Mistakenly Yours: Contract Marriage With The Billionaire-Chapter 133: An old acquaintance

"Because you were supposed to marry me. Luca made the move and threw a deal at you. I don’t think he loves you. Love doesn’t exist in his dictionary. He doesn’t even love his parents, then how is he going to love you," Mathias said bitterly, his words aimed directly at Sara’s deepest insecurities.

"How do you know if he loves his parents or not; if he loves me or not," Sara questioned, standing up to him. "Let me make something perfectly clear to you. Even if Luca hadn’t offered to buy Falcone Industries, I would have never agreed to marry you. I don’t like men like you, who pester and blackmail women."

She took a decisive step closer to Luca, gripping his arm tightly, her gaze unwavering as she delivered the final blow to Mathias’s ego. "I have a history with Luca. I loved him since our school days. Maybe you never saw the real Luca, that’s why you dared to say such hurtful words about him. But I have seen the real him, and I choose him."

"Let’s go upstairs to our room," Sara told Luca in a soft tone, her eyes urging him to retreat from the conflict.

She nudged him toward the stairs, but before walking away, Sara turned back to Mathias. "Tell Frida she can’t touch me. And don’t threaten me like this ever again. Be a nice person."

Mathias furrowed his brows together with rage and frustration evident in his expression, and watched them walk away and ascend the stairs.

He, too, left the house.

"I swear I was going to kill him," Luca shouted in fury. "How dare he even suggest you to divorce him and go to him?"

"Calm down," Sara said as she began layering the duvet. "I fell asleep and when I woke up, I didn’t find you in the room."

"Aren’t you angry? How can you not be angry?" Luca questioned.

"Why would I be angry over something so petty?" Sara chuckled, turning to him. "What matters is that we love each other. Luca, you won’t take his words to your heart. I know how much you love your parents, me and the people dear to you. Okay?"

"Hmm." Luca nodded and hugged her. "Thank you for standing for me."

"There’s nothing to thank about it," Sara murmured. "Did you inform your parents that we won’t be coming home tonight?"

"Yep," Luca replied, pulling away.

"I’ll freshen up then," Sara stated. "Then, we will have our supper together." She walked past him and went to the washroom.

Luca sat on the chair, taking out his phone. Remo hadn’t contacted him so far, which meant only one thing. He was unable to find out Martin’s whereabouts. Luca scrolled through his contacts and stopped at a name, an old acquaintance who was from Italy.

Lucius De Salvo, the man whom entire Italy knew.

~~~~~

Mathias arrived at his apartment. He removed his blazer, then his tie, before heading straight to the cellar. Taking out a deep red wine bottle, he filled a glass for himself and finished the whole thing in one long swallow.

Plonking the empty glass on the table, Mathias murmured to himself, mimicking Sara’s parting words. "Be a nice man! Fuck it. I have been a nice man, but my profession doesn’t allow it. And nice men don’t get the women they want."

He took out the phone from his pocket, his expression still dark with frustration, and typed a short, spiteful message to Frida.

"I’m not interested in dating you." He typed the message and sent it instantly, cutting off that avenue of manipulation before she could exploit it.

He grabbed the wine bottle and went to the dimly lit living room. Drinking directly from the bottle, he looked outside the floor-to-ceiling window, staring blankly at the city lights.

Suddenly, his phone rang loudly, and he saw it was a call from his mother.

He cut the call, not wanting to talk to her. But the phone buzzed again almost instantly. This time, he answered, put it on speaker, and lowered it onto the sofa, showing his disdain for the conversation.

"Why won’t you date Frida?" asked his mother, her voice tinny through the speaker.

"I’m not interested in her," Mathias snapped. "And have you forgotten, Mom, what she did to her own family and sister? Just don’t bother me with her name." He then cut to the chase, revealing his assessment. "I won’t marry her since she has nothing left to give me. Her mother is getting divorced, so we won’t be benefited from the Falcones anymore. I hope you are getting what I mean." He clearly stated his motives behind an arranged marriage setup.

"I will marry only an heiress, not lesser than that, who can help me in my business. It will be best if she’s from the mafia family," he asserted, hanging up on his mother abruptly without waiting for a reply.

Mathias switched off the phone and drank again from the half-empty bottle. When it became half-empty, he lowered it onto the table and leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling for a long moment.

"A nice man," he murmured, the phrase lingering. He recalled those same words were told to him by only one person other than Sara– his maternal grandfather and Luca’s grandfather.

He remembered visiting him when he was seven on the summer vacation. Luca and he both went fishing with their grandfather that day.

Mathias could almost hear the old man’s booming, gentle voice, "When you both grow up, you should become nice men, those who will help the others."

Mathias chuckled, the sound hollow in the large room, and mumbled, "Grandpa was a mafia himself, yet he said such words. Did Luca become a nice man? Why did Sara say those words about Luca? I thought she would have seen his real face by now. He truly never respected his parents, let alone love them. Did I misunderstand my cousin all this time?"