Chapter 34 Isabella's Warning

Chapter 34 Isabella's Warning
Isabella's Warning

"Sister-in-law!" Isabella's cheerful voice filled the room as she burst through Sophia's suite door without knocking, bouncing onto the bed with the exuberance of someone who'd never learned proper boundaries. "I brought you those French pastries you mentioned loving at dinner last week, and…"

She stopped mid-sentence, her bright smile fading as she took in Sophia's appearance. Sophia had been lying on her bed fully clothed since returning from Ethan's study hours earlier, her face buried in her pillow to muffle the sounds of crying.

"Oh my God," Isabella said, her voice immediately softening with concern. "Sophia, what's wrong? You look like someone died."

"Nothing's wrong," Sophia said quickly, sitting up and wiping at her eyes, though she knew it was too late to hide the evidence of her tears. Her face was blotchy, her eyes red and swollen from hours of crying.

Isabella studied her with the sharp perception that seemed to run in the Rossi family. "Don't lie to me. I know what heartbreak looks like… I've seen it in mirrors often enough." She shifted on the bed, crossing her legs and settling in like she planned to stay until she got answers. "What did my brother do?"

"It's not…" Sophia started to protest, then stopped. What was the point of lying? Isabella clearly wasn't going anywhere until she heard the truth, and maybe talking about it would help her process the emotional whiplash of the past twelve hours.

"He was different last night," Sophia said quietly, fresh tears threatening as she remembered the vulnerability Ethan had shown her. "We had a fight about... something important. But then he opened up to me in a way he never had before. He told me things about himself, about his fears, about why he chose me."

Isabella's expression grew more serious. "And then?"

"And then we..." Sophia felt heat flood her cheeks, but she pushed through her embarrassment. "We made love. For the first time since our wedding, it felt real. Like we were really husband and wife, not just playing roles."

"Oh, honey," Isabella said softly, and something in her tone made Sophia's stomach clench with dread.

"This morning he was completely different," Sophia continued, the words pouring out now like she couldn't stop them. "Cold, cruel, dismissive. He called it a mistake, said it was just physical release between two people living in close proximity. He made me feel like... like I was nothing more than a convenient outlet for his needs."

Isabella was quiet for a long moment, her usually bright features shadowed with something that looked like sympathy mixed with resignation.

"Sophia," she said finally, her voice gentle but firm, "I need to tell you something, and you're not going to like hearing it. Getting emotionally involved with my brother will only lead to heartbreak. Real heartbreak, the kind that destroys people."

"What do you mean?"

Isabella sighed, looking older than her twenty-four years. "Ethan doesn't do emotional attachments. He's constitutionally incapable of it, I think. The way we were raised, the things he's seen and done… they killed whatever capacity he might have had for genuine love."

"But last night…"

"Last night he was vulnerable because he was injured, because you caught him in a moment of weakness," Isabella interrupted. "But in the light of day, when his defenses were back up, he reverted to what he's always been. What he'll always be."

Sophia felt fresh tears burning behind her eyes. "You're wrong. I saw something real in him. I felt it."

"I'm sure you did," Isabella said sadly. "Because there probably was something real, buried deep under all the walls he's built. But that doesn't mean he'll ever let himself access it consistently."

"How can you be so sure?"

Isabella was quiet for a moment, clearly debating whether to share whatever she was thinking. Finally, she seemed to make a decision.

"Have you ever heard of Doris Valentino?"

The name sent a chill through Sophia's chest. She had heard whispers about someone named Doris… fragments of conversations between staff members that stopped whenever she entered a room, knowing looks exchanged between family members when certain topics came up.

"I've heard rumors," Sophia said carefully. "But nothing specific."

"Doris was... well, she was you, five years ago," Isabella said, her voice growing heavier. "Different circumstances, same result. She was a beautiful, intelligent woman from outside our world who got involved with Ethan."

"Involved how?"

"They dated for almost two years. Doris thought it was leading somewhere serious… she started attending family functions, telling people she was his fiancée, planning a future that included marriage and children." Isabella's expression grew darker. "But Ethan never saw her as anything more than a sex toy, someone convenient to have around when he needed physical release, probably because he loved her and doesn't want her experience this kind of life"

Sophia felt sick. The parallels between Doris's situation and her own were impossible to ignore.

"What happened to her?" she asked, though she was afraid to hear the answer.

"She kept pushing for commitment, for official recognition as his partner. She started showing up at family events uninvited, introducing herself as his future wife to business associates." Isabella shook her head. "Ethan tolerated it for a while, but eventually it became embarrassing for him professionally."

"So he ended it?"

"He ended it in the most brutal way possible. At a major family gathering, in front of everyone who mattered in our world, he publicly announced that Doris was delusional if she thought he would ever marry someone of her social standing. He called her a temporary diversion who had forgotten her place."

Sophia's hand flew to her mouth in horror. The public humiliation must have been devastating.

"That's not the worst part," Isabella continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "Three days later, Doris threw herself in front of a moving truck downtown. She was in a coma for two weeks before she died."

The words hit Sophia like physical blows. A woman had died… had killed herself…because of Ethan's cruelty. The man she was falling in love with had driven someone to suicide through his callous treatment.

"I remember hearing about that," Sophia said weakly. "There were rumors..."

"The rumors are the real problem," Isabella said, leaning closer. "Because it's not just about Doris committing suicide. People believe… and I mean powerful people in our world… that Ethan hired the truck driver to kill her."

"What?" Sophia stared at Isabella in shock. "That's insane. Why would anyone believe that?"

"Because removing obstacles is what Ethan does," Isabella said matter-of-factly. "When something or someone becomes inconvenient for him, they tend to disappear. Usually it's business rivals or people who cross the family. But the timing of Doris's death, the way it happened, the fact that the truck driver disappeared the next day and was never found..."

She shrugged, the gesture somehow more chilling than any dramatic gesture could have been.

"People talk. They speculate. And the speculation is that Ethan doesn't just break hearts… he eliminates problems permanently. Doris had become a problem, an embarrassment that threatened his reputation. So she was removed."

Sophia felt the room spinning around her. "You can't seriously believe he would murder someone for being inconvenient."

"I don't know what to believe," Isabella said honestly. "But I know that Ethan doesn't mind removing any obstacle on his way to whatever he wants. Whether that obstacle is a business rival, a romantic complication, or a wife who's become too emotionally attached."

The threat was unmistakable, and it hit Sophia with the force of revelation. She wasn't just risking heartbreak by loving Ethan… she might be risking her life.

"Are you saying he would kill me?" she whispered.

Isabella's expression was grave as she met Sophia's eyes. "I'm saying that my brother has never let anyone or anything stand in the way of what he perceives as his best interests. And if you become more liability than asset..."

She left the sentence hanging, but the implication was clear.

Sophia was trapped in a marriage with a man who might literally eliminate her if she became inconvenient.