He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 183

Chapter 183

That one hurt more than I wanted admit.

Not because I cared what Mabel thought, but because a part of me still remembered every time she’d made me feel small. Every diminishing comment. Every

cruel remark disguised as honesty. Every moment she’d acted as though I wasn’t worth basic kindness.

Then she looked toward DeLuca.

The confidence in her expression returned immediately, as though she expected him to agree with everything she’d just said.

“Babe,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go.”

For the first time since she’d entered the room, I looked away from her and toward DeLuca.

He didn’t move.

Not even slightly.

Mabel seemed to notice it too, because after a brief pause she stepped forward and reached for his hand, and what happened next changed everything.

The reaction was immediate.

“Don’t touch me.”

His voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be as the effect was instantaneous and Mabel froze. The room froze.

Even I froze.

Because there was something frightening about how calm he sounded. There was no anger, no shouting, no raised voice.

Just certainty.

For the first time since she’d entered the room, uncertainty appeared on Mabel’s face.

“Baby-”

“Don’t call me that.”

Her mouth snapped shut. The words had come so quickly that she barely had time to process them.

DeLuca’s expression remained completely unreadable. Cold and dangerously controlled.

I had seen him angry before, but this wasn’t anger. This was worse.

Mabel swallowed.

“Adrian, I-”

“Today will be the last day you ever speak to her that way.”

The eruption was calm but final.

Every eye in the room shifted toward him. Even the nurses had stopped pretending not to listen.

Mabel stared.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

His gaze never left hers.

“The next time you speak to her that way might be the last thing you’ll ever do.”

The words settled over the room like a verdict.

For several seconds, nobody moved, nobody spoke, and nobody breathed. I wasn’t even sure I had heard correctly.

Mabel certainly hadn’t expected it. The shock on her face was impossible to miss.

“But she’s–”

“I don’t care.”

The interruption came immediately, and the stern in his voice made my pulse jump.

“I don’t care what your opinion of her is.”

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