Gratitude Isn't Love

"I... I'll break up with him," Anna's voice cracked, tears spilling freely as she fought to maintain eye contact with Sandro.

Her hands trembled. Across the cold, polished dining table, Alessandro stared at her. The crystal chandeliers above them glinted like ice, casting sharp shadows that only deepened the silence.

“Good one, kitten,” he said coolly, flicking ash from his cigarette. “I won’t stop you. Do whatever the hell you want. Just don’t make it look like I pushed you into it. I don’t give a damn about your little toy.”

“I won’t. I’m sorry for—”

“Don’t feel sorry in front of me,” he cut her off, voice flat. “Eat.”

She nodded silently, focusing on the food in front of her even though she couldn’t taste a thing.

Her appetite was gone.

“Can I ask a favor?” she whispered. “Please… can I go alone? I don’t want company. Just this once.”

He didn’t respond.

He only stared.

---

Alessandro stood by the tall window in his wing, cigarette between his fingers, watching as Anna walked down the path outside the mansion.

He picked up his phone and dialed.

“Keep an eye on her. Lose her, and lose your life too.”

He ended the call without waiting for a reply, then took a slow drag of his cigarette, exhaling smoke into the morning light.

“She’s not that bad,” he muttered under his breath. “Maybe I should keep her.”

A soft knock at the door.

Kendrox entered with a slight bow. “Boss. Still nothing. We think someone powerful is backing him. No trace, no record. He’s a ghost.”

Alessandro sighed, exhaling another plume of smoke.

“Her toy’s more interesting than I thought. Keep looking, Ken. There’s always something people miss.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Oh—and get the cars ready. I’m heading to the company.”

Kendrox turned to leave.

“And Ken?” Alessandro added, eyes narrowing.

“Yes?”

“Let the guys play with him a little.” A cold smirk curled on his lips as he remembered the faint bruises on Anna’s neck.

“No one touches my kitten.”

“Understood,” Kendrox said, and left.

---

“An...na,” Leonardo stammered as his eyes met hers.

She just stood there, frozen. Her brain felt like it was short-circuiting from overload. Too much. Too fast. Too painful.

The man she trusted. The man she gave everything to.

He had lied.

Again.

He had betrayed her—just like everyone else.

Her mother wasn’t the only evil in her life.

Leo was worse.

“I gave you everything,” she whispered. “I trusted you. I gave you my heart. My body. My soul. And you—”

“Anna, it’s not what you think—”

“Shut the fuck up,” she snapped, voice breaking as she fought back sobs. “I was ready to give up everything for you. I blamed myself for being a burden to you!”

“Anna, I’m sorry. I can explain, please—” he reached for her, but she yanked herself away like his touch burned her.

“Don’t you fucking touch me.”

She wiped her tears and looked him in the eye.

“I thought it was love, Leo... but maybe it wasn’t. Maybe I was just grateful. Maybe I confused debt with love.”

“Babe, please... I didn’t want to lie. I just— I loved you so much I didn’t know how to tell you the truth. I was afraid I’d lose you,” he said desperately, tears forming in his eyes. “I’ve become a monster. But I did it all because I love you.”

Anna shook her head. Her voice was cold now. “This relationship was doomed from the start. We’ll only keep hurting each other if we keep going. Let’s end this, Leo.”

“No,” he said, more to himself than to her. “No, we’re not ending this.”

He stepped closer and pulled her into his arms. “Please. Let’s make this work. I’ll change. Just don’t go.”

She pushed against him. “Let me go.”

But he held tighter.

“Leo...” she warned.

Then she bit his lip hard and shoved him away, slapping him across the face so hard his head snapped to the side.

“Fuck off,” she shouted and stormed out.

Leo stumbled back, collapsing onto the couch as he held his head in his hands, pain and shame crashing down on him all at once.

Regret hollowed him out.

He replayed everything. Every moment he could have told her the truth. Every chance he had to be honest. If he had just said something that day... if he hadn’t hidden in someone else’s shadow...

Would she still look at me like I was hers?

“There’s no way I’m losing you, Anna,” he whispered to himself. “I love you too much to let go.”

---

Anna walked the empty streets, her tears hot on her cheeks, her vision blurred. Her body moved, but her heart had shattered hours ago.

Everything felt like a lie.

Leo’s lies. His betrayal. The way he shut her down every time she brought up the fire.

> “Let’s not talk about the past, babe.”

“Forget that incident, Anna.”

And she had tried. God, she had tried to believe him.

Now all she had were fragments of memories, love that had turned sour, and a broken version of herself.

Her legs nearly gave out beneath her, but she kept walking, dragging herself through the quiet street.

She felt someone watching her.

She didn’t care.

She smiled bitterly, exhausted.

And through all of it—through the pain, the betrayal, the chaos—one name rose in her mind like a beacon.

Sandro.

He had protected her. Fed her. Rescued her.

And she—she had taken all of it for granted.

Guilt gnawed at her.

He didn’t deserve that. Not from me.

All she wanted now was to see him. To say thank you.

To tell him she finally understood.