Prisioner In Your Arms

In the corporate office, Alizza was getting ready to leave when Dante approached her.NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

“Do you need something, Mr. Dante? I was about to leave,” she asked, puzzled. Dante never spoke to her.

“Why?” His face displayed the fury he felt.

“I don’t understand,” she replied, unaware that she had been discovered.

“Why did you do it?” The intensity of Dante’s gaze made her uneasy.

“You’re scaring me, sir. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she instinctively took a step back.

“Don’t play dumb. You put oil on the stairs to make Nicole slip. We have evidence,” he said, restraining himself from slapping her.

“Sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the girl trembled, terrified of being exposed.

At that moment, Bruno entered the room. Alizza saw his face distorted by pain and anger, and she attempted to run away.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Bruno grabbed her arm and without thinking, he struck her in the face. Then, he grabbed her by the throat and began to apply pressure with his hands. “I wanted her to die right there. If her baby couldn’t live, she had no right to live either.”

“Brother, don’t get involved. Let her go,” Dante tried to intervene, but Bruno seemed not to hear him.

Alizza looked at him in terror, as the air stopped reaching her lungs. She believed that this was the end.

Bruno remembered Santi and Nicole; they needed him. He released the girl while clenching his fists, trying to contain himself.

“Did you call the police?”

“They’re on their way. They heard her talking on the phone. Someone ordered her to do it.”

Alizza turned pale. She couldn’t reveal the identity of that person; her family’s lives depended on it.

“Mr. Bruno, please forgive me. If you accept me, I’ll give you my whole life. We’ll be very happy together. I love you,” she pleaded.

“Get this crazy woman out of my sight immediately,” Bruno commanded the police officers who had just entered.

“I don’t understand. What does she have that I can’t give you? I’m more beautiful than her, I’m young. That’s why I decided to get rid of that child. It would have been an obstacle between us, just like the other one,” Alizza said.

Bruno listened to her in disbelief. Thank God Bertha had overheard her; otherwise, they would have thought it was an accident. She could have harmed Santi.

The police took Alizza away. Bruno returned to Nicole’s side. She was still sleeping due to the sedative. He sat in a chair next to her, feeling upset. He knew it wasn’t her fault, but if she had listened to him and hadn’t gone to the office, their baby would still be alive.

Later, he would call to cancel everything he had ordered. He had stopped by a baby store and bought clothes and many things for the nursery. Someone had once told him that when a baby doesn’t come to Earth for any reason, it’s because their soul had changed its mind about the chosen test.

Still, it was very painful for him to admit it. He took out a printed ultrasound photo from his wallet. Looking at that image, he cried. He couldn’t bear to be in the room any longer. He left the clinic. Emma, who saw him leaving so devastated, decided not to ask. She entered to take care of her daughter, and Rina was still recovering, so Gio tried to keep her from moving too much.

Bruno went to the house he had just bought. He had searched eagerly for it, spending several weeks to find a house he considered perfect for his family. He wanted Nicole to decorate it to her liking. He went up to the room that would have been his daughter’s. He had bought a bottle of liquor; he wanted to see if it would help diminish the pain he felt.

“My little baby, my daughter! God! It hurts so much to have lost her,” he felt like his chest would explode from the pain.

He fell asleep lying on the floor of the room. His parents were worried because he wasn’t answering their calls.

Sergio was celebrating with Deborah over what had happened. If their plans went as expected, soon there would be none of their enemies left, and they would continue to enjoy a privileged position.

Sergio still loved Rina. It pained him deeply to know that she loved Gio. He preferred to see her dead than to know she was happy with someone else. Deborah believed he loved her, that he was capable of doing anything for her.

Their relationship was purely sexual. She was a beautiful woman who satisfied him in bed, but that was it. Sergio considered her beauty comparable to her ambition. He didn’t want to have children with her; he believed she wouldn’t make a good mother, and having a child with such a harpy wouldn’t be good.

When Nicole woke up, she expected to see Bruno by her side, but instead, she found Emma.

“Mom, where’s Bruno?” she asked.

“He stepped out for a moment, dear. I’ll stay here with you,” Emma replied.

“My baby, Mom, she’s gone,” Nicole said, crying.

“I know it’s difficult, dear, but you have to recover. Santi needs you.”

“My child is the one suffering the most. I haven’t been able to be there for him properly.”

“You’re an excellent mother, I have no doubt about that. What happened wasn’t your fault. Don’t let anyone make you doubt that.”

Leandro arrived at that moment, looking distraught. It hurt him to see Nicole going through this. He had just experienced something similar himself, although not the same. Shelsy had believed she was pregnant, and they had gotten excited about the idea of having a child. In the end, the doctor said it was a psychological pregnancy. Leandro told Shelsy that perhaps it was for the best, even though it hurt. He didn’t want to have a child with her. He didn’t love her and wouldn’t love her, so he asked her to take care of herself.

“Hello, beautiful,” Leandro greeted Nicole.

“Hello.”

“I’ll go downstairs to get some coffee. I’ll be back soon,” he said, leaving to give them privacy.

Leandro placed a large bouquet of red roses in a vase next to the bed.

“I didn’t forget that they’re your favorites,” he said.

Nicole smiled. He always showed up when she was feeling down, which brought a glimmer of light in the midst of the immense darkness.

“Thank you.”

He approached and took her hand.

“Believe me, I would give my life to spare you from suffering.”

He gently kissed her hand. Later, everyone was concerned because they didn’t know where Bruno was. They couldn’t hide from Nicole what was happening. She kept asking about him and had been calling him repeatedly.

On one hand, Leandro understood that Bruno was suffering, but on the other hand, he had no right to leave her alone with her pain. Leandro considered him a damn selfish person.

“Daughter, his parents have been looking for him everywhere, but they can’t find him. He left his bodyguards here and no one knows where else to look,” Emma informed Nicole.

“Maybe he’s at the new house,” Nicole exclaimed, remembering.

“Give me the address, I’ll go find him,” Leandro offered. This time, he would have to listen to him.

Nicole gave him the address, and he headed there immediately. When he arrived, he saw Bruno’s car parked outside.

The front door was slightly open. Leandro searched the ground floor but didn’t find him. He decided to go upstairs and checked room by room. He found him in one of the rooms, sitting on the floor, crying. He was holding a small stuffed animal, and there was baby clothing and toys in white and pink scattered everywhere. In the end, Bruno hadn’t canceled the purchases; he had asked for them to be delivered there.

“Bruno.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Bruno turned to look at him, his eyes completely bloodshot.

“Everyone is worried. I know you’re going through a tough time, but it’s not fair for you to be so selfish. Nicole needs you by her side.”

“I don’t want to see anyone. Leave.”

“I won’t leave until you walk out that door and go back to her.”

Bruno angrily got up and lunged at Leandro. Leandro tried to calm him down, but it was impossible. They exchanged blow after blow. After a while, they were both sitting on the floor, their faces swollen and their lips bleeding.

“Well, now I feel calmer,” Bruno said.

Leandro looked at him as if he were a madman. “I’ll go home to see Santi and take a shower.”

“Will you let the child see you like this? He’ll be scared.”

“Hmm, you’re right. I’ll ask them to bring some things here, then I’ll go to the hospital.”

“You should call them. They’re really worried.”

Leandro left the place and went to his father’s house. When he arrived, he overheard his father talking to Deborah. They hadn’t noticed his presence yet.

“Hahaha, I would have loved to see Bruno’s face when he found out that woman lost her baby.”

“They deserve it for their pride. They treated me poorly when I went to their house. Now we only have the other bastard left, and then it’s their turn. No one can take away our fortune.”

Leandro quietly left the scene. He would pretend he had just entered. He went out and came back in again, making noise.

“Hello, son.”

“What’s up, Dad?”

“Hello, Leandro.”

He greeted Deborah without words, just with a nod of his head.

“You haven’t been to the company. Today you had a meeting with the executives.”

“That’s what you’re here for, son, to fill in for me when necessary.”

Leandro fixed his eyes on the glasses and wine on the table.

“Are you celebrating something?”

“That’s right, but it’s something private that we can’t share with you.”

“Oh, I see! Well then, I’ll take my leave. Carry on with your celebration. Excuse me.”

Leandro hurriedly left. It disgusted him to see how far they had gone out of ambition. He had to gather strong evidence against them. It was likely that Alizza was working for his father; he just had to find a way to prove it.