His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Isabella’s POV

By the time Dominic came home the next evening, the house was quiet. Too quiet.

I had sent Mateo to school in the morning even though I myself had come home extremely late at night after Alessia had stabilized. Though, I hadn’t been able to sleep, so I’d decided to work from home for the day.

Caterina had been worried too, and hadn’t slept until I came home late at night and assured her that everything was fine. Even though Dominic had told her that Alessia was doing fine now, she had still been worried. After coming home from school, even Mateo had been unusually fussy, not throwing tantrums exactly, but clingy. Sensitive. As if he could feel something unsettled in the air.

I had assured both of them that Alessia was fine. I also made sure they both ate their meals properly and on time.

“She’s just resting,” I told Mateo softly as I tucked him into bed at night after dinner. “Sometimes grown-ups get very sad. But that doesn’t mean they disappear.”

He had frowned at that.

“Is she going to try and disappear again?” he asked in his small, serious voice.

The question made my chest ache. “No,” I said firmly. “She’s going to get help.”

He studied my face, then nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Caterina was still in the living room when I came downstairs after that to wait for Dominic to come back home.

“You’re strong,” she murmured.

I didn’t feel strong. I felt tired. But I simply smiled at her. “You should go sleep. You didn’t get a lot of sleep last night either. I don’t want you getting sick again.”

Caterina nodded, wishing me a quiet good night before leaving.

I continued to wait for Dominic.

When I heard the front door open close to midnight, I was sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of tea gone cold.

Dominic walked in quietly, and he looked exhausted, not just physically, but something deeper. There was a heaviness in his shoulders, in the way he moved.

“Hey,” I said softly.

He nodded. “Hey.”

That was it. No update. No explanation.

He went straight to the sink, poured himself water, and drank it like he hadn’t in hours.

I watched him carefully. “Is she okay?” I asked gently.

“She’s stable.” The answer was clipped. Short.

“And?”

He set the glass down harder than necessary. “And what?” The edge in his voice startled me.

“I just meant what did the doctors say?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “She’ll need therapy. Monitoring.”

“That’s good,” I said softly. “That they’re helping.”

He didn’t respond, a strange silence settling between us. It was not the comfortable one we’d started rebuilding. This one felt tight.

Something inside me sank.

“Dominic,” I said carefully, stepping closer. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” he replied quickly, too quickly.

I frowned. “That’s not true. You’re not telling me something, and it’s weighing you down. You can share it with me.”

He let out a frustrated breath. “You really want to talk about sharing?” he snapped suddenly.

The sharpness of it made me freeze. “What?”

“You’re the one who wouldn’t tell me why you were sneaking around with Luca to meet some masked woman.”

My chest tightened. “Where is this coming from? Why does it even matter right now?” I asked, stunned.

“It matters to me,” he shot back.

“It doesn’t matter now,” I said firmly. “The baby is gone.”

“It matters,” he repeated.

The intensity in his voice startled me.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to understand what had shifted inside him since yesterday.

He looked raw. On edge. Like something had unsettled him deeply.

“Fine,” I said quietly. “You want to know? I suspected something was wrong with Alessia’s pregnancy.”

His eyes sharpened. “What do you mean?”

“I noticed discrepancies in her reports,” I continued. “Dates that didn’t align. Supplements that didn’t match standard prescriptions. I asked questions at the hospital.”

He went very still. “And then?”

“And then that woman contacted me,” I said. “Said she knew I was suspicious. Told me to bring money. That’s why I went.”

His jaw clenched. “And what was she going to say?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “You interrupted before she could.”

The words weren’t accusatory. But they hung there anyway.

He exhaled slowly. “And now?” he asked.

“Now it doesn’t matter,” I said quietly. “There’s no baby.”

He nodded once heavily, as if that fact carried weight for him in ways I couldn’t see.

Silence settled again. But this time, I saw it clearly. He wasn’t angry. He was drowning in something he didn’t know how to explain.

“You’re exhausted,” I murmured softly.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

He looked at me then. And for a second, the mask slipped and saw everything hidden underneath. Grief. Guilt. Something darker.

Without thinking, I stepped closer.

“Sit,” I said gently.

“I’m fine, Isa-‘

“Sit.”

99

He hesitated, then lowered himself into one of the kitchen chairs.

I moved behind him and placed my hands on his shoulders. They were rock hard. Tight.

“You’re carrying too much,” I said quietly as I began kneading the tension out of his muscles.

He exhaled slowly.

“You don’t have to carry it alone.”

His head tilted forward slightly as my fingers worked along his neck.

For a few moments, neither of us spoke. The kitchen lights were dim, the house quiet. It felt almost like before. Before everything fractured.

“Isa,” he murmured after a while.

“Hmm?”

“Stop.”

“Why?”

Before I could react, he turned in the chair, grabbed my waist gently, and pulled me forward. I gasped softly as I ended up half seated in his lap, his hands resting on my hips, not possessive, not heated, just holding.

I looked down at him. His eyes were dark. Heavy. There was something in them I hadn’t seen in a while.

Vulnerability.

And something else.

Guilt.

“Dominic?”

He swallowed. “I need to tell you something,” he said quietly.

The words made my stomach drop instantly.

“I was going to wait,” he continued. “But I don’t want secrets between us.”

My pulse started pounding. This was it. The other shoe. I braced myself without meaning to.

“Whatever it is,” I said carefully, “just tell me.”

His fingers tightened slightly at my waist. “I hope you won’t get angry,” he said.

My chest tightened.

Why would I get angry?

Unless it involved Alessia.

Unless something had happened.

Unless-

“Dominic,” I whispered.

earlier wasn’t exhaustion.

It was hesitation.

Whatever he was about to say, it had already changed something inside him.

And I didn’t know if I was ready to hear it.

I

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