Dangerous Secrets: My Mafia Stepbrother

Emanuele handed her a small, elegant pistol that she carried with her. The next time Chloe dared to offend her, she’d have no qualms about using it.

Isabella spent quite some time in the restroom, working on her face, making sure the marks weren’t too conspicuous. She finally opened the door when she heard Emanuele knocking impatiently.

“Isabella, are you in there?” He sounded a bit anxious, clearly unable to locate her and growing concerned.

But did he genuinely worry about her?

He claimed that everything between them was just a game, engaging in flirtatious exchanges with Chloe, allowing her to touch his muscles…

Isabella felt miserable, but she couldn’t let it show with so many people watching.

“What happened to your face?” Emanuele noticed the injury right away; he had an astute eye for detail and recognized the damage to Isabella’s cheeks.

Had her extended stay in the restroom been related to this?

“Just a minor bump,” Isabella lightly touched her cheek and looked up at Emanuele. “Come on, I was also looking for you. You’re about to give a speech.”

Today was Emanuele’s day, and he was the first to speak. She had gone to find him earlier for this reason.

“It’s not a big deal. I don’t have to give a speech if I don’t want to. But what about you, Isabella? Shouldn’t you see a doctor?”

Emanuele had his doubts. A simple bump shouldn’t have caused her face to look like this.

“It’s alright, I’m a doctor myself. I don’t need any treatment for this minor injury.”

Emanuele didn’t push Isabella further and held her hand as they walked towards the hall.

But before leaving, Emanuele glanced back at Phillip and motioned towards the nearby surveillance near the restroom.

Phillip nodded and left.

Emanuele’s message was clear: they needed to examine the surveillance footage. The injury on his wife’s cheek didn’t seem like something she’d caused herself, and if she wouldn’t talk about it, the boss would find out one way or another.

Isabella had concealed her injury quite well, and only someone as observant as Emanuele could detect the issue up close.

After Emanuele delivered his speech in the hall, Isabella sat in a quiet corner, avoiding interaction with others. Chloe’s presence in the crowd, being the social butterfly, made her feel disgusted, and she wished to stay as far away from them as possible.

However, because she was Emanuele’s wife, she was still approached by many unfamiliar relatives from both sides, creating a semblance of being a star.

Fortunately, Grazia was by her side, providing some relief.

After the banquet ended, Isabella and Emanuele were heading back to their upscale apartment. Grazia mentioned that she would be staying at the estate for some time.

She had been living here since she didn’t marry Andrew. She didn’t want to intrude too much on Emanuele and Isabella, especially considering they had just recently gotten married and needed to nurture their relationship.

Isabella and Emanuele got into the SUV, and as Isabella looked at the security vehicles surrounding them, she couldn’t help but space out.

“Is your face hurting?” Emanuele asked, showing concern for Isabella.

“It’s okay, it’s not hurting anymore,” Isabella lied.Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

How could it not hurt? Chloe had hit her so hard that her cheek still throbbed, and if she didn’t take medication, she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. However, the thought of Emanuele’s intimate interactions with Chloe made Isabella reluctant to tell him about the incident. Their relationship was just a game to him, and he enjoyed tormenting her.

If he found out what Chloe had done to her, or about her claustrophobia, he might use it as a weapon against her. She was already in agony, and if the person she loved used this against her, Isabella felt she might die from heartache.

So, she chose to keep it hidden from Emanuele.

Upon hearing her response, Emanuele didn’t say much, but he didn’t entirely believe Isabella’s words.

Once they returned to the apartment, Phillip cut out the surveillance footage from the restroom area and sent it to Emanuele.

Upon viewing the surveillance, Emanuele’s chest filled with anger. Isabella’s injury wasn’t an accidental bump but rather Chloe’s doing. Although the video footage only showed the entrance, he saw Chloe enter after Isabella. The restroom could only accommodate one person at a time, so why did Chloe go in?

After watching for over ten minutes, Chloe finally emerged, touching her jaw as if in pain, but with a cold smile on her face, a far cry from the refined lady she appeared to be in front of him. As for Isabella, she didn’t come out until half an hour later when he went to find her.

Something had certainly happened between Isabella and Chloe, and their relationship wasn’t as good as it seemed. The marks on Isabella’s face were likely from Chloe’s slaps. Emanuele had been accustomed to inflicting various forms of punishment on others, so he knew how different types of injuries were caused. That’s why he could easily spot the palm print Isabella was desperately trying to conceal, and he knew her explanation about accidentally bumping into something was a lie.

He had asked Phillip to review the surveillance footage, and the video confirmed his suspicions.

But what had happened between Isabella and Chloe?

Emanuele immediately questioned Isabella, “Did Chloe hit you and cause the injury on your face?”

Isabella was still thinking about sneaking into the kitchen later and applying ice to her face after Emanuele fell asleep. She never expected Emanuele to ask this question, and it startled her.

She instinctively wanted to lie, but when Emanuele handed her his phone to show the surveillance footage, Isabella was at a loss for words.

He had actually gone to the trouble of retrieving the surveillance footage. Isabella quickly said, “It’s nothing. We just had a little dispute with Chloe. She’s jealous of me marrying you and asked why it wasn’t her. We argued, and it turned into a fight.”

She tried to suppress her nervousness and fear, not wanting Emanuele to know how terrified she was of Chloe.

Recalling the look of pain on Chloe’s face when she emerged from the restroom, Emanuele knew that Isabella had fought back as well.

“Do you need me to help with anything?” Emanuele asked Isabella. He remembered that when Chloe and Isabella lived together, Chloe seemed to have harmed Isabella. At the time, Isabella refused to admit it, and Emanuele didn’t like her as much back then, so he didn’t investigate further.

Now, with Chloe still hitting Isabella, Emanuele felt he couldn’t bear it any longer.

“No, I’ll handle it,” Isabella insisted, wanting to deal with Chloe herself so she could truly move on from this nightmare.

“But you’re the damn wife of a mafia boss now, and she dares to treat you like this. It’s unforgivable. I feel like my dignity has been challenged!” Emanuele roared in anger. “I’m going to kill that bitch.”