Page 78 of Punishing His Runaway Bride
I stared at her.
"What do you know?"
"Me?" She looked startled. "I don't know anything. Just what I heard."
"Heard what?"
"Heard... she wasn't in a good mood last night." Bianca's voice softened. "Someone heard... noise from your room."
My fingers clutched the sweater tighter.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing." She shook her head, those brown eyes full of sincere concern. "I'm just worried about you. You look exhausted. You didn't sleep well last night, did you?"
"I'm not tired."
"Ezio." She leaned forward a bit, voice softer. "I know you care about her. But some things... you have to accept. She's not suited for life here. Never was from the start."
I stared at her.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean..." She sighed, like she was choosing her words carefully. "Her background is too low. Kids who grow up in that kind of family, their way of thinking is different from ours. When they face problems, their first reaction isn't to confront them—it's to run. See? Didn't she run? Doesn't want the child, doesn't want you—"
"Enough."
"Ezio, this is for your own good." She reached out, tried to touch my arm.
I moved away.
"One more thing," I said, staring into her eyes. "Hart said you're pregnant."
Bianca's expression froze for a moment.
That instant was brief, so brief you could barely catch it. But I saw it.
"Yes." She lowered her head, hand gently resting on her abdomen, a shy smile appearing on her face. "I was going to tell you myself. Didn't expect the elders to say it first..."
"When did it happen?"
"Three months ago." She looked up at me. "That night... the night you got drunk."
That night.
The night I got drunk.
I tried to remember, couldn't think of anything. Only remembered waking up, her lying next to me naked, smiling and saying, "You were so rough last night."
"I don't remember."
"You drank too much." She said softly, a bit of hurt in her eyes. "Not remembering is normal. But Ezio, this is your child."
I looked at her.
Those eyes, that expression, those words—everything so perfect, so proper, so flawless.
But why did I feel something off I couldn't quite name?
