His Ruthless Redemption (Isabella and Dominic) novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Isabella’s POV

Alessia came to my room in the afternoon. I hadn’t been able to go to work. I knew I wouldn’t be able to work eyen it wanted to. I’d simply sent Chiara a quick text that I was taking the day off. Then, I’d come straight home after dropp Mateo off at school.

I hadn’t locked the door this time. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe some part of me wanted Dominic to come in and say something. Or maybe I was just too tired to care.

Alessia knocked anyway, soft, careful, like she was approaching a wounded animal.

“I heard what happened.” she said when I opened the door.

Her voice was gentle. Measured. Practiced.

I stepped aside to let her in, mostly because I didn’t have the energy to argue in the hallway.

She took in the room in one quiet sweep, me sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes tired, posture stiff. She didn’t comment on the redness around my eyes. Didn’t pretend not to notice either.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like that,” she said.

Like that.

The words scraped against my nerves.

“You didn’t mean for me to find out?” I repeated flatly.

She hesitated, then offered a small, sad smile. “No. Dominic was very clear about wanting to tell you himself. When the time was right.”

So she knew. Of course she did. Suddenly, her words from earlier flashed through my mind. How she had said that Dominic always did what was necessary. That he would tell me when the time was right. It all made so much more sense now.

I wondered how much fun she’d probably had saying all that to time, knowing I didn’t know anything, and that there was no way for me to know either. Poor, poor, Isabella, she must’ve thought.

I let out a short laugh. “That’s interesting.”

She frowned faintly. “Isa-”

“You knew,” I said. “And I didn’t.”

Her silence was answer enough.

Something sharp twisted in my chest, not surprise, not really. Just humiliation.

“It must have been difficult for Dominic, too,” she said carefully, “watching you struggle with it while knowing the truth.”

I huffed out another laugh. I was the one who was deceived, and Dominic was the one for whom it must’ve been difficult? He was the one she was here to advocate for? Had he sent her?

I stood abruptly. “If that’s all you came to say, you can leave.”

She blinked. “I actually came because there’s something else.”

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09:32 Fri, Jun 5 MO

Chapter 109.

I crossed my arms. “Of course, there is.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a folder.

“I thought,” she said slowly, “that maybe you hadn’t fully believed me before. About the baby”

My breath hitched despite myself.

“So,” she continued, placing the folder on the desk, “I went ahead and had a DNA test done.”

The room seemed to tilt.

“You what?” I asked.

She nodded. “I wanted to remove any

doubt.”

I stared at the folder like it might explode.

“You should show that to Dominic,” I said sharply. “Not me.”

“I will,” she said calmly. “But I wanted you to see it too. Transparency feels important right now, don’t you think?”

Something in her tone made my skin crawl. Of all the times she could’ve done this, she was choosing today, rubbing salt into my already infested wounds.

I laughed, brittle. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Am

I?” she asked softly. “I thought you’d want clarity.”

“Clarity?” I snapped. “You’re standing in my room, telling me you knew something that broke me while I didn’t, and now you want applause for being honest?”

Her lips pressed together. “I’m not your enemy, Isabella.”

I stepped closer. “You’re enjoying this.”

Her

eyes

flickered. Just once.

“I’m trying to be considerate,” she said. “You’re already dealing with so much.”

The restraint snapped.

I grabbed the folder off the desk and flipped it open, my hands shaking with anger more than fear. Numbers. Charts. Words that felt clinical and brutal all at once.

Probability of paternity: 99.8%.

I closed it slowly.

“You should have gone to him,” I said again, my voice low. “You know what? You still should.”

She tilted her head. “I thought it might mean more coming from you.”

I laughed, a sharp, humorless sound. This was absurd. I had thought the day couldn’t get any worse, but here we were. “You want me to deliver this?” I asked her, just to be sure that I had heard this right.

“I thought it might help him take things seriously,” she replied. “Given everything that’s happened.”

I stared at her, the truth clicking into place with horrifying clarity.

00:32 Fr. Jun 5 M

she wasn’t here to check on me, or even advocate for Dominic. She was here because she thought that Dominic would

more seriously if I was the one delivering the news. He would do anything I said right then because he wanted

giveness.

Alessia thought that if I told Dominic to accept her and her child, he would do it in a heartbeat just to appease

Alessia was trying to use this fallout to her advantage.

didn’t know whether to marvel at her thought process or feel disgusted at the sheer selfishness and audacity of in

You’re very strategic,” I said, a quiet calmness to my voice that was almost scary, even to me.

She didn’t deny it.

Get out,” I said.

Her brows knit together. “Isa-”

set. Out.”

She picked up her bag,

at the door. “For what it’s worth,” she said, “I didn’t want things to unfold this way.”

I met her gaze, cold and

“You absolutely did.”

After she left, I stood there for a long moment, the folder heavy in my hands.

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