Too Late, My Regretful Don Chapter 03
The door was yanked open without warning. My mother froze in the doorway, staring at me.
I opened my mouth to speak.
But the next second, her face twisted with disgust, like she was looking at something filthy.
“What are you doing here?”
“Coughing up blood on my doorstep like that, it’s disgusting. Who are you trying to fool with this little performance?”
The words died in my throat. I held up the consent form and forced myself to speak.
“Mom, I’m sick. St. Mary’s needs a family member to sign…”
Her face darkened, and she slapped me hard across the face.
“Don’t call me Mom!”
“You destroyed generations of the DeLuca family’s medical reputation. We cut ties five years ago. I don’t have a daughter like you!”
The commotion drew the neighbors. They gathered around, pointing.
“Isn’t that the idiot fake doctor? The one who almost killed somebody and stole millions from poor people?”
Countless eyes stabbed into me.
I clenched my fingers. “Rosa set me up. I have proof. She was the one who almost killed that patient.”
My mother laughed scornfully. “So many people saw you walk out of that operating room. You tested positive for alcohol, and you still…”
She stopped. Her eyes locked onto the consent form in my hand, and she snatched it away.
“What’s this?”
My breath hitched. My heart trembled.
My mother had hated me for five whole years. What would her face look like if she knew I was dying?
And then, Rip.
The paper tore. She shredded the consent form and threw the pieces in my face like confetti, sneering.
“Terminal cancer?”
“Giulia, if you’re gonna make up a story, at least make it sound believable. If you actually died, I’d throw a celebration party right here and light up the sky with fireworks for three whole days and nights!”
I smiled bitterly. I’d expected this.
Yeah. She hated me so much that even if I died, she wouldn’t shed a single tear.
Maybe because of all the noise, Renato came outside.
Our eyes met. He looked startled at first.
Then he tried to persuade my mother. “Mom, Giulia hasn’t been home in a long time. Just let her come inside.”
My mother scoffed. “This isn’t her home!”
“She’s the stain and the shame of the DeLuca family. I will never forgive her. Not in this lifetime.”
“Giulia, if you’re gonna die, go do it somewhere far away. Don’t mess up my doorstep.”
Amid the noisy chaos, I slowly turned around.
I pushed through the pain and walked away. Slow, but without a single pause.
The night wind was cold. A storm broke.
I was soaked, freezing. The cancer flared again, searing pain piercing through my whole body.
I couldn’t control my legs anymore. I collapsed with a splash, blood pouring out.
Traffic was streaming all around me.
Blaring horns, screaming crowds, all rushing toward me like a wave, and then I remembered.
Five years ago.
When everything happened.
The difference was that five years ago,
I was the youngest, most talented doctor. Thousands of high-risk surgeries, zero mistakes. I’d brought the family endless honor. Then, during an explosion, I found Renato on the brink of death and pulled him back.
After that.
This man from the underworld, the all-powerful mafia Don, picked me up from work every day in his Rolls-Royce. Designer bags, priceless jewelry, ocean-view villas… lavish gifts piled up until there was no room left.
But I was focused on my career. I returned everything and turned him down.
Until I got kidnapped.
Renato took over a dozen stab wounds saving me. He was covered in blood, but he forced himself to wipe my tears away.
“Giulia… are you hurt?”
In that moment, something surged in my chest, breaking through every wall.
My heart pounded so loud it deafened me.
I pressed my hands against his gushing wound and heard my own voice, trembling, say,
“Renato, if you survive this… let’s give it a try.”
The surgery lasted forty-eight hours. One millimeter more, and the blade would have pierced his heart.
He survived.
And we started dating. Five years flew by.
Then I married Renato. Got pregnant. He spoiled me like crazy.
Until my third month of pregnancy, his adoptive sister, Rosa, came back from abroad to stay with us.
