Dangerous Secrets: My Mafia Stepbrother

At this moment, Isabella walked to the side of the crib, reaching out to touch the toys hanging there. These were the ones she had put up herself. Even though James had said he could do it, Isabella felt it would be better if she did it, as it was her way of showing love to her daughter.

She hadn’t expected something like this to happen.

“Why am I so useless? I can’t even take care of an unborn child,” Isabella’s tears fell. “I’ve checked everything online, followed all the advice to take care of myself. My body is healthy, and I’m so young; this shouldn’t be happening, right?”

Isabella caressed a small elephant toy, she liked it very much, and so she thought, her daughter would surely like it too when she was born. But now, everything was gone.

“Isabella, this isn’t your fault. None of us wanted this to happen. Isabella, please, try to pull yourself together, can you?” Emanuele held Isabella in his arms, comforting her.

Before, he had always thought Isabella was petite, but her body was soft and felt good. Now, he felt she had become even smaller and thinner. In just half a month, she had lost so much weight. Emanuele paused for a moment, the pain in his heart spreading throughout his body. He had endured many physical pains, but none as excruciating as this.

Seeing Isabella’s sorrow, Emanuele also felt distressed. What made him even sadder was that he didn’t know what to do to make Isabella less sad.

After a while, Emanuele said to Isabella, “Isabella, please don’t be sad. We will have children, and our daughter will definitely come back.”

Isabella nodded, but the sadness on her face was still overwhelming.

She sat down by the windowsill, which had a blanket on it, so it wasn’t cold to sit there. However, Emanuele was still worried about her.

Even though Isabella was sitting in the sunlight, the sadness emanating from her made Emanuele feel as if she were in hell.

Emanuele walked over and sat next to Isabella, not speaking or disturbing her, giving her space to process on her own.

He knew Isabella was strong. Over the years, she had endured Chloe’s torment, even though she suffered from claustrophobia, she eventually overcame it. She was so capable and strong, Emanuele believed that given time, she would surely regain her strength.

Emanuele remained silent, sitting quietly beside Isabella.

At that moment, Emanuele received a message from James: “Boss, we’ve located Evelyn in a strange place. She’s actually outside the city. What could she be doing there? Her parents said she hasn’t returned home for several days. Could something unusual have happened?”

James had been keeping a close eye on Evelyn. In the past few days, he had visited Evelyn’s parents in his spare time, only to find out that Evelyn had left a few days earlier. James immediately messaged Evelyn, but there was no response. He tracked her location, but her phone was off. Fortunately, he was able to locate her car.

To his surprise, Evelyn had gone to the outskirts. It was very strange. What was Evelyn doing there alone?

Considering that Evelyn hadn’t returned to her apartment and hadn’t replied to messages for days, James could only think of one possibility: had she been taken by William?

James immediately reported this to Emanuele and they decided to investigate the matter.

Concerned about disturbing Isabella, Emanuele came out of the room and told James, “Okay, you take some people over there and observe the surroundings. William is very careful. Be cautious, and keep me informed of any issues.”

“Okay, boss.”

Emanuele hung up the phone, knowing he had to prepare himself. Once James confirmed the situation, he would also have to go to the scene.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

This time, he didn’t want William to escape.

After hanging up the phone, Emanuele turned to look at Isabella. Seeing Isabella sitting at the windowsill lost in thought, he went over and kissed her. “Isabella, I have something to take care of. Will you go back to the room and rest for a while? Or watch some TV?”

“It’s alright, I’ll go back to rest when I’m tired,” Isabella said to Emanuele.

Seeing Isabella’s obedient look, Emanuele felt his heart break. He kissed Isabella again, “Darling, take care of yourself.”

He turned and left. As he went downstairs, he instructed Lilly and Elisa to take turns checking on Isabella from time to time.

“You can check on Isabella, but don’t disturb her. Isabella needs some time alone to calm down.”

“Don’t worry, Emanuele, you focus on your work. We will take care of Isabella,” Lilly said.

She didn’t dare to mention giving Isabella any food. Last time, Isabella got poisoned after eating the meal she had prepared, resulting in the loss of the baby. Lilly felt as though she could never cook again, even though their food was thoroughly checked before being brought in. The psychological shadow left behind by that incident was something Lilly felt she would never be able to shake off.

After Emanuele left, Lilly and Elisa took turns going upstairs to check on Isabella’s condition. When they saw Isabella sitting motionless by the window, they didn’t disturb her.

Lilly brought Isabella a cup of tea. It was fine if she didn’t eat, but she needed to drink water. After bringing the tea, Lilly left, leaving Elisa standing at the top of the stairs, gazing at the nursery, looking like a statue.

She knew that Elisa was also struggling internally. They hadn’t protected Isabella, even though they had wanted to. It was painful to know that Isabella had suffered so much.

Thinking about this, Lilly’s eyes filled with tears, and she said to Elisa, “I really hope Isabella will be okay.”

“Lilly, it’s not your fault. It’s mine,” Elisa comforted Lilly. In her eyes, it wasn’t Lilly’s fault at all.

Lilly was just a chef, responsible for cooking. How could she have known that the food could be poisoned? Elisa, on the other hand, was Isabella’s guard, responsible for her safety, yet she couldn’t ensure Isabella’s safety. It made her feel as though she was responsible for Isabella’s repeated suffering and injuries.

Thinking about this, Elisa felt so guilty that she wished she could take Isabella’s place to bear all of it.

“Why don’t you blame me? If at that time, I had checked the food and prevented Isabella from eating it, the baby wouldn’t have been harmed,” Lilly cried softly.

During this time, she had been engulfed in self-blame and had even contemplated resigning. She felt she couldn’t stay there any longer. Emanuele wouldn’t allow it, saying that Isabella was currently at her most vulnerable. Because of Emanuele’s words, Lilly stayed.

She wanted to help Isabella regain her strength, but seeing Isabella in her current state, Lilly felt heartbroken.

“Lilly, it’s my responsibility. We didn’t inspect the food, and as a chef, you weren’t obliged to do that,” Elisa reassured Lilly.