He Protected My Baby’s Killer So I Left Him Chapter 09
Matteo crouched down and pulled an ultrasound photo from the bottom of the box.
It was from the first time we’d detected the baby’s heartbeat.
In the lower right corner, a line was written in his handwriting.
Someday, Daddy will protect you and Mommy.
The photo trembled in his hand.
Nico suddenly stood up.
“Where were the baby’s things taken?”
Marco gave him the address of the property’s waste management facility.
All four of them drove there.
The sanitation worker checked the records and told them that day’s collection had already been hauled away.
All they found, tossed in a corner, was a crushed, cloud-shaped lamp.
The shade was cracked, and the switch was broken.
Nico stood by the heap of garbage, holding the lamp, and didn’t move for a long time.
He remembered the day they’d installed it, how I’d stood in the doorway laughing at them.
Four grown men who could barely handle a screwdriver had spent an entire afternoon bickering over one little lamp.
When it finally lit up, I’d asked them, “When the baby’s born, are you going to think it’s this much trouble?”
They had all tripped over each other to say no.
But before the baby was even born, they had already decided I was the one who couldn’t move on.
When they got back to the apartment building, an unfamiliar car was parked out front.
Isabella’s father stood beside it.
In just a few days, he seemed to have aged years.
When he saw them, he dispensed with pleasantries and handed Matteo a vehicle inspection report.
“The insurance company took Bella’s car apart.”
“There was nothing wrong with the brakes.”
“Before the crash, her foot was on the accelerator the entire time.”
The expression on all four men’s faces changed.
The truth was, they had known all along.
I had told them the brake lights never came on.
The security footage from the scene had shown it clearly.
They just hadn’t wanted to believe it.
Matteo’s voice was tight.
“Sir, Bella said she’d been drinking. She doesn’t remember it clearly.”
Isabella’s father fixed his gaze on him.
“She remembers.”
“She just admitted it. She saw Soleil.”
“She was jealous that Soleil was pregnant with your child, and she wanted to scare her.”
“She said she just lost control of the speed.”
Leo jerked his head up.
“Why would she admit that?”
Isabella’s father’s eyes were red.
“Because she believed you would protect her, no matter what.”
At that, none of them said a word.
He looked at them, his voice low and heavy. “My son saved your lives because he wanted you to live well.”
“Not so you could help his sister destroy someone else’s life.”
“Soleil lost her child. Why should that be how you repay my son?”