Dangerous Secrets: My Mafia Stepbrother

The so-called PTSD refers to a series of reactions that people may experience after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event that threatens their lives or safety.

Phillip was like this before. At that time, William had tortured him to the extent that he was no longer recognizable. His mind had developed severe issues. Whenever he closed his eyes, the scene would automatically flash in his mind, making it impossible for him to sleep without the aid of sleeping pills. He also began to be extremely sensitive to certain piercing sounds, such as the sharp noise of something scraping against glass. Whenever he heard it, his muscles would involuntarily tense up. In addition, when he realized that his vision could never fully recover to its previous state, when he saw the scars on his face becoming more prominent, as well as the loss of his teeth and tongue, things that William had taken from him and could not be restored, Phillip felt extremely despondent, unable to accept this crippled version of himself. He had even considered suicide.

However, he knew he couldn’t. He regarded Emanuele as the object of his unwavering loyalty. His mission in this world had to be fulfilled, and his enemies had not been dealt with. Phillip knew he couldn’t die. Nevertheless, this psychological shadow made it impossible for him to live like a normal person.

Fortunately, Emanuele arranged for a psychologist to help him. With the psychologist’s companionship, Phillip felt that he was gradually recovering. Even though he still experiences occasional pain, at least he can now talk about this matter with others normally. He feels as though he is slowly coming out of it. Therefore, he hopes that Emanuele can also find a psychologist for Isabella.

In Isabella’s current situation, she cannot get through this on her own; she might only sink deeper. Emanuele frowned, lit a cigarette, and took a drag. Since Isabella had become pregnant, he rarely smoked inside the house, wanting to keep the apartment clean and fresh, not wanting to harm Isabella or the child within her. But today, he couldn’t help it. Mainly because he was thinking too much. Whenever he over-thought, he felt the urge to smoke. At times like this, only nicotine could ease his inner restlessness.

Emanuele silently finished the cigarette and then said to Phillip, “Isabella will resist seeing a psychologist.” He knew Isabella too well. She was a proud person. When she had nothing before, she had confronted him with a face full of pride, refusing to give in. Clearly weak, like an ant, but in front of him, she would not easily bow her noble head.

Several times, when he felt she was unwell and wanted her to go to the hospital, Isabella had said that she would take care of herself as a doctor, not wanting to trouble him. Now, if he were to tell her that he thought she had a psychological problem and should see a psychologist, she would surely refuse.

“I will talk to Isabella properly,” Emanuele said to Phillip. “How is your health now?”

“I think I’m doing fine now. I can’t recover to how I was before, but being able to recover to my current state is already pretty good, isn’t it?” Phillip replied.

Seeing how relaxed Phillip seemed when he spoke, Emanuele also breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, Phillip’s condition was much stronger now than before.

“By the way, where’s James? I haven’t seen him. The mission is complete, our enemy has become a corpse. I really want to have a drink with him to celebrate,” Phillip said. He hadn’t had a drink in a long time. During this period, everyone had been very tense, with no entertainment activities, all to catch William. Now that William had disappeared, he believed they could relax a little.

“Evelyn was taken by William and tortured terribly. When we found her, she was unconscious. We took her to the hospital. James is with Evelyn at the hospital now.”

Thinking of this, Emanuele sent a message to James inquiring about Evelyn’s condition. He was very worried about Evelyn because she was Isabella’s best friend. If something happened to her and Isabella found out, her emotions might become even more fragile.

After a while, James replied to Emanuele, “She’s okay now, she’s awake, but she’s emotionally shattered. I need to stay here with her. Boss, if you have any tasks that aren’t particularly important, can you assign them to someone else?”

As a workaholic, this was the first time James had made such a request. Emanuele immediately said, “Don’t worry, I’ll give you a few days off. I’ll try not to disturb you. Take good care of Evelyn.”

“Thank you, boss,” James replied.

After Emanuele told Phillip about Evelyn’s situation, Phillip shook his head. “She’s really miserable. Her friend is in such a plight.”

“Boss, you must accompany your wife well. I don’t want this incident to become a shadow over her for the rest of her life. Your child may be gone this time, but in the future, you will still have your own children. You must live with hope and love to carry on.”

“Thank you, Phillip,” Emanuele patted Phillip on the shoulder.Têxt belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

After seeing Phillip off, he went upstairs to accompany Isabella. Isabella had already finished her bath and changed into a nightgown, lying on the bed reading a book.

Emanuele sat beside Isabella and said, “Isabella, how about we go out tomorrow? It’s been a long time since you went out.”

Go out? Isabella looked at the window. Because it was dark outside, their curtains had already been drawn, and she couldn’t see the scenery outside.

Before, she used to love going outside, to bask in the sun, feel the breeze, lay on the grass in the park, and go shopping. Those were good choices. When she was forced to stay inside the apartment, she longed for the freedom of the outdoors. But now, she had no desire to go out at all. She just wanted to shut herself in this cramped room.

What was happening to her? Isabella knew that this wasn’t good, her heart must be sick. She knew she had to deal with this problem, or else, this emotional issue would spread to her body, causing her to become depressed. However, she felt herself becoming lazy and unenthusiastic about solving this problem.

“I don’t want to go out, I just want to sleep,” Isabella said, placing the book on the nearby table and closing her eyes, preparing to sleep.

“Isabella, you can’t avoid it like this,” Emanuele leaned in, embracing Isabella. Compared to before, her body had indeed become much smaller, which made Emanuele very distressed; he felt as though he could touch her bones.

This slender body was something many girls pursued, but he didn’t want Isabella to be so thin. He liked her with a little more flesh, just like before. Additionally, that kind of body shape would also make Isabella healthier. Now, Isabella looked as if she were sick, with such a pale complexion and lifeless eyes.

Isabella lay on the bed, not wanting to talk to Emanuele. Seeing her stubbornly shut herself in her own world and refuse to converse with anyone, Emanuele also became a little angry.