Mafia Billionaire’s Forlorn Wife
Chapter 42

A g***n escapes my lips as I slowly blink open my eyes and find myself tucked under the plush blanket that Leo keeps in his guest bedroom.

A yawn escapes my lips as I stretch on the bed and slowly look around to find myself in the centre of the bed when I remember very evidently that I had fallen asleep outside on the couch after I barged into Leo’s apartment unexpectedly.

Just thinking about the night before sends a sharp pang of pain shooting through my heart and my head.

Leo had to all but stay awake with me throughout the night because my nightmares wouldn’t stop coming.

Amelia had triggered my childhood trauma and that resulted in the nightmares that I am currently facing.

And in all of those nightmares, it was either her or my father pushing me into closed, dark spaces, and trapping me there with no one present to rescue me.

It was about thrice through the night that Leo had to lull me to sleep before I could finally pass out from the pure exhaustion of what I had faced.

Shaking my head, I rub my eyes before slowly getting up on the bed as I rest my back against the cushioned headrest and find my reflection staring at me from the rectangle, floor length, antique mirror standing right in front of the bed.

“What a mess…” I blurt out, shaking my head at how terrible I look with my hair frizzy, and my body currently clad in one of Leo’s old band t-shirts.

My face stills has some of my makeup left, since last night I was too exhausted to do anything and from the way my eyes look, I seem like I have cried for the entirety of the night.

I mean…I sorta have.

Reaching over to the ivory side table, I scoop up the iPad that Leo lent me last night and try checking if there are any new mails or anything waiting for me.

That is when my shoulders deflate, realising that there are no mails from Rhys trying to find me.

What if he is trying to reach my phone but since his b***h of a best friend stole the bloody thing, he is unable to find me?

But then again…if he really wanted to find me then he would have tried reaching me through Jordan or even Leo. Surely by now he is back home and he must have realised that I’m not there, right?

Unless he is still with Amelia and he spent the night at her place.

My thoughts are spiralling towards a pit of pain and misery as I shake my head and check for other business related mails.

That is when I find out that there is a new mail from Amelia and my brows furrow seeing that, because that woman has never once tried to contact me in almost the year that I’ve known her.

With shaky hands, I click on her unread messages and open her inbox to find a few photographs that she has sent me.

My heart starts racing as I see Rhys’ silhouette in one of them before I open those images and they seem to be pictures from last night, judging from the fact that Rhys and Amelia are wearing the same clothes that they were during the gala.

Picture after picture, it’s just them, laughing with drinks in their hands while they sit by the side of a lake and Rhys even has his arm around her shoulder in one of those photos.

My heart bleeds in my chest as I realise that this is what my husband was up to while I was fighting with my shaky breaths to be able to get out of that wretched bathroom stall, all the while it was so dark that I could not even see my own hand in front of my eyes.

Rhys was spending time with the woman he claims is his past and he was happy all throughout.

And when I swipe to the last picture, my eyes widen when I see the photograph since this is different than any of the others that Amelia has sent me.

For one, their clothes are different, and that means that this photograph is not from last night. And secondly they are inside a helicopter and the city of Seattle is behind them as Amelia snuggles into Rhys’ side and he is staring down at the city while someone has clicked their picture from the front.

I zoom in on the date stamp in the upper corner of the image and when I realise when this photograph was taken, my heart shudders to a stop for a moment as I feel the weight of the world come crashing down on me.

This is a photograph from the night of my birthday.

Rhys was spending my birthday night on a— probably romantic— helicopter ride with Amelia and then he had the audacity to be an a*****e to me the next morning.

Shaking my head, I throw the iPad aside on the mattress as a frustrated cry escapes my lips and I realise what a f*****g fool I had been…

Rhys never cared for me. He never gave two f***s about my life or my heart or my feelings.

He is probably still with Amelia and they are probably laughing at the hell she gave me last night.

It wouldn’t be a surprise anymore if I find out that locking me in that bathroom stall was Amelia and Rhys’ combined plan. After all, their is no end to his despicable means.

At this point I should realise that Rhys Mikhailov thrives on making my heart bleed.

That is when the door of the room opens and Leo steps in with a large smile and an even larger tray of food in his hands.

The smell of eggs tickles my nostrils and that is when more worries are added to my list as I feel my stomach pushing all its contents up my throat.

His eyes widen at the same time as mine do and I slap my hand to my mouth before I quickly remove the covers from over my body and run to the en suite bathroom, and sliding in front of the pot, I empty the last of my stomach contents into it.

“f**k! Bella!”

Leo comes after me as he starts to rub my back while I heave painfully, especially because of the fact that there wasn’t much for me to puke this time but still my throat does burn painfully.

I cringe at how pathetic I must look, “go away, Lee, I’m okay…” I croak out.

“Bullshit…” he spits as he keeps my hair away from my face, “I am worried about why you’re getting sick, Bella…”

I breathe deeply, not feeling the strength to do much else at the moment as I shake my head, “it’s only panic attacks, I know…”

“I still think you should consult a doctor.” He points out in the same voice that he used last night when I told him about my little incident before reaching his place.

Leo knows everything that went down last night and he has constantly been insisting on two things— 1. For me to check in with my long term therapist so as to combat any potential rebuttals of my past trauma because of the events of last night. And 2. For me to give him permission to go knocking down Rhys’ door and beating some sense into the man who let his wife suffer at the hands of a woman who hates her.

And neither of those things seem very appealing to me right now.

“I just wanna sleep.” I mumble in a tired voice, not knowing why my body suddenly feels so heavy and exhausted all the time.

Amelia’s actions have really had a terrible impact on me. Much more than I initially realised, it seems.

“Come on, brush your teeth and then come out and have breakfast. Your body feels weak because you haven’t been eating much. You need to get your strength back.” Leo says rubbing my back as he stands up and gives me his hand, “you need all the strength you can get for when you knock some sense into your foolish husband.”

I roll my eyes, “no one is going to be knocking any sense into him,” I say as I clutch onto Leo’s hand and let him use his strength to pull me back to my feet again. The moment I stand up, my head swirls a little, “woah…” I mutter, blinking rapidly as for a second everything around me starts to revolve before stopping and I finally look up at Leo who seems more concerned than before.

“That’s it! I’m calling the doctor!” He affirms.

I shake my head in protest, “there’s no need for that, I’m just a little weak.” I tell him, feeling the dizziness stop as I pat his chest, “come on, let me freshen up and then we’ll eat.” I say mustering the best smile I can at the moment.

Leo looks like he isn’t convinced but he knows that it’s no point arguing with me about this as he huffs and nods.

“Alright, call me if you feel sick again.” He says as he walks out of the bathroom.

“I won’t.” I mumble under my breath, shuddering at the thought of anyone seeing me get sick again.

“I HEARD THAT!” He hollers from outside and I chuckle, shaking my head at his antics.

And when I walk over to the basin, I start brushing my teeth using the extra dental kit that Leo keeps in the vanity beneath the basin and as I splash water on my face I realise that I would need a proper make up remover to get rid of how I look.

After placing the brush back in the stand, I open the drawer that Leo has assigned for me in this bathroom and find all things that I might need for my stay overs.

He has make up wipes, remover, multivitamins, sanitary napkins—

That is when my eyes widen as I stare at the small basket holding sanitary napkins and tampons.

Wait a second…

When was my last period?

Cold splashes of realisation hit me as I start counting off the list of symptoms that I have been feeling lately.

The cramps without any periods…

The tenderness in my breasts…

The weakness…

All the puking because of certain smells and tastes…

The dizziness just now…

And I am more than certain that the last time that I was in bed with Rhys…he finished inside me.

Could it be possible?

Could my birth control have stopped working?

My own eyes stare back at me from the mirror and I scream the one name I know will help me right now—

“LEO!”