Page 48 of Her Cruel One-Sided Love

"Please just let me explain," she begged. "It was Halloween, and—-"

The entire diner fell silent, and Massimo bit back a curse at the way everyone was now looking at him like he had committed murder. It was true then, the way Ysabel could have everyone on her side, even though she was exactly the one to blame.

Ysabel mustered the courage to try one last time to have him hear her out. "I know you have every reason to doubt me, but I can prove it to you. My cousin—-"

"Yourcousin,you say?"

Why was Massimo suddenly speaking to her in such a vicious tone?

"It wouldn't happen to be Julio, would it?" A humorless smile twisted over Massimo's lips at Ysabel's visible shock. "I spoke to your cousin years ago, and he warned me about you."

Ysabel couldn't help feeling as if her entire world had turned into a nightmare, and there was no way escaping its horrors. "I d-don't understand—-"

"You told him about reading Ynez's diary, and he warned me about how you may choose to twist the truth to your advantage."

She could only look at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. "You're l-lying. Julio would never—-"

"Just fucking stop!"Massimo saw her eyes well up with tears at the tone of his voice, and the sight tore him apart even though he knew he had not done anything wrong. "You promised you had changed, dammit."

"Massimo, please—-"

This, dammit.

This was the consequence of allowing himself to open up to a woman who had too many similar traits with his mother. But even though this realization should have led him to walking out, Massimo instead heard himself say, "Just admit it."

Her eyes widened.

"Admit that you lied. That you planned to lie. And all will be forgiven."

A part of her wanted to say no. To stand her ground and force him to realize the truth.

But when she thought about how she could risk losing him completely by doing so—-

I can't. I'm sorry, God, but I can't.

And so she heard herself choke out, "I'm sorry, Mas. The moment I heard you say you wanted to go to Ynez, I was terrified you'd realize you want her, not me. B-because how can you—-" It hurt so, so much to say the next words, but she knew she had to. "How can you want s-someone likemewhen you can have s-someone like Ynez—-"

His arms closed around her, and as Ysabel began to weep, she realized that she didn't know what she was crying for.

Was it because she was relieved Massimo hadforgivenher...or was she crying because it felt as if she had just sold her own honor and integrity for love?

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