Chapter 85
POV ISABELA
I had never felt like this before.
Never.
It was as if something had been ripped out of me by force.
As if my chest had been opened… and left empty.
And at the same time, unbearably heavy.
Heavy, as if I were carrying something I couldn’t let go of.
Every step toward the elevator felt harder than the last.
My legs were weak.
My body is heavy.
My mind… completely out of control.
The words kept repeating.
Nonstop.
Pregnant.
Our baby.
They slept together.
It was like a constant echo inside my head.
Loud.
Cruel.
Impossible to ignore.
I felt nauseous.
For real.
My stomach churned like I might throw up at any moment.
My head throbbed.
And my heart…
My heart felt like it had been crushed.
I trusted him.
More than anyone.
More than I had ever trusted anyone in my life.
And that…
That hurt in a way I didn’t know how to explain.
More than everything I went through with Daniel.
More than any betrayal.
Because Noah wasn’t just someone I liked.
He was my refuge.
My safe place.
The person who made me feel protected.
The person who made me believe… again.
And now…
He was the one breaking me.
The elevator doors opened with a soft sound, but I barely noticed.
I stepped inside almost automatically.
As if my body were in control and my mind were somewhere else.
My vision was blurred.
I blinked, trying to focus.
But it didn’t help.
That’s when I realized.
I was crying.
Tears streamed down silently, warm, constant.
Without me being able to stop them.
I leaned against the elevator wall.
Cold.
Hard.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
But the images came back stronger.
Luana.
Holding the test.
Noah.
Silent.
“Our baby.”
My chest tightened so much that I brought my hand to it, as if I could contain the pain.
But I couldn’t.
Nothing worked.
When the elevator reached the garage, the sound pulled me back.
I stepped out slowly.
As if every movement required effort.
I walked to my car.
My hands trembled as I pressed the button to unlock the door.
The beep sounded too loud in the silence of the garage.
I got in.
Closed the door.
And that’s when…
I broke down.
I brought my hands to my face.
And cried.
Without control.
Without trying to hold it in.
Without the strength to do so.
I cried like I hadn’t in years.
The sound of my sobs filled the closed space of the car.
My chest hurt.
My throat burned.
Every breath felt like it was tearing me apart from the inside.
I felt like I was losing something very important.
Maybe I was.
Maybe I was losing him.
Maybe I already had.
The thought made my stomach churn even more.
That’s when I heard it.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Hurried.
Coming in my direction.
My heart raced.
I wiped my tears quickly, trying to compose myself.
But it was useless.
The car door opened.
Noah.
Out of breath.
He had been running.
His chest rose and fell quickly, his breathing uneven.
But that wasn’t what stood out the most.
It was his eyes.
Desperate.
As if he were about to lose everything.
“Isa… please… don’t leave like this.”
My heart tightened again.
“Noah…” my voice came out weak, broken. “Please… just let me go.”
He shook his head immediately.
“No… I can’t let you leave like this.”
I looked away.
I didn’t want to look at him.
Because looking… hurt more.
“I need to be alone…”
He placed his hands on the car door, stopping me from closing it.
“I need you to listen to me.”
I shook my head slowly.
“I’ve heard enough.”
My voice broke at the end.
“Please… Noah…”
But he didn’t back away.
“Isa… there’s something I didn’t tell you.”
I closed my eyes for a second.
Tired.
Exhausted.
“I suspect… that I was drugged that night.”
My heart skipped wildly.
I slowly opened my eyes.
“What?”
He was breathing heavily.
He ran a hand through his hair, clearly nervous.
“It doesn’t make sense… none of it makes sense.”
I stared at him.
Trying to understand.
“I had four drinks… just that,” he continued. “And I don’t remember a damn thing.”
I frowned.
“Only four?”
He nodded quickly.
“Isa… there have been times I drank two… three bottles of whiskey… and I never blacked out.”
My heart started beating faster.
Different now.
Confused.
“Never,” he reinforced, his voice firm, but trembling at the same time.
Silence fell between us.
Heavy.
“And that day… four drinks… and I just… blacked out.”
He swallowed hard.
“I don’t remember absolutely anything… anything, Isa.”
My mind started spinning.
Too fast.
Trying to piece everything together.
“That’s not normal…” he murmured.
And it really wasn’t.
I could feel that.
Deep down.
But…
My chest still hurts.
“I don’t know what happened…” he said, his voice breaking. “But I swear… I swear to you… I would never do that to you consciously.”
My heart tightened.
Hard.
He took a step closer.
Careful.
As if he were afraid of scaring me.
“I’m going to prove it,” he said, with a firmness I hadn’t seen before. “I’m going to find out what happened that night.”
My breathing became uneven.
“I’m going to prove that I never touched Luana.”
My heart pounded.
“Noah…”
“I need you to trust me…” he said, almost pleading.
The tears came back.
Warm.
Silent.
“I don’t know if I can…” I murmured, feeling my voice falter.
It was the truth.
As much as I wanted to…
I didn’t know.
He took a deep breath.
And then…
He held my hands.
Gently.
Carefully.
As if I might break at the slightest movement.
His touch…
Was still familiar.
It still affected me.
And that only made everything harder.
“Look at me, Isa,” he asked softly.
I hesitated.
For a second.
Two.
But then…
I looked.
Straight into his eyes.
And there…
I saw everything.
Pain.
Fear.
Desperation.
But also…
Sincerity.
A raw sincerity.
Almost desperate.
“Tell me…” he murmured. “What do you see?”
My heart tightened.
Because I saw it.
I saw the truth there.
Or at least… it felt like the truth.
But at the same time…
There was something inside me that was broken.
Wounded.
Suspicious.
Because even wanting to believe…
Even wanting to run into his arms and pretend none of this was happening…
I couldn’t.
Not yet.
Not like this.
Because the pain was still there.
Alive.
Open.
And I didn’t know…
If my heart were still capable of trusting.