Not His

“I’ll be honest with you,” Vanessa said coldly. “That night, you drank the wine I spiked. Out of kindness, I even arranged two strong gigolos for you so you could ‘enjoy yourself.’ 

Who knew you’d be so foolish? You walked into some stranger’s room instead…”

Disgust dripped from her voice.

“Gabriel was too soft-hearted. He knew you wouldn’t be able to handle the truth, so he told you it was him that night.”

Isabella’s hands trembled.

Vanessa looked as if she was about to shove her, but then her eyes shifted past Isabella’s shoulder. In an instant, her expression changed. Her voice softened, her face turning pitiful and tearful.

“Big sister, I know I was wrong. I know you’re angry, scold me… don’t blame Gabe…”

Before Isabella could react, Vanessa suddenly fell to the ground.

The position was so deliberate, so rehearsed, it was as if Isabella had pushed her.

“ISABELLA! What did you do?!”

The furious voice came from behind.

She turned and saw Gabriel.

His face was cold.

He brushed past her without a glance and hurried to Vanessa’s side, helping her up.

“Babe, are you okay?”

Vanessa leaned into him weakly, almost collapsing into his arms. “Gabe… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I know I should apologize to Bella… for ruining her life at eighteen…”

She broke into sobs.

“That’s enough,” Gabriel said gently, patting her shoulder. “Get in the car. I’ll talk to Bella.”

Isabella stood frozen.

Her mind had gone completely blank as Gabriel walked toward her. She watched his lips move, but for a moment, she couldn’t hear anything.

He spoke for a long time.

He talked about their childhood together. About how he had fallen in love with Vanessa. About his anger when he discovered what Vanessa had done. About the guilt he felt when he learned Isabella was pregnant.

He spoke about forgiving Vanessa.

Then finally, he said the words that shattered everything.

“Bella… I’m sorry. I can’t marry you. Not because of that night. Not because of the child. But because I can’t let Vanessa down. I don’t want to lie to myself about my feelings.”

For months, he had been overseas with Vanessa. Being together day and night had only made it harder for him to leave her.

Even though he had pretended to be the man from that night to protect Isabella from the truth, his heart had already made its choice.

After learning about the pregnancy, he had gone to the Hartley family to confess everything to their parents and prepare to tell Isabella the truth.

Isabella finally found her voice.

“So… you knew all along that Vanessa drugged me? That she ruined my life? And to protect her, you lied to me and said you were the one that night?”

Gabriel didn’t answer immediately.

“Bella… Nessa didn’t mean it. She's still young. She acted impulsively…..

“Then what about me?”

Her voice trembled as she looked at him, eyes filled with despair.

“Did you ever think about me? Even once? Did you think about what this would do to my life? How hard I’ve been trying to fit into this family?”

Gabriel fell silent.

After a long moment, he reached toward her. 

“The sun is too strong. Let’s go home first—”

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed.

And then she started laughing.

A hollow, broken sound.

Up until now, Isabella felt like her entire life had been a joke.

To stay in the same city as Gabriel, she had pushed herself endlessly in school to enter the same university.

To please him and his family, she had given up her dream of becoming an actress.

To match his status, she had even left her adoptive parents and returned to the Hartley family, awkwardly trying to please people who had always felt like strangers.

And in the end, all she received was one sentence:

I can’t let Vanessa down.

Vanessa had taken her identity. Taken her biological parents.

And now… she had taken the man Isabella loved more than anything.

Vanessa was young, so her mistakes could be forgiven?

Then who would take responsibility for Isabella’s life?

She didn’t even know who the man from that night was.

Isabella covered her face as her body shook violently. She had fallen into complete despair.

She walked toward the road in a daze.

Gabriel noticed and threw away the cigarette in his hand, about to run after her, but Vanessa grabbed his sleeve.

“Babe, where are you going? I don’t feel good.…”

Gabriel hesitated.

And in that single moment—

A loud crash echoed through the street.

Isabella, who had been crossing at the zebra crossing, was struck and thrown into the air before hitting the ground heavily.

“Help! Help! A pregnant woman has been hit!”

In the blinding light, Bella saw blurry figures rushing toward her.

She saw two familiar faces that made her feel sick.

A sharp cramp twisted through her belly as her consciousness began to fade.

Blood trickled down from her forehead into her eyes.

Her world slowly fell into darkness..….