~Anne's POV~
The sun had set by the time Riccardo returned to my apartment. I knew he would come back, and while I was still mad at him for leaving the way he did, I had far more pressing matters to discuss with him.
"Lisa was here earlier today," I started, barely allowing Riccardo the chance to relax or even take off his jacket. "She came to warn me."
He froze for just a millisecond before letting out a breath.
"What did she do?" he asked quietly.
That calm in his voice was deceptive, it was easy to tell that he was already mad but it wasn't at me. The last thing I wanted was to cause more problems between him and his sister, but I just couldn't sit back and do nothing after Lisa had threatened to make my life a living hell. I had done nothing to her, so I needed to know why all of this was happening to me.
"She threatened me," I said simply. "She told me to stay away from you. Gave me an hour to convince you to reverse her transfer."
Riccardo didn't speak, he just stared at me with eyes that looked tired. He knew I wasn't lying. The fact that I knew about Lisa's transfer should be enough for him to know that Lisa and I had some sort of interaction.
When I realised that he wasn't going to say something anytime soon, I took a step towards him.
"Just talk to me, okay? Tell me what's really going on. I can't live my life this way, being controlled by you and your sister, or even Thomas. I need answers from you, Riccardo, and I need them now."
Riccardo took a slow, measured breath, the kind someone takes when they're bracing themselves for impact. His gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, then lifted back to mine, heavy with something I couldn't quite name.
"Lisa was the one who released the video."
I held my breath for a second, unsure if I had heard correctly. I knew Lisa and Riccardo were the masterminds of everything, but I hadn't expected to be betrayed by a woman, someone who I thought would understand my pain better than any man ever could.
My knees felt weak, and I took an involuntary step back. "She… what?" My voice sounded distant, like it didn't belong to me.
Before I could spiral any further, Riccardo closed the space between us. His hands came to my arms first, steadying me, then pulled me gently into his chest. I resisted for half a heartbeat before the strength left me completely.
"She did it," he repeated softly, his chin resting against the top of my head. "But not because she hates you."
That didn't make it better. If anything, it made it worse. She was Ricardo's sister, and if any of the things he'd told me were remotely true, then she should know better than to do this.
"I don't understand," I whispered, my fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. "How could she think that was okay?"
"She's always been like this," he said, his voice tight with restraint. "To Lisa, the family business comes before everything. Before morals. Before people. Before me, sometimes." He exhaled slowly. "Thomas is a force that can topple any company if they're not careful. Lisa knows that just like I do, and she doesn't want to take any chances playing nice."
I pulled back just enough to look at him, disbelief and hurt warring inside me. "And my life was just… collateral damage?"
"I'm sorry about all of this, I never should have involved you in this nonsense. I should have just handled my problems by myself." He lamented, his arms tightening around me just a little bit.
"But I've taken care of everything now," he continued. "The video is being taken down. Every copy we can trace, every platform it surfaced on. My legal team is already involved, and I've made sure it can't be reuploaded without consequences."
I wanted to be happy about those words, but it was impossible to do. The damage was already done, thousands of people had already seen the video, and they sure as hell weren't going to randomly forget my face because the video was no longer on the Internet.
"You don't have to worry about it anymore," he pressed a kiss on my forehead and stroked my hair gently. "I'll make sure all of this ends today."
"Call off her transfer."
The request had Riccardo stunned for a whole five seconds. His grip on me loosened considerably, and he took a backward step just to get a better look at my face. When he realised I was dead serious, he completely let go of me.
"W…What? Don't tell me you still feel threatened by what she said. I'm not calling it off, she deserves to be punished for what she did—"
"I am the person who was wronged, and I'm begging you to call off the transfer." I interjected calmly. My hand stretched forward to hold him, but Riccardo took another step backward. "If you really want all of this to end today, then please, for my sake don't ship her off to another place because of this. She's your sister, Riccardo, please just listen to me this once."
Riccardo kept his gaze on me, clearly unsure of what to do next. I took the opportunity and finally closed the space between us.
"Please…" I whispered, hoping he'd finally listen. I needed all of this to be over as soon as possible. I just wanted to be done with the drama, I wasn't built for any of it. If stopping the transfer would get Lisa out of my hair, then I'd beg for it if I must. I just didn't have time to deal with another human being, Riccardo Antonelli was already enough work.
"I'm not happy with this…" He finally spoke as he lifted his hand to wrap around me. "But I'll see what I can do about the transfer.
A bright smile crossed my face after those words, followed by a sigh of relief. Finally, we were done with that nonsense—
My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden vibration of my cellphone. I had received a message notification. Excusing myself for a second, I reached for my phone and immediately regretted it. I had no idea how he managed to get my number, but Thomas Brown had texted me, and he said he would love to host me for dinner.