Page 219 of The Devil's Fire

“I’m sorry, Michael, but I don’t. I-I love him.” Even if he didn’t love me anymore, my heart would still belong to him.

I put a hand on his chest and slightly pushed him away from me while I took a couple of steps back.

“You can’t be serious. He’s not good for you, Thaia!” Michael’s eyes turned angry as he glared at me, a deep frown etched on his face. “He can’t make you happy. I can!” His words had me completely shocked.

“You don’t know anything about him or our relationship.” I frowned, anger bubbling up at his words.

“I know what type of man he is. I’ve been around him longer than you have. Trust me when I say that he’s just toying around with you.” He spat out his words, a venomous tone in his voice.

“Listen to yourself! You sound completely insane.” My voice rose as I shot him an angry look.

“It’s the truth.” He insisted, his anger matching mine.

“Stop it!” I yelled at him. He looked taken aback by my sudden outburst. “You don’t know him the way I do. I’m sorry Michael, but I don’t feel the same way about you. I love you, but not the way you want me to. I’m in love with him.”

“All that time we’ve spent together when you came for the engagement party, all the flirting between us. Are you saying you never once felt anything for me? Because I don’t believe it.”

“I will not lie and say I didn’t have a crush on you before, because I did. But he made me happy, whether you want to believe it or not.” I said to him softly, watching the play of emotions on his face. His brows were still furrowed.

“You’re my best friend. I would hate to lose you over something like this, and you deserve someone who loves you, too. And it isn’t me. Not the way you want me to.”

“When did it happen?” He masked his emotion with a blank expression.

“It doesn’t matter when it happened.” I sighed.

“It does when we suddenly found out that you were pregnant with his child. So, when the fuck did it happen?”

I stopped breathing, my heart clenching at his words while he looked at me with cold eyes.

“You carried his child. How could you be that reckless with someone you barely know?!” Michael erupted.

I slapped him hard across the cheek.

“How could you, Michael?” My voice was shaking in anger, and unshed tears burned in my eyes. I turned around and walked away from him as fast as I could.

“Shit! Althaia, stop! I didn’t mean it like that.” He ran after me and grabbed my arm, but I ripped it out of his grasp and pushed him away from me.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I screamed at him, a tear falling down my cheek. The anger and hurt were etched on my face as I struggled to contain my emotions. “After I’ve lost… how could you say that to me?” A sob escaped my lips, my shoulders shaking with the weight of grief.

Michael looked at me with regret written all over his face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t -”

“Leave.” I told him abruptly, not wanting him to be here anymore.

“Thaia, please…” He tried to reach out to me, but I moved away.

“Leave, Michael.” I said again. He ran a hand through his hair, and I was trying my best not to break down entirely.

“I’m sorry.” He gave a defeated look and went around the beach house to get to his car. I stood still, not going inside until I heard him drive away. I put a hand down to my stomach, feeling the loss even more now.

I wiped away my tears as I went inside. After a moment, I heard a knock on the door, and rage filled my body as I made my way to the front door, ready to scream at Michael for all the things he had said.

I swung the door open, about to say something, but clamped my mouth shut.

“Arianna?” I said in surprise. She raised a brow at me and walked past me into the house. I shut the door and followed her into the living room. “Is there something wrong?” I asked anxiously, thinking something had happened to Damiano.

“Yes, there is.” She turned around to look at me, and I felt my heart drop.

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