Chapter 134: Chapter 134 Emergency
Her heart squeezed painfully. What if Stella hadn’t run? she thought. Would he have married her instead?
Bella’s throat bobbed as she swallowed back the tiny sob that tickled her throat. The ache in her stomach made it worse, like a cruel reminder she wasn’t strong like him — or beautiful like Stella.
She curled tighter, feeling her soft pajamas tug at her legs. Even her favorite lavender scent felt useless toady.
Slowly, she reached for her phone and opened her email again, hoping, just hoping, there’d be some sign the photographer had sent the pictures so she could do what she loved best — color grading them, making something beautiful with her own hands. But the inbox stayed empty.
She sniffed, rubbing the corner of her eye with her sleeve. Her heart felt like someone was wringing it out.
What if I’m just... a mistake in his life? she thought, her mind spiraling. What if he regrets me every time he sees me?
When Bella finally managed to drag herself out of bed, the dull ache in her stomach still throbbed. She wore her soft blue dress with long sleeves, the sleeves slipping over her small hands as she rubbed her eyes and peeked out her door.
The house was strangely quiet. Normally, she’d hear Jay Jay’s cheerful voice echoing somewhere, or Lina asking the maid about breakfast preparations. Sometimes she’d even see Leonardo’s cold figure walking by with papers in his hand. But today, there was nothing.
She shuffled downstairs, one hand pressed lightly to her belly. The dining room felt too big, too echoey without the warm chatter. She glanced around– the chairs were all empty, except for the maid quietly setting out her breakfast.
"Where is everyone...?" Bella asked softly, her voice almost lost in the hush of the grand room.
The maid paused, looking up at her with a gentle expression. "Ma’am, there was an emergency at the company this morning. Sir and Mr. Jay and Mr. Alessandro all left with Madam Lina to handle it. They didn’t want to disturb you because you were resting."
"Oh..." Bella’s lips parted in surprise. She tugged the sleeves of her dress tighter around her fingers. They all left without saying goodbye... She shouldn’t feel sad about it... it was important work, she knew that. But her chest still felt oddly empty.
She sat down at the long table, and the maid placed a simple breakfast in front of her, warm porridge, lightly buttered toast, and a small glass of warm milk. Normally, Bella would have thanked her cheerfully, but today her eyes were downcast, her mind drifting.
She stirred the porridge with her spoon, watching the swirl of steam curl up and disappear. They must be so busy... she thought, pushing a small bite into her mouth. The warm food didn’t bring the comfort it usually did — her belly still ached, and the cold chair only made her want to run back to her blankets.
She looked over at the empty seat across from her. Sometimes Leonardo would sit there, phone in hand, never looking at her for long but still, at least he was there.
She swallowed hard, trying not to let her eyes sting. He probably hates me... and now he’s busy saving his company. I’m just here, useless.
The maid lingered by the side, worried about how pale Bella looked. "Ma’am, would you like me to make you some ginger tea for you"
Bella blinked up at her, surprised by the kindness. She forced a small smile, shaking her head. "No... no, it’s okay. Thank you."
But her voice was so soft, so fragile, that the maid felt her heart twist. She gently said "You should rest today, Ma’am. They’ll be back soon, you’ll see."
After a while, she quietly picked up her cup of milk, holding it in both hands to warm her chilled fingers.
***
In the gleaming high-rise office of the Moretti Group, the atmosphere was nothing like the calm silence of the house. Here, the air was heavy, thick with tension, the faint hum of servers and rapid keystrokes echoing through the large security operations room.
On the huge digital wall screen, red alerts flashed like bleeding wounds. Data streams poured down lines of code as the company’s best cybersecurity team scrambled to patch the breaches.
Jay Jay was standing near the middle of the room, sleeves rolled up, his usually sunny face dark with worry. "How bad is it?" he asked, glancing at Nathan, who was typing so fast his fingers were a blur.
"It’s Pablo’s people again," Nathan muttered. "Or someone Pablo hired — this is not amateur stuff. They knew exactly where to hit. If they crack the last layer, we lose access to client accounts, financial transfers — hell, the whole Moretti name goes up in flames."
Jay Jay ran a hand through his hair. "Where’s Leo?"
"Inside the war room." Nathan nodded towards the glass-walled office at the end. "He’s talking with our top hackers. He hasn’t sat down since we started."
Inside that office, Leonardo stood in front of a smaller screen. He was dressed sharply, but his jacket was tossed aside, sleeves pushed up over his forearms. The faint glow of the monitors lit his sharp features, highlighting the cold intensity in his storm-grey eyes.
One of the security heads, Salvatore, leaned forward anxiously. "Boss, their attack pattern keeps changing. They’re not brute forcing — they’re crawling through the back door with mirrored IPs. We shut one door and they’re already through another!"
Leonardo’s jaw flexed as he stared at the flickering lines of code. "So what’s your plan?" His voice was calm, but every word was like a knife edge.
Salvatore flinched. "We’re running double firewalls, but it won’t last more than a few hours. If we—"
"Find where they’re getting in," Leonardo snapped. He stepped forward, one hand braced on the table, eyes dark. "They can’t disappear into the dark web without leaving a trail. There’s always a trail."
"Boss—" Salvatore hesitated. "With all due respect, we need an outside specialist. Our people are good, but this is something else. Maybe we—"