The car tore through the city.
Vincenzo sat in the back seat with Purvi in his arms, one hand supporting her head while the other pressed firmly against her trembling hand.
The driver had never driven this fast before.
The black SUV moved through traffic like a weapon, security vehicles surrounding it from every direction.
“Faster!” Vincenzo barked.
“I’m going as fast as I can, sir!”
“Then go faster.”
His voice was dangerously calm.
But inside, he was anything but calm.
Purvi’s head rested against his chest.
Only minutes ago, she had been standing in the ballroom.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Now her face was frighteningly pale.
Her breathing had become shallow.
Vincenzo looked down at her.
“Purvi.”
No response.
His jaw tightened.
“Purvi, open your eyes.”
Her eyelids fluttered.
She tried.
“Vincenzo…”
“I’m here.”
Her voice was barely audible.
He leaned closer.
“What?”
“My leg…”
He looked down.
The bite had already changed.
The skin around it was swelling, and dark discoloration was spreading outward.
Vincenzo’s expression hardened.
“Keep your eyes open.”
“I’m trying.”
“No.
Don’t try.”
His voice became sharper.
“Do it.”
Purvi managed a weak smile.
“You’re still bossy…”
His chest tightened.
Even now.
Even when she could barely breathe.
She was still teasing him.
“You can complain about me when you’re better.”
Purvi’s eyes slowly closed.
Vincenzo immediately touched her cheek.
“Purvi.”
Her eyes opened again.
“Don’t sleep.”
“I’m tired.”
“No.”
He shifted her carefully against him.
“Stay awake.”
She looked at him through half-lidded eyes.
“Why?”
The question caught him off guard.
“Because I said so.”
Purvi gave a faint smile.
“That’s not a reason.”
His fingers tightened around hers.
“Because…”
He stopped.
He couldn’t say it.
Because I don’t want to lose you.
The words remained trapped somewhere inside him.
Instead, he said,
“Because you’re my wife.”
Purvi stared at him.
For a moment, something sad crossed her face.
“Contract wife.”
Vincenzo went still.
She was repeating his own words back to him.
Words he had used countless times.
Words he had thrown between them whenever she got too close.
Contract.
Temporary.
Nothing more.
Yet hearing them from her lips now felt different.
Painful.
“Purvi…”
Her eyes closed again.
“Don’t…”
His heart lurched.
“Purvi!”
He gently shook her shoulder.
“Open your eyes.”
Nothing.
“Purvi!”
Her head rolled slightly against his chest.
She wasn’t responding.
“STOP THE CAR!”
The driver glanced into the mirror.
“Sir—”
“STOP!”
The SUV swerved to the side of the road.
Vincenzo checked her breathing.
It was there.
Barely.
His hands trembled for the first time.
“Call the hospital.”
“We’re already on the way.”
“Tell them she’s been bitten by a venomous snake.”
The driver immediately made the call.
Vincenzo stared down at Purvi.
Her face looked smaller than usual against his broad chest.
Too pale.
Too still.
He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“You don’t get to do this.”
Nothing.
“You don’t get to close your eyes.”
His voice cracked slightly.
He immediately swallowed.
He hated that.
He hated feeling helpless.
He had spent his entire life making people fear him.
People obeyed his orders.
Men twice his age lowered their eyes when he entered a room.
The police knew better than to interfere with his affairs.
Governments had tried to stop him and failed.
Yet right now, none of that mattered.
He couldn’t command poison to leave Purvi’s body.
He couldn’t threaten death into sparing her.
He couldn’t buy back the minutes they were losing.
For the first time in years, Vincenzo De Luca had absolutely no control.
And he hated it.
“Come on, Purvi.”
He lifted her slightly.
“Fight.”
Her lips moved.
He leaned closer.
“What?”
She whispered something.
He couldn’t hear.
“What did you say?”
“Grandma…”
Vincenzo’s eyes closed briefly.
“She’s safe.”
He opened them again.
“You saved her.”
Purvi’s breathing became even weaker.
“You did what you had to do.”
Her fingers moved slightly against his palm.
“Don’t worry about her.”
A tear slipped from the corner of Purvi’s closed eye.
Vincenzo wiped it away before it could reach her cheek.
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Nothing.
“You hear me?”
Nothing.
“Purvi.”
Still nothing.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
“Purvi!”
At the De Luca mansion, chaos had replaced the birthday celebration.
The ballroom had been emptied.
Security officers searched every entrance, every hallway, every garden path.
The snake had been captured and placed inside a secure container.
Lucia sat on a chair, trembling.
Serafina stood beside her.
Isabella was crying silently.
Alessandro paced across the ballroom.
“How did it get inside?”
Nobody answered.
Monisha stood several feet away.
Her face was pale.
For once, she had nothing to say.
Lucia suddenly stood.
“We need to know where Purvi is.”
“She’s with Vincenzo,” Alessandro said.
Lucia’s hands trembled.
“That snake…”
She couldn’t finish.
Serafina placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Mother.”
“She saved me.”
Lucia’s voice broke.
“She pushed me away.”
Isabella wiped her tears.
“She didn’t even think about herself.”
Alessandro looked toward the doors.
“They’ll get to the hospital.”
Lucia closed her eyes.
“She is my granddaughter now.”
Nobody corrected her.
Because everyone in that room knew it.
Purvi had become part of the De Luca family.
Whether the contract had brought her there or not.
The SUV finally reached the hospital.
The moment the vehicle stopped, the doors opened.
Doctors and nurses rushed toward them with a stretcher.
Vincenzo stepped out carrying Purvi.
“She’s been bitten by a snake.”
A doctor immediately examined her.
“How long ago?”
“Approximately twenty minutes.”
The doctor’s expression changed when he saw the bite.
“Get her into emergency immediately.”
The nurses transferred Purvi onto the stretcher.
Vincenzo refused to let go of her hand.
“Sir, you have to move.”
“I’m going with her.”
“You can’t enter the emergency treatment area.”
“Try stopping me.”
The doctor looked directly into Vincenzo’s eyes.
“Mr.
De Luca, if you want her to survive, you need to let us work.”
That stopped him.
For a second.
Then Vincenzo released her hand.
Only because he had no choice.
The stretcher disappeared through the emergency doors.
Vincenzo stood there.
Still.
Silent.
His shirt was stained from the blood and dirt from the mansion.
His hands were trembling.
He stared at the doors.
Waiting.
One minute.
Two.
Five.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt fear like this.
Then his phone rang.
It was Alessandro.
“Vincenzo?”
“What?”
“We’re coming.”
“Bring everyone.”
There was silence.
“How is Purvi?”
Vincenzo looked at the emergency doors.
“I don’t know.”
His voice was low.
“She’s unconscious.”
Lucia’s voice suddenly came through the phone.
“Is my child alive?”
Vincenzo closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“For now?”
He didn’t answer.
Lucia understood.
Her voice broke.
“Vincenzo…”
“I’m going to get her back.”
He ended the call.
Then he turned toward the emergency doors.
His eyes were cold again.
But beneath that coldness was something he could no longer deny.
Fear.
Not fear for the De Luca name.
Not fear of losing a contract.
Fear of losing Purvi.
His wife.
The woman he had repeatedly reminded himself was temporary.
The woman he had told himself meant nothing.
The woman who had taken a snake bite meant for his grandmother without thinking twice.
The doors remained closed.
Vincenzo stared at them.
“Come back to me,” he whispered.
And for the first time, he didn’t care whether anyone heard him.
Inside the emergency room, doctors fought desperately against the poison spreading through Purvi’s body.
Her blood pressure was dropping.
Her breathing was failing.
And she still hadn’t opened her eyes.
Outside, Vincenzo stood alone beneath the harsh hospital lights.
Waiting for the only answer that mattered.
Whether his contract wife would survive the night.