Chapter 4

When I opened the door, I saw Matteo's mother, Carla Mezzina, standing there, her eyes red.

The moment Carla saw me, she raised her hand to hit me without hesitation. "This is all your fault. If my son hadn't been rushing back to see you, he wouldn't have taken that shortcut, and he wouldn't have been ambushed. You're the one who killed him!"

The day Matteo was attacked happened to be our anniversary. When I first heard the news, I was devastated. Even so, I held myself together and went to comfort Carla, promising her that I would care for her as though she were my own mother.

I never expected her to slap me in front of everyone. "It's all your fault! You got my son killed! You're a curse."

"Oh, my God! Annie is still not running?"

"She won't. As long as her dear Matteo is involved, she'll just gaslight herself into thinking it's her fault."

Carla had always been biased against me. Matteo once promised me that after we got married, we wouldn't live with her.

Back then, I was drowning in grief. For a moment, I even believed everything really was my fault.

Looking back now, I realized how absurd it was.

I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

Carla's expression darkened instantly. "You can still laugh?"

She lifted her hand again, ready to hit me, but Tony rushed in and stopped her. "Please calm down. Ms. Morello is overwhelmed with grief. That's why she's acting differently." As he spoke, he shot me a look, signalling me to apologize to Carla.

I smiled again and walked up to her.

She must've thought that I was about to apologize like before. She lifted her chin and said arrogantly, "Don't take advantage of my patience and think I'll forgive you every time. As long as I'm in this house, you don't get a say."

I simply laughed, then said softly, "I think Matteo deserved to die. If you love him so much, why don't you go with him?"

Carla's eyes widened in disbelief. Her mouth hung open as she clutched her chest and staggered backward, collapsing into Tony's arms.

The live chat exploded.

"I'm dying! Finally, someone put that old witch in her place."

"Annie finally fought back! It's about time she stopped taking this crap. This is so satisfying."

Chaos erupted as people rushed to Carla's side. Meanwhile, I stood there, watching coldly.

She pointed at me and shrieked, "She must've cursed my son to death! Arrest her and execute her!"

"Okay, Matteo's mom is going too far. How is this Annie's fault?"

"Annie finally has a backbone. I'm so happy. Keep fighting back!"

"Annie, don't cave in again when Matteo comes back, or you'll get bullied to death."

Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed, "Since Mrs. Cassimo hates me so much, I'll leave the Cassimo family."

Tony panicked. "Ms. Morello, please don't. If Don Cassimo comes back and can't find you, he'll be worried."

I turned and began packing my things. "Don't say anything more. If leaving will make Mrs. Cassimo feel better, then I'll go."

Tony and Carla exchanged glances, clearly not expecting things to turn out like this. In the end, they called Matteo behind my back.

Matteo only frowned slightly. "My mom's always had a bad temper, and Annie never had a problem with it before. Why is she saying this now? Forget it. Let her go. With just a single word from me, she'll come back."

Standing at the side, I watched their entire conversation unfold through the live chat.

Seeing Matteo say that, my heart went cold. I packed faster.

When my best friend, Maria Valente, heard I was moving out, she rushed over to help. "Annie, have you decided where you're going?"

I kept my head down while I continued packing. "No. I just want to get out of here first. I'll figure it out later."

Maria's eyes lit up as she grabbed my arm. "My brother has an empty apartment. You can stay there for now."

As soon as she said that, more comments appeared before my eyes.

"Is the legendary second male lead finally showing up? He had rarely appeared before, but when he did, it was always striking. I need to see this obsessive yet devoted villain with abs like a god."

"I heard that he once wrote Annie a love letter, but she never replied. LOL."

Following what the live chat comments said, I searched my memory. Finally, I said the name in disbelief.

William?

I didn't remember having much to do with him. We'd only crossed paths a few times at events.

I recalled there was one time he tried to speak to me. But back then, all my attention had been on Matteo, so I didn't notice him.

Another comment flashed before me.

"He even texted Annie a week ago, but she ignored him."

I quickly pulled out my phone and scrolled to my messages from a week ago. As expected, there was a message from an unknown number that read, "Do you need help?"

It had been sent the very day news of Matteo's shooting broke. That day, I had been busy dealing with visitors who came to see Matteo. I remembered catching a glimpse of a dark figure.

Thinking about it now, since I'd already seen the message, I thought I should reply.

"Thank you, but I don't need help."

The reply came instantly. "If you do, I'm here."

Seeing that message reminded me that William had always been like that. Whenever I was at my worst, he would simply say, "If you need anything, I'm here," and then leave.

That continued until the day Matteo confessed his feelings for me.

After I said yes to Matteo, the William who used to stand at the end of the hallway simply disappeared.

Later, I heard he had transferred schools.