Chasing His Abandoned Donna

After losing my unborn baby, I finally rid myself of every habit Matteo Cassano hated. He spent entire nights with Seraphina. I stopped calling. He didn’t go home for several days, I stopped waiting. Even when I fractured my leg in a car crash, I simply told the doctor, "Don’t let him know." Yet, Matteo began to feel uncomfortable with my changes. He hated my composure, asking why I had turned so indifferent. I never told him that I had already filed for divorce, and accepted the invitation to a top-secret medical research project in Zurich. In seven days, I would cut off all communication with the outside world completely. Matteo assumed I was merely throwing a fit. He was confident that I would return to him sooner or later, just as I had countless times before. When the divorce decree arrived at the Cassano Manor, he finally realized I had taken everything with me and canceled all my contact info. The woman who once wept for him if he was even an hour late coming home would never look back at him again. Chapter 1 After losing my unborn baby, I finally rid myself of every habit Matteo Cassano hated. I no longer cried, threw fits, or begged for his company. Even when my car was rear-ended, I also no longer needed him. The emergency responders pulled me from the twisted wreckage, anxiously telling me to contact my family. I merely said in a hollow voice, "I’m an orphan. I have no emergency contact to notify." However, a nurse recognized me. Her movements froze, her eyes filled with terror. "You... you are Mr. Cassano's wife, aren't you? He is upstairs in the VIP surgical ward right now. Should I go get him?" It took me a few seconds to process her words. I had almost forgotten that this private hospital was an asset under the Cassano Family. I shook my head and said softly, "No, please." Yet half an hour later, the heavy oak door of the ward was pushed open. Matteo walked in. Under the dim halogen lights, his formidable frame cast a long, suffocating shadow. Just a slight lowering of his cold brow radiated a lethal pressure that made the air in the room run thin. "You were in a car accident, Callista, and you didn't even press the distress signal on your location necklace?" Matteo's voice was low and gravelly, laced with cold displeasure. "Why didn't you contact my men?" I lowered my eyelids, looking at the dark purple velvet blanket over my splinted leg. "This was not an attack, just a simple rear-end collision. Besides, it is only a minor fracture." Unlike usual, my understated tone caused an inexplicable wave of irritation to rise in Matteo's chest. In his memory, I was supposed to be the person who relied most on his protection. When we first started dating, even if I only had a mild fever, I would curl up in his lap, demanding his exclusive warmth, coaxing, kisses, and hugs. But now, I had broken a leg in a car crash, yet I did not even flinch. Perhaps it was this contrast that gave him an uneasy feeling that something was slipping out of his control. Just as Matteo was about to say something, low whispers from nurses in the hallway drifted through the crack in the door. "Mr. Cassano spoils Miss Seraphina so much! Her knee was merely scraped, but he summoned an entire team of top orthopedic experts directly from Milan. He stays by her side every second himself, carrying her in his arms wherever she goes.” “Exactly! He never let her feet touch the ground!" Matteo's jaw tightened instantly. A clear look of anger showed on his face, yet his gaze involuntarily drifted toward me out of the corner of his eye, staring at me closely. He seemed to be waiting for me to get jealous and yell to question his relationship with Seraphina, then demand his absolute favoritism as I used to. However, I didn’t even lift my eyelids. I just lay quietly on the bed with my eyes closed, pretending to sleep. The air in the ward grew increasingly heavy. Matteo lowered his tone and made an unprecedented move to explain proactively. "Don't believe them. Seraphina accidentally bumped her knee while taking photos today. I was just dropping her off at the hospital on my way back to headquarters." "Got it," I replied softly, and fell silent again. Matteo's brow furrowed even tighter, a trace of anger and hard-to-detect frustration slipping through his usually self-controlled voice: "You don't believe me, do you?" "I believe you," I responded to his every word in a tone that was calm and precise, but lacking any warmth: "Seraphina is your adopted sister. You two grew up together, so it’s only right that you care about her." In the past, whenever Seraphina interfered in our lives, Matteo would always scold me with a cold face: "Put away your filthy thoughts! Seraphina is my sister. I cannot leave her uncared for! Just stop throwing tantrums!" Now, I truly did as he wished: no longer crying, no longer throwing tantrums. Shouldn't he feel relieved and satisfied? Why was his expression so heavy, as if he had lost something important? At that moment, a guard knocked on the door timidly and opened it. "Don Matteo, Miss Seraphina says her knee hurts badly. She asks if you could go up to keep her company?" Matteo was extremely irritated. He sub-consciously yelled at that guard: "If her knee hurts, go find the attending physician! I’m not a doctor, what does she expect me to go up there for?! Get out!" The guard fled in terror. Matteo turned around to look at me, his deep blue eyes filled with a rare sense of apology. He stepped forward slowly and sat down beside my bed. "Callista..." He reached out his broad, calloused hand with gun calluses, attempting to hold my cold fingers. "Are you still sad about our baby? I know that was indeed Seraphina's fault, and I’ve already disciplined her." He paused, his voice dropping as he whispered in a tone he thought would comfort me: "I’ll cancel all my plans for the next week to stay with you. Is that okay?" I said nothing, pulling my hand out from his palm. Matteo frowned, a dangerous anger just about to flare up in his eyes. Suddenly, a clatter of metal crutches hitting the marble floor echoed from the doorway. Seraphina had actually dragged herself all the way downstairs on crutches and collapsed "coincidentally" and weakly at the door of my ward. Without a second of hesitation, Matteo bolted away from my bedside instantly and scooped Seraphina up off the floor. "Why are you running around again?" Matteo scolded her sharply, with his tone filling with undeniable tension and protectiveness. "I’ve told you to rest in bed." "I heard Callista got into a car accident," Seraphina walked in looking pitiful, tears of grievance glistening in her eyes. "I’d like to come to see her." Then, as if frightened out of her wits, she suddenly shrank into Matteo's arms. She choked up and looked at me on the hospital bed, her voice as weak as a frightened lamb: "Callista, please don't be angry with me. About what happened before... I really didn't mean it." What s malicious woman! How dare she bring it up! If this were the past, I would have collapsed completely. I would have been hysterical, I would have yelled, and I would have wept as I questioned Matteo, asking why he protected the woman who had killed our unborn baby over and over again. But now, I said nothing. I just lay quietly on the bed, pretending to be asleep. My face was as pale as paper, and my figure looked extraordinarily frail under the bedsheet. Beside me, Matteo's breathing sank slightly. He lowered his voice, a trace of tentativeness in his tone that even he himself had not noticed: "I will take Seraphina upstairs first, and I will come right back down to stay with you." Then he picked up Seraphina and left. Just as I guessed, he didn’t show up again for the rest of the night. Instead, an international call came into my phone from the director of the top-secret medical research project in Zurich. "Dr. Callista, are you sure you plan to participate in this top-secret neural gene project?" The other party's voice was extremely serious: "This is a black-box project at the highest international level. Once you sign the agreement and enter the closed laboratory, you will need to stay at the base for a full ten years. During this period, you will be completely disconnected from the outside world, and you must not contact anyone, not even your husband." "I’m sure," I answered quickly. "Rest assured. I have already submitted the divorce application, and I will get the divorce decree in seven days. A free person completely without ties, and a project isolated from the world, it’s simply too perfect." The person on the other end of the line was shocked. "Sorry, but... are you serious? Everyone in the institute know how deeply you loved your husband. To marry him, you gave up so many top academic positions, otherwise you would have become the youngest chief medical scientist on our academic committee long ago." “So...are you sure you won't regret this decision?" "I don't regret it, and I won't regret it in the future." My tone had no ups and downs: "Seven days from now, I'll be leaving here..." No sooner had the words left my mouth than a familiar, magnetic voice suddenly came from behind me. "Who's leaving?" I hung up the phone and turned around, only to meet Matteo’s flustered gaze. Chapter 2 I shifted my gaze away: "Nothing." To prevent him from noticing that phone call, I shifted the topic without a ripple of emotion. "Why did you come here in the middle of the night? Is something the matter?" Matteo's jaw was tight, and he seemed a bit hesitant. “The annual banquet of the Cassano family is approaching. As the Don, I have to attend with my Donna.” “You know how tedious the banquet rituals are. You used to be worn out every year after it. Now with your broken leg, attending the banquet will only worsen your injury.” He paused for a few seconds before going on. “So I’d like to let Seraphina to go with me.” My expression didn’t change at all, showing no surprise or dissatisfaction with his words. Looking at my calm face, Matteo sighed. "To make Seraphina's presence legitimate, you need to hand over the Donna brooch." He was referring to the Cassano family heirloom passed down through generation, which is a blood-red ruby brooch that only the Donna was qualified to wear. Before I could say anything, Matteo hurriedly added: "Don't worry, it's just a temporary loan to her. As soon as the dinner ends, I will bring the brooch back to you immediately." Obviously, he had prepared himself for a storm. He thought I would refuse to cooperate or even throw a major fit as I used to. But I didn't even knit my brows. I simply took out a delicate presentation box from my handbag calmly and handed the brooch, which I had once treasured as a precious gift, into his hands without a single drop of lingering attachment. My cooperation and coldness stunned Matteo. A rare flicker of disbelief and anxiety flashed across his deep blue eyes. He didn't take the brooch right away. Instead, he frowned, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. Before he could speak, the anxious voice of a nurse calling out came from the doorway. "Don Matteo! Miss Seraphina has a severe stomach ache. The situation is dangerous, please come up and take a look!" Matteo looked so impatient. "She’s always causing trouble!" He yelled at his subordinate in an extremely foul tone, "Prescribe some painkillers for her and stop bothering me!" No matter how harshly he cursed, after the nurse stepped back, Matteo still put away the brooch, turned around, and walked upstairs quickly to stay with Seraphina. He always did this. No matter how sternly he scolded her verbally, his actual actions were always unconditionally biased toward Seraphina. I was long accustomed to this inconsistency between his words and actions. So I said nothing, simply closing my eyes slowly and going back to sleep. However, not long after I fell asleep, the ward door was banged open violently again. Matteo strode in, grabbed me roughly off the hospital bed, and pinned my shoulders tightly with his vice-like fingers, roaring, "What did you do?!" I looked at him blankly, not yet fully awake from my sleep. His eyes were bloodshot, and his whole body exuded a bloodthirsty rage, as if I were not his closest wife, but a mortal enemy who had taken his beloved away. "Seraphina suddenly had a stomach ache and vomited blood. The doctor diagnosed it as poisoning. What on earth did you do to her?!" I sneered, meeting his eyes fearlessly. "On what grounds do you conclude that I poisoned her? My leg is broken and I can barely even move!" "Who else could it be if not you?! Callista, you know this hospital is guarded layer by layer by heavily armed bodyguards, and the security level of Seraphina's ward is impeccable. It’s absolutely impossible for an outsider to slip in and plant poison. She only came downstairs to see you once tonight. She was poisoned right after she went back!" Chapter 3 I stared blankly at the Mafia King. Everyone feared his wrath, but to me now, none of it mattered anymore. "When she came here, you were there the entire time. How could I have poisoned her? If you don't believe me, go ahead and dispatch your investigation team to look into me." "Or if you don't care about the truth and just want a scapegoat to vent your frustration for your precious Seraphina, then just punish me directly. Don Matteo, feel free to inflict whatever penalties you use for traitors on me." Matteo froze. In the past, Seraphina had used similar tricks to frame and smear me countless times. When we attended a banquet together, she deliberately threw herself down the marble stairs, then tearfully claimed that I pushed her. When I cooked for her and Matteo, she splashed drops of hot oil onto her own hands, then bit her lip, looking pitiful as she said Callista didn't mean to do it. Such incidents were too numerous to count. Back then, I wouldstill try to explain, hoping Matteo would believe me. Now, I couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid. I was completely numb. I wouldn't even feel a single trace of heartbreak over Matteo's misunderstandings anymore. Matteo felt an ache stifling his chest. He grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to face him. "What do you mean by taking it out on you? Callista, if you feel wronged, you can tell me! Don't speak with such cold sarcasm. I am your husband, not your rival!" Looking at the man whom I had once loved so deeply, I closed my eyes helplessly. "Matteo, I have nothing left to say to you." Matteo's heart shuddered violently. "...What do you mean? " He instantly grew restless and uneasy. Panic even surfaced on the face of the fearsome Don Matteo. I could sense that he desperately wanted to say or do something to force me to stay. This extreme sense of anxiety and helplessness made the usually composed Matteo lose control. "Callista, why have you been so cold to me lately? You weren't like this before!" I turned my back on him, my tone devoid of emotion: "Before? Didn't you always think I was annoying before? Now I don't annoy you anymore, what else are you dissatisfied with?" A single sentence instantly left Matteo speechless. I used to always cling to her. I always asked him where he's going, what he's going to do, and who he's with. He found me annoying and disliked that I would get jealous for no reason. "As the Donna of the Cassano family, can't you show a bit of proper composure? Seraphina is my sister! Getting jealous over her—aren't you afraid of being laughed at?" He had scolded me more than once. Now, I had finally done as he wished. I no longer clung to him, nor did I ask about his life. So why did he seem unaccustomed to it now? Just then, a nurse's trembling voice came from the doorway. "Don Matteo, we have finished pumping Miss Seraphina's stomach. She is out of life-threatening danger now. But she is terrified and keeps crying out your name..." "Got it," Matteo's voice was frigid. He took a deep look at me. "Callista, I know you are still angry about losing our child." Matteo sighed, his tone carrying a rare promise and comfort. "Believe me, we will have children again. We still have a very long future, and we have plenty of time." With that, he leaned down and printed a soft kiss on my forehead. Then, he turned and left. A long future? What he didn't know was that the moment he walked out, two text messages popped up on my phone. The first was a divorce approval notice from the court: [Ms. Callista, the divorce decree between you and Mr. Matteo Cassano has been approved. It will take effect officially tomorrow.The document will be sent by registered mail to your reserved address: Cassano Manor.] The second was from the Zurich Medical Committee: [Dr. Callista, the top-secret research project is about to launch officially. Please send us your exact location, and we will arrange a private plane with dedicated staff to pick you up tomorrow.] Staring at these two text messages for a long time, I let out a laugh of pure relief. Finally, I had survived until the day I could leave completely. Chapter 4 I got up early the next morning. Ignoring the attending physician's advice, I checked out of the hospital ahead of schedule. Just as I returned to the ward to pack up my personal belongings, Seraphina pushed open the door to my room. "Callista, why haven't you gotten lost yet?" Seraphina glanced left and right, then firmly shut the door after confirming no one was nearby. She wore a smug, malicious sneer on her face, with none of the delicate, pitiful disguise she put on in front of Matteo. Her complexion looked even better than mine, showing no sign of someone who had just undergone emergency resuscitation for poisoning last night. If Matteo saw her like this with his own eyes, his jaw would probably drop. "Did you really think I was poisoned yesterday?" She walked over to my hospital bed, her eyes filled with dark twists. "I drank that tiny bit of toxin myself. Because I knew the very first person Matteo would suspect was you." Receiving no reaction from me, she bent down and whispered maliciously into my ear. "No matter how many times I play this trick, Matteo will always believe me." "Oh, and that dead little bastard in your belly... you still don't know, do you? Just pushing you into a fall wasn't enough to guarantee a miscarriage. So I added small doses of abortifacients to your pregnancy preservation tea for a whole month!" "So what if I 'accidentally' caused your fall and miscarriage? Matteo didn't vent his anger on me at all." "When you were pushed into the emergency room during your miscarriage, he was even comforting me, telling me not to blame myself too much." "For so many years, you still cling to Matteo like a stray dog without letting go. Don't you find yourself disgusting?" I thought I no longer cared about anything. But hearing about my poor baby, I couldn't stop shaking. I could no longer keep my composure. I grabbed Seraphina’s wrist and pulled her toward me, then brought my other hand down hard across her face. Slap! At the sharp crack of the blow, Seraphina crashed heavily to the floor with a shrill cry. A bright‑red handprint stood out starkly against her pale cheek. She covered her slapped right cheek in disbelief, as if she had never imagined that Callista, whom she had toyed with for so long, would finally fight back. The violent movement jarred my injured leg. A searing, piercing pain shot through me, and I collapsed back onto the bed. Just then, the hospital room door swung open. “Callista! What are you doing?!” Matteo burst in, his eyes bloodshot. He gently lifted Seraphina to her feet, not so much as glancing at me sprawled on the bed. “Matteo… I only wanted to apologize to Callista again. I hoped she would forgive me, but she...” Seraphina clung tightly to Matteo, burying her face against his chest in hurt. Matteo murmured a few words to soothe her and seated her in the chair beside the bed. Then he stormed over and wrenched me roughly to my feet. “I saw everything. I know you aren’t willing to forgive her, but why did you strike her?” “Callista, you have let me down so deeply!” His brute force aggravated my leg injury once more. Agony drained the colour from my face, and beads of sweat dotted my forehead. “Why won’t you even ask why I hit her? She killed our child! She even...” Matteo roared, interrupting me. “Enough! Stop playing the victim! Seraphina is the one who got struck. I already know what your so-called reason is.” “You will say Seraphina killed our baby, no? Callista, how many times must I tell you‑it was merely an accident! As my Donna, why can you not find it in yourself to pardon her? Someone so petty and vindictive does not deserve to be a mother at all!” With that, Matteo turned his back on me entirely and walked straight out, holding Seraphina in his arms. I stood frozen, engulfed by a bone‑chilling cold as though trapped in an ice cellar. This was the man I had loved for years. For the woman who had taken our baby’s life, he had insulted me, saying I was unfit to be a mother. I glanced down at my phone screen. It read: Audio file saved. Seraphina had no idea that from the very first second she stepped through the ward door, I had already turned on the encrypted recording function. Right after that, two more messages popped up on the screen one after another. [Notice: The divorce decree has officially taken effect. Registered mail has been sent. Please expect its delivery.] [Dr. Callista, your pickup vehicle has arrived.] Matteo was busy comforting Serafina and paid me no mind. Without the slightest hesitation, I left the hospital as fast as I could. The officer respectfully opened the car door for me, and I stepped inside without a moment's hesitation. For everything here, I had not a single shred of lingering attachment left. Sitting in the back seat, watching the familiar streetscapes speed past my eyes, I took out my phone and sent the original audio recording of Seraphina confessing to all her crimes last night directly to Matteo's phone. A pop-up notification of successful transmission flashed briefly. I rolled down the car window and threw the phone out without hesitation. The phone shattered into pieces instantly, just like my long-dead past. I was finally free.