Chapter 154

Chapter 154
Roberto looked far more terrifying than usual. In his hand was a whip. He lashed it across Emily’s body while gritting his teeth and growling, "You think telling Matthew the truth will make him love you? Look at reality. You’ve been abandoned."
Each of Roberto’s words turned into sharp blades stabbing into Emily’s heart. She closed her eyes in helpless resignation. Just as Roberto said, it would be better if she died a little sooner.
Each lash tore through her skin and flesh, yet Emily no longer felt pain. Instead, she began to hallucinate. Her parents were smiling at her, and she was once again the cherished little princess of the family.
...
By the time Matthew reached the forest’s edge, he found Rishima cradled in Zvonimir’s arms. Fearing resistance, Roberto had sedated her, so she had yet to regain consciousness.
Matthew pressed his lips together as he looked at Rishima. This was the female he had loved the most. When news of her death reached him, he had suffered greatly. Now, seeing her again, joy was inevitable. But strangely, he wasn’t as emotional as he had imagined.
Watching Zvonimir carry Rishima away, he didn’t feel jealousy. Only a hollow stillness settling in his chest.
Why? Why was that?
Zvonimir brought Rishima home. Emma was fast asleep in her cradle. At that moment, he held Rishima tightly, refusing to let go, tears of joy falling for having regained what was lost.
"Rishima, at last, you’ve come back to me and our babies." He reached out to caress her face, his heart overflowing with happiness.
Zvonimir silently vowed that in this lifetime, he would never let Rishima leave him again.
That evening, Rishima finally awoke. When she realized she was in Zvonimir’s house, she didn’t panic. Because when Roberto had taken her from the villa, she had already begun to suspect something. She just hadn’t expected that Zvonimir would actually snatch her back from Roberto’s grasp.
Now, having lost her memory, Rishima didn’t know whether what Roberto said was true, nor did she fully trust Zvonimir. But when her eyes fell on Emma in the cradle, her expression immediately softened. Zvonimir had told her she had risked her life to give birth to Emma.
Suddenly, Emma’s little face crumpled, and she let out a wailing cry. Rishima panicked, hastily scooping her up and running to find Zvonimir.
"Zvonimir, why is Emma crying nonstop?"
Emma’s cries were pitiful. Despite Rishima’s efforts to soothe her, she wouldn’t stop. Meanwhile, Zvonimir watched them with eyes full of tender sweetness.
"Looks like Emma’s hungry. I’ll make her some formula, wait here a moment."
As Zvonimir headed into the kitchen, Rishima noticed someone standing at the door. She asked hesitantly, "Do… do you know me too?"
The male standing there was staring at her so intensely that Rishima assumed he must have known her in the past.
Matthew, caught off guard by her question, suddenly didn’t know how to respond.
"Let’s… just say I did."
He and she were not friends. He had been someone who pursued her. But now, his mate was Emily.
At that moment, Zvonimir’s voice echoed from the kitchen, “Rishima, he's our friend.”
Zvonimir stepped between them, blocking Rishima’s line of sight, and looked at Matthew, saying, “You already have a mate, so why are you coming to my house in the middle of the night? Your mate must be very worried.”
Zvonimir deliberately emphasized that Matthew already had a mate, as a warning for him not to pursue Rishima.
Matthew was also deeply conflicted. He wanted to say that he never truly intended for Emily to become his mate, that he only wanted to get revenge on her, but if he said that, it would mean a definitive end between him and Emily.
Rishima was still alive, and suddenly it felt like his revenge against Emily no longer had any meaning. He didn’t even know where Emily was right now, but suddenly, Matthew really wanted to see her.
Feeling a bit disoriented, Matthew said, “I’ll go now.”
Zvonimir’s eyes widened in surprise. “You really want to leave?”
Matthew shot him a sidelong glance and asked, “You want me to stay?”
“No no no, please go.”
Matthew gave Zvonimir a long, meaningful look, then said seriously, “Zvonimir, I hope you’ll treat Rishima well.”
“She’s my mate. Of course I’ll treat her well. Now go, you’re not welcome here, and don’t come back.”
Zvonimir directly drove Matthew away. No male would ever welcome his rival with open arms.
Rishima found Zvonimir’s behavior odd and asked, “Zvonimir, why did you talk to him like that? Isn’t he our friend?”
Zvonimir quickly made something up, “He was missing his mate too much, so I urged him to go home earlier.”
“Is that so.”
Rishima didn’t press further. But once it was just her and Zvonimir in the house, she felt a bit awkward. Although Zvonimir always claimed she was his mate, she still wasn’t familiar enough with him to feel comfortable. There was even a trace of fear in her heart.
Suddenly remembering something, Rishima asked, “You once said that besides Emma, I have two other babies. Where are they?”
For some reason, the moment she mentioned the two babies, a powerful surge of emotion rose within Rishima. She desperately wanted to see them, to hold them in her arms.
Zvonimir smiled and gently stroked her hair. “They’re being cared for by your parents. If you’d like, I’ll bring them here to see you right away.”
In Rishima's eyes flickered a trace of joy, but it quickly turned somber. “Maybe... maybe we should wait a bit longer. Once I regain my memory, I’ll meet them.”
She feared that if the babies found out their mother had forgotten them, they would be heartbroken.
Zvonimir nodded, then fixed his gaze on Rishima. Suddenly, he pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her familiar scent.
Startled, Rishima tried to push Zvonimir away, but then she heard his choked voice, as if he were crying. “Rishima, please... just let me hold you for a moment.”
Rishima froze, her entire body rigid, and tears began to stream down her cheeks. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around him too, their heartbeats nearly syncing as one. Being held in Zvonimir’s arms gave her a sense of peace.
They stayed in that embrace for a while, until Rishima’s stomach began to growl. Only then did Zvonimir reluctantly let her go and order the servants to prepare food for them.