Forbidden Affair with My Mafia Stepbrother R18-Chapter 146: Promise of Forever

"Abigail, I don’t want you to carry this alone, because you don’t have to. Not anymore," he murmured softly.

I began crying again, and Raphael quickly wrapped his arms around me to hold me close. He hugged me as my sobs wrecked my body, and I cried in his arms for a while without exchanging any words.

"I’m here for you no matter what. I just want you to know that," Raphael whispered tenderly into my ear.

It took quite a long while, but I managed to get a hold of myself again. I knew that I couldn’t keep on crying in his arms forever because it wouldn’t solve anything.

"I’m sorry," I apologized for showing him my weak side.

"There’s nothing for you to apologize for. Talk to me, Gail. I can’t help you if you don’t. Surely something happened, right?" Raphael asked knowingly.

I shook my head slightly before biting down hard on my lower lip. The words that I wanted to tell him felt so difficult to utter. However, I knew that I couldn’t hold it in any longer because it felt like my chest would explode otherwise.

"Actually, Rosabella told me that I’m just one of your girls. I’m just one of many and that I am nothing to you at all.

She told me that you’d leave me the moment that it suits you, just like you’ve done with all the other girls," I blurted everything out all at once.

Raphael stared at me with apparent shock in his eyes. For a moment he seemed speechless while all I could feel was my heart hammering fast in my chest. The silence that followed cut deeper and made me feel that Rosabella might be right. My vision began to blur again with tears as I looked at him. I wanted so desperately for him to deny it, and I felt absolutely terrified that he wouldn’t.

"She told me that I’m nothing to you and that in the end you will end up marrying her just as planned," I continued in a broken whisper.

"It won’t end up that way," Raphael told me calmly.

"I can’t do this anymore. Raphael, I want you to understand that I can’t go on living like this. This world that we live in is filled with lies, and Rosabella is on to me every chance that she gets. I can’t even say anything back to her because there’s a part of me that thinks she is right," I confessed how I truly felt about the situation.

"She’s not right. Don’t you dare say anything like that again," Raphael said sharply.

"I just don’t know what to do. You tell me that we’re supposed to be together, but the fact remains that you’re still engaged to Rosabella. I feel like I cannot be a part of your world, but at the same time you can’t leave it all behind.

So what are we supposed to do? Doesn’t it mean that we’re just over?" I asked hopelessly.

I had just said what I truly wanted to say, but instead of feeling relieved, it felt like the words themselves nearly destroyed me even as I said them. My heart screamed against them in complete denial, although my mind told me that it was the only way.

I could tell that Raphael found it hard to accept what I had just said. He was openly distressed, and I didn’t know what to do to help him or to help us. Suddenly, Raphael dropped down onto one knee right in front of me. My eyes widened at the sight of him like that as my heart raced even faster in my chest. My mind told me that it couldn’t be, but my heart wished for it more than anything.

"Don’t you dare think that you’re just another girl to me. I feel like I cannot go on without you. I want you to be with me forever, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. I want you to believe me and no one else," Raphael said as he gently took my hand into his.

When his eyes met mine, Raphael had a very gentle look in his gaze. For a moment I couldn’t breathe, and I didn’t know what to do or what to say. It felt like time came to a standstill as I waited for his next words. I found myself praying desperately for what was to come.

"Marry me," Raphael said firmly with his eyes still locked onto mine. "If you need proof that you mean everything to me, then this is it. I will not marry anyone except for you, so marry me, Abigail," Raphael proposed.

My entire body trembled as he guided my hand toward his lips and kissed the back of it gently. I felt like fireworks had gone off inside of my brain. There was a part of me that just couldn’t believe that this was happening, yet another part of me wanted to jump up and down on the bed in celebration.

"You can’t be serious," I whispered breathlessly.

"I think this is the right solution. It’s the right next step for us, and I am serious. It changes nothing, and yet it will change everything at the very same time. Let’s get married. I want you to believe that I love you and never doubt me again," Raphael said with clear conviction. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

My hands flew to cover my mouth because I wanted to believe in him. I wanted so badly to believe in him that my chest ached as if it was a need. However, I couldn’t ignore the fear that I felt of living and being a part of the Mafia world. The fear that I felt about Rosabella’s threat, and most of all, about my mother finding out about us.

"Raphael, I’m not sure how to live in your world. I am also not sure how my mother would take all of this," I whispered.