Chapter 174/I Am Fucking Ruined

Chapter 174: 174/I Am Fucking Ruined

Chapter 174:

Stephanie’s POV

The heavy wooden door clicked shut behind Isabella, and the four walls of the room instantly began crashing in on me. The oxygen completely vanished from the space, leaving me suffocating. I whipped around to face Cedric, my eyes wide, pinned on him in sheer, unadulterated panic.

"Cedric... for God’s sake, are you absolutely sure she won’t breathe a word to anyone outside this house?"

My breath hitched, a desperate whisper tearing from my throat. Her expression the toxic glare she gave us before she walked out it dripped with pure malice, hatred, and a violent thirst for blood.

He didn’t flinch. Cedric took a few slow, commanding strides toward me, his massive hands reaching out to steady my trembling shoulders.

His deep, gravelly baritone was completely devoid of emotion. "She won’t say a single goddamn word to a living soul. Pull yourself together, Stephanie. She’s a smart bitch. She knows exactly how bloody the consequences will be if she opens her mouth."

"Get off me!" I barked, violently shaking his heavy grip off my frame. I stumbled backward toward the exit, my legs trembling beneath me. "I need to get the hell out of here right now. I can’t breathe the same air as you for another fucking second!"

He let out a heavy, defeated sigh, his posture stiffening in pure frustration. When he spoke again, his tone uncharacteristically softened into a warm, low cadence he reserved entirely for me. "Stephanie... please, just calm down. This hysterical panic is going to hurt you, and it’s definitely going to hurt the twins."

My hand flew to the doorknob, twisting it frantically as I violently shook my head. "My sister Valentina is out there in this palace counting my every breath! I can’t take a single risk anymore I can’t survive another fucking scandal!"

I bolted out of his room like a fugitive, my stiff, freezing limbs driving me down the corridors in a blind sprint until I threw myself into my own room. I slammed the door shut and threw the deadbolt, pressing my spine flat against the solid wood.

My heart hammered violently against my ribs, pounding so hard I thought it would burst right through my chest.

Everything happening inside this goddamn palace was pushing me past the absolute limit of human endurance. I was trapped. Everyone was backing me into a corner with my own disgusting reality, wrapping their fingers tighter around my throat by the day. The maid had a piece of my crime, threatening to expose me to the world if I didn’t hand over that key.

Vincente held my entire secret in his palm, forcing me to work under his sadistic mercy and dominance. And now, that bitch Isabella had just joined the goddamn blacklist.

"I’m done," I whispered to myself, my blue lips trembling as scalding tears finally broke free, tracing tracks of pure misery down my cheeks. "I’m fucking ruined."

My fingers shook so violently I could barely grasp my phone, blindly dialing Kira’s number. The second her calm voice came through the line *"Hey, Steph "* I cut her off with a frantic, sobbing gasp.

"Kira... where the hell are you? Please, you have to save me!"

"I’m at the grocery store right now getting some stuff for the house," she replied, her tone shifting into pure confusion. "What’s wrong with you?"

"I’m getting in my car and coming straight to your place right now," I choked out, the tears completely suffocating my throat. "Meet me there. Instantly."

I killed the call before she could even utter another syllable, throwing my door open and tearing down the grand staircase in a frantic, panicked rush. I broke out of that cursed estate, threw myself into my car, and slammed my foot onto the gas, driving toward her apartment with reckless, suicidal speed. The moment my tires screeched to a halt, I sprinted up to her door, hammering my fists against the wood in a manic, hysterical rhythm.

The door swung open almost immediately, revealing Kira’s completely stunned face. "Steph! What the absolute hell is wrong with you?! You look like a goddamn corpse!"

I shoved past her with my shoulder, bursting into the apartment as my lungs strained for a shallow breath. "I’m ruined, Kira... my entire fucking life is completely over!"

She slammed the door shut behind me, instantly grabbing my freezing hands. "What happened?! Talk to me!"

A heavy sob tore from my throat, my tears scalding hot as I gasped for air. "Vincente knows about me and Cedric... and today, that goddamn snake Isabella caught us together inside the room!"

Kira’s eyes went wide, her entire face freezing in absolute horror. "What?! Oh my god, Steph... that is a total fucking disaster!"

I grabbed the fabric of her shirt, clutching it in pure, unadulterated desperation. "I have to run, Kira. Please, hold my hand through this you have to help me escape this living hell and the mafia right fucking now!"

She grabbed my arms, trying to anchor my flailing body as she pleaded with me. "Calm down, Stephanie. Please, just take a deep breath. You cannot break down like this."

"How the hell am I supposed to calm down?!" I screamed, my nerves utterly shattered. "The noose is already tightening around my goddamn neck!"

She placed her palm gently over my swollen stomach, her grip firming as she forced me to look at her. "You have twins growing inside you, Steph! Think about their safety first. You’re going to cause a miscarriage if you keep panicking like a lunatic."

I shook my head, a bitter, hopeless sob escaping me. "This... this goddamn pregnancy is exactly what’s choking the life out of me! It’s stripping the air right out of my lungs and completely destroying me!"

She rubbed my shoulders gently, guiding me toward the living room. "Alright, just sit down on the couch. I’m going to grab you a glass of water real quick."

I sank into the cushions, my entire inner being feeling like a volatile volcano ready to erupt and shatter my frame into pieces. Kira returned, handing me the glass. My hands shook like a paralytic as I took it, forcing a few desperate gulps down my parched, burning throat.

"Everything was a mistake from the very first fucking step," I whispered, a dark, suffocating wave of regret washing over me. "Marrying Alexander for show was a massive mistake that cost me everything, and fucking Cedric in secret between the walls of that cursed palace right after the wedding... that was easily the foulest, most disgusting thing I’ve ever done."

I paused, catching my ragged breath before looking up at her with pure bitterness. "I should have run away using my goddamn brain on day one. I should have never signed that cursed marriage contract, and I should have never let my emotions drag me between two brothers. I shouldn’t have opened my legs for either of them!"

Kira dropped to her knees in front of me, her expression turning rigidly realistic. "This isn’t the time for a belated guilt trip, Steph. There is no use crying over spilled milk or obsessing over the past. What’s done is done, and this regret isn’t going to change your reality by a single fucking inch."

I wiped my face aggressively, smearing the remnants of my tears away. "I need to run and completely disappear. Yes... that is the only escape route I have left if I want to stay alive."