CHAPTER 25 — THE NIGHT I LEFT
1187 Words
📖 CHAPTER 25 — THE NIGHT I LEFT
POV: SERA
I didn’t leave immediately after deciding.
That was the hardest part.
Still waking up beside normal mornings after your heart already made a choice.
Still sitting across from Alessandro during dinner while secretly planning how to disappear from him forever.
Still letting him touch me gently while hiding the biggest secret of my life inside my body.
Some nights I almost changed my mind.
Those nights were the worst.
---
Three days after the meeting outside his office, Alessandro brought me flowers.
Not expensive dramatic ones.
Just white lilies tied loosely together like he picked them without overthinking it.
I stared at them in shock when he placed them beside me during breakfast.
“You remembered,” I whispered before thinking.
His gaze stayed on me calmly.
“You said once they were your favorite.”
I had.
Weeks ago.
Briefly.
Carelessly.
And he remembered.
Of course he did.
---
That was the problem with Alessandro.
He made leaving feel cruel.
---
“You’re staring again,” Isabella muttered from across the table while drinking coffee.
“I am not.”
“You literally look heartbroken over flowers.”
Heat rushed into my face immediately.
Alessandro said nothing.
But I felt his eyes on me anyway.
Always anyway.
---
Later that afternoon, I sat alone in my room holding the flowers while my thoughts spiraled again.
Because how was I supposed to leave a man who looked at me like I mattered more than the rest of the world?
Even knowing how dangerous he was?
Even knowing I was slowly losing myself inside him?
---
A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.
Emma’s name flashed quietly across my phone.
My chest tightened instantly.
Emma.
I hadn’t spoken properly to her in weeks.
Not since Alessandro’s world swallowed mine whole.
---
The second I answered, her voice exploded through the phone.
“Sera, are you alive?”
A weak laugh escaped me despite everything.
“Yes.”
“Barely,” she snapped. “Do you know how worried I’ve been?”
Tears burned unexpectedly behind my eyes at the sound of her voice.
Because Emma sounded normal.
Safe.
Real.
Like the life I used to belong to before everything became complicated.
---
“I miss you,” I whispered softly.
Emma immediately went quiet.
Then more gently—
“What’s wrong?”
I looked toward the closed bedroom door instinctively.
And suddenly the words spilled out before I could stop them.
Not everything.
Never everything.
But enough.
Enough for Emma’s breathing to change on the other end.
---
“Sera…” she said carefully. “You need to leave.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“I know.”
The silence after that hurt more than I expected.
Because saying it aloud made it real.
---
“He won’t let you go easily,” Emma whispered.
Fear crawled slowly through me.
Because she was right.
God.
She was right.
---
That night, I watched Alessandro from across the dinner table while he discussed business calmly with Marco.
Numbers.
Routes.
Meetings.
Strategies.
Everything about him looked controlled.
Untouchable.
But every few minutes his attention still shifted back toward me automatically.
Like checking I was still there had become instinctive now.
And suddenly I realized something terrifying.
He trusted that I would stay.
Completely.
---
Marco noticed me watching Alessandro.
His gaze shifted toward mine briefly.
And for one strange second…
it almost looked like he understood something was wrong.
---
After dinner, Alessandro found me outside on the balcony.
The city lights stretched below us beautifully.
Cold air brushed softly against my skin.
“You’ve been distant again,” he murmured quietly behind me.
I closed my eyes briefly.
Because he noticed everything.
Every single thing.
---
“I’m tired,” I whispered.
His hands settled lightly against my waist from behind.
Gentle.
Possessive.
Warm.
My breathing caught softly.
God.
This was why leaving hurt so much.
Because part of me loved him already.
---
“You’ve been thinking too much lately,” he said quietly against my hair.
A sad smile touched my lips.
“You always say that.”
“Because it’s true.”
Silence settled around us softly after that.
For a moment I almost turned around.
Almost told him about the baby.
Almost told him I was terrified.
Almost asked him to choose me over control.
But deep down…
I already knew he couldn’t.
---
His hand moved slowly against my stomach absentmindedly.
The gesture was innocent.
Unknowing.
And suddenly tears burned painfully behind my eyes.
Because he had no idea.
No idea his child was already there beneath his hand.
---
“Sera?”
I turned away quickly before he could fully see my expression.
“I’m fine.”
Lie.
Lie.
Lie.
---
That night, after Alessandro finally fell asleep beside me…
I cried silently in the bathroom.
One hand pressed over my mouth to stop the sound.
The other resting shakily against my stomach.
Because I knew what came next now.
And there was no undoing it anymore.
---
Two days later, Emma arrived.
Not openly.
Carefully.
Quietly.
One of Isabella’s shopping trips gave us enough cover to meet briefly away from the estate security.
The second Emma saw me, she hugged me so tightly I nearly broke apart emotionally.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “You really are trapped.”
The words hurt because they were true.
---
“I’m leaving,” I whispered quietly.
Emma pulled back immediately.
“When?”
“Soon.”
Fear flickered across her face instantly.
“Sera… if he finds you—”
“I know.”
And I did know.
That was the worst part.
Because Alessandro wasn’t cruel when he loved.
He was worse.
He became impossible.
---
The actual escape happened three nights later.
Quiet.
Careful.
Terrifying.
My hands shook the entire time I packed.
Not because I doubted leaving.
Because part of me wanted to stay anyway.
---
I left the flowers.
I couldn’t take them with me.
That somehow hurt most of all.
---
The estate was quieter after midnight.
Emma waited near the outer road exactly where we planned.
My heart pounded violently while I walked through the dark hallways carrying almost nothing.
Every step felt wrong.
Like betrayal.
Like grief.
Like tearing myself away from something I still loved.
---
And maybe that was why I stopped outside Alessandro’s office before leaving completely.
The door was slightly open.
Light spilled softly into the hallway.
He was still inside working.
Of course he was.
I could see him from where I stood.
Focused.
Calm.
Alive inside the dangerous world he understood better than emotions.
For one horrible second…
I almost went back.
---
Then my hand moved unconsciously toward my stomach.
And reality crashed back into me instantly.
No.
I couldn’t raise a child inside this world.
Not surrounded by fear and blood and control disguised as protection.
---
So before I could change my mind again…
I turned around.
And walked away from Alessandro Moretti for the first time.
- Writer
