Page 51 of Her Cruel One-Sided Love

Aquick call to askone little favor fromLa Stregaenabled Ysabel to enter herfidanzato'sapartment and wait for him to come home. Julio's revelation had troubled her greatly; it had made her realize just how far and how well thought out Ynez's plans were when it came to deceiving Massimo. And her sister could've so easily succeeded, if not for divine intervention in the form of Cattleya andLa Stregaplaying fairy godmother (and her assistant).

Just one last time,she promised herself.

Ysabel had come here to tell the truth one last time, and if necessary, she would ask forLa Stregato vouch for her—-even if her whole heart was against this. Maybe she was being too much of a foolish and hopeless romantic, but was it really not possible for Massimo to believe she was telling the truth?

Ysabel paced the length of Massimo's bedroom as she tried to rehearse what she would say.I'm sorry. I know I may be the last person you want to see right now, but could we talk? Please?

She sat on the floor, and painful memories engulfed her mind as she leaned back against the side of his bed. She remembered the look on his face when she told him about Julio, remembered how he had shouted, and how the entire diner had fallen silent. She remembered, and she started feeling hopeless—-

Questo non è da te, Ysa! This is not like you!

She pushed all of the ugly memories away and took her phone out in hopes of distracting herself, but this ended up backfiring when she saw #MasNez trending on all social media platforms—-and all because of one photo.

It was of Massimo and Ynez having dinner, and with her sister holding her ex-boyfriend's hand.

Ysabel's first instinct was to run away. If Ynez and Massimo wanted to be together, why should she stand in the way of their happiness? She was so, so tempted to give up, but then she remembered his own grandmother's words—-

If only you could have seen him in those days, bambina. He was a man in love! He had such high hopes! But when he and Ynez finally started dating, we saw the stars in his eyes slowly fade, and we saw him changing bit by bit until he seemed like a man who had lost all hope, and he had decided to simply...settle.

Ysabel got to her feet and started pacing again. Her sister would indeed win if Ysabel were to let Massimo go without a fight. She was in love with him still, and she was so very sure that he was in love with her, too.

She had to fight for him!

She had to!

And it was while she was giving herself a pep talk that she heard the door open, and when she whirled around, it was to see Massimo standing by the doorway, staring at her.

Oh!

Gone was the anger he had shown her earlier when he believed she had lied to him about changing for the better.

And in its place wasneed.The kind that was both physical and something more. The kind that made her realize how hard he was trying to ignore all of her supposed similarities with his own mother.

Amore mio. Oh, my love.

His torment was almost acutely palpable. She could practically feel his agony, could feel how Massimo was doing his very best to forget all of Ynez's lies and believe that she had really changed. But most of all, she felt hisneed.

Massimoneededher so because helovedher.

That was so clear to her now, and this had her heart pounding so, so hard.

Forza, Ysabel! You can do this!

Truth once again came to her rescue, and she was indeed beginning to see that with this man, it always had to be the truth, for better or for worse.

That was probably something her sister had also figured out,Ysabel realized uneasily, but she hurriedly pushed the thought away. Instead of worrying over Ynez, she was much better off focusing on her ownfidanzato, who had just now raised a brow when he saw her lips curve into a little smile.

"Do you care to share the joke,ciliegina mia?"

Butterfly wings fluttered inside of her stomach - she just loved it so much when he called her that - and Ysabel couldn't keep her voice from turning breathless as she answered him. "No joke, but it's just something I noticed..."

"About what?"

"The way you look at me." She looked at him under her lashes, and her heart pounded harder when she saw how his nostrils had flared at her words. "It just seems you want..."

"Wantwhat?"

Her knees knocked against each other at the roughness of his voice, and she ended up whispering—-

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