Chapter 174
LEVI
“I want a real man, and you’re not a real man—you’re in your father’s shadow.”
The words echoed in my mind like a relentless drum, each beat reverberating through my chest. My hands curled into fists. I looked around the room, vision blurred, chest heavy, heart shattering into pieces I couldn’t gather. Each breath came slow, painful, as if the air itself weighed me down. My head felt like it might explode.
“What the hell just happened?” I whispered to myself, confused and raw. The world seemed both too loud and too quiet at once, a chaotic blur of sensation and thought.
It was that call that had changed everything. I hadn’t been able to protect her from the chaos it brought. My mind spun with fear, guilt, rage, longing—too many emotions colliding at once.
Mechanically, I moved to the bathroom, body heavy, hands trembling as I turned on the cold shower. The icy water hit me like a shockwave, jolting me upright, making me feel momentarily alive, momentarily in control. Inside, however, my mind remained a storm, thoughts tumbling over one another: everything I had done, everything I hadn’t, every choice, every regret.
Yet beneath it all, a stubborn, unbroken part of me burned—a need to keep moving forward with her, to survive, to protect her, to reach her even if it destroyed me in the process.
I shivered under the icy water, letting it sharpen my senses, steady my racing heart, and focus my mind. The storm inside me subsided just enough for a single, clear thought to emerge.
After freshening up, I dressed quickly—slipping into a crisp white shirt and rolling the sleeves to my elbows. I was going to meet Isabella. I would force her to tell me the truth today, and nothing would keep us apart. I would not let her run from me.
I grabbed my keys and stepped toward the door, my heart still racing, when a knock made me freeze.
Through the peephole, I saw Pedro, the private investigator I had hired to dig up information on Isabella. Relief and unease twisted together in my chest, a war I couldn’t quiet.
I opened the door and gestured him inside. “Hello,” I murmured, voice taut with fatigue and tension.
“I’m in a hurry, Pedro. Can this wait until tomorrow?” I asked, trying to keep my tone steady, though the weight of everything I had seen earlier pressed down on me like a physical force.
Pedro didn’t flinch. He moved with deliberate calm, footsteps soft against the floor, stopping at the side of the room. He held out an envelope. Every motion was precise, controlled—purposeful. Danger hung in the air like static. I could feel that whatever he had, it would change everything.
“I have all the information you need,” he said quietly, raising the envelope. I hadn’t even noticed it in his hand until now.
I froze, hand hovering over it, heart hammering. Pedro’s eyes were steady, unflinching.
“You have to sit for this,” he added. Slowly, reluctantly, I did.
I opened the envelope. My eyes widened. Inside were documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, court files—everything. Cases, private investigations, photographs I had never seen, detailed accounts of people I didn’t know, secrets I wasn’t supposed to know.
The first images made my chest pound—photographs of Isabella and me, intimate, private moments captured before my accident. I recognized the places immediately: my private houses, secluded vacation homes, spaces I had never shared with anyone else, my sanctuaries. The memories were raw, suffocating. Some photos were so personal it felt like I was exposed alive, every secret laid bare.
Then came a sharp twist of shock. More photographs—this time of her with another man. My chest constricted, disbelief and betrayal crashing through me.
Reports followed: court documents, news clippings, official records—everything meticulously compiled, each piece of her life cataloged in painstaking detail. Pedro had uncovered an astonishing web, and I realized how deep it went. Every image, every note, every article screamed that someone had been watching her life… and now I held it all in my hands.
“Where did you find all this?” I whispered, hands trembling, eyes darting from one image to the next. My heart raced, sweat prickling at my neck. Goosebumps ran across my skin as I reached the final photograph: her and the same man—kissing, intimate, unmistakable.
Pedro’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. “You were an assignment for Isabella. That woman in the image—she’s dangerous.”
I flung the envelope onto the table, body trembling. “I want to hear it from her,” I said, voice raw. My chest felt as if it might crack under the weight of what I had seen.
Pedro nodded slowly, expression grave. “Be careful, Levi. Whatever you think you know… it’s only the beginning. The truth…” His eyes flickered with something I couldn’t name. “…it’s far worse than you imagine. She’s been lying to you all this while, because there’s only one thing she wants from you.”
My voice barely rose above a whisper. “What is that?”
“Money,” Pedro said flatly. “And revenge.”
BOOK 2 ENDS HERE
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