Chapter 203 Exposed
"Lucia."
Lucia!
The Lucia she knew? Enrico's ex-wife?
Anna was shocked. What was she doing here, being harassed by these rough-looking men?
The big thug said, "Miss, now you know who she is, right?"
"She's the one who crossed Mr. Moretti and got kicked out by him. Recently, Mr. Moretti even said he never wants to see her again. In Crownhaven, she's a pariah, a target for everyone's abuse."
"And most importantly, she borrowed a hundred thousand dollars from us and is two weeks overdue. We're just asking her to drink with us, sleep with us—what's wrong with that? Not paying her debts is the real crime."
His words were menacing and domineering.
Anna was stunned again. Lucia, once the darling of the Hill family, now reduced to borrowing from loan sharks?
Before she could speak, Lucia looked at her strangely, then after a few seconds, let go of her hand:
"Miss, thank you for your kindness, but I won't trouble you further. I'll go with them."
She stepped forward, ready to leave.
Even now, she thought of not burdening others—a truly good person.
Anna's eyes narrowed, and she grabbed Lucia back, "What's Lucia to us? It's just a hundred thousand dollars, right? I'll pay it for her!"
"Give me your bank card number, and I'll transfer the money right away, or if you have a POS machine, I can swipe it now."
She took out the black card Giorgio had once given her.
This prestigious black card was owned by only a handful in Crownhaven, let alone the whole country.
Someone whispered, "Boss, I think she's Mr. Vittorio's wife, Mrs. Vittorio."
"Really?" The big man looked at her, his brow furrowing, "It seems so!"
"Oops! Mrs. Vittorio, the lighting here is dim, I didn't recognize you. Please don't be angry. Forget about the money, consider it a wedding gift for you and Mr. Vittorio. I hope you won't tell Mr. Vittorio about this and say a few good words for us later."
Mr. Vittorio's influence in Crownhaven was immense; to cross him was a fate worse than death.
Those associated with him could walk sideways with impunity.
At the moment, the men genuinely didn't want the hundred thousand, nor any trouble with Lucia—they just wanted to avoid offending Mrs. Vittorio.
Anna breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"Paying debts is a matter of principle. I'm not angry, but I hope you won't force any girls again. You wouldn't want to be known as rapists instead of legitimate debt collectors, would you?"
"Yes, Mrs. Vittorio, you're absolutely right."
"We'll definitely reform."
Anna glanced at them and commanded, "Give me the account number. Miss Hill's debt should be repaid, and I don't want to owe anyone anything."
Her tone was not one of negotiation, but of command.
She was concerned that without her, they might use the debt as an excuse to trouble Lucia again.
The men reluctantly gave their account number.
Anna didn't bother with them any longer, took Lucia by the hand, and left for the pharmacy outside the club, buying her water and sobering pills:
"Miss Hill, are you okay? Try some sobering pills, see if they help."
Lucia looked at her with eyes filled with gratitude and appraisal.
She took the pills and asked, "You're not Katherine, are you?"
Boom! It was as if a thunderbolt struck Anna's mind.
She looked at Lucia in panic and blurted out, "How do you know?"
Lucia smiled faintly and said:
"When you asked for my name, I and Katherine had met countless times before. And your tone is clearly different from Katherine's; I realized something was off."
That's how she was exposed!
Miss Hill was so observant, so clever!
Knowing explanations were futile at this moment, Anna glanced around, pulled Lucia to sit on a bench by the road, and explained:
"Miss Hill, it's a bit complicated, and I don't know how to explain it to you. Could you, for the sake of that hundred thousand dollars, pretend this never happened?"
Lucia didn't agree right away but sized her up. As Anna was fretting about what to do next, Lucia finally spoke:
"You don't seem like a bad person, in fact, you're more likable than Katherine. Don't worry, I won't tell."
Sighing, she added, "Besides, where in Crownhaven would I even have a place to say anything?"
Anna relaxed her grip, immediately holding her hand, "Actually, your situation isn't that difficult. If you just go back to Mr. Moretti, all your problems would be solved."
At the mention of 'Mr. Moretti,' any softness on Lucia's face vanished, replaced by coldness and desolation.
She said, "I will never go back to him in this lifetime, and besides, there's no place for me by his side."
"But he..."
"Miss, I don't want to hear another word about him. Thank you for tonight. Leave me your contact number, and I'll repay you when I have the money."
Lucia cut Anna off, stood up, and took out her phone.
Suddenly, they were strangers.
Anna thought, how hurt must one be to react so strongly to a name?
Thinking of something, she took Lucia's phone, opened Facebook, and entered her private account, whispering:
"This is my personal account. If you need help or someone to talk to in the future, you can contact me. But this method of contact and tonight's incident are secrets between the two of us, okay?"
"Okay," Lucia smiled faintly and hailed a taxi to leave.
Anna sighed. Such a seemingly nice girl, she hoped she would suffer less.
Turning to go back, she was startled to see a tall, dark, and cold man standing behind her!
He was dressed all in black, his handsome features filled with complex emotions. Looking down, he wore mismatched shoes—clearly, he hadn't noticed in his rush.
"Mr. Moretti?" Had he come rushing over from home, knowing Lucia was in danger, too preoccupied to even notice his shoes?
So, she had interfered with his chance to play the hero.
Embarrassed and apologetic, Anna said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd come. I didn't realize it was Lucia."
Enrico took his gaze off the departing taxi and looked at Anna with icy detachment:
"It's none of your concern."
Then he turned and left, without a trace of warmth.
This... was probably because of what Lucia had said.
Anna's headache intensified. By helping, she not only hindered their chance of contact, making the rift between them wider, but she also exposed herself.
Deeply complicit.
Her phone suddenly rang.
Anna took it out and saw it was Giorgio calling, quickly answering, "I'll be right back."
"No need, wait for me in the car."
In the car? No more mingling required?
That was a relief.
Anna headed straight for the parking garage.
Little Tony had been in the car the whole time, ready for any need. Seeing Anna approach, he hurriedly opened the car door and got out:
"Miss Stefanelli, why are you coming down alone? Where is Mr. Vittorio?"
"I just had to step out for a bit. He just called, said to wait for him in the garage, no need to go back up."
She spoke lightly, eager to end the evening fraught with danger.
But upon hearing this, Little Tony's face had been filled with worry:
"Oh no, this means Mr. Vittorio is..."
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