Chapter 2 - The Silent Birth
At 2:14 AM, the faint, desperate cry of an infant echoed through Operating Room 3.
"Time of birth: 2:14 AM," Dr. Ellis announced, her hands carefully holding a tiny, five-pound boy. "He’s small, Natalie, but his lungs are fighting."
Natalie opened her eyes, swimming through the haze of anesthesia. They held the baby up to her face for a brief second—a tiny, wrinkled creature with a shock of dark hair and small, flailing fingers. She pressed her lips to his forehead, tasting salt and warm skin.
"Leo," she whispered, her voice barely a thread. "His name is Leo."
Before she could hold him, the neonatal team swept Leo away, placing him inside a heated incubator and wheeling him directly to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
By 4:00 AM, Michael DeLuca had still not arrived.
Instead, the door to Natalie’s private recovery room swung open, and two men in sharp black suits stepped inside. They weren't doctors. They were Michael’s senior corporate security officers, led by a ruthless enforcer named Paulie Russo.
"Mrs. DeLuca," Paulie said, keeping his hands folded in front of his suit. "Mr. DeLuca sent us to secure your personal belongings. The company laptop and the encrypted hard drives you took from the house need to be returned immediately."
Natalie sat propped up against her pillows, pale, exhausted, with an IV line still taped to her wrist. But when she looked up at Paulie, the soft, patient woman who had spent ten years forgiving Michael’s absences was gone.
"Get out," she said quietly.
Paulie took a step closer to the bed. "We have orders, Natalie. Don't make this difficult. You signed a non-disclosure and asset agreement when Michael took the company public."
"I signed a prenuptial agreement that stated I retained all personal property owned prior to the marriage," Natalie replied, her gaze unyielding. "That laptop contains my nursing credentials, my mother’s medical records, and the original incorporation documents for the warehouse lease. If you take one more step toward my bag, I will press this emergency nurse button and file felony burglary charges against you before you reach the lobby."
Paulie sneered. "Michael controls the police district, Natalie. You have no money, no leverage, and no husband. You're sitting in a hospital room alone while Michael is at the Drake Hotel celebrating the new port acquisition with Vanessa."
"She isn't alone," a cold, sharp voice echoed from the doorway.
Paulie turned. Dominick Vance stepped into the room, flanked by four heavily armed private security operatives wearing the badge of Vance Global Security.
Paulie’s eyes widened. "Vance? What the hell are you doing here? This is DeLuca family business."
"It ceased being DeLuca business the moment your boss abandoned his lawful wife during a medical emergency," Dominick said, pulling a legal injunction from his breast pocket and slapping it onto Paulie’s chest. "This is a temporary restraining order issued by Federal Magistrate Kane. You, Michael DeLuca, Vanessa Romano, and any employee of DeLuca Atlantic are barred from coming within five hundred feet of Natalie DeLuca or her infant son."
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Paulie looked at the document, then at the armed men standing behind Dominick. His mouth tightened. "Michael will tear this city apart."
"Tell Michael to keep his hands in his pockets," Dominick said smoothly. "Because tomorrow morning, he’s getting served."
