The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 19
Dominic immediately had Sophia brought to his room.
When he threw the evidence in front of her, Sophia first tried to argue, then cry. But under the weight of irrefutable proof and Dominic’s knife-cold gaze, her defenses finally collapsed.
She sank to the floor, sobbing, and confessed everything.
“Dominic, I only did it because I love you so much. I was jealous of Isabella. I just wanted you to pity me and hate her more. I was wrong. I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance.”
Her makeup ran down her face. Her features twisted with panic until she looked almost ugly.
Dominic looked down at her and felt no pity.
Only cold emptiness.
And nausea.
Isabella’s face appeared uncontrollably in his mind.
Even at her most humiliated and wounded, even when he misunderstood her and hurt her, Isabella had never begged like Sophia. She had always been proud. Even with tears in her eyes, her spine had stayed straight.
At that moment, Dominic finally understood.
The woman he missed, the woman who had moved him, the woman he truly could not let go of deep in his heart, had never been Sophia, that false image of an old love built on lies.
It had been Isabella.
Vivid. Real. Fierce in love and hatred. Burning like fire. Even bruised and broken, she had given him sincerity and warmth without holding back.
His so-called responsibility toward Sophia had been nothing but self-deception.
His feelings for Isabella had already sunk into his bones during those three years of closeness, in all those ordinary moments that had quietly accumulated until they became part of his life.
He had simply refused to see it.
His blindness, stubbornness, and obsession with the past had buried it by force.
This belated awakening brought no relief.
Only annihilating regret.
It nearly destroyed him.
After the truth came out, Dominic acted with thunder.
He forced Victor to return the assets he had stolen and handed over evidence of Elena and Sophia’s involvement in financial crimes to the proper authorities.
He broke with Sophia completely, severing every tie without hesitation.
But after all of it, he felt no relief.
Only a deeper emptiness.
And urgency.
He had to see Isabella.
He had to ask for her forgiveness.
Even if the chance was one in ten thousand.
For the first time, Dominic put down every trace of pride and stood like an ordinary man desperate for a lost love outside the quiet Upper Manhattan townhouse his deputy had found.
The night was dark and cold.
In his hand was an elegant paper bag holding a signature cake from the old dessert shop Isabella used to love. He had had it flown in specially.
He remembered how much she loved sweets, especially when she was upset. One bite, and her brows would ease at once, like a cat whose fur had finally been smoothed.
He waited in the car all night.
The ashtray filled with cigarette butts. His eyes reddened. Green stubble darkened his jaw. He looked exhausted and undone.
Only at daybreak did a familiar sports car approach and stop outside the townhouse.
Adrian got out from the driver’s side, walked around, and opened the passenger door for Isabella.
She wore simple clothes, her face a little tired, but her expression relaxed.
Adrian ruffled her hair and said something that made her smile.
The warmth and ease between them stabbed Dominic like a thorn.
He pushed open the car door and walked toward them quickly.