Becoming Mrs DeLuca novel Chapter 84

**Through Shadows We Painted Our Forever by Erynn Vel Coren**

**Chapter 84**

**VALENTINA**

The air in my lungs felt like it had vanished, leaving me breathless and frozen in place. A heavy weight settled on my chest as I stared at Serena, unable to tear my gaze away from her haunted expression.

“What? He hit you?” I managed to stammer, the disbelief evident in my voice.

Serena’s voice trembled, quaking with a mix of fear and anger. “He beat me until I couldn’t stand. Until I couldn’t even breathe. I was heavily pregnant, Valentina, and in that moment, I went into premature labor right there. Adrian called his trusted doctor to deliver the baby. She was snatched right from me, and I barely caught a glimpse of her face before everything went dark.”

She gestured weakly toward the machines surrounding us, their beeping a constant reminder of her suffering. “Adrian bought all of this equipment to keep me here, so I wouldn’t have to go to a hospital… so no one would discover what he had done. He wanted me treated right under his nose, like a prisoner. I thought I was going to die. And maybe I did, for a while. Because when I finally woke up, I found myself in this room, surrounded by machines, needles piercing my arm.”

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. “He kept you here.”

“Sometimes I’d hear voices—Adrian’s, the nurse’s, the doctor’s. And then one day, I heard him. Her gaze flickered up to meet mine, her eyes wide with the memory. “He was standing right there,” she said, pointing to the corner near the door. “Talking to someone on the phone. I’ll never forget what he said.”

A chill ran down my spine. “What did he say?”

Her lips quivered, then tightened into a grim line. “She’s gone,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “It’s over. We’ll hold the funeral next week.” She paused, her expression darkening. “He said it so easily, as if he were announcing the weather.”

My stomach twisted violently at the implications. “He told everyone you were dead.”

Serena nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “He even arranged for a closed casket. I didn’t know any of this until later, but I could sense something was off. When I finally regained full consciousness, maybe a couple of weeks later, the room was empty. The nurse on duty had fallen asleep in that chair.” She pointed to a worn armchair in the corner, its fabric faded and frayed. “Her phone was sitting on the table. I took it. I was immediately bombarded with news of my death. One notification was all it took to drag me into a rabbit hole of my own demise.”

“My husband had told the world I was dead. He’d held a funeral, with a closed casket, of course, claiming it was for my dignity.” Her voice cracked under the weight of her emotions. “But I wasn’t dead. I was right here, locked up like an animal.”

“And you couldn’t tell anyone you were alive?” I asked, incredulous.

Serena let out a small, humorless laugh. “Who would I have told, Valentina? He controls everything. My family, our family, they’re all tied to him. Even Lorenzo’s death was swept under the rug. Everyone believes I’m gone because Adrian made sure of it. The only people who ever came here were his doctors, his guards, or Sybil when she came to clean while I wasn’t awake. And they all think I’m brain-dead. It’s safer that way.”

“Sybil knows?” I asked, my heart racing at the revelation.

“Of course she does.”

I felt a wave of confusion wash over me. Sybil had been aware of this entire time. I thought back to how she had always advised me to keep my mouth shut and obey Adrian. Was that a warning or a command?

My throat felt raw as I struggled to comprehend the gravity of the situation. “You could have run. Or at least called for help?”

She let out a bitter laugh that held no humor. “You think I didn’t try? He had nurses watching me day and night. No one would dare speak to me. I was weak, half-drugged most of the time.”

She looked up, her eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine. “Adrian had buried me alive.”

A wave of nausea hit me, and my palms grew slick with sweat as my mind raced to process her words.

“I realized if I let him know I was awake, he’d kill me for real. So I stayed quiet, pretending to still be in a coma. The nurse came and went. The doctors stopped checking on me as frequently. Time passed. I don’t even know how long.” She rubbed her hands together, as if trying to soothe the memories. “But then one day, I heard my babies crying. And I knew I couldn’t stay still anymore.”

“That’s when you came downstairs,” I whispered, piecing together the fragments of her story.

She nodded, a flicker of pain crossing her face. “Stefan had grown so much. I missed him more than I can express. I started sneaking out at night, just to watch him sleep. I thought I was being careful, but one night, he woke up. I had no choice but to tell him not to tell anyone. He was scared, but he promised.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify