Page 40 of Her Cruel One-Sided Love

Nine

Massimo was havingdinner with his family when security alerted them to an unexpected guest. It was Ynez, and she was insisting on seeing him.

He excused himself from his family and was stunned to see his ex-girlfriend in the living room, tears streaking down her cheeks, and her lip bleeding.

Ynez gestured for Massimo to stop when he attempted to approach her."No."Her voice was tight and full of pain. The one other time he had heard her speak this way was when she had forced herself to confess to him about someone stalking her in the past, and how it had traumatized her for life.

"I didn't come here to ask you back. But I just want you to tell yourf-fiancée—-"

Massimo's jaw clenched at the way Ynez choked at the word.

"Could you please tell her to stop hurting me? She's already won. She has you! Why does she need to have our mother andZioArnoldo side with her, too?"

Massimo had to force himself to remain still as Ynez shot him a look of despair before turning away to leave. His honor demanded that he go after her, but logic argued against this. Kindness in any form would only make Ynez hope there was still a chance for them, and that had been their problem in the first place.

Massimo's hellish mood was evident when he rejoined his family in the dining room, and it only worsened whenLa Stregapointedly asked if he had given Ynez permission to continue visiting him even when he was now engaged to someone else.

"No, I did not. But she is free to do so if she wishes. Ysabel may soon become my wife, but it does not give her any right to dictate my actions."

Seeing how the words infuriated the Marchetti matriarch, Giancarlo smoothly stepped in to steer the conversation to less volatile waters, and the tension in the room gradually eased.

Their staff had just started serving dessert when Sarica casually asked if she could invite Ysabel for coffee, and Penelope noticed the subtle change in Massimo's mood.

Although Sarica was yet to be married to Giancarlo, she had been with the family for years while Penelope had only known them for several weeks. She was new to the entire family, and perhaps that was shy she was the only one among them to realize Massimo's growing displeasure.

The Marchettis' tacit show of approval for Ysabel, as opposed to their equally courteous disinterest in Ynez, had clearly made Massimo feel he was obliged to take his ex-girlfriend's side...since no one else was doing so.

And that wasn't good at all, Penelope thought uneasily,since that might mean Massimo would never be over his guilt for breaking up with Ynez.

****

TUESDAYS WERE YSABEL'Sday off from work, and although she usually still woke up early in the morning despite this, today was different.

So much had happened that she inadvertently ended up sleeping in, and by the time Ysabel woke up, her mother andZioArnoldo were already gone. She sleepily shrugged into a bathrobe, but someone started knocking on their door before she could step inside the shower.

What if it was Ynez?

Her sister hadn't returned any of their messages or calls since last night, and Ynez had left her keys in the living room.

Forza, Ysabel.

It wouldn't do her any good to be scared of her own sister, regardless of how violent Ynez tended to be in her rage. She steeled herself for the worst as she opened the door—-

Huh?

Massimo stared down at her, his expression volatile, and so were the words he threw at her in a furious growl. "Porca miseria! Who did this to you?"

Ysabel belatedly remembered the ugly scratches on her face, but when she tried to instinctively cover them, Massimo reached for her hands to lower back them down. "I asked you a question," he gritted out.

Ysabel avoided his gaze, saying, "Please come in." She didn't see any good in telling him the truth, especially when Massimo still had the tendency to side with Ynez. And while she did understand why that was—-his distrust still hurt, and she didn't think she could deal with even more pain at the moment.

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