Chapter 18
Sofia’s tears stopped abruptly. Her hands hung limp as she stared at Alessandro with genuine confusion.
The shift in his demeanor had been so dramatic it left her reeling.
Before, her tears had been her trump card–guaranteed to trigger his protective instincts.
Now, his eyes held nothing but cold contempt.
She could drown in her own tears and he wouldn’t so much as throw her a life preserver.
Sofia couldn’t risk admitting her calculated sabotage campaign against Aria.
She clamped her mouth shut, pivoting to desperate denial: “Alex, this is insane. I didn’t do anything! Aria’s been amazing, and after everything you’ve done for me, why would I mess that up?”
“I mean, yeah, she never exactly warmed up to me, and she’s definitely overreacting by disappearing like this… but don’t take your frustration out on me!”
She managed to force out a few more strategically placed tears.
Alessandro had always been her puppet–easily manipulated with the right combination of vulnerability and nostalgia. She was gambling on his ingrained protective instincts, hoping to divert his attention.
He couldn’t have heard everything. Even if he had, she could claim it was just her friend venting, and she was trying
to calm the situation.
If she could just get through this, she’d drop the pregnancy bomb, and between their history and close proximity, she’d erase any memory of Aria from his mind!
But the man before her had undergone a transformation. He laughed–a chilling sound utterly devoid of humor–his lips twisting into a cruel smile.
“You really don’t know when to fucking quit, do you? After all these years, you still don’t understand who I really
am?”
“My patience isn’t just running out, Sofia. It’s gone.”
Without warning, he slammed her head against the marble countertop, his hand clamping around her throat like a
vise.
“If that’s how you want to play this, I’ll call Daddy dearest right now. I’m sure he’d love to hear his investment has gone south. Last I heard, that geriatric business partner of his is still looking for wife number four.”
The specter of her father’s cruel smirk as he’d threatened to marry her off to that ancient, lecherous man terrified her more than Alessandro’s grip on her throat.
08:36
I Love You So Much. But I Just Don’t Like You’Alymo
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Chapter 18
Sofia panicked, genuine fear replacing calculation.
“Stop! Don’t call them! I’ll talk, goddammit, I’ll tell you everything!”
Only then did he loosen his grip, though his eyes remained merciless.
“Start talking.”
“Jesus” Her voice broke into harsh coughing as air rushed back into her lungs. Between desperate gaps, the thr her phone at him. “Here! Take my fucking phone!”
She unlocked it with trembling fingers and pushed it toward him.
“I didn’t do anything that bad, I swear. You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”
Inwardly, Sofia congratulated herself for having the foresight to delete all evidence of her harassment campaign against Aria.
Alessandro glanced at the pristine message history and immediately saw through her ploy. He grabbed the phone and dialed his head of security.
“I need full data recovery on a device. Priority level one. Everything deleted in the last six months.”
Hearing this, Sofia felt the ground give way beneath her.
She lunged for his arm, clawing at him in desperate panic: “Alex, for God’s sake! Don’t do this! There’s nothing to
recover!”
But Alessandro had reached his limit. He’d given her chance after chance, and Sofia had spat on every one.
Looking down at her crumpled form on the Italian marble she’d insisted on having installed, he spoke coldly to his security chief: “And check the backend of her social accounts. I want to know exactly what she sent to Aria Collins. Everything.”
طمييلامع
