefly before confirming, “Yes. Two months along.”

Lorenzo’s knees buckled beneath him. The ring box slipped from his fingers, clattering against the marble floor. The wedding band rolled several feet away across the tiles.

A collective murmur of shock rippled through every guest in attendance.

Mara’s warm smile froze solid on her face.

She darted forward to steady his arm. “Lorenzo—”

Lorenzo wrenched his arm away so hard she stumbled backward. “Be quiet.”

It was the first time he’d ever spoken to her with such unbridled fury.

Mara stood frozen, tears instantly flooding her eyes. “You yelled at me?”

In all the years they’d hidden their affair, one single tear from her had always sent Lorenzo rushing to soothe her.

But this time, he didn’t spare her a single glance.

His gaze stayed locked on the phone in his hand, voice shaking violently. “Where is she now?”

The nurse flinched at the volume of his shout. “I don’t know, sir.”

The call cut dead. Lorenzo spun on his heel and stormed toward the banquet exit.

Mara’s panic spiked. She lifted her wedding gown’s heavy skirt and chased after him. “Lorenzo! Our ceremony isn’t finished! You promised me this day.”

Lorenzo’s footsteps halted.

He twisted to face her, his gaze frigid enough to frost over stone. “Mara. Elena was carrying my child.”

Mara’s face blanched for half a second, before she burst into loud, aggrieved sobs. “But she chose to end it herself! Lorenzo, don’t forget we have our own son together. He’s waltzing for you in the family lounge right now. You swore you’d give him a complete family today.”

She grabbed a fistful of his suit sleeve, tugging desperately.

A sharp, agonized pain twisted across Lorenzo’s features—not for Mara, but for the memory of Elena long ago.

He suddenly recalled the quiet question she’d asked him once, curled up safe i

his arms.

“Lorenzo, if we ever have a baby, who’ll they look like?”

He’d pressed a soft kiss to her forehead then, whispering promises into her hair. “You. They’ll have your beautiful face, your sweet little pout. I’ll be the best father in the entire world for our child.”

Their baby had existed, growing inside her. But he’d never known.

He’d been too busy buying lavish jewelry for Mara, planning a secret wedding for her, playing husband and father beside another woman.

The night she’d wrapped her fingers around his wrist, begging him to stay home with her, he’d pried her hands apart and left anyway.

Lorenzo doubled over, overwhelmed by a weight too heavy to bear.

Mara abandoned her fragile act, screaming through her tears. “Lorenzo Vitale! You can’t walk out on me! What will I do if you leave right now? What about our son?”

Lorenzo lifted his head, his tone cold and heavy with blame. “I told you from the start our affair had to stay hidden from Elena at all costs. Elena’s always been the one I love. Only her.”

Mara stiffened completely.

Lorenzo squeezed his eyes shut, his chest splitting open with unbearable remorse.

“Elena…”

He whispered her name softly, and it sounded absurd, echoing through the packed wedding reception hall full of witnesses to his betrayal.

Mara reached for him again, but Lorenzo shoved her aside and sprinted out of the banquet hall without a second glance back.

He raced straight to the private clinic.

The nurse handed over the thick file folder without a word.

Inside lay the positive ultrasound, full surgical documentation, and a copy of Elena’s outbound flight itinerary—departing that afternoon at three o’clock, destination a country with no medical record sharing agreement.

Lorenzo’s hands shook so violently he could barely hold the paper slip listing her flight details.

The nurse spoke up quietly, unable to hold back her sympathy. “Mrs. Vitale didn’t have anyone with her during the procedure. She sat completely silent the entire time pre-op. A single tear fell right before they wheeled her in. I asked if she wanted to wait for family to join her. She told me she had no family to come.”

No family.

Lorenzo’s eyes burned red instantly.

A flood of memories crashed over him: the night Elena woke from the crash, weak and trembling, clutching his hand tight.

“Lorenzo,” she’d whispered, “don’t ever leave me, okay?”

He’d knelt beside her hospital bed then, breaking down into messy tears, vowing everything to her. “I won’t. I’d rather die than walk away from you.”

Yet he’d left her alone time and time again.

Left her to face an abortion by herself when she needed him most.

Left her with nothing but shattered hope when she’d asked him to stay.

Lorenzo pulled out his phone and dialed Elena’s number over and over, dozens of times in a row.

Every call hit a cold automated message telling him the line was disconnected.

He finally understood. Elena had blocked every way to reach her. She’d truly cut him out of her life for good.

Lorenzo stood alone in the empty clinic hallway, clutching her surgical records tight to his chest.

A bitter, broken laugh bubbled up from his throat, and hot tears spilled down his cheeks seconds later. “Elena. I’m so sorry.”

The hallway stretched empty and silent around him.

No one stood there to cradle him through his pain anymore, no soft voice asking quietly: Lorenzo, does it hurt?