CHAPTER 3

THE END

Aurora stood motionless in front of her mother's grave while a funeral service took place in the distance. Tears filled her eyes, blurring her mother's name on the headstone, but she held back her emotions. She had come to ask her mother for strength, not to break down like a helpless girl.

"I've hired a lawyer. Your dream will come true, Mom," she said firmly. The betrayal from her fiancé and family had shattered her heart, but it had not broken her spirit. Aurora was ready to fight every single one of them. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect the last thing you left for me, but I'm going to fight back now."

She took a deep breath as a cold breeze brushed against her skin. "I love you," she whispered, bending down to place flowers on her mother's grave.

She suddenly froze when she heard a low groan followed by heavy, ragged breathing behind the headstone. Aurora frowned. She tightened her grip on the stems and cautiously stepped around the marble monument to look.

A badly wounded man was leaning against the back of her mother's headstone. His face was covered in blood, his clothes were torn, and blood kept flowing from a deep wound on his right thigh. He looked as though he had barely survived a deadly assault.

The man slowly turned his head toward her, his piercing blue eyes locking onto hers. He stared without saying a word. Without hesitating, she knelt beside him and placed a hand on his uninjured arm.

"Sir, can you hear me?" she asked softly.

The injured man gave a subtle nod.

Aurora examined his injuries carefully. "Let me call an ambulance for you," she said, reaching for the phone in her clutch.

"Don't," he rasped in a strained voice, catching her wrist.

Before she could ask why, heavy footsteps echoed nearby. The stranger’s posture instantly went rigid. He looked up, let out a slow breath, and met Aurora's eyes once more, shaking his head in a silent plea.

Sensing the danger, Aurora watched as the man pulled himself deeper into the shadows behind the headstone. Moments later, five men dressed in tailored suits stepped into the clearing.

"Hello. Did you see a wounded man limping through here?" the leader asked, staring directly at her.

Aurora looked at them calmly. Though they were dressed neatly, an air of violence hung over them. Her gaze shifted to the print of a concealed firearm beneath one man's jacket, and her throat went dry.

"No, I haven't seen anyone like that," she replied without flinching.

The leader stepped closer. "You had better not lie to us. You won't like the consequences."

"Why would I lie?" she shot back evenly, gesturing toward the mourners gathered further down the path. "I came here to visit my mother's grave, not to watch for injured men."

"Boss, he might be hiding among the crowd near the exit," another man interrupted.

The leader stared at Aurora for another second before nodding to his men. They turned and hurried toward the cemetery gates.

Aurora waited until they were completely out of sight before turning back to the gravestone. The blue-eyed stranger was watching her intently.

"You need medical attention right away," she said, noticing the blood pooling around his arm. She unwrapped the scarf from her neck and bound it tightly around his wound to slow the bleeding. "They're gone. Let me call an ambulance now."

"No ambulance. It's not safe for me," he said, fighting for air. Survival instinct alone was keeping him conscious. "Do you have a car, miss?"

Aurora nodded. "Yes."

"I need to get somewhere safe. Can you take me there?"

Aurora hesitated. She had an appointment with her attorney in an hour, but she knew this man would bleed to death if she left him here. "Where do you need to go?"

"Saint Lorenzo Road."

Saint Lorenzo Road was a thirty-minute drive. She could drop him off and still make her legal consultation on time. "Let me help you up."

She pulled his uninjured arm over her shoulder and helped him stand. Scanning the quiet cemetery pathways, she guided him toward her car parked near the side gate, helping him into the passenger seat before sliding behind the wheel and driving away.

As she drove, Aurora stole glances at him. Despite his critical condition, the man radiated authority. His posture, his intense blue eyes, and his commanding presence made it clear he was someone powerful. She wondered briefly what kind of world he operated in, and whether helping him was a mistake.

His phone suddenly rang. He let out a tired sigh before answering.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," he said crisply, hanging up without a greeting.

Aurora glanced at him again. "Who were those people chasing you? Who are you, sir?"

The man focused on his phone, typing brief instructions to his subordinates. "The less you know, the better it will be for you, miss," he replied coldly.

"You're right," Aurora said, adopting his exact tone. "The less we know about each other, the better."

A faint smirk touched the corner of his lips. "Smart girl."

As she turned left onto Saint Lorenzo Road, Aurora slammed on the brakes. Around twenty black SUVs were parked in a neat line along the curb, flanked by dozens of men in dark suits. Every single one of them was armed.

Two men approached her vehicle with their hands on their holsters, making her heart leap into her throat. Beside her, the stranger rolled down the window and gave his men a subtle hand gesture. They immediately backed away and bowed their heads.

He turned to Aurora. "Forget this incident ever happened, miss. And pray our paths never cross again."

He opened the door and stepped out. One of his men stepped forward to support him, but he raised a hand, refusing the aid.

The man was Alessandro De Luca, head of La Dinastia in Southern Italy. Showing weakness in front of his men was out of the question.

Aurora's breath caught as another man handed Alessandro a firearm, which he caught effortlessly with his uninjured hand. Fear surged through her. She had just saved a dangerous crime boss.

Without waiting another second, Aurora shifted into gear and hit the gas, leaving the fleet of black cars behind. She checked her rearview mirror continuously until the road was entirely empty, finally letting out a breath of relief.

She retrieved her phone to alert her lawyer that she was running late when blinding high beams suddenly flashed in her eyes.

Aurora squinted against the light. A heavy transport truck was swerving dangerously across the center line, heading straight for her.

Panic seized her. She jerked the steering wheel toward the shoulder, but the truck swerved in the exact same direction. Someone was intentionally trying to ram her off the road.

Before she could slam on the brakes, the truck collided head-on with her sedan.

The violent impact flipped the vehicle. Metal crumpled and glass shattered as the car skidded upside down across the pavement before coming to a complete stop in the quiet darkness.

Silence fell over the road.

Aurora let out an agonized gasp. Blood trickled down her forehead, blinding her left eye. Every inch of her body burned with unbearable pain, but her hands instinctively moved to cover her stomach.

My baby...

Through her fading sight, she caught the silhouette of a man stepping out of the truck and walking slowly toward the wreckage.

"The job is done, Mr. Moretti. She's dead," a voice reported outside the broken window.

As darkness pulled her under, Aurora made a silent promise to herself: if she survived this night, she would make every single person involved pay for what they had done.