(part-B)
1114 Words
They were only a few steps away from the doctor’s office when a voice called from behind them.
“Hello, Mrs. Moretti.”
Isabella stopped.Salvatore’s hand tightened around her waist.Only slightly.But enough for her to feel it.She didn’t turn.For a second, the corridor seemed to fall silent.
Then the voice came again.
“Mrs. Moretti!”
This time Isabella looked back.An elderly woman was smiling at her warmly.
The woman walked closer, her eyes shining with recognition.
“How are you, dear?” she asked. “And how is your husband?”
Isabella blinked in confusion.
“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
The old woman’s smile faded into surprise.
“No, no, my child. I could mistake the whole world, but not you. It’s been so long since I saw you.”
Before Isabella could respond, Salvatore spoke.
“She is not Mrs. Moretti.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“She is Isabella Bellamonte. My wife.”
The last two words carried a quiet possessiveness.
“You’re mistaken. Excuse us, we have an appointment.”
The woman opened her mouth as if to say more, but Salvatore gently turned Isabella toward the office and guided her inside.
Even as she walked away, Isabella glanced back once.
The old woman was still watching her.
And for the first time, a small seed of doubt stirred inside her.
Who was she?
And why was she so certain she knew me?
———————————
Inside, the same doctor who had treated Isabella after the accident greeted them.
“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Bellamonte.”
They sat down, and the doctor began examining Isabella’s wound.
“Do you still feel pain?” he asked.
“Very little,” Isabella answered. “It’s much better now.”
While the doctor checked the healing scar, Salvatore moved a few steps away and answered a phone call in a low voice.
“Find out who that old woman is,” he said quietly. “Do not touch her. I only want to know how she knows the Moretti family.”
He ended the call and returned to Isabella’s side. His eyes immediately went to the doctor.
Watching.
Measuring.
Making sure nothing unexpected was being said.
After the examination, the doctor reviewed the report.
“The wound is healing well,” he explained. “You still need some rest, but overall the recovery is very good.”
Isabella hesitated, then said,
“Can the medicine dosage be reduced? It makes me very sleepy whenever I take it.”
The doctor glanced at Salvatore. Salvatore was already watching him. A silent warning passed between them.
“These medicines are important for your recovery,” the doctor replied carefully. “But I’ll try reducing the dosage slightly and see how your body responds.”
Isabella nodded, satisfied.
Salvatore remained silent.
Inside, his thoughts were much darker.
Not too much, he thought. Not enough to wake you from the world I built for you.
When they left the office, Isabella looked up at him. “That woman made me feel strange,” she admitted. “The way she called me Mrs. Moretti… she sounded completely certain, as if she truly knew me.”
Salvatore’s expression didn’t change.
“She was elderly,” Salvatore said gently. “People often connect faces to old memories. It happens more than you think.”
Then his hand slid possessively around her waist.
“You’re Isabella Bellamonte,” he said. “My wife. Not Mrs. Moretti.”
The firmness in his voice left little room for doubt.
Isabella smiled a little.
“Are you jealous because someone called me by another surname?”
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He leaned closer.
“You’re mine. Your name is mine.”
Warmth rose to her cheeks.
The words should have sounded controlling.
Instead, they settled inside her like something dangerously close to affection.
They returned to the car, and as they drove away from the hospital, Isabella looked out the window.
——————————————
On the sidewalk, a woman was walking with a tiny puppy beside its mother. A genuine smile spread across Isabella’s face.
Salvatore noticed immediately.
“You like puppies?”
“Who doesn’t?” she replied, still watching them. “Look how small it is.”
For a moment, he watched her smile instead of the puppy.
Then he leaned closer.
“I can get you one.”
She turned toward him, surprised.
“Really?”
His gaze dropped briefly to her lips before returning to her eyes.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“But in return… I want something.”
Isabella frowned softly.
“What?”
Salvatore looked at her for a long moment. Then a slow, unreadable smile appeared on his lips.
“When the puppy comes home… I’ll tell you.”
She blinked.
“You’re not going to tell me now?”
He leaned a little closer, his gaze darkening just enough to make her breath catch.
“No, Princess.”
A pause.
“Some things sound better when they’re asked for at the right moment.”
Her cheeks warmed instantly.
Salvatore’s eyes remained on her for a second longer before he added, softer this time,
“Until then… keep smiling for me.”
“That’s all?”
A slow smile appeared on his lips.
“For now.”
The words sent an unexpected flutter through her chest.
She looked away first. Outside, the city moved past the windows. Inside the car, the air felt different.
Closer.
Heavier.
More dangerous.
Salvatore watched her profile in silence. The sunlight touched her face, and for a moment she looked peaceful.
Trusting.
Completely unaware that another name had just brushed against her forgotten past.
“Moretti.”
The name still echoed in his mind.
His jaw tightened.
Somewhere behind that lost identity, there were answers. And answers were dangerous. Because the day Isabella remembered who she had been… She might stop looking at him the way she did now. The thought unsettled him far more than he wanted to admit.
His eyes drifted to the ring on her finger.
His ring.
The only name she knew.
The only life she remembered.
For now.
A faint smile touched his lips, dark and unreadable.
He reached for her hand.
Instinctively, she let him take it.
Their fingers intertwined.
And as the car disappeared into the city, Salvatore held her hand like a promise.
or a warning.
Even he was no longer sure which one it had become……
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