His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 182

Chapter 182

Chapter 182

Isabella’s POV

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Consciousness returned to me slowly, not in a clean or gentle way, but in fragments that seemed to drag themselves upward through something thick and disorienting, as though my body had been submerged somewhere deep and my mind was struggling to catch up to where I was.

The first thing I became aware of was the quiet, not the comforting kind, but the sterile kind. The kind that hums faintly beneath artificial lights and carries the faint scent of antiseptic.

I was in a hospital.

The realization settled even before I opened my eyes fully, before my body had even caught up to the fact that I was awake.

My head felt heavy, like it didn’t quite belong to me yet, and there was a dull, persistent ache pressing behind my temples, the kind that made even the smallest movement feel like an effort.

I shifted slightly, the sheets rustling beneath me, and that was when I realized, I wasn’t alone. There was someone there.

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the light, and the first thing that came into focus was him.

Dominic.

He was sitting beside the bed, leaning forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped together so tightly that his knuckles had gone pale, as if he had been holding himself in place for a long time.

The moment our eyes met, something in his expression changed instantly.

Relief. Raw, unfiltered, almost painful in its intensity.

“You’re awake.” His voice was low, careful in a way I wasn’t used to, as though he was choosing each word deliberately, afraid of saying something that might push me further away.

I swallowed, my throat dry, my voice coming out weaker than I expected. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” he said immediately, the words coming quickly but controlled, as though he had repeated them to himself several times already. “In your office.”

Memory flickered in pieces. The conversation. The tension. Standing. And then nothing.

“I-”

I tried to push myself up, but the moment I did, the room tilted slightly, a wave of dizziness washing over me so suddenly that I instinctively reached out.

His hand was on my arm before I could steady myself.

15:49 Thu, Apr 2

Chapter 182

“Careful.”

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For a moment, I let him. Then, slowly, deliberately, I pulled my arm away, not harshly, not dramatically, but just enough to remind both of us where we stood.

His hand dropped immediately. Of course, it did.

I leaned back against the pillow, closing my eyes briefly as I focused on steadying my breathing, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

“How long have I been here?” I asked once the room felt still again.

“Not long,” he replied. “About an hour.”

“That means it’s almost afternoon now?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Okay.”

Silence followed, stretching between us, heavy with everything neither of us was saying.

Before it could settle too deeply, the door opened and a doctor walked in, his presence cutting through the tension in the room.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he said, offering a small, reassuring smile as he approached. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” I admitted honestly.

“That’s expected,” he replied, glancing at the monitor beside me before turning his attention fully to me. “You gave us quite a scare.”

“I just fainted,” I said faintly, though something about his tone made unease begin to stir inside me.

“Yes,” he said gently, “but there is a reason for that.”

My fingers curled slightly into the sheet beneath me. “Is it something to worry about?”

He paused for just a fraction of a second before saying it. “That depends. You’re pregnant.”

The words didn’t register immediately. They hung in the air, suspended, unreal.

I blinked at him. “What?”

“You’re in the early stages of pregnancy,” he continued calmly, as though he hadn’t just turned my entire world upside down. “That’s why you’ve been experiencing dizziness, fatigue, and nausea.”

“No,” I said automatically, shaking my head slightly. “That’s not possible.”

The words came faster now, more urgent, because this didn’t make sense.

15:49 Thu, Apr 2

Chapter 182

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“I’ve been on the pill,” I said, my voice tightening slightly. “Ever since I had my son. For hormonal issues. I haven’t missed it.”

The doctor nodded, completely unshaken. “I understand,” he said gently. “But no contraceptive method is one hundred percent effective. There is always a small margin of failure.”

I stared at him, my mind racing, trying to process something that refused to settle.

“No, I’ve been careful,” I insisted, though even as I said it, doubt began to creep

“And

said it’s early?” I added, my voice quieter now, more uncertain.

you

“Yes,” he confirmed.

A cold realization began to form. A timeline. A memory.

But before I could fully grasp it, another thought hit me, sharp and immediate.

“I’ve been taking the pills,” I said quickly, my hand tightening over the sheet. “Even recently. Would that…. would that affect the baby?”

The question came out more anxious than I intended.

The doctor shook his head reassuringly.

“In most cases, no,” he said. “If pregnancy occurs while on oral contraceptives, it does not typically harm the fetus, especially this early on. However, we will monitor everything closely.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, though it did little to steady me.

“I’ll refer you to an obstetrician,” he continued. “You should schedule an appointment soon so they can guide you through everything properly-prenatal care, supplements, and necessary precautions.”

I nodded slowly, though the motion felt distant, like I was responding on instinct rather than comprehension.

“Get plenty of rest,” he added, before offering a final reassuring look and stepping out of the room.

The door closed softly behind him. And the silence that followed was overwhelming.

Pregnant.

The word echoed in my mind, over and over again, refusing to settle into something real. I stared down at my hands, then slowly brought one up to rest against my stomach. Nothing felt different. Nothing felt changed.

And yet everything had.

My thoughts began to piece things together whether I wanted them to or not. The dizziness. The exhaustion. The way the smell of food had suddenly started making me feel nauseous.

I had blamed it on stress. On work. On Dominic.

15:49 Thu, Apr 2

Chapter 182

I had never even considered that it could be this.

“How….?” I whispered under my breath.

The doctor had said it was early.

How early?

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My mind moved backwards, retracing steps, counting days, weeks, and then it hit me. The last time. That night when he had just told me about where things stood with Alessia.

My breath caught.

It had been almost a month since that night.

We hadn’t used protection.

“Shit,” I breathed, the realization crashing over me fully now.

It was his. Of course, it was his. There was no question. No doubt. No escape from that truth.

A sharp mix of emotions surged inside me all at once-shock, fear, disbelief, anger, and something deeper, something more complicated that I couldn’t quite name yet.

My chest tightened. Not again.

I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief moment, trying to steady myself, trying to ground myself in something real. Because this wasn’t just a surprise. It wasn’t just a complication.

It was history repeating itself in a way that felt almost cruel.

Another child. Another tie. Another reason my life would never be separate from his.

I opened my eyes slowly, my gaze falling somewhere unfocused ahead of me.

Dominic hadn’t spoken, not once.

And somehow, that made it worse.

Because I could feel him there. Feel his presence. Feel the weight of everything that had just changed between

My voice came out quieter this time. More fragile. More real. “This can’t happen again.” The words slipped out before I could stop them. A whisper. A fear. A truth I didn’t know how to face.

Because I didn’t know if I could survive it.