Chapter 233

Ísabella’s POV

The moment I saw Alessia standing in the doorway, every bit of calm I had managed to gather over the past few hours vanished.

It wasn’t much calm to begin with but was enough to keep me breathing, enough to keep myself from falling apart eve minutes. I had barely managed to convince myself that Mateo still needed me. That I still had a reason to keep going.

But the second I saw her, something cold and ugly twisted inside my chest.

Beside me, Dominic went rigid.

I noticed it immediately as his entire body tensed and his gaze flickered to me first, as though he was trying to gauge my reaction before deciding what to do next.

Concern immediately appeared on his face, because, for once, he knew. He knew exactly how little I wanted to see her.