One Night Mistake… Now I Carry the Mafia Heir

Chapter 67: 67/The Protector’s Instinct

Chapter 67

Cedric’s Point of View

In that moment, I made my final decision; I would begin my plan for revenge against Stephanie with a lethal coldness befitting the magnitude of the pain she had caused me. I wouldn’t confront her with shouting or reproach; instead, I would let regret slowly gnaw at her bones because she dared to choose Alexander over me.

Although I truly couldn’t stand even a fleeting touch from Isabella, and the scent of her perfume felt suffocating, I was forced to use her as bait to lure out Stephanie’s jealousy. I watched her features stiffen and turn to a deathly pallor when I pressed my kiss onto Isabella’s lips, and when the latter said in a tone dripping with provocation: "Oh, look Cedric... Stephanie must be upset because we’re kissing... Is that what really happened, dear Stephanie?"

Stephanie turned toward us very slowly. I saw her body trembling secretly despite her desperate attempt to remain steady. She spoke in a voice she tried hard to keep natural: "No, I’m not... You’re delusional, Isabella. On the contrary, I just want to go inside now. Suddenly, I felt a piercing cold biting through my body."

I smiled inwardly with a bitter victory; she was fleeing, and fleeing is the first sign of defeat. I stood up immediately and said in a mock-tender tone while looking at Isabella: "You’re right... we should go in immediately, Isabella darling. The weather has become unbearable, and I don’t want you spending your night sick because of me."

I wrapped my hand around Isabella’s waist in a clear gesture of possession before Stephanie’s eyes. I saw the latter pull Alex’s grey blazer tightly around her body as if it were a shield protecting her from my gaze, then she hurried away with quick, stumbling steps without daring to look back for a single second.

As soon as we entered the palace foyer, my grandfather intercepted us with his dignified strides. He stopped to look at us before addressing my fiancée: "Isabella, are you here? I haven’t seen you since you arrived."

Isabella replied with a broad smile, still clinging to my arm: "Yes, we were in the garden... How are you, Grandfather? I hope you’re in good health."

"I am fine as long as everyone else is fine," my grandfather replied with his usual gravity. "Come now, let us all head to the dinner table; the maid told me everything is ready."

We all walked toward the luxurious dining room. As I approached the table, my eyes fell on the platters of roasted chicken distributed in the center. In that instant, a flash of memory struck me; I immediately recalled Stephanie’s intense aversion to the smell and sight of chicken during her pregnancy. In a sudden, uncalculated move, I turned and grabbed Stephanie’s hand with a force that made her gasp. I said in a firm voice: "Close your eyes immediately! Don’t look at the table!"

Stephanie froze in place, stunned. Expressions of bewilderment and confusion appeared on the faces of Alex, Grandfather, and even Isabella, who knit her brows in suspicion. I didn’t care about anyone else. I drew closer to her and placed my large palm over her eyes to block her vision entirely. She tried to turn and pull away from me with frantic movements, but I tightened my grip and left her no room for escape.

"What the hell are you doing? Let her go now!" Alex shouted with suppressed rage. I saw the veins in his neck bulge clearly as he stepped toward me.

"Come here... come closer to find out," I said with icy coldness, my eyes challenging his anger.

When Alex approached me with threatening features, I leaned in and whispered in his ear sharply and quickly: "She feels a lethal nausea and gets extremely sick when she sees chicken. Tell them now to remove these dishes from in front of her immediately before she collapses again."

Alex nodded with quick understanding and a hint of surprise at my knowledge of these details. Meanwhile, Isabella cried out with obvious jealousy, stomping her foot on the floor: "Cedric! What do you think you’re doing? Leave your brother’s wife alone; this behavior is inappropriate!"

"Cedric, let go of me! What’s wrong with you? Have you gone mad?" Stephanie said, struggling to pull my hand away from her face in a choked voice.

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I grabbed her arm firmly and pulled her away from the dining hall, quickly ushering her into my grandfather’s nearby study and slamming the door violently behind us. She screamed in my face, her chest heaving from the intensity of the emotion: "What are you doing? Have you completely lost your mind? Why did you bring me in here?"

In that moment, I wished I could empty all the fires of my burning heart into words that would shred her pride. I wanted to make her hurt and shatter the way she did to me... but, for some unknown reason, I found my tongue completely tied. I couldn’t utter a word. She moved angrily toward the door to leave and escape me, but I grabbed her arm and stopped her sternly: "Wait a moment... you’re not leaving yet. Wait."

At that critical juncture, the door opened and Alexander entered with an eerie calm. He looked at us coldly before addressing her: "Steph, come with me..."

She pulled her hand away from me with a force that suggested my touch contaminated her, and she moved toward him eagerly. They left the office together. I stayed in my place for moments, gathering my composure, only for Isabella to suddenly appear, entering the room with suspicious features and eyes gleaming with curiosity. She said in a sharp tone: "Cedric, why didn’t you tell me Stephanie was pregnant? Is that why Alex married her with such insane speed?"

I realized immediately that my grandfather was the one who told her this secret to justify my strange behavior and impulsive action. She continued with a bitter and suspicious questioning: "But, how did you specifically know that chicken causes her nausea? Isn’t that the responsibility of her husband, Alexander? How did you beat him to knowing the details of her body?"

"Because Alex doesn’t know everything yet," I answered with coldness and exhaustion, trying to invent a convincing excuse. "Back at the villa, I saw her vomiting and in pain, and when I asked her, she told me the reason was the smell of chicken. Alex wasn’t there at that moment, so the information stuck in my memory."

"Ah... I see. Just a coincidence, then," Isabella said, trying to believe my words with a false conviction.

"Let’s go out now," I said sharply, moving toward the door to escape her interrogation. "Grandfather will be waiting for us for dinner; we don’t want to be any later."

We all returned to the table and took our seats after the chicken dishes had disappeared, replaced by other platters. Isabella looked toward Stephanie’s stomach, which was still flat, and said in a mock tone: "Stephanie, congratulations... I really didn’t know you were pregnant. What a surprise!"

"Thank you, Isabella," Stephanie replied in a faint voice, barely audible, as she toyed with her food.

Suddenly, Isabella grabbed my hand over the table and squeezed it tightly, looking at me with a repulsive adoration: "I truly can’t wait for the day we see our children, Cedric... I want them to look like you in everything. I want them to have these mesmerizing grey eyes of yours."

I nodded mechanically and coldly, feeling a painful contraction in my chest. This is all I need! More children from a woman I don’t love? My twins, whom Stephanie carries in her womb, are enough for me... She is the only one I wanted a life from, and she is the only one I ever dreamed would be the mother of my children.

My grandfather commented calmly, observing the clear tension between us with his piercing gaze: "That time will come in its own turn, Isabella. There is no need for haste."

[Thank you for your support, my beautiful girls. ]