LOGINIsabella’s POV
“ONE BROTHER WILL LIVE. ONE BROTHER WILL DIE.”I stared at the message on my phone, my fingers trembling so violently that I nearly dropped it.Alexander lay unconscious in my arms, blood soaking through his black shirt. Every second that passed felt like another piece of my heart being ripped away.“Alexander, please.” I pressed my shaking hands against his wound. “Open your eyes. Please, sweetheart. You can't leave me.”His breathiIsabella’s POV “Me?” The word escaped my lips like a broken whisper. I stared at Richard Monteverde, waiting for him to laugh, to tell me this was another cruel joke, to admit that he had finally gone too far. But he didn't. He simply looked at me with those cold, calculating eyes. “Yes, Isabella. You.” My fingers tightened around the hospital record until the paper began to crumple. “No. That's impossible.” “Is it?” Richard tilted his head. “Your mother was Elena Reyes. Your biological father was Daniel Monteverde. You were born into a family that could have given you everything, yet your mother chose to raise you in poverty.” “Shut up.” “Perhaps she believed suffering would keep you safe.” “SHUT UP!” My voice echoed through the abandoned nursery. For twenty-four years, I had believed my life was nothing more than a series of unfortunate circumstances. My mother's exhaustion. Our unpaid bills. The nights she cried when she thought I was asleep. The way she refused to ans
Isabella’s POVThe elevator doors opened with a soft chime.I stepped into the hospital lobby, clutching Daniel's letter inside my bag. My hands were cold, and my heart wouldn't stop pounding.THE MAN YOU LOVE IS NOT THE SON YOUR FATHER WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT.The words replayed inside my head.What did they mean?Was Alexander hiding something from me? Had his family manipulated him, too? Or was there a truth about his birth that could destroy everything we had fought to protect?I wanted to return to his room.I wanted to curl beside him, hold his hand, and pretend that the world outside didn't exist.But my mother was dead.My father was missing.And someone knew the truth.I couldn't keep running from it.I opened my phone and typed a message to Alexander.I'm going to get answers. I promise I'll come back.I stared at the words before deleting
Isabella’s POV“ONE BROTHER WILL LIVE. ONE BROTHER WILL DIE.”I stared at the message on my phone, my fingers trembling so violently that I nearly dropped it.Alexander lay unconscious in my arms, blood soaking through his black shirt. Every second that passed felt like another piece of my heart being ripped away.“Alexander, please.” I pressed my shaking hands against his wound. “Open your eyes. Please, sweetheart. You can't leave me.”His breathing was shallow.Too shallow.“Someone help him!” I screamed.Adrian knelt beside us, his expression pale as he examined his brother's wound.“The bullet went through his shoulder,” he said. “We need to stop the bleeding.”“Then do something!”“I am trying!”His voice cracked, revealing the desperation beneath his cold exterior.For the first time since meeting him, Adrian didn't look like a man consumed by hatred. He looked
Isabella’s POV“Your brother is alive.”I stared at the photograph on my phone, unable to move.The man standing beneath the broken archway of the abandoned chapel looked almost exactly like Alexander. The same dark hair. The same sharp jaw. The same eyes that seemed to hold a thousand unspoken secrets.But there was something different about his expression.Alexander's eyes were intense, sometimes cold, but whenever he looked at me, I could see the tenderness he tried so desperately to hide.The man in the photograph looked at the camera as if he had already lost everything worth living for.“Bella?”Alexander's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.I quickly turned off my phone.“Nothing.”His eyebrows drew together. “You are a terrible liar, sweetheart.”Normally, I would have teased him for calling me that. This time, I couldn't even smile.He stepped closer and gen
Isabella’s POV 🖤🥀“Ask her why she kept you away from your own brother.”I read the message again, hoping the words would somehow change.They didn't.My own brother?I looked at Alexander, whose face had become unreadable. His hand was still wrapped around mine, but I could feel his fingers trembling.“Alexander,” I whispered, “do you have a brother?”He shook his head slowly.“Not that I know of.”“Then why would someone send us this?”“Because someone wants us to doubt everything we know.”Victoria stepped closer, holding the phone in her trembling hands. “What if Daniel really is your father, Bella? What if Alexander is your brother?”The question struck me like a slap.I immediately pulled my hand away from Alexander.“No.”“Bella—” he began.“No!” My voice cracked. “Don't come near me.”He stopped.The pain in his
Isabella’s POV“Alexander, what have you discovered about me?”Nakatayo siya malapit sa bedroom door, hawak pa rin ang cellphone niya. The man who had faced armed men without hesitation suddenly looked terrified of a single question.“Bella, please sit down.”“No.” Nanginginig ang boses ko. “You promised you would never lie to me again. You held me in your arms and told me you loved me. And now I wake up to hear you talking about DNA results?”Napapikit siya.“I'm trying to protect you.”“I'm tired of people using those words to hide the truth from me!”Naputol ang boses ko, at tuluyan nang pumatak ang mga luha ko.“Richard wanted to protect his reputation. Daniel said he wanted to protect our family. Everyone claims they're protecting me, pero walang nagtatanong kung ano ba talaga ang gusto ko!”Dahan-dahang lumapit si Alexander.Umatras ako.Kitang-kita ko ang sakit sa mga m







