Chapter 448
Ella didn’t understand why Bernard was calling her Mrs. Moretti. Seeing that Ella was still teary-eyed, Bernard couldn’t help but remind her, “You really should stop crying. Mr. Moretti doesn’t like women who cry all the time. Be careful, or he might not want you anymore.” Hearing that only made Ella cry harder.
Bernard sighed, unable to watch any longer. “Come on now. Mr. Moretti doesn’t have much patience. He won’t wait for you forever.” With that, he turned and headed downstairs. Ella had just barely managed to stop crying, but the tears started falling again. She hadn’t expected Lorenzo to actually send Bernard to fetch her. Clearly, she had no choice today—she had to go out with him, though she really didn’t want to.
In the end, Ella hurried to wash up and change her clothes. She was still wearing Lorenzo’s clothes. Right before she left the room, she sent Stephanie a message. The subject line was “My Will,” and then she proceeded to write out a long message explaining everything. At that moment, Stephanie was having dinner with Allison. When she saw Ella’s message, she was so shocked she nearly spat out her food.
“Is this really necessary?” Stephanie thought to herself. Allison glanced at her. “What’s wrong?” Stephanie shook her head in disbelief. “Ella’s really lost it. She actually wrote me a will.” She hadn’t expected Lorenzo to scare Ella so much that she’d feel the need to prepare for death. Even though Stephanie had repeatedly assured her that Lorenzo was reliable, Ella still didn’t trust him.
This was the first time Stephanie had seen Ella act so timid. She used to be pretty fearless. Now, Stephanie was genuinely curious what Lorenzo had done to terrify Ella like this. Allison asked her, “Is this Lorenzo guy really trustworthy?” The way Ella had been crying on the phone earlier made Allison seriously doubt it. To her, Lorenzo sounded anything but reliable.
“He is,” Stephanie replied. “Lorenzo’s solid. Ella’s just not used to him yet.”
“Who could ever get used to that?” Allison said flatly. There was no way she could. She had zero interest in living the kind of life where you could die at any moment.
Stephanie smirked. “Oh? And what about your Yanis?” Yanis wasn’t exactly a simple man. On the surface, he ran a medical monopoly, but no one knew what he was really up to behind the scenes. Stephanie had once heard Sebastian mention something about Yanis. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to tell her Yanis was not the upstanding gentleman he appeared to be.
Allison blinked, confused. “Him? He’s not nearly as dangerous as Sebastian.” As soon as Stephanie heard that, she knew that Allison knew nothing about Yanis. Just as they were about to keep talking, Stephanie’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen. It was an unfamiliar number. That surprised her—very few people knew this number.
Stephanie answered the call. “Hello?” “It’s me,” Richard’s voice came from the other end of the line. Stephanie hadn’t expected him to track down this number. Her expression instantly darkened. “What do you want?”
“When are you coming back to Fiorenza?” Richard asked. Stephanie frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?” When Ella had asked her the same question earlier, Stephanie understood—it was fear talking. But Richard had no business asking about Fiorenza anymore.
“I’m waiting for you in Fiorenza, baby,” Richard said lazily. That single word sent a shiver down Stephanie’s spine. She immediately snapped into the phone, “You’re sick.” She got goosebumps all over. Stephanie cursed Richard silently, disgusted.
But what she couldn’t figure out was how he had managed to return to Fiorenza at all. The Casalini family had already been crushed by Sebastian, and Richard had been hunted down and driven into hiding all over the world.
“Yes, I’m sick,” Richard said smoothly. “And you, my fiancée, are still out there shamelessly looking for other men.” The word “fiancée” made Stephanie explode. “I am not your fucking fiancée!”
She had been forced into two of the most ridiculous engagements of her life. The first had been with Chris—an arrangement she hadn’t even known about until much later. And the second? Naturally, it was with Richard. A promise made years ago by the elders of their families, finalized without her knowledge or consent. Now Richard was clinging to that outdated engagement like a lifeline.
Richard chuckled. “Just you wait. Sooner or later, I’ll teach you a lesson.” “You wish. If anyone’s teaching a lesson, it’s me,” Stephanie snorted. Richard replied, “That works too. I’ll be waiting for you, my lovely fiancée.” He deliberately emphasized the word “lovely.” Stephanie was so furious she hung up on him.
She was surprised Richard had actually returned to Fiorenza. She wondered if Sebastian knew about it—if he had allowed him to come back. Sitting across from her, Allison noticed that Stephanie’s face was dark with rage. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing. Just eat,” Stephanie said flatly. In her mind, she was cursing Richard. ‘How dare that backstabbing bastard go back to Fiorenza? After two years of running for his life, he still hasn’t learned to treasure it.’