"In the families, blood and rank matter above all else. The line between a sanctioned wife and a kept woman is absolute."
He paused, guilt flickering across his face.
"Sienna might be pregnant."
The room tilted. I stared at him, unable to process what I'd just heard.
"Serafina, her child has to be recognized as the firstborn heir. That's the only way you'll be safe."
The pain in my belly twisted like a knife. Cold sweat beaded across my forehead. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the box of pastries.
My hand drifted to the bare hollow of my throat, where the locket he'd given me before our wedding once hung. The chain was long gone, but my fingers still searched for it.
"Cesare, this is your child too. How could you bear to..."
Cesare's eyes reddened. He apologized again and again.
"I'm sorry, Serafina. She knows you exist. By the timing, your child is further along than hers. She won't allow you to give birth to the firstborn..."
So he laced my favorite pastries with the drug, and I ate them without a second thought.
"Cesare, my stomach hurts so much. I just ate them, there's still time. Please, go find the doctor."