All Chapters of Don's Priorities: Secretary's Cat, Then Our Child: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

I tore my gaze away from the dashboard display and reached for the door handle—only to discover, to my despair, that it was locked.Vito Costa had rushed off so quickly he'd completely forgotten I was still inside the car. Just as I was about to call him, the door finally opened."Get in the back, Luisa," he commanded. But when he saw the look of disbelief I gave him, he paused and deigned to explain, "You know that Sofia gets carsick. Don't cause a scene at a time like this."Standing beside him, Sofia Bianchi bit her lip. "Luisa, Nina's really sick right now. I have to take care of her. I promise, once she's better, I won't fight you for the front passenger seat anymore."I said nothing. Cradling my lower abdomen, I pushed through the pain and climbed out of the car, moving into the back seat.Right now, nothing else mattered. I just wanted my baby to be safe.Soon, the car headed down the road again, but it wasn't headed toward Riviera Hospital."Vito…" I called weakly.Bu

Vito froze. For a moment, he couldn't speak. He stared at me in disbelief before sneering, as though he'd suddenly realized what was going on."Luisa, you'll even threaten me with divorce, just to drive a wedge between Sofia and me? Stop being so dramatic. Why would you want a divorce from me when you're pregnant with my child?"His words made my hand instinctively drift to my abdomen. My eyes burned as if they'd been scorched by fire."The baby's gone, Vito. It died while you were taking Sofia's cat to the vet."Vito stood in stunned silence for a moment before letting out a contemptuous snort."I never knew you were this kind of person, Luisa. You'd actually curse our own child just to get my attention! That's enough. I've been swamped lately. I don't have time to play these childish games with you."I looked at him, my body trembling uncontrollably. Of course he was swamped. He had his hands full taking Sofia's cat to the vet, establishing her as his first love to the media,

The moment I regained cell service after landing in Newbourne, I saw a bunch of missed-call notifications. They were all from Vito. Realizing I hadn't blocked his number yet, I did it right away.Several hours earlier, in his office at Costa Group, Vito was lounging on the couch, idly scratching Nina's chin. But his gaze kept drifting toward the window.Sensing that he was distracted, Sofia put her tablet aside and asked softly, "Vito, are you still thinking about the situation with Luisa?"Vito stiffened, his fingers freezing on the back of Nina's neck."Do you think… it's possible that I'd wrongfully blamed her for it? When she got shot in the calf back then, I brought her to the hospital, and she had to get over a dozen stitches. But when she woke up, the first thing she did was ask if anyone was keeping an eye on our arms shipment."She has always kept an eye on the family business to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Would she really sell out the arms shipment route she put t

A year flew by, and I'd settled into my new job.One morning, I received an encrypted notification about a change in records for the Costa family's vault. The emerald pendant had been transferred back under my name.The vault manager sent me a message. "Don Vito says he knows he had wrongfully accused you back then. He wants to know where you are now."I stared at the message for a few seconds before firing back a curt response."It's none of his business where I am. Don't bother telling me about what's happening over on his side either."After sending the message, I continued reviewing some work documents. Not long after, my phone rang. It was a call from Riviera Hospital.When I answered, a nurse said to me, "Ms. Marino, the hospital recently launched a comprehensive newborn health screening package. It includes genetic screening and congenital development assessments, making it more thorough than previous prenatal checkups."Would you like to know more about it? I can send yo

In the past, I had always given in whenever Sofia asked me for help.When she wanted a job, I helped her with her job applications. When she wanted to be in charge of a project, I stayed up all night preparing her proposals.I had genuinely treated her as my best friend, but she went behind my back to seduce my husband."Sofia, we stopped being friends the moment you started trying to seduce Vito," I said before ending the call and blocking the number.…The next morning, when I left my apartment to head to work, the doorman called out to me in the lobby."Ms. Marino!"He glanced outside before lowering his voice, saying, "During the storm last night, a man spent the entire night kneeling outside your window. They had to haul him off at 4:00 am."Without pausing in my tracks, I replied, "Ignore him."I'd just opened the door to my car when a figure suddenly rushed out from behind a pillar and stood in my way.It was Vito. His shirt was completely soaked through, clinging to h