Chapter 22 The Truth Behind the Mask
1210 Words
The penthouse felt unbearably empty.
Lorenzo hadn’t slept the entire night.
He had tried calling Isabella again and again.
Her phone remained switched off.
Every room in the apartment reminded him of her.
The kitchen where she used to make coffee every morning.
The couch where she curled up with a blanket while reading.
The balcony where she once laughed when the wind tangled her hair.
Everything felt the same.
Except she wasn’t there.
And that absence made the silence suffocating.
By morning, Lorenzo had already called several people.
Her friends.
A few places she liked to visit.
Even the driver who sometimes took her around the city.
No one had seen her.
No one knew where she had gone.
Frustration and worry twisted inside his chest.
He grabbed his coat and headed to the office.
Not because he wanted to work.
But because sitting alone in the penthouse was unbearable.
When he entered De Luca Enterprises, the employees immediately noticed something was wrong.
Lorenzo rarely looked tired.
Today, dark circles lined his eyes.
His usual calm, controlled presence was replaced with something restless.
He walked straight into his office.
But before he could even sit down, his assistant knocked on the door.
“Mr. De Luca?”
“What?”
“Miss Hayes is here to see you.”
Lorenzo froze.
For a moment, the name didn’t register in his mind.
Then irritation quickly replaced the confusion.
“Send her in.”
A few seconds later, Victoria walked into the office.
She looked perfectly composed.
Elegant.
Confident.
“Good morning,” she said with a soft smile.
Lorenzo didn’t return the greeting.
“What do you want?”
Victoria blinked, slightly surprised by his tone.
“I came to thank you for yesterday.”
“For what?”
“For helping me with the legal issue.”
Lorenzo leaned back in his chair.
His patience was already thin.
“You could’ve said that over the phone.”
Victoria studied his expression carefully.
“You look upset.”
“That’s none of your concern.”
She hesitated.
“Did something happen?”
Lorenzo stared at her silently.
Then he spoke in a cold voice.
“My wife left.”
Victoria’s eyes widened slightly.
“She… what?”
“She left last night.”
There was a brief pause.
Then Victoria sighed softly.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
But something about the way she said it felt… wrong.
Too calm.
Too controlled.
Lorenzo’s sharp instincts noticed it immediately.
“You don’t sound surprised.”
Victoria tilted her head slightly.
“Well… considering the tension between you two lately…”
“What tension?”
Victoria raised an eyebrow.
“You didn’t notice?”
“Notice what?”
She leaned casually against the chair across from him.
“Isabella never liked me.”
“That’s not true.”
“Really?”
“She barely spoke to me at the gala.”
“She was being polite.”
Victoria gave a small laugh.
“Lorenzo… women understand these things.”
“Understand what?”
“When another woman feels threatened.”
The word made something inside Lorenzo snap.
“Threatened?”
“Yes.”
“By you?”
Victoria shrugged.
“Maybe.”
Lorenzo stared at her in disbelief.
“You think my wife left because she was jealous of you?”
Victoria met his gaze calmly.
“It’s possible.”
That was when Lorenzo remembered something suddenly.
A conversation.
One of the workers from Victoria’s store had tried contacting him earlier that morning.
At the time, he had ignored it.
Now the memory returned sharply.
“Wait here.”
Victoria frowned slightly.
“What?”
Lorenzo grabbed his phone and dialed the number from the earlier voicemail.
After a few rings, someone answered.
“Hello?”
“This is Lorenzo De Luca.”
The voice on the other end sounded nervous.
“Yes, sir.”
“You said you had information about the harassment complaint at Miss Hayes’ store.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
The employee hesitated.
“Sir… the complaint wasn’t real.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was staged.”
Lorenzo’s eyes slowly shifted toward Victoria.
“Staged by who?”
“Miss Hayes.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
“What are you saying?”
“She told one of the employees to file the complaint so you would come help her deal with it.”
Lorenzo’s grip on the phone tightened.
“Why?”
“Because she said you always come when she calls.”
The words hit him like a punch.
He slowly ended the call.
Silence filled the office.
Victoria was watching him carefully now.
“What was that about?” she asked.
Lorenzo stood up slowly.
His expression had completely changed.
Cold.
Dangerous.
“You manipulated the entire situation.”
Victoria didn’t answer immediately.
“That complaint… the supplier problems… the constant calls…”
Understanding hit him piece by piece.
“You created them.”
Victoria sighed softly.
“Well… I needed your attention.”
Lorenzo’s voice dropped dangerously low.
“You lied.”
“I did what I had to do.”
“For what?”
Victoria stepped closer.
“For you.”
The words made his jaw tighten.
“You ruined my marriage.”
“No,” she corrected calmly.
“You did that yourself.”
The statement struck deeper than anything else.
Because a small part of Lorenzo knew…
She was right.
Victoria crossed her arms.
“You chose to come every time I called.”
“You chose to ignore your wife.”
“You chose to believe I needed you.”
Her voice softened slightly.
“I just gave you the opportunity.”
Rage burned in Lorenzo’s chest.
But it wasn’t only directed at Victoria.
A large part of that anger was aimed at himself.
Because Isabella had tried to tell him.
She had tried to warn him.
And he hadn’t listened.
Victoria smiled faintly.
“Now that she’s gone… maybe we can finally talk about us.”
That was the final mistake.
Lorenzo’s eyes turned dangerously cold.
“There is no ‘us.’”
Victoria’s smile faltered.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I never loved you.”
The blunt words stunned her.
“You’re lying.”
“I loved my wife.”
The word loved echoed painfully in his own mind.
Because suddenly…
He wasn’t sure if it was too late to say it.
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“She left you.”
“Because I pushed her away.”
The realization settled heavily in his chest.
And for the first time since Isabella walked out…
True regret flooded through him.
Not frustration.
Not anger.
Regret.
He grabbed his coat.
“Where are you going?” Victoria demanded.
“To find my wife.”
Victoria scoffed.
“You think she’ll come back?”
Lorenzo paused at the door.
For a moment, his voice was quieter than it had ever been.
“I don’t know.”
And that uncertainty scared him more than anything else.
Because for the first time in his life…
Lorenzo De Luca realized he might have already lost the most important person in his world.
Forever.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD