His Ruthless Redemption (Isabella and Dominic) novel Chapter 48

Isabella’s POV

I’d spent most of last night tossing and turning, sleep eluding me. I’d only fallen asleep late at night, or early this morsang 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.

No answer.

She frowned slightly and tried again. Still nothing.

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

I nodded absently.

1 couldn’t bring myself to care.

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Chapter S

They were married.

Of course they were.

What else har 1 heen expecting?

The child. The appointment. The way he’d spoken to her last night. The unq de setebeyesal v90 março The way I’d seen her in a nightgown in the background of that viber til when they had been extre words last night.

Two people.

He would go with her to the next gynaecology appment.

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

That was all.

1 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?

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.

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3.55 pm

Chapter 48

ppp.

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.

2 55 younera

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.

I wiped my tears quickly, forcing myself to stand.

Mateo needed me.

He was waiting, sick and tired and trusting that his mother would always come back for him.

I straightened my spine, smoothed my face, and walked away from the gynecology ward without looking back.

By the time I returned to the waiting area, my heart felt like it had been carved clean through.

Caterina looked up at me with concern. “Is everything alright, dear?”

“Yes,” I lied softly. “Just a long walk.”

Mateo lifted his head weakly when he heard my voice. “Mamma?”

I smiled for him, even as my chest ached unbearably.

“I’m here, baby,” I said, holding him close. “I’m always here.”

And as I held my son, rocking him gently, one truth settled painfully into my bones, I had survived losing Dominic once.

I would survive losing him again if I had to.

This time, I would just make sure I never forgot my place.

4/5

3:55 pm

Chapter 49