His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 162

Chapter 162

Isabella’s POV

I didn’t really sleep.

I drifted in and out of shallow, fractured dreams, each one ending with the same image – a headline burning against a white screen.

Engagement Confirmed.

When I opened my eyes, the room was washed in pale grey morning light. The sea outside was restless, waves crashing against rock with a rhythm that felt almost cruel in its normalcy.

For a few seconds, I lay there and let myself forget.

Then I turned my head.

My phone was on the bedside table. And everything came rushing back.

I reached for it slowly.

One missed call.

Dominic. Time stamp: 6:12 a.m.

Of course.

After it was already public. After the world already knew. After I had found out from someone else.

The phone buzzed in my hand moments later.

Dominic was calling again.

My chest tightened, not violently, not explosively, but like something inside me was quietly bracing for impact.

I answered. “Hello.”

A pause. Then, his voice. “Isa.”

He sounded tired, not broken, not regretful.

Just controlled.

“Is it true?” I asked.

No greeting. No softness. Just truth. That’s all I wanted from him.

A pause. Then, “Yes.”

That single word split something inside me cleanly in half.

I closed my eyes. There it is. No speculation. No confusion. No misunderstanding.

He chose.

“I was going to tell you,” he said quickly.

“But you didn’t.”

“I tried to call-”

“After the news broke.”

Silence. The kind that carries guilt.

“I thought this through thoroughly,” he said, voice tightening. “There was no other way.”

I sat up slowly, pulling the sheet around me like armor. “I understand.”

Another pause.

Longer this time.

“That’s it?” he asked. “You understand?”

“What would you like me to say?”

“Something, Isabella,” he said, the strain creeping in now. “You’re not reacting.”

I stared out at the horizon. If I react, I will fall apart.

“What reaction were you hoping for?” I asked evenly. “Crying? Screaming? Begging you not to?”

He didn’t answer.

“Yes,” I continued softly. “I’m hurt. Of course I am. I’m not made of stone. I can’t see you marry someone else and feel nothing.”

My voice didn’t shake. That almost frightened me.

“But I’m not a doormat either. If you marry Alessia,” I said carefully, “then I will not be in your life anymore.”

His breath hitched audibly. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth. The reality.”

“We have Mateo,” he shot back immediately. “You and I can never be fully separated. He binds us.”

A sharp laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “He binds us as parents,” I corrected. “Not as partners.”

“You would walk away?”

“You already did.”

The words hung between us. Heavy. Honest. Irreversible.

“You think this was easy for me?” he asked, his voice roughening. “You think I want this?”

“I think you chose it.”

“For his safety.”

“I know.”

“For yours.”

“And in doing so,” I said quietly, “you decided losing me was acceptable collateral.”

“That’s not what this is.”

“It is exactly what this is.”

His breathing grew harsher. “There was no other way to secure alliances quickly enough. The mole is still inside. I can’t dismantle my own structure without external reinforcement. This stabilizes everything.”

Everything.

Except us.

“You should have told me,” I said.

“It wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”

“It would have changed how I found out.”

Silence.

“It would have changed the respect,” I continued, my voice sharpening now. “You said your goodbyes to me in your heart. I saw it. You stood in that hallway and told me you loved me like it was the last time.”

His silence confirmed it.

“You deprived me of the same,” I whispered. “You didn’t trust me enough to look me in the eye and say, ‘I am choosing this.””

“I couldn’t,” he admitted.

“Why?”

“Because you would have looked at me like I’ve already lost you.”

My throat tightened painfully. “You have,” I said, the words were quiet, deadly.

He exhaled shakily. “You can’t take my son away from me.”

There was fear in his voice. Raw and exposed.

“I would never take Mateo away from his father,” I said firmly. “Don’t insult me.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying I will not stand beside you while you marry another woman.”

“You think this doesn’t destroy me?” he demanded.

“It should.”

Silence.

“I love you,” he said suddenly, voice breaking just slightly. The words pierced straight through me.

“Don’t,” I whispered.

“I do.”

“And you’re marrying her.”

“For survival. For security.”

“Call it what you want,” I said. “It still ends the same way.”

The sea crashed louder against the rocks outside.

“I didn’t want you to try to stop me,” he admitted.

“And you didn’t want to see my face when you told me.”

No answer.

That was answer enough.

“I hope it gives you what you need,” I said finally.

“Isa-”

“I truly do,” I continued, my voice turning colder with every word. “I hope this alliance protects Mateo. I hope it stabilizes your empire. I hope it gives you peace.”

He inhaled sharply.

“But I will not compete for you,” I finished.

“You don’t have to compete.”

“I already lost.”

“You didn’t lose-“.

“You chose.”

I was greeted by silence, thick and suffocating.

“I wish you a happy engagement,” I said, the words tasting like blood. “And a peaceful married life.”

“Isabella.” He had never sounded more desperate. But desperation now did nothing for me.

“Goodbye, Dominic.”

And I ended the call.

For a moment, I just sat there, phone still in my hand, spine straight, breathing even.

I had done it. I had stayed composed. Strong. Dignified.

And then, the reality of the situation hit. Not slowly. Not gently.

It crashed into me like the sea against rock.

A sob tore out of my chest so violently it startled me.

I folded in on myself, pressing my hand against my mouth to muffle the sound.

The grief was not quiet. It was raw. Animal. Uncontrolled.

Hearing him say I love you while explaining why he was marrying someone else, that had broken something fundamental inside me.

I cried for the hallway goodbye. For the way he held me like it was final. For the future that almost existed. For the version of us that kept trying. For Mateo, who would one day ask why.

I cried until my body shook, until my throat burned, until my lungs felt too small for the pain inside them.

Outside, the sea continued moving. Unchanged. Unbothered.

Somewhere miles away, Dominic Russo was preparing to marry another woman.

And I pressed my face into the pillow and let the devastation take me completely.

Because this time, there was nothing left to hold back.