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Anya nodded, her breathing calming as her tears subsided.
Charles leaned in and kissed her forehead lovingly. “My daughter doesn’t need any damn man. You can start working with Luca. He’ll help you take over the company and teach you everything. It’ll be good for you to start early and spend time at the office. You’ll forget all about Dante.”
Anya’s eyes softened as she looked up at her father. “Dad… do you want me to be with Luca?”
Charles frowned slightly, but his gaze softened when he shook his head. “I won’t force you into anything, Anya. It’s your life, your choice. Even if you never want to get married, I’ll support you. I agreed to your marriage to Dante because I always heardgood things about him. I thought he was a good match for you. Now, if you do want to get married, Luca isn’t a bad choice either.”
Anya gave him a small, grateful smile. “Thanks, Dad,” she whispered, wiping away the last of her tears before pulling away and heading back to her room.
Her mind raced with a hundred thoughts as she entered her room and sat on the bed. Her gaze landed on her phone, its wallpaper a picture of her and Dante from her birthday.
The more she stared at it, the more her heart ached.
“I love you so much,” she whispered, her fingers hovering over the picture. “But Dante, I can’t keep doing this.” Her voice cracked slightly, and she muttered, “There’s no use explaining things to you when you’re not ready to listen.”
Chapter 17 Eavesdropper
She took a soft, shuddering breath before changing the wallpaper on her phone. Then, she fell back on the bed, her eyes fluttering closed.
“I can’t break my relationship with Luca just because Dante wants it,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Maybe you and I were never meant to be together. There were always signs, but I kept ignoring them. From your mother to my real family… so many secrets between us.”
She grabbed a pillow, burying her face in it, and the night seemed to dim around her, slipping into a heavy silence.
***
The next morning, Dante’s new secretary, Jennifer, walked into his office with a small package in her hands.
“Sir, there’s a personal package for you,” she said. “Usually, we just get office deliveries, but I saw this was addressed personally to you, so I brought it straight to you.”
Dante looked up from the file he was signing, a slight frown crossing his face. “Open it. What’s in there?”
Jennifer nodded and carefully opened the package. As she pulled out a small box and opened it, her eyes widened in shock.
“Sir… this is a diamond ring,” she said, holding it up to him. “Such a huge diamond... is it even real?”
Dante’s gaze fell onto the ring. His body stiffened at once, his entire form going rigid, and his face darkened.
It was the ring he had placed on Anya’s finger when he proposed to her on her birthday.
“Get out,” he barked, his voice thick with anger.
Jennifer jumped, startled, and quickly placed the ring on the table before turning to leave.
“Take it with you,” Dante’s voice was cold, making her freeze. “Throw it away.”
Her eyes went wide in disbelief. This was a very expensive ring, and yet he wanted her to throw it away?
But the look on Dante’s face told her everything she needed to know. She quickly nodded, grabbed the ring, and hurried out of the office.
As she exited, she collided with Triston, who was heading toward Dante’s office.
The news of Dante and Anya had already spread among their friends. After the incident with Anya, Dante had gone to the bar, drinking himself into a stupor in front of them. If it hadn’t been for his friends getting him out of there, he might’ve kept drinking himself into oblivion.
That's why Triston decided to stop by the office to check on him.
He was just about to enter when he bumped into Jennifer, the box in her hand falling to the floor. The ring rolled out of the box,and Jennifer gasped as she quickly scrambled to grab it, placing it back inside the box. She sighed in relief, looking up at him.
"God… Mr. Turner, you just cost me the salary of my next seven generations," she nearly cried.