Chapter 231

Chapter 231

Dante's pupils dilated in shock.

When he came to his senses, he strode out of the room, but his mind was in complete chaos.

She knew? She actually... knew everything?

He desperately wanted to go to the woman immediately, but after stepping out the door, he suddenly stopped, his face showing deep exhaustion.

His fingers trembled as he took out a cigarette and lit it, using nicotine to impact his thoughts.

By the time Angelo came over, cigarette butts were scattered all over the ground.

"Sir." Angelo was stunned. "The painkiller injection has been given. Elena has completely calmed down. Do you want to go see her?"

Dante nodded, dropped his cigarette butt, and waited outside for a while until the smell of smoke had completely dissipated before pushing the door open.

Unlike the cold outside, the room had heating on and was obviously much warmer.

Elena sat alone on the bed with an IV drip, her head turned toward the window, watching the chattering sparrows outside and the bit of warm winter sunlight.

Her expression was very calm, with a sense of tranquility. Only when she heard footsteps did she react, looking at Dante woodenly.

Dante's heart ached. He urgently wanted to embrace the woman, but he knew he would definitely be rejected. He took a breath and walked forward, sitting on the chair beside her.

"There are forty minutes left before the court session." He made small talk. "Sofia... will get the punishment she deserves."

Elena still didn't react. Dante looked at the IV drip - the speed was too fast. He was afraid Elena couldn't adapt, so he reached up to slow it down, but found that the IV tube was cold, without anything warm.

He frowned and moved forward to warm Elena's hand, but she sensed it early and pulled her hand away to avoid him.

Dante missed and his hand stiffly fell on the IV tube, trying to warm it up.

Elena lowered her eyes and asked: "You knew from four years ago that Sofia was the murderer who killed my father, didn't you?"

Dante froze. He looked up at Elena. She was so calm, but Dante couldn't remain composed. He felt as if ice-cold water had been poured into his chest cavity, making him unable to breathe and trembling all over.

"Elena—"

"Slap!"

A slap came at him, hitting his face and cutting off his words. Elena's eyes were red as she trembled, lunging forward to grab his shoulders, biting and hitting him.

"Why! Why!" Elena was in agony, crying loudly.

Why did this man always deal her heavy blows? She said she would forgive him, that they could both be well and give each other peace, but he cruelly threw the facts in her face, telling her she was delusional.

How could there be such a hateful man in the world!

"Elena, Elena." Dante let her beat and scold him, but when he saw blood backing up in the needle, he couldn't help but quickly grab Elena's hands, controlling them to prevent more blood from flowing into the tube.

Elena breathed heavily. Dante held her tightly, his heart aching so much he felt like dying.

He leaned against the woman's neck and shoulder, his voice hoarse: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Besides sorry, he no longer knew what else he could express. Countless times of torment and pain, waking up from nightmares and memories, he almost had to sleep in Elena's former bed, smelling the scent she left behind, just to barely suppress the dull pain in his chest.

He was full of regret, but there was no way back.

"I'll just consider myself crazy. I'm sorry."

Elena, filled with towering rage, struggled unsuccessfully and bit down on Dante's shoulder, tasting blood and the saltiness of tears as she convulsed in despair and pain.

Dante endured the pain, his handsome face showing heartache. He hoped Elena could calm down, and she did - Elena eventually calmed down, sobbing quietly with tears streaming down.

"Let go of me." From hysteria to calm, she seemed to have become a soulless shell again.

Dante felt afraid and grabbed her hand to hit himself: "Elena, you can hit me however you want, just don't keep things bottled up inside, okay?"

She just looked at him, tears flowing out bit by bit, but pulled her hand back even harder: "If hitting you could bring my father back to life, I would want to kill you."

"But it can't, so my venting is useless. What Sofia said is right - if I hadn't brought the wolf into my home, how would things have ended up like this? So in the end, it's all my fault."

"If I hadn't been foolish enough to like you and indulge you in bringing Sofia into the Rossi family, none of this... none of this would have happened."

Dante's eyes were red from exhaustion. Veins bulged on his forehead as he gripped Elena's hand tightly: "Elena..."

"Mr. Dante, please leave." Elena breathed heavily. She was too thin - each strong breath made her collarbone's angles and curves prominent. She turned her head away, not wanting to look at him, not even for a second.

"Elena—"

"Get out." Elena waited a second, then threw off the covers. "Fine, if you won't leave, I'll leave."

She was about to pull out the IV needle. To avoid him, she had reached the point of desperation. Dante quickly pressed her down: "I'll go! I'll go."

Despite his reluctance, Dante had to leave. After closing the door behind him, Lucas was standing by the door, looking at Dante with indescribably complex eyes.

"Dante, you really screwed up this time."

Dante didn't respond. He leaned his head against the wall, wanting to smoke, but his cigarette pack was empty. He repeatedly crumpled the pack, his mood indescribably complex and heavy.

Lucas continued: "No matter what, you shouldn't have covered for a murderer, especially when you misjudged Elena. Have you thought about how she spent those three years in detention?"

Dante's grip on the cigarette pack tightened as he struggled to exhale the stale air.

How could he not have thought about it? He thought about it so much he could barely sleep at night.

"I didn't cover for her."

"Didn't cover for her?" Lucas seemed to find it amusing. "If you didn't cover for Sofia's fingerprints being on the medicine bottle, why did you hide and eliminate that evidence?"

Dante's throat felt sour, blocked and swollen.

Why did he hide and eliminate it? Of course it was because Sofia cried and told him she had accidentally taken that medicine bottle, that it had her fingerprints on it, and that the police would definitely investigate thoroughly. At the time, he trusted her too much, plus he was convinced that Roswell was a rapist...

If he had known then that Elena was the real culprit who killed Roswell...

But it was too late to say anything now.

Lucas waited a long time for a response. Frustrated, he ran his hand through his hair and finally said: "I take back what I said before about you still having a chance. Let her go, consider it letting yourself go too. The fact that she's willing to live shows she has enough strong willpower. Don't push her anymore. Going separate ways now - there's still time."