The Devil Who Claimed Me

"A hallucination?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

Now he finally understood why Nikolai had behaved like a complete lunatic. But instead of relief, anger surged inside him.

"That was reckless," he hissed. "You should have handled it more carefully. The hall was full of guests. Several people got injured. Things could have spiraled out of control. People could have died."

Dominic stiffened instantly. He didn’t like Luke’s tone.

"I told you to handle everything discreetly," Luke continued coldly. "Instead, you turned the entire party upside down. Now Mathias is furious and demanding answers. What am I supposed to tell him? That his man suddenly started hallucinating?"

"It was your assistant’s idea," Dominic growled. "I don’t use drugs, and I sure as hell don’t know how they affect people. I only did what I was told. If something went wrong, blame your assistant—not me."

Luke froze for a moment, caught off guard by his blunt response.

"You should focus on the result," Dominic continued sharply. "Nikolai is dead. And Mathias killed him with his own hands. That’s the best outcome we could’ve hoped for. His intel network will collapse now, and you’ll finally be able to place your own men inside it. Isn’t that exactly what you wanted? Then why aren’t you happy?"

Luke slammed his palm against the table furiously.

"I told you to make it look like an accident," he snapped. "But now Mathias has grown suspicious. And you know how dangerous that man is. If he truly starts doubting us, he can destroy all of us within minutes."

Dominic’s patience finally snapped.

"If you are that terrified of him," he said coldly, "then stop dreaming about taking him down. Because you are clearly not capable of it."

The insult struck directly at Luke’s pride.

"You..." Luke pointed at him furiously. "Know your place. If I want, I can destroy you right now."

"Do it," Dominic provoked fearlessly. "I’m not afraid of you. But we both know you won’t. Because you need me. Without me, you can’t even control your own family members—forget about taking down Mathias."

Luke’s expression darkened dangerously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Your wife and sons aren’t happy that you made Max your successor," Dominic revealed deliberately. "They are planning to harm him and his unborn child. If I hadn’t stepped in tonight, the baby would already be dead."

"What?"

Luke shot to his feet, shock and disbelief flashing across his face.

Without another word, Dominic pulled out his phone and played the video he had recorded earlier.

Luke watched the footage silently.

The venom in Celeste, Matteo, and Felix’s voices was unmistakable. Their hatred toward Max and Mila was painfully obvious.

As the video continued, Luke’s expression twisted darker and darker.

He knew his wife and sons disliked Max. But he had never imagined they hated him enough to target an unborn child.

"Your wife bribed a waitress and ordered her to slip an abortion drug into Mila’s drink," Dominic said coldly.

He then placed the small vial on the table in front of Luke.

"I stopped her in time. The waitress is still locked inside the utility room. You can interrogate her yourself if you want proof."

Luke stared at the vial silently before lifting his gaze toward Dominic. He hadn’t realized so much had happened behind his back tonight.

The party had been meant to publicly acknowledge Max and compensate for all the years he had lost. But instead, Celeste had nearly turned it into a disaster.

If Mila had truly lost the baby tonight, it would have created an enormous scandal.

And Dominic had stopped it.

Luke knew then that he still needed Dominic.

Without him, destroying Mathias would become nearly impossible.

Even though he disliked Dominic’s attitude and the way he spoke to him, he had no choice but to tolerate it for now. At the same time, however, Luke reminded himself to stay cautious.

Dominic could never learn the truth about the child.

Luke intended to keep the baby alive because it would become the perfect leash. Dominic was dangerous, unpredictable, and impossible to control for long. But if Dominic ever discovered that his own child was in Luke’s hands, he would never dare rebel against him.

Suppressing his uneasiness, Luke forced himself to calm down.

"Thank you for stopping the waitress and protecting the baby," he said evenly. "I’ll deal with Celeste and the others myself. But what about Mathias? How do we explain this situation to him?"

"It’s simple," Dominic replied casually, as though the matter were insignificant. "People who used that drug already complained about hallucinations. Some even blacked out for hours. Just tell him Nikolai took the drug and lost control because of the side effects. The autopsy report will show traces of the drug in his system. There is no reason for Mathias to suspect us."

Only then did Luke finally relax slightly.

The explanation sounded believable enough.

"Fine. We’ll use that story."

Even so, he kept his expression stern.

"But next time, be more careful. One mistake could expose all of us. Understood?"

"I know." Dominic turned toward the door. "Can I leave now?"

Luke waved his hand dismissively.

Dominic walked out immediately without another glance.

The moment the door shut behind him, Luke’s expression darkened bit by bit.

"I warned you not to touch Max or Mila," he muttered coldly. "Yet you still dared to target the unborn child. You brought this upon yourselves."

He also left the room and returned to the mansion.

When he entered the master bedroom, he found Celeste seated in front of the vanity mirror, dressed in her silk nightgown while applying moisturizer to her hands as if nothing had happened.

The moment Luke stepped inside, their eyes met through the mirror.

"So you finally came back?" Celeste scoffed sarcastically. "What a wonderful party. Chaos, blood, and murder. It felt more like a mafia battlefield than a celebration."

"And here I thought you were dead," Luke hissed coldly. "Thank goodness you are still alive and breathing."

Celeste sneered and turned toward him fully.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she snapped. "Were you hoping I’d die?"

Luke crossed the room in quick strides and grabbed her arm violently.

"I warned you to stay away from Max and Mila," he growled. "Yet you still plotted against them. You even tried to kill her baby?"

Celeste gasped slightly, shocked that he already knew.

She had thought she had covered everything carefully. Then her lips twisted bitterly.

’So what if he found out?’ she thought resentfully. ’The baby must already be gone anyway.’

She had seen Max carrying Mila out unconscious and assumed the abortion drug had worked.

"Yes, I did it," she admitted without hesitation. "My sons are the rightful heirs of the Bellini family. I’ll never accept some bastard stealing their inheritance."

"Are you challenging me?" Luke hissed, tightening his grip painfully around her arm.

"Yes," Celeste shot back fearlessly. "I’ll fight for my sons’ rights no matter what."

Luke’s nostrils flared with fury. "You’ve left me no choice," he said coldly. "You’ll face the consequences now."

Fear instantly gripped Celeste’s heart. Her face paled.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked uneasily.

Luke smiled dangerously.

"You tried to kill Max’s unborn child. What kind of punishment do you think you deserve?"

"I’m your wife, Luke," Celeste shouted angrily. "You can’t punish me."

"Oh, I absolutely can," Luke hissed. "I’m sending you to the countryside. Stay there and reflect on your actions."

"What?" Celeste exclaimed in disbelief. "No. You can’t send me away."

"You should be grateful that exile is all you are getting," Luke muttered darkly. "If you continue testing my patience, I’ll make things much worse for you."

For the first time, Celeste truly became afraid.

"You..." Tears welled in her eyes. "You are a monster. I hate you."

Luke sneered coldly. "You haven’t seen what a real monster looks like yet."

He stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Guard."

A man in a black suit immediately entered the room.

"Take her to the farmhouse," Luke ordered coldly. "She is not allowed to leave that place until I say otherwise. And she is forbidden from contacting anyone. Understood?"

"Yes, boss."

"Luke," Celeste cried out desperately. "You can’t keep me away from my sons."

But Luke ignored her completely and waved dismissively.

The guard grabbed Celeste’s arm firmly and dragged her out of the mansion while she was still dressed in her nightclothes.

Luke then pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

The moment the call connected, he ordered coldly, "Put Felix and Matteo under house arrest. I don’t want either of them trying anything against Max or Mila."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the hospital...

Mila slowly woke up and found herself lying in a hospital bed.

Fragments of the night immediately rushed back into her mind—the party, the crowd of guests, Luke’s shocking announcement, and then the chaos that followed.

The terrifying image of the lunatic charging at her with a knife flashed through her head.

Her body instantly stiffened as she sat upright in panic.

Max, who had fallen asleep in the chair beside her bed, woke up immediately.

"Hey, you are awake," he said groggily, his voice thick with sleep.

Mila turned toward him, still dazed and confused.

"You brought me here?" she asked weakly. "What happened to me?"

Max rubbed his tired eyes. "You fainted, so I brought you to the hospital."

"Fainted..." Mila repeated blankly.

Then her hand instinctively moved toward her stomach.

"And my baby?" Panic flooded her face instantly. "Tell me the baby is okay."

"Yes," Max reassured her quickly. "The baby is perfectly fine."

Mila released a deep breath of relief. But the relief didn’t last long.

The memory of the mysterious man who had saved her suddenly resurfaced.

That voice...

It had sounded exactly like Dominic.

For one fleeting moment, she had believed Dominic had finally come back for her in disguise.

"That man..." she said hurriedly. "Where is he?"

"What man?" Max frowned in confusion.

"The man who saved me."

"Oh... you mean Roman?"

"Roman?" Mila repeated slowly, her brows knitting together.

"Yes," Max replied. "He is my father’s secretary."