One Night Mistake… Now I Carry the Mafia Heir

Chapter 54: 54/Fragments of the Night

Chapter 54

Stephanie’s Point of View

Cedric was oblivious to what he was doing. I felt his body pressing against me with a force that almost crushed my ribs, which were already trapped inside the corset. In a burst of fear and disgust, I raised my hand and slapped his face so hard the sound echoed through the room. "Get away!" I screamed in a choked voice.

But he didn’t retreat. Instead, he lunged at me and kissed me by force. I tried to stop him, pushing against his chest with all my might and shaking my head side to side to escape his hold, but he was far stronger than me. At that shocking moment, the door burst open and Alexander entered.

His gaze froze on us for a single second before he rushed toward us like a madman.

He ripped Cedric away from me with a violence that made me stagger. I felt like I was going to collapse to the floor if I hadn’t grabbed the edge of the bed. Alexander lunged forward and punched Cedric squarely in the jaw; the latter fell to the floor immediately, weighed down by his drunken stupor.

Alexander wasn’t satisfied; he moved to punch him again, but I rushed toward him and grabbed his arm, trying to stop him with my trembling hands. "Alex, leave him! He’s drunk!"

He turned toward me, his eyes burning with terrifying sparks. "How does he dare to kiss you?" he panted violently. "How?"

"You’re going to cause a scandal now, please calm down," I said, trying to regain my broken breath.

"I don’t care about that!" he shouted, his voice shaking the walls of the suite.

At that moment, Mr. Victor entered the room, his face carrying a frightening sternness. "What is all this shouting?" he asked in a booming voice.

Alexander pointed his hand still shaking with rage at his fallen brother. "Look at him! He enters my room and kisses my wife by force!"

Cedric let out a hysterical laugh while still lying on the carpet. "Your wife?" he muttered deliriously. "She’s mine, you bastard!"

Mr. Victor stomped his foot on the floor and shouted sharply, "What are you doing? Isabella’s family is still downstairs! We will be disgraced!"

"Grandfather..." Alexander tried to speak.

"I don’t want to hear another word!" Victor interrupted him with total authority.

The grandfather walked toward Cedric and grabbed him by the collar. "Get up, you fool!"

Cedric stood up, swaying with his grandfather’s help. Then Mr. Victor turned to us and said coldly, "I’ll take Cedric to his room now and go downstairs to tell them to leave."

"Fine, Grandfather," Alexander replied in a choked voice.

After Mr. Victor and Cedric left, Alexander slammed the door shut and turned toward me. His chest was heaving violently, and the veins in his neck were terrifyingly prominent.

He walked toward me and stood directly in front of me, his gaze piercing through me. "How does he enter here and kiss you with such insolence?" he asked with bitterness and rage.

I was shaking entirely, my hands clutching my waist because the corset was getting tighter with every ragged breath I took. I felt my tears streaming down, unable to speak from the shock and the shortness of breath.

"Alex... please... open this corset now... I can’t breathe!" I managed to say in broken gasps, my hands pressing against my chest that felt like it was about to explode.

Alexander’s features shifted from wild rage to panicked alarm in a single second. His eyes widened as he saw the paleness of my face. "What’s wrong, Steph?" he asked in a trembling voice.

I couldn’t respond with a full sentence; I turned my back to him, my body shivering. "Open the corset!" I cried out in pain.

He reached his massive hands toward those complex laces. I felt the coldness of his fingers touching my burning skin as he fumbled with them. "How do I open this damn thing?" he muttered, his voice thick with tension.

My vision was blurring, and darkness began to attack my senses. "I’m suffocating!" I screamed weakly.

In an instant, Alexander didn’t wait to untie the knots. I heard the sound of fabric violently tearing through the quiet room. With his powerful hands, Alexander ripped through the corset and the fabric of the dress. The white dress fell to the floor in a heap of shredded silk.

At that moment, I regained my breath. Air rushed into my lungs all at once like a gasp of life; I felt like a human being returning from the dead. I sank onto the edge of the bed in only my underwear, my body trembling from the shock and the sudden rush of oxygen. I put my head in my hands, trying to regain my lost balance.

Alexander knelt on the floor before me, his features overflowing with fear and regret as he watched the red marks the corset had printed on my skin. "Are you alright? Tell me..." he whispered anxiously.

I raised my head slowly, taking a deep, organized breath for the first time in hours. "I’m fine now," I said in a faint voice.

He wasn’t convinced. He passed his trembling hand near my face and asked eagerly, "Should I take you to the doctor? Your face is still pale."

"No... I’m fine. I just need some peace," I said, closing my eyes to banish the image of Cedric and Alexander’s shouting from my mind.

Alexander rose from the floor with quiet steps and headed toward the table. I heard the sound of pouring water, the only ring in the silence of the room. He returned to me, holding the glass with a steady hand, then brought it to my trembling lips. "Drink some water," he said in a warm tone.

I drank a little, feeling the coolness wet my dry throat. "That’s enough," I said in a weak voice. He set the glass aside, then knelt again before the bed. I felt the touch of his large hands as they cupped my feet with unexpected tenderness to remove the high heels that had exhausted me all day.

He raised his blue eyes to mine; they held a glint of worry mixed with exhaustion. "Do you want to bathe, or are you unable?"

I leaned my back against the pillows, feeling the weight of my eyelids. "I just want to sleep now. I’m exhausted," I said bitterly.

He rose quietly and reached toward my head. I felt his cautious movement as he removed the heavy veil, then began removing the pins that had been digging into my scalp, one by one, with a quiet skill.

After my hair was freed and spilled over my shoulders, he took me by the arm gently and helped me lie down. He pulled the covers over me with extreme care. "Sleep now," he said softly.

I closed my eyes, surrendering to the softness of the bed beneath my weary body. I thought about Alexander’s care for me, and the tenderness he was showing now, but I quickly suppressed those feelings. I am here for my children only, I convinced myself harshly. I won’t be deceived again not by Alexander and not by Cedric. Both are deceivers.

I was truly surrendering to sleep, my body relaxing, until I suddenly felt an extra weight beside me. Alexander’s hand wrapped around me from behind, pulling me toward his chest. My body jolted as if struck by an electric shock.

I turned toward him with mounting rage, my body shaking.

"What are you doing?" I asked in a sharp voice.