Chapter 70: Brewing Secrets
It would be a lie if Dora said she wasn’t terrified. They had guns, and the cruel expression on Tiberio’s face as he glanced over her made it clear that he was fully ready to use them. Unwilling to let their chance meeting go to waste, he watched her with a predator’s patience.
"If you want to talk—" Dora began to speak again, only to be interrupted as Tiberio suddenly barked at her, making it clear that he was not in the mood to converse in any way.
"Shut up and walk with me!" he told her sharply, even as Dora’s hands trembled and she slowly felt her legs move closer to him, albeit in a painfully unwilling fashion.
Soon, they were silently walking side by side with the bodyguards leading the way as they headed toward the elevator in heavy, intimidating silence.Dora’s heart was pounding in her chest, aware that if she let them take her then it was over for her completely. There was nothing she could possibly do to fix it.
She would belong to Tiberio, and only God knew what the fate of the child she carried would become.Again, her mouth trembled as she tried desperately to figure out what to tell him while they entered the elevator with her standing behind, even as the bodyguards moved to block the entrance and pressed the key to the ground floor.
At this point she began to curse at herself with everything she could muster.
’So stupid! How could I be so stupid!’ she cursed at herself over and over again, even as tears filled her eyes, realizing that she had done the very same mistake she had sworn she would never repeat. One her step-sister and mother were already paying for with their bodies and their futures.
The elevator continued to gradually descend, and Dora’s heart only pounded harder in her chest as she scrambled for an idea that would set her free, only to come up painfully short. By the time the elevator dinged and slowly began to open, she knew it was over and all hope was lost.
But the elevator door had just slid open when her eyes widened and she instantly sent a desperate prayer up to heaven. She had no idea how Ettore realized she had left the room or how quickly he was able to get to the ground floor, but she didn’t care in the slightest.
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she stared at Ettore, who stood right in front of the elevators, glancing around sharply until his eyes settled on her with clear recognition.The men with him brought her immense relief as she watched him approach, ignoring the glance Tiberio directed in her direction as she heard Ettore speak to the bodyguards.
"Are you getting out?" he asked calmly, even though they didn’t respond, simply making way for Tiberio who walked out with his gold cane and stepped out first while speaking in a low and cool tone. Words clearly directed at Dora, who stood frozen in fear.
"I’ll be back!" he told her, glancing back at her with a cruel look that sent shivers right through her spine as she went ahead to focus all her attention on Ettore instead.Watching as Tiberio walked out and left the hospital surrounded by the hefty men by his side, she would have looked longer if not for the sharp stare that Ettore sent her way.
A look of intense displeasure as she lowered her own head, fully aware of what she had done wrong and how reckless she had been.But instead of apologizing, she simply pressed the elevator key, intending to head back upstairs to her step-mother’s room with or without Ettore.
Ettore entered without saying a word as he stood beside her, even as Dora didn’t speak, doing her best to catch her breath even as sweat matted her back and her forehead and she slowly wiped it off with trembling fingers.It wasn’t until they got back upstairs that Ettore finally spoke as she stepped out to leave.
"I have already informed Mr. Dante!" he told her, but Dora didn’t even blink since it was something she already expected him to do. Anything less would have been surprising.Her racing heart slowly settled in her chest even as she continued to ignore him and head towards her step-mother’s room.Pushing in the door and closing it behind them.
The gaze that met her own the second she entered was unfriendly, but at that moment she didn’t care as she stepped closer to the bed.
She had entered mostly to get some time to herself, but above all her gaze was focused on her step-sister, whose toes were still missing and who was stuck in a wheelchair, trapped by consequences that were meant for Dora.
Worse of all, her step-mother whose left leg was outright missing. Her heart began to thump in her chest, realizing the horrifying fate that would have befallen her if indeed Ettore hadn’t shown up and she had walked out of the hospital with Tiberio, the mafia don who showed no mercy.
She didn’t speak and her family didn’t speak to her too. Her father was silent—quieter than usual. He sat by his wife’s side all day but his expression was more stoic than usual, almost like he was yet to forget her betrayal, yet to forgive her for anything.
It was mostly Elisa that spoke, and her step-brother Rossi whenever he deemed it right to show up with his usual careless attitude.
Dora soon found a chair and settled in it as she took multiple breaths before excusing herself to pee.
Heading to the bathroom and taking out the pregnancy test she had risked her life for.
Patiently she stared at the test after peeing, her heart thumping harder in her chest after staring at it for a few minutes and coming to a realization that nearly knocked the air out of her.
"I’m pregnant!" she whispered under her breath, trying her best to calm herself down even as she wrapped the pregnancy test up in tissue and threw it into the dustbin with shaking hands.
Her mind was blank even as she flushed and stepped out, wanting to head home immediately, which she instantly did.
Saying her goodbyes.
"I’ll come again tomorrow if I’m able to!" she said as she turned to leave, but Maria’s displeasure was clear in her voice and tone as she spoke.
"You don’t have to force yourself!" Maria directly told her, even as Dora simply nodded her head and left while Elisa was trying to placate her.
"Mother! Dora cares about you!" she told her, but by then Dora had already walked out and left, leaving them to themselves.
Elisa intended to stay longer, but she had physiotherapy sessions for her legs, and sitting for so long was bad for her recovery.
Soon she had no choice, kissing her mother on the forehead right before her bodyguard led her out of the room along with other bodyguards that were assigned to take her home.
Rossi also left, and soon it was only Maria who lay on the bed along with Luca, her husband.
The silence was unsettling as, unlike before, a deep tension had crept in even as Maria spoke.
"I made a mistake! I was drunk! It won’t happen again!" she promised him, her hands trembling as she spoke, but Luca didn’t respond. What was even more unsettling was the fact that the gentle expression that was usually pasted on his face was gone, and in its place was a face wretched in anger and evil.
Almost like he was someone completely different.
