002

ISABELLA 🌸

“How dare you show your face here?”

Olivia asked calmly, but the anger in her voice was unmistakable. I held the spot that stung, my eyes trying to blink back the tears as they streamed down.

“Olivia,‘’ my voice cracked softly. “I’m-I’m here for the funeral. For Mum.”

She scoffed bitterly, her teeth digging into her lips like she was trying to hold back the urge to hit me again.

“You don’t deserve to call her that.”

“I’m—‘’

“—It’s been five years,” she interrupted me with a tired voice. “And all it took you to return was our mother’s death?”

I knew I’d messed up big time. I’d abandoned every single one of them without saying goodbye.

But I’d done it to lessen the pain I felt then.

My tears were streaming without any control, and the pain grew worse after seeing the anger burning in my sister’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” She laughed bitterly. “Is ‘sorry’ going to bring Mum back? Is it going to change anything? Undo pain you caused her? The emotional and physical stress you made us go through?”

I sobbed hard, knowing there wasn’t any excuse for what I’d done. Olivia’s eyes blazed with fury, and she lunged at me again, grabbing a handful of my dress.

“What did we ever do to you?” She cried. “How could you leave us? How could you leave me? After everything?!”

I didn’t stop her, I didn’t push her away, I didn’t even try to explain myself or find an excuse for my actions.

Every action, every anger, and every word from her was justified. I’d done everything wrong, and I deserved her reaction.

Heavy footsteps thudded against the floor, approaching us as she kept pulling me roughly. A hand stretched out from behind to hold her, and his husky voice echoed through the space.

“Olivia. Kitty. Please, stop.”

“Let me go,” she sobbed, hating that her husband was pulling her off me. “She doesn’t deserve to be here. I don’t want to see her.”

Axel refused to let her go and held her firmly, his eyes staring at me a little longer. The pain and surprise glinted in them, and he sighed heavily before taking her upstairs.

“Come with me, Kitty. It’s okay.”

She whimpered softly as Axel carried her away. I stood there, sobbing and shaking, unable to stop myself from crying.

Everything felt heavy. For a split second, I regretted every action I’d made in the last five years.

I regretted running away, abandoning my family, and the pain of not seeing my mother again shattered me completely.

Olivia was right.

I shouldn’t have left them. I’d spent six years away from them the first time, then an extra five years because running away always seemed like the best option.

Axel didn’t come back, and the housekeepers walking around stared at me like I was some… stranger.

I exhaled shakily, wiped the tears off my face, and retrieved my phone to call him. I contemplated returning back to where I came from.

Soft footsteps came from the main entrance seconds later. I’d almost dialed the number when someone else walked in.

The magnolia scent wafted through my nostrils before I raised my head to see who it was.

She was tall and slender, with beautiful blonde hair cascading over her shoulders. The black dress she wore looked far too expensive for mourning.

“Where’s…” she trailed off after our eyes met, and they widened in recognition as she stepped closer. “Wait, it’s you.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. She wasn’t really familiar, but at the same time, it felt like I knew her.

“Do I… know you?”

She grinned. “Of course, it’s you.”

“Me?”

She rolled her eyes again. “I’m the woman you saved a few hours ago. The one who almost got hit by that car?”

I glared at her as she explained to me. I hadn’t really paid much attention back there because I was mad and annoyed at her for making me bruise my elbow.

“It was… you.”

I said finally after replaying the scene in my head. Her magnolia scent gave it all away. But at the same time, I wondered what she was doing there.

Who was she?

A friend of Olivia's? Axel? My late mother?

No… she looked way too young to be my mother’s friend.

“Yes,” she chimed. “It’s me. I’m the one,” she sounded so bubbly and chatty. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting us to meet again so soon. Or to meet here.”

I wiped my face with my fingers again, hoping it wasn’t evident to her that I’d been sobbing.

“I could ask the same question,” I whispered. “I’m here to see my sister. We lost our Mum a few weeks ago, and—‘’

“—Olivia?” She asked in surprise. “You’re Olivia’s sister?”

I nodded, frowning slightly because she seemed to know who I was while I still tried to know who she was.

“Yes?”

“You’re Isabella. The older sister who suddenly disappeared.”

I swallowed hard, trying to gulp down the lump in my throat but it remained. What a way to be known.

“And, you are?”

“Rina,” she stretched her hand forward. “I’m Olivia’s sister-in-law… to be.”

Sister-in-law to be?

My forehead creased, and the more I thought about it, the more my stomach churned.

It could only mean one thing.

“What was your name again?” I asked, trying to clarify something that had popped into my mind suddenly.

“Rina.”

“No,” I shook my head. “Like your full name. Your real name.”

“Ohh,” she smiled again. “It’s Caterina Lombardi.”

Caterina Lombardi.

God! I knew it.

I gasped softly, staring at the face over and over again because it was different from the one that remained stuck in my mind.

Just when I tried to make out what was happening, another figure walked in, the scent of lavender instantly filling my nostrils.

My throat tightened, and my fingers started to fidget before I even saw who it was.

Because I already knew it was him.

“Babe?” He called gently, just like how I’d always recalled him calling her. “Have you seen them?”

Caterina shook her head. “No,” then she walked towards him and hugged him tightly like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“But I met someone else.”

I hated watching him lean forward to kiss her forehead. I hated being reminded of a certain moment where I’d been in that exact position, feeling his lips on my forehead and all over my body.

Worst of all, I hated that I’d predicted this moment, but still raised my head because I wanted to see his face again.

“Who?”

Caterina glanced at me and his gaze followed. “It’s her. The woman who saved me earlier that I told you about.”

Then she added quietly, unaware of the chaos and painful recognition that lingered in that space.

“Do you know she’s Isabella? Olivia’s sister? Such a small world, isn’t it?”

It was indeed a small world.

A very small world.

Who would’ve thought that I’d saved the same woman who’d caused me to lose everything I loved dearly.

Or that I’d stand face to face with the same man who’d treated me horribly, left me broken, and shattered the last piece of me while I carried a part of him along with me… forever.

His eyes darkened instantly when they saw me, and I knew my name fled his lips before he could stop himself.

“Isabella?”

Yes, it was Isabella.

But not the same one he’d tortured and insulted five years ago.

I smiled faintly, doing everything I could to let him know that he didn’t have that effect on me anymore.

“Hello, Damien Rossi.”