I Faked My Death to Destroy My Husband의 모든 챕터: 챕터 81 - 챕터 90

Isabella’s POVI froze. Dante went still.It was the question I had been dreading for six years. I had rehearsed this moment in the shower, in the car, in the middle of the night. But now that it was here, the script I had written felt inadequate."Because." I said slowly, choosing my words with the care of a bomb disposal technician. "That was my name. A long time ago."Elara frowned, her brow furrowing in a way that was so painfully Mateo-like it hurt to look at. "Before you were my Mama?""Yes." I said. "Before I was your Mama. When I lived in that big house.""Is that why he was mad?" she asked innocently. "Because you changed your name?""He wasn't mad about the name, Elara," I said, hugging her tighter. "He was mad because... because he thinks he owns things. And when I left, I took the most precious thing in the world with me.""Me?" she whispered."You," I kissed the top of her head. "And me. And he doesn't like losing.""Is he..." Elara hesitated. She looked at Dante, then ba

Dante’s POVIn the morning, I went to the study. Irene had taken Elara to the guest wing to play with her and Isabella was still sleeping whe. I left.The confrontation in that manor had turned into something darker inside me. I watched Viktor secure the perimeter, gave the nod to the guards, and then I turned toward Elara’s bedroom. Finding it empty, I walked to master suite.I needed to see her. I needed to touch her. The shower was on inside.I didn't waste time. I pushed open the door to the master bath.I stood in the doorway of the bathroom, watching the steam curl out from the shower stall.Isabella was in there.Through the frosted glass, I could see the silhouette of her curves. The soft slope of her shoulders. The narrow waist. And the devastating, heavy swell of her hips.She was standing tall, her head tipped back into the spray, her hands moving methodically over her skin.She was scrubbing her body.God, she was magnificent.Seeing her last night… standing in front of

Isabella’s POVI was trembling, my legs felt like jelly beneath me. Dante turned the faucet off. But he didn't speak. He didn't offer sweet nothings. He simply grabbed a plush white towel and wrapped it around me, rubbing me dry. He handled me not like fragile glass, but like a weapon he had just finished sharpening.I caught my reflection in the fogged mirror as he dried my hair. My lips were swollen, bitten red. There was a purpling bruise forming on the side of my neck, a violent claim that makeup wouldn't hide. My breasts felt heavy and sensitive, aching from how hard he had handled them.I looked like a woman who had been thoroughly, devastatingly used."Can you walk?" Dante asked finally, still thick with the leftover of his lust."I think so.” I whispered, clutching the towel to my chest.He didn't wait for me to try. He scooped me up into his arms. carrying me out of the steam-filled bathroom and into the cool air of the bedroom.He set me down on the edge of the bed and w

Dante’s POV"Fuck it." I uttered underneath my breath, tearing my gaze apart from the sky. "Initiate Protocol Zero. Total media blackout. Destroy the drones. Get the legal team on the line.""Sir." Viktor hesitated. "The NYPD...""I don't care about the NYPD.” I snarled. “Do whatever can be done.”“Noted.” Viktor said.Then I looked at Isabella.She was staring at helicopter. Her face drained of all blood. The flush I had put there… that the beautiful, rosy bloom of our morning together was gone. I wanted to pull her back into me. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her that it would be alright."He is just blackmailing, Bella." I said, holding her wrist. "We knew this might happen. We prepared for war. Now we fight it."I was ready to be her shield. I was ready to burn the city down to keep the smoke out of her eyes.But she only went still. It was the stillness of the statue I had first met at the office all six years ago. The stillness of a woman who had learned to stop b

Isabella’s POVThe black SUV stopped in front of the gates of the Santiago Manor.Beyond them, I saw a crowd.It was a sea of people. Reporters with cameras perched on ladders, news vans with satellite dishes. They were screaming my name. Not "Alessia." They were screaming "Isabella.""We are here, Ma'am." Viktor said from the driver's seat. He didn't want to leave us here. He was disobeying every instinct in his body to follow Dante’s final order."Thank you, Viktor." I said."Mama?" Elara tugged on my sleeve. She was clutching my sweater in the tiny fingers. Her eyes widened slight as she saw the crowd. "Why are there so many people? Is it a party?""No, baby." I said, smoothing her hair, trying to keep my hand from shaking. "It’s... it’s just a welcome home."Home. The word tasted like a curse.The gates groaned open and the car rolled up the long driveway. Viktor stopped the car at the foot of the grand staircase of the Manor."I can't go further." Viktor hesisted as he met my