Delfina was in the living room, not seated on the couch but lying on the floor, massaging Navira's foot.
She'd ended her call with her mother five minutes ago, and thankfully, Navira didn't come looking for her.
Delfina was still dazed, her mind returning to the vile words her mother had spilled earlier.
She never knew they despised her to that extent. She'd been adopted by the Delamonte family at a very young age, so she couldn't remember things that clearly, but as she grew up in their household, they did nothing but love and care for her.
On the day they'd arranged her marriage with Filippo, she'd attempted to run away but gave up on the idea. They'd done nothing but care for her, and this was the only way for her to pay them back, which was another reason she'd agreed until she fell in love with him.
They treated her like their flesh and blood, which she would forever be grateful for, but now she doubted they would come to rescue her from the hands of Navira and Filippo anytime soon.
Her stomach churned as tears burned in her eyes. Without realizing it, she bent Navira's toe at an odd angle, causing the latter to yelp.
"Are you trying to break my toe or something?" Navira questioned, immediately raising her hand to slap Delfina on the cheek.
The latter held her numb cheek, her eyes widening as she glared at Navira.
"I'm sure you did that on purpose. Just you wait. When Filippo gets back, I'm going to make sure he beats you till you start bleeding again," she threatened as she held Delfina's chin. "Since it seems you've not gotten beaten enough yet."
"You'll pay for this," Delfina pouted. "For everything you two are planning to do to me."
Navira's glare melted into a mocking smile, but her grip didn't waver on Delfina's chin.
"You must think you can escape from here," she said, her hazel eyes boring holes into Delfina's icy blue ones, but the latter didn't waver one bit. "Let me tell you a secret. I'm pregnant with Filippo's child." Delfina's eyes widened, her heart skipping a beat. "That's right, I'm pregnant with Filippo's child, and we're going to be parents soon. Right now, I have him wrapped around my fingers, and if you dare misbehave, I can ask him to kill you off and throw your body somewhere no one would be able to find you." And with that, she pushed Delfina away with force.
Delfina had her suspicions that Filippo and Navira had something going on between them, but she didn't think it was so serious that Navira had already conceived his child.
She gulped down the saliva that pooled in her mouth, forcing it down her throat. It had been a week already since they'd all shown their true colors, but she still found it hard to believe that this was the kind of life she would be living henceforth. That these were the people that she once loved and considered family.
As promised, Navira informed Filippo about what had happened, and the latter beat her up once again that night, leaving her almost lifeless in the guest room.
Delfina knew she needed to do something, or else they might actually get rid of her as they'd promised.
Later that night, after getting her injuries bandaged up by the servants who didn't dare make eye contact with her, Delfina was determined to escape.
She couldn't stay there any longer.
Delfina forced her body to move to the vanity table and pulled out a drawer, retrieving a hairpin she'd stolen from a servant earlier.
Thankfully, the woman didn't notice anything, and even if she did, she didn't say anything.
Delfina took the pin and walked toward the locked door, sighing as she inserted the pin into the keyhole, working the mechanism.
When she was a teenager and was fully in her rebellious stage, her parents forbade her from leaving the house and going to late parties, especially after they'd arranged her marriage with Filippo.
Her only way of escaping was picking the door locks, a skill that became handy on the day she needed it the most.
After two minutes, the door clicked open.
She reached the living room and checked the time on the wall clock. It was past 2 a.m. All the lights had been turned off, as everyone had already retired for the night.
All Delfina needed to do was go to the kitchen and make a phone call to Valentina. She was her only hope of escaping.
Reaching the kitchen, Delfina quickly made the call with the telephone, her heart racing in her chest while fear tried to get the best of her.
If anyone found her there, it would be over.
Luckily, the call went through, and Delfina connected with Valentina, explaining everything to her while her lips trembled from tears she tried to hold back.
Valentina's husband was a powerful man, and he was the only one who could challenge Filippo.
"I'm sorry that I had to bother you with this—"
"You don't need to apologize. You should have told me sooner. I was worried about you." Valentina glanced at her husband, who was already listening since Valentina put the call on a loudspeaker. "Marco will do something about this."
That was all Delfina needed to hear.
She gave her words of appreciation and hung up the call.
She managed to find her way back, but her only problem would be locking the door. But she didn't worry about it.
Delfina barely had any sleep that night as she thought about how she was going to be free from the grasp of her evil family.
Her heart still ached at the speed at which they switched up on her, treating her like a complete outsider.
She felt indebted to them for caring for her, but there was a limit to everything.
She wasn't going to sit still and watch them treat her like an animal.