CHAPTER 110
CHAPTER 110
POV ÍSIS
I ran.
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to tear through my chest, each beat a painful, uneven удар—as if my own body were trying to keep up with the chaos forming in my head.
The words echoed.
Repeating.
Colliding.
Blending.
My father was hurting my mother.
Betrayal.
Threats.
Lies.
Protection.
My mother is lying… for me.
No.
It couldn’t be true.
Not all at once.
Not like that.
I crossed the hospital corridor almost without seeing anything. The white lights hurt my eyes, everything spinning, blurred. People passed by me—voices in the background, footsteps, stretchers… but nothing made sense.
It was like I was inside a bubble.
Alone.
Sinking.
I pushed the glass door open hard.
The cold morning air hit my face, sharp—but it wasn’t enough.
Nothing was enough.
My hands were shaking.
My breathing came in short, uneven bursts.
“Isis!” I heard his voice behind me.
My father.
My body froze for a second.
But I turned around.
Crying.
Shattered.
“Dad…” my voice came out weak, breaking. “What they said… is it true?”
Silence.
One second.
Two.
And in that small space of time…
I felt everything change.
Because he hesitated.
And that hesitation said more than any answer.
My chest tightened so hard it physically hurt.
“No, sweetheart… " It’s not like that…” he started, too quickly. “Your mother is exaggerating… that boy too…”
That boy.
Noah.
Even that bothered me.
But this wasn’t the moment.
“Dad…” I interrupted, my voice trembling. “Do you remember that day… when Mom was hurt?”
He went silent.
I felt the air grow heavy.
Hard to breathe.
“The black eye…” I continued. “She said she fell in the bathroom…”
He looked away.
And in that moment…
Something inside me started to break.
For real.
No way back.
“She… she provoked me first, sweetheart…” he finally said. “I… I reacted… but your mother needed to learn her place.”
The world stopped.
My stomach twisted.
A bitter taste rose in my throat.
“Dad…”
My voice came out so low it didn’t even sound like mine.
“Nothing… nothing gives you the right to hit her…”
My legs felt weak.
My whole body was shaking.
He sighed, impatient.
As if this were a normal conversation.
“You don’t understand, Isis…”
“She’s a woman!” My voice rose, cracking through the air. “She’s weaker than you! My God… what if she reported you? Why did you do that?”
He ran a hand over his face, irritated.
“It was just once…”
I laughed.
But it wasn’t real.
I was nervous.
Painful.
“Just once?” I repeated, in disbelief. “Just once?”
But deep down…
I didn’t believe that anymore.
Because it wasn’t just about that.
It was about everything.
The way he spoke.
How he tried to justify it.
How he didn’t seem sorry?
Just… annoyed at being questioned.
I swallowed hard.
My hands were cold.
“So… about the cheating… that’s true too?”
He froze.
For a moment.
“No, sweetheart… of course not…”
I slowly shook my head.
Tears are coming back stronger.
“My mother never gave me a reason to doubt her…”
My voice trembled.
“But you… you hurt her…”
I took a deep breath.
But it didn’t help.
“So she wasn’t completely wrong… right?”
Silence.
And that silence…
Confirmed everything.
I closed my eyes for a second.
Feeling my world collapse.
“Sure… she’s wrong for getting involved with someone younger…” I continued, almost automatically. “But you cheated on her…”
He took a deep breath.
And then said:
“Isis… I’m a man… men have their needs…”
It was like a punch.
Direct.
No warning.
No defense.
I felt something inside me…
Break.
Completely.
“Dad…”
My voice came out shattered.
Unrecognizable.
“I… I tried to believe you…”
Tears streamed uncontrollably.
“And I said horrible things to my mom…”
I covered my face, trying to hold back the crying.
But I couldn’t.
“I don’t know if she’ll forgive me…”
My breathing faltered.
“But I’m going to try to fix it… I need to fix it…”
And without waiting for an answer…
I ran.
Again.
But this time…
It wasn’t to escape.
It was to go back.
I ran through the hospital corridors.
Dodging people.
Not caring about anything.
My heart is racing out of control.
My hands are trembling.
My mind is repeating one single thing:
I need to see my mom.
I need to.
When I reached the room…
I stopped at the door.
My breathing is heavy.
My chest is rising and falling too fast.
And then I saw.
Noah.
Sitting beside the bed.
Holding her hand.
The two of them were silent.
But it wasn’t an empty silence.
It was… full.
Intense.
Their eyes locked on each other.
As if the outside world didn’t exist.
My chest tightened.
Because there…
In that moment…
I understood.
They weren’t a fling.
They weren’t a mistake.
They…
Loved each other.
My mother noticed my presence.
She let go of his hand quickly.
As if she’d been caught.
“Isis…”
My throat tightened.
But I stepped in.
Each step is heavy.
Difficult.
The tears are already coming back.
“Mom…”
My voice broke.
And then I fell apart.
“Forgive me…”
The words came out shattered.
Sincere.
Painful.
“I didn’t believe you… I said horrible things…”
My breathing trembled.
I could barely speak.
“You almost died… and I said those things…”
I grabbed her hand.
Tightly.
As if I were afraid of losing her.
“If you had died… I would have lived with that guilt forever…”
My chest hurt so much it ached.
“I’m sorry, Mom… I love you… I’m proud to be your daughter…”
My mother started crying too.
Her eyes filled.
And she squeezed my hand.
“I was very hurt, sweetheart…”
My heart tightened.
But I nodded.
Because I knew.
I deserved that.
“I never thought about cheating on your father…”
She took a deep breath.
“I only got involved with someone else after the papers were signed…”
I listened to everything.
Without interrupting.
Without questioning.
About the betrayal.
The threats.
The abuse.
Every word felt like a stab.
Because I didn’t know.
I had no idea.
I wasn’t there.
I didn’t see.
And even so…
I judged.
After a while…
I looked at Noah.
He was silent.
Respectful.
Not intruding.
Not interfering.
Just… there.
I took a deep breath.
“Mom… I’m apologizing…”
My voice came out softer.
More controlled.
But still full of emotion.
“But… don’t ask me to accept this relationship…”
I looked at him.
Then at her.
“It’s not going to be easy for me…”
She nodded.
Without hesitation.
“That’s okay, sweetheart… You don’t have to accept it…”
She squeezed my hand.
“But you do have to respect it.”
I nodded.
“I respect it…”
And for the first time since everything started…
I stepped closer.
For real.
Without anger.
Without judgment.
Just… as a daughter.
And I hugged my mother.
Tightly.
As if I were trying to piece us back together.
And in that hug…
Even with everything still messy…
It felt like we had a chance to start again.
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