Chapter 2: A Mistake

Isabella opened her eyes when she felt warmth on her face. 

The light of the sun casted perfectly in her bare face, creating an enthralling scene that would surely hypnotize men who would see her.

Her eyes glowed with a leisure glint in them as she assessed what was happening around her, drowsy from the event that happened last night.

She tried to move and get the white blanket off of her but the moment she made the slightest movement, a nerve-wracking pain spread all throughout her body.

“What the…” She hissed, touching her buttocks. 

She gritted her teeth as she placed her feet down the floor.

“Where am I, and what happened? Why do I feel like I got run over by a train?” she mumbled to herself, massaging her temples.

She got up, still suppressing the pain from her lower body. 

When she got up, she was about to walk away when she saw in her peripheral vision, the tinge of blood in the white cover of the mattress. 

“What is this?” Her heart raced, and not a second passed, she heard light snores coming from the other side of the bed. 

The other half of the blanket was scrunched on the edge of the bed and it seemed it was raising and lowering in a calm manner, as if a person was covered in it, sleeping. 

Her body started shaking, numerous thoughts flooding in her head. 

She stood frozen, and when she traveled her eyes around, she realized just how messed up the room was. Her clothes were on the floor, and she saw other clothes that aren’t even hers.

She gulped, her throat drying, as she gradually took a good look at herself. And to her horror, she was really naked! 

Her face ashen instantly.

But that was the least thing that caught her attention, what made her heart skip a beat was seeing the countless red marks that were spread all over her body. 

“What happened! Did I…did I have sex last night with a stranger!” She screamed in her head. 

She stumbled on her feet, but luckily she regained her composure and calmed herself down.

She tried to recall what happened last night and how she ended up in this situation, but she couldn't remember a thing.

All she could remember is that she was with her sisters, and they were having fun, until she got dizzy. And that’s it.

As to how she ended up here, she doesn't have a single clue. 

[Creak!]

The bed suddenly made noise as the person sleeping shifted on the bed.

Isabella's eyes dimmed, her lips pale looking at the bed’s direction, she strutted forward, extending her arms, reaching for the blanket to see who she slept with.

Her heart raced as she reached to pull the blanket from the man’s face. Just as she was about to lift it, the body stirred of its own accord. The man removed the blanket himself, pulling it from his face down to his torso, and took a deep breath before settling back into a deep, peaceful sleep.

“W-what?” Isabella's soul dropped seeing the person she slept with. 

She closed her eyes momentarily and pinched herself, thinking she must be dreaming, but to her utter demise, when she opened her eyes again, it was still the same man, Dominic Russo!

“What have I done?” She said, aghast.

Her knees buckled as she fell down the floor, still looking at Dominic who was sleeping peacefully beside her. 

She wouldn’t be this afraid if he was just some popular guy she knows.

But no! He’s more than that, he’s not only popular, but he’s also a billionaire, and the bad thing about this is that he’s already engaged!

This is a mistake!

Isabella immediately gathered the courage to stand up, getting her clothes and her purse that were on the floor. Her dress were slightly torn, but in time like this, she didn’t care, all she could think of was escaping before Dominic wakes up from his sleep.

She didn’t even bother wearing her heels, she got out barefoot, desperately running for her life.

…

She took a cab to get to her house, and the moment she stepped inside the door, she was instantly greeted with a slap on the face, making her fall on the floor.

“Where the hell have you been?!” She looked up, touching her cheeks, and seeing her father angry scared her even more.

“Dear calm down, I’m sure she has a good reason why she didn’t come home last night looking like that,” Her stepmother, Estella, intervened, referring to her sluggish state, but knowing her, she knows she deliberately said that to make her look bad.

She had always hoped that, eventually, they would warm up to her. But after all these years, she was still wrong—no matter how hard she tried to fit in, their disdain remained unchanged. After her mother’s death, she mourned deeply, only for her father to bring home a new woman and her two daughters after a year of her mother’s death. She was naive enough to believe they would form a new family, yet it seemed she was never truly considered a part of it.

“Why do you look like that?! What the hell did you do last night?!” Her father yelled, grabbing her arm and yanking her up.

“I heard from one of my friends last night that they saw her entering a room with a man. But who knows, maybe they’re lying.” Tanya, her step-sister said while smirking at her.

When her father heard that, his eyes blackened and he inspection her.

“Is Tanya telling the truth, did you really do that?”

Isabella couldn’t help but clench her fist, she had endured a lot. She really believed that one day they would change. All she ever wanted was to have a family, a home. But it seems that dream is too far fetched.

“What does it matter?”

“What?”

“No matter what I say you won’t believe me anyway,” Isabela uttered, her voice breaking as she lowered her head, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Tch! You are already at fault and yet you still want to play victim,” Estella harrumphed, crossing her arms.

“You should teach that girl a lesson Richard, she is out of control.”

“Huh. I’m the one who’s out of control?” Isabella mumbled, she was laughing lightly, her shoulders rising and lowering in a faint manner, but it wasn’t a laugh that was pleasing to the ears, it was a forced one with full of mockery.

“You dare say that when it is your daughters who got me into this situation?!” She raised her head and yelled on the top of her lungs, pointing at her sisters that were clearly delighted watching her demise.

“What did you say!” Estella was about to slap her, but luckily Richard stopped her on time.

“Why don’t you tell them, Tanya, Lisa!” Isabella looked at them, tears rolling down her cheeks as she grieved her heart out.

“Why don’t you tell dad the truth that you drugged me and forced me into a room!”

“What? We never did that!”

“She’s lying dad, we never did anything to her,” They both defended themselves, making Isabella grit her teeth in anger.

Richard’s eyes were filled with disappointment, and he looked at Isabella as if she were a stranger.

“You think you can shift the blame onto your sisters?” Richard’s voice was cold, cutting through the tension. “I’m really disappointed in you.”

Isabella’s eyes burned with unshed tears, her cheeks flushed with a mix of shame and anger. “I didn’t do anything wrong!” she shouted, her voice cracking, wanting to clear her name. “I don’t remember anything from last night! I woke up to find myself like this, and all I know is that I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!”

Her father’s eyes softened for a brief moment, but his expression hardened once more. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Richard,” Estella interjected, her tone dripping with condescension, “It’s clear she’s trying to shift responsibility. She’s always had a way of causing trouble. Sigh, you really raised her to be this spoiled.”

Isabella’s heart sank. She had at least hoped that her father would stand by her, but his silence spoke volumes. The lack of love and respect from her family, coupled with the accusations and derision, was suffocating. She couldn’t handle it anymore.

“I really thought you would at least try to hear me out, or at least defend me,” Isabella said, her voice trembling but firm. She looked at her father, with so much love as she remembered how he was before her mother died.

“Dad, It seems I can’t stay here any longer. If you’re not going to believe me, then I don’t want to be part of this family anymore,” She paused, and then gave out a low chuckle “or maybe the correct way to say this is that…I was never part of this family you created after mom died.”

Richard’s eyes widened in shock, his heart crunching seeing his daughter like this. He has never seen her act out like this before since he’s always busy, so he didn’t know how to react.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Where else could you possibly go?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her gaze steady despite the tears threatening to fall. “Somewhere far. This home, I’ve always cherished this because this is where you and mom raised me, but these past few years, it never felt like a home to me,”

Estella’s face twisted and scoffed “Good riddance. Will you stop being too dramatic.”

“Richard if she want’s to go, let her go, maybe she will finally learn to be responsible out there.”

Isabella ignored her stepmother’s taunts and looked at her father one last time. “I’m sorry it had to come to this, but I can’t stay where I’m not wanted.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and headed for the door. Her father’s voice followed her, but it was a distant echo.

“Isabella, wait!”

But Isabella didn’t stop. She hurried out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Eventually, she found herself at a small park. She sat on a bench, the tears she had been holding back now flowing freely.

When she calmed down, she silently looked at the kids who were playing in the grass with their family.

She closed her eyes momentarily, taking a Deep breathe and stood up, wiping away her tears.

She would figure things out. She had to. But first, she have to look for a place to live.