His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Dominic’s POV

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The second Isabella walked away, I knew something was wrong.

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She hadn’t shown it in a loud, dramatic way, no slammed doors, no raised voices, but I’d seen it in the way her spine went straight and her smile went sharp, like a blade sheathed too quickly. It was a look that wasn’t going to bode well for me.

I stood there for a moment longer than necessary, the glow of the screen behind me washing over a room that suddenly felt too small, too quiet. Alessia was still beside me, her presence a soft weight I was only just registering.

I replayed the moment in my head.

Maybe you could help her.

God.

I dragged a hand down my face.

I hadn’t meant it the way it came out. I hadn’t meant it to wound. In my head, it had made sense, Isa had always been capable, grounded. She knew what pregnancy did to a woman, the fear, the uncertainty. I had thought, stupidly, and blindly, that maybe this could be a bridge. Something human. Something that would soften the edges between the two women in my life.

Instead, I’d detonated something.

Again.

I knew Isa didn’t like Alessia. I wasn’t blind to that tension. But I’d believed, albeit wrongly, that with time, with shared ground, things could settle. That Isa helping Alessia might make things easier for everyone. Less

strained. Less divided.

I was an idiot.

The silence stretched until Alessia shifted beside me.

“She didn’t like the idea,” she said gently, her voice careful. Not accusatory. Almost understanding.

I glanced at her. She looked genuinely tired now, one hand resting protectively over her stomach.

“I didn’t mean to upset her,” I said. “I thought-”

Alessia smiled faintly. “It’s fine. Really. I understand why she wouldn’t want to. I just wanted you to know that I was touched you even thought of it.”

That stopped me.

13:05 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 76

She looked up at me then, eyes warm. “At least I have

you.”

Something in my chest tightened, not painfully, but uneasily.

“Of course you have me,” I said automatically. It was true. It was expected. It was safe.

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I guided her towards her room, slower than usual, making sure she didn’t rush herself. As we walked, my mind was already elsewhere, circling back to Isa. To the way she’d picked up Mateo like she was holding herself together with sheer will.

I helped Alessia settle onto the bed, adjusted the pillows, made sure she had water within reach.

“Try to rest,” I said. “We’ll see the doctor tomorrow.”

She nodded. “Thanks, Dominic.”

gave a quiet nod in reply, leaving her room with a quick good night and a knot in my chest. One thought burned in my head above all else.

I need to fix this. Now.

I found Isabella in Mateo’s room, the lights dimmed low. She was standing by his bed, smoothing his hair back, her expression soft in a way she rarely let anyone see.

For a moment, I just watched.

Then I spoke quietly. “Isa. I need to talk to you.”

She didn’t turn around.

“Not now,” she said flatly.

“I know I messed up,” I said. “But please-”

“No,” she cut in, finally turning to face me. Her eyes were sharp. Guarded. “I don’t want to talk to you right now at all.”

That gnawing feeling in my gut intensified.

If I walked away now, this would rot. I knew it. I had lived this exact silence before.

She had only just agreed to be civil with me. If I didn’t sort this out now, I had a feeling it would put an even deeper rift between us than before.

“Please,” I said, lowering my voice even more. “If we don’t talk now-”

Her jaw tightened. “You don’t get to decide that.”

She turned and walked towards the adjoining door between her room and Mateo’s, not looking back. I followed, closing the door softly behind us once we were inside her room.

13:05 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 76

She stopped near the foot of the bed, arms crossed, eyes blazing.

“You wanted to talk?” she said coldly. “Talk.”

I took a breath. “What just happened back there?”

Her laugh was sharp, humorless. “You’re serious?”

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“Yes,” I said, frustration creeping in. “I clearly said the wrong thing, but I don’t understand why it upset you this much. Help me understand.”

She stared at me like I’d just insulted her intelligence.

Then she exploded.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” she snapped. “You honestly have no idea why that was out of line?”

“Isa-”

“No,” she said fiercely, stepping closer. “You don’t get to interrupt me now.”

Her voice trembled, not with weakness, but with barely contained fury.

“I didn’t have you,” she said. “When I was pregnant with Mateo. I didn’t have you there at three in the morning when I was throwing up and crying at the same time. I didn’t have you to hold my hand during appointments or tell me everything would be fine.”

Guilt slammed into me like a physical blow.

“I had friends,” she went on, bitter. “Yes. I wasn’t alone in the literal sense. But a partner? I didn’t have one. I didn’t have you.”

I opened my mouth, but she barreled on.

“There were nights I lay in bed craving chocolate so badly it hurt, and I cried because I didn’t have someone to go get it for me. I cried because the man I loved didn’t want me. Didn’t want my child.”

My chest constricted. “Isa, I-”

She shook her head violently. “Don’t. Don’t try to explain. You lost that right years ago.

Her eyes were wet now, but she didn’t let a single tear fall.

“And now,” she said, her voice breaking into something raw and vicious, “now you want me to help her? To hold her hand while you do everything for her that you never did for me?”

Each word was a knife.

Jesus fucking Christ.

How could I have been dumb enough to suggest what I had?

13:06 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 76

I was such a fucking idiot.

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༣ 70

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“It was bad enough watching you be there for her,” she continued. “Bad enough seeing you care, seeing you want this child when you didn’t even want mine. But you want me to be part of that too? To smile and play along like this doesn’t hurt?”

I felt sick.

“I wasn’t thinking-”

“No,” she said, laughing again, hollow. “You weren’t.”

She took another step closer, her voice dropping. “I didn’t have your help. And now you suddenly expect me to help your wife?”

The word hit me like a gunshot.

Wife.

I froze.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs as I stared at her.

“My-” I started, then stopped. “What did you just say?”

She was breathing hard now, anger and pain blazing together. “You heard me.”

“Isa,” I said slowly, carefully, “Alessia is not-”

But she was already shaking her head, tears finally spilling over.

“I don’t want to hear it,” she said hoarsely. “I can’t. Not tonight.”

No. I wasn’t going to back off. Not this time.

This conversation wasn’t over.

It was only just beginning.

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