40. Hope

“It turns out Marco isn't as bad as I imagined.” Dante made the comment while he was having dinner with his daughter. During their stay, Marco had only shown his good side in front of Dante and Caterina. Of course it wasn't for no reason. Marco did that because he wanted to trick them both. He did not want his true intentions to be smelled by them. For Marco, Dante and Caterina were assets to him.

“Yeah, I guess he's a little nice.” Caterina responded.

“What are your plans after this?”

Caterina fell silent after she heard her father's question. She thought for a moment to find an answer. This was because she did not have a well-thought-out plan. For now she just wanted her father to recover. For other things she could take care of later.

"Whatever your plans are, I just wish you happiness. I hope you forget your feelings for Leonardo as soon as possible. I'll agree to whoever you choose, as long as it's not Leo." Dante emphasized that he could not forgive all the wrongs Leonardo had done.

Caterina sighed harshly. The more she tried to forget Leonardo, the more she could not forget the man. Her hatred was so great that she never stopped thinking about Leonardo. The look on her face always changed every time she remembered Leonardo's face. His hands were clenched with a glare in his eyes. If hatred is in the form of a person, then Caterina is the form of that hatred.

The woman who was once crazy about Leonardo, doing all sorts of things to melt his heart, pursuing him relentlessly, now hated him to death.

Dante smiled at the expression on his daughter's face. He no longer had to worry about Caterina's love for Leonardo, because he already knew what the answer was after he saw the hatred on his daughter's face.

“Men like him don't deserve to be loved.” Dante emphasized.

“I wasted my youth chasing the love of a bastard.” Caterina said with annoyance.

"The most important thing is that you now realize. Youth is the place to make mistakes. I'm glad you've finally stopped obsessing over him."

Caterina sighed deeply; she smiled slightly after hearing her father's words.

“Kate, may I come in?” There was a call and also a knock coming from outside the room.

“Come in, the door is unlocked!” Caterina replied half shouting.

Marco opened the door and stepped inside. His heart started beating very fast as he looked at Caterina. The more time they spent together, the more he felt strange about his feelings.

“Oh, you guys are having dinner.” Marco said pleasantly.

“Come and eat if you're hungry.” Caterina offered.

Marco shook his head lightly.

“I'm still traumatized by the fish soup I tasted the other day.” Marco said with an expression that showed that he was truly traumatized.

Caterina laughed slightly. “I'm sorry, I really didn't know you couldn't taste spicy food.” She was amused that a mafia chief like Marco could not eat spicy food. He was fierce in front of his men, he was tough when he fought, he looked so stern and scary, but he lost to spicy food.

“You know what my weakness is.” Marco said in a joking tone.

“If you betray my trust, I know what to do.” Caterina joked back.

Dante looked at his daughter with a twinkle in his eye. After all this time, he could see his daughter laughing freely like now. With Leonardo, there was only pain and humiliation. While with Marco, she seemed happier and more content.

Dante smiled slightly. “Thank you for bringing back my daughter's smile.” He looked at Marco seriously. He didn't know what would have happened to them without Marco.

Marco seemed to blush; apparently, he also took Dante's words seriously. It seemed that Marco had really been betrayed by his own feelings.

“Dad, what are you talking about?” Caterina reprimanded her father. She felt that there was nothing wrong with her all this time. For as long as she could remember, she had been happy. Well, if she wasn't next to Leonardo.

Again, Caterina's smile suddenly disappeared after she recalled Leonardo's face.

"At first I didn't believe Kate's words that you said you wanted to help. But I was wrong; you were really sincere to Kate. I hope you can become good friends. If I die, I can die in peace, because Kate has a friend."

"Stop talking about things that won't happen. You will live a long life; we will be happy together forever." Caterina reprimanded her father; this time she gave a very firm reprimand.

“I hope you can be good friends.” Dante really hoped.

"Dad, we're just revenge partners. I can't be friends with Marco, because his sister doesn't like me. It's possible that Marco will kill me at his sister's request if our revenge mission is completed." Caterina reminded. She didn't want to get carried away by momentary pleasures. She must always remember that their main goal was revenge.

“Is that how you see me?” Marco asked seriously. He was somewhat disappointed when he heard Caterina's explanation about their relationship.

"Isn't that so? You deliberately brought me to this place because you wanted to avoid Rossie, right? You were worried that she would kill me if you took me back there." Caterina said as she was.

Marco was silent. He couldn't argue, because what Caterina said was true. He himself was now beginning to lose his way. Every day he had to convince himself of his original goal, because he was starting to lose the battle with his feelings. If he followed his heart, he would really fall in love.

"What happens in the future is not worth thinking about now. The most important thing now is to think about how to defeat Leonardo. What happens after that, we leave to fate. Perhaps Rossie can forget her grudge against you, so I won't have to make enemies with you after our goal is achieved." Marco looked wise this time.

“You're right.” Caterina agreed with his words.