His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Isabella’s POV

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I’d spent most of last night tossing and turning, sleep eluding me. I’d only fallen asleep late at night, or early this morning depending on how you looked at it.

When morning finally rolled around and I shook Mateo lightly to wake him up, I realized he was burning up.

The moment I touched his forehead, panic shot through me so sharply I had to sit down on the edge of the bed. I noticed that his skin was hot, his lashes damp with sweat, his breathing heavier than it should have been.

“Hey, baby,” I whispered, brushing his curls back. “Can you wake up for Mama?”

He stirred weakly, eyes fluttering open before squeezing shut again. A soft whine left his throat as he curled closer to me.

That was it.

Whatever had been simmering in my chest since last night, jealousy, confusion, heartbreak, it all vanished under one, overwhelming instinct.

Protect him.

I dressed him quickly, hands shaking, murmuring reassurances he barely seemed to hear. My mind raced through worst-case scenarios, memories of late-night fevers and hospital visits from when he’d been smaller flooding back all at once.

When I stepped into the hallway, Caterina was already there.

“You’re up early,” she said, then took one look at Mateo in my arms and her expression changed instantly. “What’s wrong?”

“He has a fever,” I said, my voice too tight. “He’s sick.”

“We’re going to the hospital,” she said without hesitation. “Now.”

The drive felt endless.

Mateo clung to me in the backseat, his small body heavy and limp against mine. I held him close, rocking gently, whispering to him over and over that everything was going to be fine, even as fear curled painfully in my chest.

Caterina sat in the front, already dialing Dominic.

“He needs to know,” she said softly.

The phone rang.

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Chapter 48

No answer.

She frowned slightly and tried again. Still nothing.

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“He must have left early for work,” she said after a moment. “He mentioned something last night.”

I nodded absently.

I couldn’t bring myself to care.

All I cared about was the rise and fall of Mateo’s chest, the way his fingers curled weakly into my sleeve.

The hospital smelled like antiseptic and quiet worry when we walked in, Mateo held tightly in my arms.

We went straight to the pediatric ward, where an elderly doctor with kind eyes examined Mateo carefully, listening to his lungs, checking his temperature, asking gentle questions Mateo barely answered.

“It’s just the flu,” he said finally, smiling reassuringly. “Nothing serious. He’s run down, that’s all. A few days of rest, fluids, and these medicines, and he’ll be back to running circles around you.”

Relief hit me so hard my eyes burned.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Outside the room, Caterina insisted on waiting with Mateo while I went to collect the prescriptions.

“I’ll keep him company,” she said warmly. “You go.”

I nodded, forcing my legs to move even though they still felt weak.

The corridor was quiet that early in the morning.

I walked quickly, my mind still replaying the doctor’s words, still counting Mateo’s breaths in my head even though he wasn’t with me.

That was when I heard it.

“Mrs Russo?”

I froze.

The voice had come from the gynecology ward down the hall.

For a split second, I thought I’d imagined it.

Then I heard it again.

“Mrs Russo, the doctor will see you now.”

My heart stuttered painfully.

19:14 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 48

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I took a step back, instinctively pressing myself against the wall just around the corner, hidden from view.

Footsteps approached.

I didn’t need to see their faces to know it was them.

I recognized Dominic instantly, from the broad shoulders, the familiar way he walked, the way seemed to bend slightly around his presence.

Beside him was Alessia.

Her hand rested lightly on his arm as they entered the doctor’s chamber together.

Mrs Russo.

The words echoed in my head, loud and merciless.

Mrs Russo.

My vision blurred.

They were married.

Of course they were.

What else had I been expecting?

the world

The child. The appointment. The way he’d spoken to her last night. The way she accompanied him

everywhere he went. The way I’d seen her in a nightgown in the background of that video call when they had been back in Florence. And then his words last night.

Two people.

He would go with her to the next gynaecology appointment.

A shared last name.

It all slammed into place with brutal clarity.

My chest constricted until it felt impossible to breathe.

God, I had been such a fool.

Every kind word. Every protective gesture. Every look that had made my heart stumble.

It hadn’t been about me.

It had been about Mateo.

He wanted his son. He was being decent. Responsible. Careful.

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Chapter 48

That was all.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears slipping free despite my effort to stop them.

What had I been thinking?

That a man like Dominic Russo would choose me?

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That he would come back to the woman he’d once accused, threatened, driven into running for her life?

That after five years, after everything, I had somehow been special?

No.

It had always been Alessia.

It had always been her standing beside him, understanding his world, belonging to it so completely that she wore his name without question.

I pressed a hand to my mouth to keep from making a sound.

Every memory from the past few weeks twisted into something ugly now.

The protection. The attention. The warmth.

It hadn’t been affection.

It had been obligation.

I had been nothing more than the mother of his child.

Useful. Necessary.

Replaceable.

I slid down the wall slowly, my legs giving out beneath me, curling in on myself like I could somehow disappear into the cold hospital floor.

I berated myself relentlessly.

How could I have been so stupid?

I knew better than this.

I knew what loving Dominic did to a person. I knew how it hollowed you out, how it left you waiting and hoping and bleeding quietly while he lived his life elsewhere.

And yet I had let myself believe again.

I had let myself hope.

19:14 Thu, Jan 15