His innocent wife is a dangerous hacker.-Chapter 471 Heartbroken mother

Jessica dabbed her eyes delicately and cried harder. Her voice wavered beautifully, her cheeks flushed just enough to catch the light, and even her mascara smudged in an artful way that made people instinctively want to comfort her.

"My girl turned twenty two days ago," she sobbed, pressing the tissue to her nose as if her heart were breaking. "I just wanted to wish her... that is all a mother wants... but they didn’t let me inside. They shut the door on me like I am a stranger. My life has felt so empty without her."

Her shoulders shook, and a few reporters murmured sympathetically. Cameras zoomed in on her trembling lips, her glistening eyes, her perfected heartbroken expression. Sam stood beside her, arms crossed, his heavy gaze creating an even more dramatic picture, the image of a grieving mother and her stoic husband trying desperately to reach the daughter stolen from them.

A reporter stepped forward, adjusting his mic. "Ma’am," he asked gently, "are you saying the Moretti family deliberately stopped you from meeting your daughter?"

Jessica sniffed loudly, nodding in small, pitiful jerks. "Yes... yes, they don’t want me near her. I don’t know what they have told her about me... I don’t know how they have turned her against her own mother."

Another reporter leaned in, voice sympathetic. "Do you believe your daughter is being controlled?"

Jessica let out a shaky breath, lifting her chin like a wounded heroine. "She is still my Bella... my sweet girl... she would never shut me out unless someone forced her to. She isn’t like that. They took advantage of my situation, they took her away, and now they are isolating her."

Sam finally spoke, his voice deep and deliberate. "We just want Bella to know we care. We only want to meet her once, but they are treating us like criminals."

A small crowd gathered near the gate, neighbors whispering, reporters adjusting angles, camera lights flashing across Jessica’s carefully crafted tears. She cried harder, her hands trembling, her expensive perfume subtly lifting in the breeze.

"She must think I abandoned her," Jessica whispered brokenly. "But I didn’t... I would never do that... they are keeping her from the truth."

A reporter stepped closer. "What truth, ma’am?"

Before she could answer, the automatic iron gates began sliding open with a deep metallic rumble.

Reporters spun around, cameras snapping furiously.

Jessica froze mid-sob, her eyes widening with hope and fear.

Sam straightened as if preparing for battle, but before he could speak, two men in dark suits approached. They were tall, broad-shouldered, and carried the calm, intimidating aura of people who obeyed only one master.

"Sir is calling you both inside," one of them said politely, though his tone offered no room for refusal.

Jessica blinked dramatically, her tears stopping almost instantly. "O-oh... really? He wants to speak with us?" she asked, pretending to be overwhelmed with relief. Sam placed a hand on her back as if supporting his poor, fragile wife, and together they put on their sweetest, most innocent smiles while following the guards.

The reporters tried to enter too, but the second guard blocked them with a firm yet professional hand.

"You all can wait at the park nearby," he instructed calmly. "Refreshments have been arranged. Once sir wishes to address the media, we will call you."

The reporters exchanged surprised glances. Food and drinks from the Moretti family? That was new. But the guards were polite and unthreatening, so they followed instructions, already forming their headlines.

Meanwhile, Jessica and Sam stepped inside the mansion for the first time.

Their steps slowed.

The entrance alone made their mouths fall open. Tall marble pillars, warm cream walls, soft gold lighting, and polished floors reflecting their stunned faces. The luxury pressed on them from every direction, whispering wealth and power in ways they had never known.

Jessica swallowed, her chest tightening with a flash of greed. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Sam’s jaw clenched. This house was bigger and richer than anything they could ever imagine.

A second guard led them through the hallway, and Jessica straightened her posture, fixing her hair quickly, preparing her sad-mother act once more.

Then they entered the main living hall.

Bella stood there, surrounded by Leo, Jay, Jace, Lina, Alessandro, and a few staff members. The atmosphere was calm but heavy, as if the air itself was waiting for a storm to break.

Jessica’s face immediately dissolved into a dramatic smile and she rushed forward with open arms.

"My Bella..." she cried, her voice trembling perfectly as she reached out to embrace her.

But Bella stepped back.

Her expression was blank. She didn’t move an inch toward that hug.

The rejection was small and quiet, almost gentle, but it hit Jessica like a slap.

Bella stood very still, her fingers curling softly at her sides. And as she looked at Jessica’s watery eyes, her broken voice, that innocent-mother act she put on so easily... it all felt like watching a snake pretend to be a dove.

"Bella... my dear..." Jessica whispered again, taking a hesitant step closer as if she couldn’t believe her daughter had moved away from her. But Bella only felt sick. The same woman who once looked at her with disgust was now calling her dear.

Before Jessica could lift her hand again, Leo stepped smoothly between them, his tall body blocking Jessica completely as if Bella were something the world had no right to touch. His expression shifted from cool restraint to a dangerous coldness that made even Sam stiffen.

"Do not touch her," he said, his voice low and clear, leaving no room for argument.

Jessica froze. Her eyes widened, filling instantly with tears as if she had rehearsed this moment too. She flicked her gaze between Leo and Bella, choosing her prey.

"Bella, sweetheart," she cried, clutching her chest dramatically, "he is blocking you from meeting us. We came because we missed you. I have changed, truly I have changed." Her voice trembled delicately.

"I want to take care of you now," Jessica continued, her breath shaking. "And I will be a good mother. I know your grandmother forced you into this marriage... but I’m sorry, Bella. I’m so, so sorry."

Her tears streamed beautifully, her face soft and pitiful, almost angelic.

But Leo’s eyes didn’t soften even for a moment.

If anything, they grew darker, colder, sharper, like winter swallowing the last warmth of autumn. He stood with one hand placed protectively behind him, his fingertips brushing Bella’s waist, while his gaze pinned Jessica with a quiet, perfectly controlled hatred.

"Save your performance," he said quietly, the steel in his tone unmistakable. "She is not falling for it anymore."