Chapter 91

POV NOAH

Melissa was still asleep beside me.

Her head was resting on my shoulder.

Her breathing is light.

Calm.

As if, for a few hours, the world had stopped hurting her.

As if nothing had happened.

As if our family wasn’t falling apart.

I didn’t move.

Not even an inch.

I didn’t want to wake her.

I didn’t want to take that one moment of peace away from her.

I just stayed there.

Watching.

Her face.

Her delicate features.

The tired expression, even in her sleep.

And that tightened my chest differently.

Because, for the first time…

I felt it.

Responsibility.

Protection.

Anger.

All at once.

My sister was like this…

Because of him.

My jaw tightened.

I looked away.

And my mind… drifted somewhere else.

My mother.

The dinner scene.

The crying.

The lost look in her eyes.

Then…

My father’s voice.

Cold.

Calculated.

The threat.

My stomach twisted.

And inevitably…

Isabela.

Her name hit me like a punch.

Silent.

Heavy.

I missed her.

A lot.

More than I wanted to admit.

More than it was comfortable to feel.

I missed the way she looked at me.

The way she trusted me.

And thinking about it…

Hurt.

Because I knew…

I had broken that.

Even if I never meant to.

My phone vibrated on the coffee table.

The sound pulled me back.

I looked at the screen.

A message.

From the clinic.

Appointment confirmed—2:00 PM.

My jaw tightened immediately.

It was today.

Finally.

Today, I will have answers.

My heart started racing.

Hard.

Uneven.

I took a deep breath.

Carefully, I grabbed my phone and slowly slid my arm from under Melissa’s head, resting her on a pillow.

She stirred slightly.

Murmured something.

But kept sleeping.

I ran my hand through her hair in an automatic gesture.

Silent.

Protective.

And I stood up.

I walked to the kitchen.

The silence in the apartment felt denser there.

Heavier.

I dialed Luana’s number.

It rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

She answered.

“Hello?”

Her voice came out low.

Cautious.

“Luana, it’s me.”

“Noah… did something happen?”

“I scheduled your appointment.”

She went silent for a few seconds.

“Appointment?”

“Today. Two in the afternoon.”

Another silence.

Longer.

“Today?”

I frowned.

“Yes.”

“Noah… today is kind of complicated…”

My patience was already wearing thin.

“Why?”

“I… have a few things to take care of…”

My voice turned firm.

Direct.

“We need to go today.”

“Can’t it be another day?”

“No,” I said without hesitation. “Saturday is the game. After that, it’s a break.”

I took a deep breath.

“I won’t be able to do another day.”

Silence.

I could feel it.

She was trying to avoid it.

“I… I’m not feeling well today…” she said. “Nauseous…”

I closed my eyes for a second.

Control.

“Luana.”

My voice came out firmer.

Lower.

More dangerous.

“The sooner we deal with this… the better.”

She didn’t respond.

“I’ll pick you up,” I said finally.

“What time?”

“One-thirty.”

A pause.

Too long.

“Okay… fine…”

But her voice…

Didn’t convince me.

I hung up.

And stayed staring at my phone.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Because that…

Wasn’t the behavior of someone pregnant?

I went back to the living room.

Melissa was still asleep.

I covered her with a blanket.

Slowly.

Ran my hand through her hair.

“It’s going to be okay…” I murmured.

But for the first time…

Even I didn’t fully believe it.

I grabbed my keys.

And left.

(…)

Training was heavy.

Intense.

Demanding.

The coach shouted.

Corrected.

Pushed.

But my mind…

Wasn’t there.

My body responded.

Automatic.

Trained.

But my head…

Was stuck on that appointment.

On Luana’s reaction.

On that persistent feeling that something didn’t add up.

I missed passes.

Lost timing.

Got distracted.

Things I didn’t do.

And that only irritated me more.

After training, I went straight to the locker room.

Quick shower.

Cold water.

Trying to clear my mind.

It didn’t work.

I got dressed.

Left.

On the way to the car, my stomach tightened.

It was today.

No turning back.

I drove to Luana’s building.

Parked.

Called her.

“I’m here.”

“I’m coming down.”

I waited.

And when she appeared…

I knew.

Right away.

Something was wrong.

Her tense face.

Her restless eyes.

Her nervous hands.

She got into the car.

And avoided looking at me.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes…” she answered too quickly.

A lie.

I started driving.

The silence was heavy.

Dense.

Almost suffocating.

I glanced at her.

She was biting her lip.

Fidgeting with her hands.

Taking deep breaths.

Over and over again.

“You’re nervous.”

She tried to smile.

Weak.

“Normal… first appointment…”

No.

It wasn’t normal.

It was fear.

I parked at the clinic.

Turned off the car.

The moment.

Had come.

I grabbed the keys.

But before I could open the door…

Her hand grabbed mine.

Tight.

My body stiffened.

I looked at her.

“Noah… I need to talk to you first.”

I frowned.

Turned fully toward her.

“Go ahead.”

She took a deep breath.

Her eyes were already filled with tears.

“First… I want to apologize to you…”

My stomach tightened.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“Luana…”

She started crying.

“I fell in love with you…”

Silence.

“But I’m not pregnant.”

The world stopped.

Literally.

My heart raced.

“What?”

“I lied.”

My head spun.

Anger.

Shock.

Confusion.

All at once.

“What the hell did you do?”

She cried.

“That night… I drugged you…”

My blood ran cold.

“You… what?”

“I put something in your drink…”

My breathing grew heavy.

“You passed out…”

My jaw clenched hard.

“And then?”

“I took you to my place…”

Silence.

“Nothing happened…” she said quickly. “You didn’t wake up… nothing…”

A brutal sense of relief hit me.

But it lasted seconds.

Because the anger came right after.

Violent.

“Are you insane?”

“I know…”

“You drugged me!”

“I know…”

“You lied!”

“I know!”

My voice echoed inside the car.

She shrank back.

“I was in love…”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“That doesn’t justify anything.”

She took a deep breath.

“It wasn’t just that…”

My gaze narrowed.

“What do you mean?”

“I got paid…”

My body went tense.

“By who?”

She hesitated for a second.

But said it.

“Your father.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Unreal.

“What?”

“He came to me…” she cried. “He asked me to keep you away from Isabela…”

My blood boiled.

“He paid you for that?”

“Yes…”

My breathing turned heavy.

“And when you two got back together… he told me to drug you… and fake the pregnancy.”

My hands clenched into fists.

Hard.

My father.

My own father.

That wasn’t just low.

It was sick.

“You agreed to that?”

She lowered her head.

“I was in love…”

“And the money helped, right?”

She didn’t answer.

And that was answer enough.

I ran a hand over my face.

Trying not to explode.

But in the middle of all that anger…

One thought forced its way through.

Isabela.

She was right.

From the beginning.

And for the first time in days…

I felt something different.

Something I thought I had lost.

Hope.

Because now…

I finally had the truth.

And this time…

I wasn’t going to let anyone destroy what’s mine.