Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride

Chapter 2

Isabella's legs felt weak as she stepped out of the sleek elevator into the lobby of the Santiago Tower. Her head spun, her mind barely able to process what had just happened. She had always known this day might come-Alejandro had never made any promises, never given her the fairy tale she had secretly yearned for. But even knowing that, she had hoped. She had clung to the hope that maybe, with time, he would come to care for her.

But that hope had been ripped from her tonight, as brutally and coldly as he could manage. Her husband-no, her soon-to-be ex-husband-had looked her in the eyes and said there was no love, no "us." And she had stood there, dignified, refusing to crumble under his gaze, even though inside she was breaking apart.

The doors to the building slid open automatically as she stepped outside, the cool night air brushing against her skin like an icy reminder of the reality she now faced. She pulled her coat tighter around her, though the cold wasn't what bothered her.

It was the emptiness. The realization that she had just lost everything.

Her phone vibrated in her coat pocket, and she pulled it out, the screen lighting up with a message from her best friend, Lucy.

How did it go? You okay? Call me when you can.

Isabella stared at the message for a moment, her thumb hovering over the screen, but she couldn't bring herself to respond. She didn't have the strength to talk about it yet, didn't want to relive the conversation she had just had. Not now. Not when the wounds were still fresh.

She slipped the phone back into her pocket and started walking down the street, her mind a blur of thoughts. What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to move on from this? The last three years of her life had been devoted to a man who had never truly wanted her, and now, with nothing to show for it, she was expected to walk away and start over.

Except it wasn't just herself she had to think about anymore.

Her hand instinctively moved to her stomach, her heart tightening at the thought of the life growing inside her. She had found out just a week ago, had stood in front of the bathroom mirror staring at the positive pregnancy test in shock and disbelief. She had wanted to tell Alejandro, had imagined how different their lives could be once he knew. Maybe, just maybe, this would have been the thing that brought them closer together.

But now... now she couldn't tell him.

He didn't love her. He didn't want her. How could she burden him with this? How could she bring a child into a marriage that was already over?

Isabella closed her eyes as a wave of nausea and sadness hit her. She would keep this secret. She would protect her child from the pain of knowing they were unwanted. Alejandro had made his choice. He had chosen Vicky.

The name itself made her stomach churn with resentment. Vicky Soriano. She was everything Isabella wasn't-confident, worldly, the woman Alejandro had always been in love with. The woman he had never stopped thinking about, even as he stood at the altar and married Isabella.

And now Vicky was coming back, and Isabella was being cast aside, just as easily as if she had never mattered at all.

"Bastard," she muttered under her breath, wiping at her eyes angrily as the tears started to fall. She hated how much she still cared, how much she still loved him, even after all he had done. Even after the way he had broken her heart tonight.

A sleek black car pulled up beside her, the driver's window rolling down. "Mrs. Santiago," the driver called, his voice hesitant, as though unsure how to address her now. "Shall I take you home?"

Isabella stared at the car for a moment, the name "Mrs. Santiago" echoing painfully in her mind. Soon, she wouldn't be Mrs. Santiago anymore. Soon, she would be just Isabella again, alone and divorced, trying to figure out how to rebuild her life without the man she had loved for so long.

"No," she said quietly, shaking her head. "I'll walk."

The driver hesitated, clearly unsure if he should let her go on foot. "Are you sure, ma'am? It's quite late-"

"I said I'll walk," Isabella snapped, a little harsher than she intended. She didn't want to be driven anywhere, didn't want to be coddled. She needed to feel the cold air against her skin, needed the distance between her and the life she was leaving behind.

The driver nodded and pulled away, leaving Isabella alone on the sidewalk. She continued walking, the streets of Manila quieter than usual, the city lights reflecting off the wet pavement from an earlier rain. She barely noticed the people she passed, the couples laughing and holding hands, the groups of friends spilling out of bars and restaurants. Their joy, their happiness, felt foreign to her now. She was an outsider looking in, disconnected from the world around her.

Her thoughts kept circling back to Alejandro, the way he had looked at her tonight. There had been no warmth in his eyes, no affection. Just cold practicality. Their marriage was nothing more than a transaction to him, a duty fulfilled. And now, with Vicky returning, he no longer needed her.

She stopped in front of a small café, the warm light spilling out onto the sidewalk. For a moment, she considered going inside, grabbing a coffee to warm her chilled hands, but the thought of sitting alone at a table, surrounded by strangers, was too much. She didn't want to be anywhere near people right now.

Instead, she turned and continued down the street, her mind racing with thoughts of what she would do next. She had no family to turn to-her parents had passed years ago, leaving her with nothing but their small estate in the province. She had moved to Manila to start fresh, to build a life for herself, and had met Alejandro shortly after. He had swept her off her feet, not with grand gestures of love, but with the promise of stability, of a life she had never thought she could have. She had fallen for him-hard-and had believed that in time, he would come to love her too.

But that had been a foolish dream.

As she reached the corner of the street, her phone buzzed again in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw another message from Lucy.

Isabella, are you okay? Please call me.

Isabella sighed, her thumb hovering over the call button. She knew Lucy would worry if she didn't respond, but she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Not until she had a plan, something concrete to focus on. She couldn't just fall apart. Not now. Not with a baby on the way.

Her baby.

The thought filled her with a strange mix of fear and determination. She might have lost Alejandro, but she hadn't lost everything. She still had her child, her future. And she would do whatever it took to protect that future, even if it meant walking away from the man she had once loved.

Isabella tucked her phone back into her pocket and kept walking, her steps more purposeful now. She didn't know where she was going, didn't have a destination in mind, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she was moving forward, away from the past and toward whatever came next.

And whatever came next, she would face it on her own terms.

The next morning, Alejandro sat in his office, staring blankly at the paperwork on his desk. He had always prided himself on his ability to focus, to stay sharp no matter what distractions surrounded him. But today, his mind kept drifting back to last night, to Isabella's face as she had stood in front of him, her eyes filled with pain.

He had hurt her. He knew that. But it was for the best, wasn't it? He had never promised her anything beyond their arrangement, had never given her any reason to believe their marriage was anything more than a contract. And yet, seeing the way she had looked at him, the way she had walked away without another word, had left him feeling... unsettled.

He leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his dark hair. His phone buzzed on the desk, and he glanced at the screen, expecting another message from Vicky. But it wasn't Vicky this time.

It was his lawyer.

The divorce papers are ready. Let me know when you'd like to proceed.

Alejandro stared at the message for a long moment, his chest tightening. Divorce. It felt so final, so absolute. He had always known this day would come, had always planned for it. But now that it was here, now that the papers were ready to be signed, he found himself hesitating.

He told himself it was just business, that ending his marriage to Isabella was the logical next step. Vicky was coming back, and they could finally be together, as they were always meant to be. This was what he had wanted.

But why, then, did he feel like something was slipping through his fingers?

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to see his assistant, Eva, standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Santiago, Miss Soriano is here to see you," Eva said, her voice brisk and professional, but Alejandro noticed the slight raise of her brow, the subtle way she was trying to gauge his reaction.

He nodded, trying to push the thoughts of Isabella out of his mind. This was what he had been waiting for. Vicky was back, and they could finally pick up where they left off.

"Send her in," he said, his voice cool and composed.