Page 38 of Medical Malpractice

But there was one irrefutable fact that could not be denied.

Leonardo had a son. And he hadn’t told me.

I had only experienced that kind of pain once before, and even then, that felt minuscule to what I was suffering at that moment.

After so much hurt, I had actively chosen to bare my heart again. To give love a second chance and open myself up to Leonardo in all ways.

And he had just managed to smash that to smithereens. No matter the circumstances, my husband had betrayed me. He knew what I had been through in the past and chose to lie to me anyway.

What was that saying again? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Well, it didn’t take much to turn that shame inwards, internally chastising myself for ever trusting another man again.

I was the fool.

And because fate decided it hadn’t fucked with me enough, that moment of confusion, self-doubt and heartbreak was the perfect moment for the young mystery woman to sense something was off.

Rolling back her shoulders and straightening her spine, she slowly turned her head towards me. Those stark green eyes pierced through my dark windows and stared directly into my soul—my crumbling soul. She was a voyeur to my pain and the shattering of my world.

I didn’t know what I looked like, but it must have been ghastly, as her expression first morphed in recognition, then pity for me.

Chapter 22

GABRIELLA

I continued to watch on in detached fashion as the mystery woman jogged up to her front door, yelled something inside her house, then pivoted towards me.

My arms automatically raised to wrap around myself, as if trying to hold all my broken pieces together.

Opp. Oh, no. I don’t think I can do this.

That didn’t matter, because I had no choice. My faculties barely clicked back online when she opened the passenger side door and slipped inside.

Just. Like. That.

“Drive,” she said, clicking on the seat belt. “I don’t want my son to see.”

Her voice was calm and direct, the complete opposite of my frazzled state. Yet, her directive must have penetrated enough to resonate, since I listened. Flipping the vehicle into drive, I pulled away from the curb, mindlessly following the road out of town.

My fingers gripped onto the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles were painted white. Where is all my bravado? The pent-up anger I have cultivated over hours, days? I knew where… Every last drop fucking evaporated when I had come face to face with my husband’s son.

I thought I was on a mission to confront Leonardo’s mistress. Instead, I was thrust into a complicated situation I never could have predicted—or had any idea how to navigate. Any plan I had vanished like smoke, leaving me scrambling for answers only she could provide.

I inconspicuously side-eyed the woman in question, who was staring out the passenger window, rhythmically rubbing her knuckles over her sternum.

“Pull into here,” she said, taking me by surprise.

I took the turn off and naturally came to a standstill in a random parking lot when she released a disbelieving breath, her attention trained on the botanical gardens entrance sign.

She cleared her throat. “Would you be so kind as to walk with me, Gabriella?”

It was weird, the whole fucking thing. Her voice was soft. Even the way she called on me was gentle, placating.

I couldn’t sense any serial killer vibes from her, but what the hell did I know? My husband didn’t give off cheating scumbag energy, either, though I’d been wrong before.

“Lead the way, Alexis,” I said with an added edge, using her name to get even.

Her mask flashed in surprise, yet she didn’t linger, exiting the car and veering for the communal pathway. I followed on autopilot, my pulse and thoughts racing. Where do I start? What do I say?