His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Isabella’s POV

The silence between us had started small.

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A skipped question. A missed glance. A conversation that never made it past Mateo’s school schedule

But now it felt like a canyon.

Dominic still drove us most mornings, the way he always did. He still helped Mateo with his homework. He still checked in on Mateo before bed like he always had. He was the same with Mateo as he had always been. It was the way he talked to me that had changed. Earlier, he used to make sure to include me in most of his conversations. But now, he didn’t and it was done with a quiet kind of detachment, like he’d folded whatever was left of us into the smallest box possible, sealed it shut, and tucked it someplace I couldn’t reach.

He used to ask about my work, how the merger was going, if everyone was still driving me insane with last- minute changes.

Now, those lively, detailed conversations had condensed into short, barely there conversations.

“How was the meeting?”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

And that was it. Nothing more.

Even the way he said good felt like a door closing.

I’d asked for space. And he was giving it to me.

But strangely, painfully, I missed him. I missed the version of him I’d barely gotten used to, the one who smiled when he talked, who looked for me first when he walked into a room, who stayed awake to make sure 1 got home safe.

But this distance was safer. I kept reminding myself of that.

This way, my heart wouldn’t mistake habit for home again.

This way, I wouldn’t forget that he had another future waiting, one that didn’t include me.

One morning, while Mateo chattered beside us about his school art competition, I let myself imagine a different future.

We’d stay here until the Vitellis were gone. Then I’d find an apartment, close enough for co-parenting. He could have weekends. Or I could. Or we’d split them. Mateo would grow up knowing his father was in his life.

And one day, when he was old enough to understand, I’d tell him we were never truly a family, not in the way

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Chapter 61

children dream. That being someone’s parents didn’t mean we belonged to each other.

I told myself I could live with that.

I told myself I would get used to it.

1 ignored the part of me that whispered I was lying.

Breakfast felt different now, too.

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Before, Dominic would sit across from me, one hand on his coffee, the other absentmindedly tapping the table while he talked, like he didn’t know what to do with all the attention he gave me.

Now, he read the paper. He spoke only to Mateo, if he wanted more eggs, how his school was going, if he wanted something new for school. He didn’t look at me. Not once.

And I hated how much I noticed.

Mateo was on his second piece of toast when Dominic finally looked up at me and paused, almost as if he was gathering courage to speak.

My breath caught.

For the first time in days, he looked like he might break the silence.

“Isa-”

Alessia’s voice cut through the room like a blade just then.

“Dominic?”

We both turned.

She stood in the doorway, pale as a ghost, hands trembling slightly as she held the wall for support.

“I… I don’t feel-”

Her eyes rolled back before she could finish her sentence, her body wilting like a flower cut at the stem.

Dominic shot up from his chair, catching her before she hit the ground.

“Alessia!” His voice was sharp, panicked. “Maria! Call the doctor. Now.”

Maria rushed forward. Dominic scooped Alessia into his arms effortlessly and carried her out of the room.

I stared at the doorway long after they were gone, my chest tight.

“Mamma?” Mateo asked, his voice small. “Is she okay?”

“She’s just not feeling well,” I forced out. “She’ll be fine.”

13:00 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 61

But the ache in my throat said otherwise.

Because all I could think about was another time. Another life. Another me.

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Waking up alone on the bathroom floor after throwing up for the fourth time that morning.

Eating saltines in bed because anything heavier made me sick. Going to every appointment alone. Signing every form alone. Hearing Mateo’s heartbeat for the first time with no one’s hand to hold.

I remembered buying baby clothes with shaking hands, terrified and hopeful all at once. I remembered crying in a bathroom stall at eight months pregnant because I couldn’t bend enough to tie my own shoes.

I remembered thinking stupidly that maybe, if Dominic knew, he would care.

But he hadn’t.

I had built Mateo’s life by myself. Brick by brick.

And now Alessia would have everything I never had.

Support. Security. Reassurance.

Someone to catch her when she fell.

My chest twisted, sour with jealousy and grief and shame.

I shouldn’t want anything from a man who once left me bleeding and alone, but wanting doesn’t care about logic. It just exists.

Mateo tugged my sleeve. “Mamma? We need to go.”

Right. School. Work. Routine. The world doesn’t stop for heartbreak.

Dominic didn’t drive us that morning.

Maria said he was upstairs with the doctor.

So the driver took us instead, and I stared out the window the whole ride, trying not to wonder if he was by Alessia’s side right now. Trying not to wonder if she was sick the way I had been sick, back then.

Trying not to imagine a future where Dominic was happily raising someone else’s child with her, a future he had never offered me.

At Mateo’s school gates, my heart squeezed when he waved at me happily before going inside.

Right now, it felt like he was the only thing keeping me sane in an otherwise crazy world,

Work was a blur.

I smiled when I needed to, answered questions when I had to, and pretended I wasn’t unraveling.

13:00 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 61

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At lunch, I sat on a bench outside the office, staring at the leaves dancing in the wind and trying to remind myself to breathe.

My phone buzzed.

I didn’t want to look.

But I did.

There was a single message with no sender name. Just a number I didn’t recognize.

We know where your son is. Enjoy him while you can.

My blood turned to ice.

Another message immediately after:

Accidents happen. Especially to little boys who wander.

The phone slipped from my hands.

My heart stopped.

My vision blurred.

No. No. No.

I gasped in a breath that didn’t fill my lungs.

This couldn’t be happening. I won’t let it.

I won’t let anything happen to Mateo.

I had to get to him. Right now.

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