The Billionaire Playboy's Ward [Under Revision]

Chapter Twenty

Isabella's face must have been comical as she turned on her flat screen TV back in her loft while Manuela was laying the table for breakfast that following morning and saw what was happening. She felt a faint as she changed the channels and discovered it was the hottest story--

“Self-made billionaire mogul, Liam Vergil, who everyone knew as Thomas Stanford's apprentice is actually the son of the notorious Cuthbert Cornell, one of the biggest mob leaders in history.”--click--“Liam Vergil is a sham and a murderer. He was accused of the murder of his own father shortly after Cuthbert Cornell killed his wife Arnie Vergil.”--click--“Living under a false name, Liam Cornell was able to infiltrate the business world and make a name for himself but the big question is, what means did he use to gain such wealth over a short period of time? After all Cuthbert Cornell was his father.”--click--“Liam Cornell also known as Liam Vergil was accused for the death of his father, could it be that he was behind the death of his partner, Thomas Stanford?”

Isabella heard a buzzing in her head as the room began to spin out of control. It felt as if she was in a vacuum as she lost her footing and dropped to the floor.

“Isabella! Isabella!” Manuela's voice sounded distant as someone tried to help her up but she couldn't move. Was this what Liam was trying to prevent her from seeing? Did he really do the things they said he did? Did he kill his own father? She couldn't even begin to imagine him killing her father. Oh, the pain in her heart was so much that she thought she was going to die from it.

“Isabella, please try to get up!” Manuela cried as she tried to pick her up but Isabella's world was suddenly sucked into darkness...

“Isabella, can you hear me?” A familiar voice came through.

Isabella opened her eyes and saw the dark head hovering over her. “Liam?” her throat felt thick and bruised.

“No, it's Stefan.” He said.

Stefan's face began to clear and so did her surroundings and Isabella found herself in her room with an unfamiliar woman sitting on her bed next to her and—is that an IV stand? Shit! What happened?

“What happened, Stefan?” She tried to sit up but the blond haired woman stopped her and tucked her back into the overly-warm covers.

Stefan turned to the woman then to someone else standing by the door, Manuela—Isabella managed to see the housekeeper and finally he turned to her. “Don't you remember what happened?”

Isabella frowned trying to recall what happened then the stuff she saw on TV start replaying in her head. She gasped out loud and turned to Stefan. “Where's Liam? What is happening?”

Isabella could see how angry Stefan was as he sat on the chair beside her bed. He turned to the blondie and Manuela. “Could you please excuse us for a moment?”

The blond lady nodded and got up. “She's still in shock so be careful with her.”

“Thank you, Dr. Reese.” Stefan sighed and shifted forward as the door closed behind them.

“What happened, Stefan?” Isabella was horrified at the accusations that were flying about Liam. She could only imagine what he was going through! And he was alone!

Stefan looked at her for a long time and when he saw the resolve written on her face, he ran a hand through his hair and breathed. “Christoph is the only one who knows the story of Liam and after hours of convincing him, he told me when your father took Liam under his wing when he was sixteen, he knew of Liam's past. He knew of what he was getting into. Liam was a fast learner and a potentially successful businessman back then but his past would have hindered him from moving forward so your father and his lawyer covered his past. They gave him a new life and made sure that everything that linked him to Cuthbert Cornell was destroyed—or so they thought. Somehow, some copies of his past emerged. We still don't know who found them but what we know is that they fell into the wrong hands.”