His Ruthless Redemption (Isabella and Dominic) novel Chapter 215

Chapter 215

Isabella’s POV

Sleep refused to come. Not that I was surprised. I lay curled on my side in bed, staring blankly at the dim ceiling while the events of the evening replayed in my mind over and over again like some cruel loop I couldn’t shut off.

I can’t find Mateo.

Even now, hours later, those words still made my chest tighten painfully.

God. I had completely lost my mind.

Mateo had only gone upstairs with a friend. That was all. A normal thing. A harmless thing. Children did things like that all the time.

And yet I had immediately assumed the absolute worst. Not just worst. Catastrophic.

I had jumped straight to Alessia. Straight to danger. Straight to panic.

I closed my eyes tightly.

Humiliation and lingering fear twisted together unpleasantly inside me.

Because deep down, I knew I had overreacted.

I had spiraled completely.

And maybe Dominic had been right to get angry with me.

The thought alone irritated me immediately. But still. The facts were the facts.

Mateo had been safe the entire time, happily helping an injured friend. While I had practically been imagining kidnappings and conspiracies.

God.

What was happening to me?

I pressed a hand against my forehead tiredly.

No.

That wasn’t the real question.

The real question was that how long was this going to continue?

Because today it had been Alessia.

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Chapter 215

Before that, it had been the Vitellis.

Tomorrow it would be someone else.

Another threat. Another enemy. Another reason to look over my shoulder constantly.

And suddenly I felt so exhausted by all of it, not just physically, but soul-deep exhausted.

I didn’t want this life, not for me, and definitely not for my children.

My hand drifted unconsciously to my stomach.

The baby.

God.

What kind of childhood would this baby have? Security guards? Constant danger? Fear becoming normal?

No.

No, I couldn’t do that again.

I had already risked Mateo enough.

I had stayed. Waited. Trusted.

And maybe Dominic really did mean everything he said. Maybe he truly would leave Alessia eventually. Maybe he really was trying to do his best.

I believed that he wanted to.

That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was time.

How much time? Weeks? Months? Years?

And what happened while we waited?

Today Mateo had been safe.

But what if next time he wasn’t?

The thought alone made my stomach twist violently.

I sat up abruptly.

Because the answer came to me so clearly then it almost startled me.

I had to leave.

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Chapter 215

Take Mateo somewhere safer. Somewhere quieter. Somewhere I didn’t feel like I was one bad day away losing everything I loved.

Because Mateo was my life. My entire heart. And if anything ever happened to him. I wouldn’t survive i

I genuinely wouldn’t.

A knock sounded softly on the bedroom door before I could spiral further.

I already knew who it was.

“Come in.”

The door opened slowly and Caterina stepped inside.

She took one look at me sitting awake in bed and sighed softly. “I knew you wouldn’t be sleeping”

I tried for a smile, but had probably failed based on Caterina’s almost pitiful expression.

She walked over and sat beside me carefully.

The room fell quiet for a moment. Because we both knew exactly what this conversation was about.

Dinner earlier had been strangely normal. Maria had fussed over Mateo. Luca had joined us, too like he di most nights and had distracted everyone with ridiculous stories from work. Caterina had practically forced second servings onto all of us.

And no one, not a single person had brought up what happened. Mostly because Mateo had been there. An partly because everyone had probably realized I was hanging on by a thread already.

Caterina reached over and brushed my hair back gently. “You need to slow down.”

I looked down at my hands quietly.

“You are carrying too much right now,” she continued softly. “You cannot keep thinking this much all the time. It is not good for you.”

Or the baby. The unspoken part hung heavily in the room.

Ironically, that only made me more anxious.

Because now my stress wasn’t just hurting me. It could hurt the baby too. Wonderful.

I laughed weakly. “I just want Mateo to be safe.” The confession came out smaller than I intended. Rawer too.

Caterina’s expression softened instantly. “I know.”

“I hate this,” I whispered. “I hate feeling this paranoid all the time.”

Because I did.

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I hated what fear was turning me into. Someone suspicious. Someone anxious. Someone constantly w for disaster.

“I know I’m overthinking,” I admitted quietly. “But I can’t seem to stop.”

Caterina rubbed my arm gently. “You had a scare today. Of course you reacted emotionally.”

“No,” I said immediately. “I reacted irrationally.”

Her brows pulled together. “Isa-”

“No, it’s true,” I interrupted tiredly. “Mateo was upstairs helping his friend and I immediately convinced myself someone had taken him.”

I swallowed hard.

“I accused Dominic of horrible things.”

At the mention of Dominic, Caterina sighed softly. “He understands why you reacted that way.”

“That almost makes it worse.”

Because Dominic understanding me emotionally was somehow more dangerous than him being angry.

Caterina stayed quiet for a second before speaking carefully. “Listen to me.”

I looked up.

“I understand your instincts,” she said gently. “And I am not saying you are wrong to be protective of your son.” A pause. “But you also need to see the facts.”

I stayed silent.

“Alessia approached Mateo once,” she continued carefully. “And since then, she has not gone near him agai

My jaw tightened slightly. “She keeps showing up around us.”

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