The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 15
Sophia saw the billboard too.
She instinctively tightened her grip on Dominic’s arm. Surprise and sourness slipped into her voice.
“Dominic… that’s Bella, isn’t it? I heard she’s been developing her career overseas these past few years. I knew she became an actress, but I didn’t expect… this. I mean, she was a Moretti daughter. Why would she go into entertainment? Even if she has fans now…”
She kept talking, her words full of carefully hidden discomfort.
Dominic did not hear her.
It was not that he had known nothing.
Over the past three years, although he had never gone looking for Isabella, news about her always found its way to him.
He knew she had exploded in popularity the moment she debuted.
He knew every film she starred in had become a hit.
He knew she had won more than one major award.
He had even had his deputy secretly buy ticket stubs from her films and collect posters and products from the brands she endorsed, hiding them in the deepest drawer of his study.
He had simply never allowed himself to go to her.
Now his eyes moved through the surging crowd like a radar and locked onto the figure stepping out of the ordinary passage under the protection of bodyguards and assistants.
In person, Isabella was even more dazzling than the billboard.
She wore a simple white shirt, jeans, and a khaki trench coat. Sunglasses covered most of her face, but they could not hide the natural aura of fame or the effortless confidence she carried.
She smiled and waved to the fans on both sides, graceful and composed, with just the right amount of distance.
Dominic watched her across the sea of people, greedily, almost breathlessly.
Then a tall, handsome man in a dark blue casual suit pushed through the crowd with a smile, holding a large bouquet of vivid Ecuadorian roses.
Adrian Castellano.
The heir to the Castellano family. A notorious playboy in their circles, but also from a powerful background and undeniably capable.
Adrian took Isabella’s luggage naturally, lowered his head toward her ear, and whispered something.
Isabella burst out laughing.
The smile melted the cool distance from her face and made her vivid, alive. She even lifted a hand and lightly smacked Adrian’s shoulder with a hint of playful intimacy.
Their interaction was natural, close, full of a silent understanding no outsider could enter.
Dominic watched them, and his face darkened like a storm.
The air around him dropped in temperature so sharply that Sophia, standing beside him, could not help shivering.
The crowd carried them forward until they reached the parking lot.
By coincidence, Dominic’s car was parked not far from the stretch Lincoln waiting for Isabella’s team.
He watched Adrian open the door for her and place one hand over the top of the frame to keep her from hitting her head.
Just as Isabella bent to get in, she seemed to sense something.
She turned her head.
Across the distance, her gaze met Dominic’s.
For one suspended instant, time truly seemed to stop.
Dominic’s heart leaped into his throat. He could hear the rush of his own blood.
Behind her sunglasses, her eyes seemed to widen almost imperceptibly.
Surprise flashed there.
But only for a heartbeat.
The next second, every trace of emotion faded from those beautiful eyes. They returned to still water, polite and distant, the way one might look at a stranger who had recognized her in passing.
She gave the faintest nod in his direction.
Then she looked away, bent into the car, and did not pause again.
Adrian noticed Dominic too.
He closed Isabella’s door, looked at Dominic through the window, and raised an eyebrow with open provocation. The corner of his mouth curved in a lazy, amused smile.
Then he walked around to the driver’s side and started the engine.
The black stretch Lincoln gave a low growl and pulled away, disappearing from the airport exit.
Dominic remained rooted where he stood, cold from head to toe.
Sophia called his name several times beside him, timidly, but he did not seem to hear.
Only one thought rang again and again in his mind.
She saw him.
She had seen him clearly.
And she had completely, utterly ignored him.