LOGINA few days after she met Andrea, Milan stumbled upon Diego. It happened on a rainy day. On an ordinary street in New York. It was the kind of coincidence that felt almost cruel. Five years had passed since she last saw him. Back then, he had come to find her because Antonio had ordered her death. But he became her ally and assisted her as much as he could.“Diego?” she said, stopping mid-step, her umbrella hanging over her head.He turned slowly, recognition flickering across his face. “Milan.”For a moment neither of them moved.Milan’s expression hardened when she thought back to Vito’s accusation. She didn't mind the pouring rain. Or the fact that Diego seemed to be rushing somewhere. She started to question him. “Did you have a hand in Raphael’s death? Are you the one who kidnapped Aurora?”“I don’t know what you are talking about.” He said with a confused frown.
Milan returned to law school months later with dark circles beneath her eyes and a diaper bag permanently attached to her shoulder.Some days she attended lectures after surviving only two hours of sleep. Other days she studied while rocking her daughter against her chest.Her father and older brother made it easier to attend lectures, seminars, and social gatherings while parenting as a single mother.Her father babysat while Roma handled midnight feedings whenever Milan had exams the next morning. He was unmarried, so he practically became a second parent to his niece. His girlfriend complained constantly that he loved the newborn more than her.“You can leave me if you want. She won't ever leave me,” he argued once while carrying little Roma around the apartment. “My family is my everything. Understood?”The way he drew the line made his girlfriend, Iris, understand his love and bond with his family. Gradually, she
Milan noticed the stares first. After she witnessed how conversations stopped when she walked into the classroom and how her classmates exchanged looks they thought she could not see.Soon, the rumors came.Some claimed she had dropped out because of an affair with a married man. Others insisted she had secretly married into a dangerous family overseas.A few people cruelly speculated she had been abandoned after getting knocked over.Milan heard all of it. Every word. But she ignored them. For her baby’s sake.One afternoon she entered the library and found two girls from her study group speaking in hushed voices.“She disappeared for two years and suddenly came back pregnant,” one of them whispered. “You really think that’s normal?”The other laughed softly. “I heard the father’s some criminal in Italy.”Milan stopped walking.Shame burned
By the time Milan arrived in New York, exhaustion weighed heavily on her body. She was too tired to carry her luggage, but she still dragged them with her through the crowded airport terminal.Every step felt heavier than the last, as though the past few days had drained every ounce of strength she had left.When she stepped into Arrivals, she froze.Her father stood there.Beside him was her older brother.For a second, Milan thought she was imagining them. Her father looked older than she remembered, silver now threaded through his dark hair, his expression full of emotions as his eyes settled on her. Her brother stood with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, watching her with a full smile on his face. He also looked a bit older.The noise of the airport faded around her.“My beautiful, courageous daughter,” her father said with a proud smile, and that was all it took.The exhau
The operation had been immaculate. Thorough.If there were no locator inside Aurora, he would never have traced her. That reality was hard to stomach.“You should’ve ended her when you killed Giovanni,” Vincenzo said frankly. “It didn't matter who the hell she was nine years ago.”Vito cut the call instantly, tossing the phone violently onto the passenger seat. His fist slammed against the steering wheel a second later. Once. Then again.Raw anger mixed with guilt tore through him.He couldn't stop blaming himself for everything that happened because deep down, part of him knew he had ignored every warning sign the moment Milan stepped back into his life.By the time Vito reached the estate, police vehicles and reporters already lined the entrance. Blue and red lights flashed against the gates. Media people clashed against each other to get a picture of him.They didn't even care what he was going through
Vito forced himself to stay focused.Whoever had taken Aurora was still out there.His violet eyes swept across the cottage with cold precision, searching automatically for anything useful like footprints, weapons, discarded items, and anything carelessly left behind.At first, he only saw dust and decay, but then his gaze caught an old newspaper that lay crumpled near the fireplace.He reached for it slowly.The front page showed a photograph of him, Luca, and Aurora from years ago.Luca stood between them in the picture, smiling at something outside the camera frame while a much younger Aurora sat on his shoulders laughing.The sight made him grit his teeth.This picture was taken a few days before the fire that nearly killed the little girl.His face hardened the moment the memory slipped in.Beside the newspaper sat a gray wig. Short. Masculine. Cheap synthetic strands.Vito blinked, t
The tension in the club was as thick as the cigar smoke clinging to the ceiling. “Is he really that terrifying, or is it that you can't stand the thought of him not coming for you?” The question he asked Milan that day still echoed in his mind. Mateo barked out a furious chortle. He was th
Vito leaned his forehead against the cool mahogany of the door, his eyes closing in a rare moment of defeat. He could break the door down in seconds. He was the Capo, and nothing in this house happened without his consent but he reminded himself that forcing his way in would only push her furthe
The apron felt like a leash. Vito wanted to shred it, follow them into the night, and show Mateo exactly how violent his claim over Milan truly was. The sharp vibration of his phone against the mahogany table shattered the moment of silence. He instinctively looked down, expecting a routine repor
The evening of the date arrived, and Milan felt as though her nerves were vibrating beneath her skin. She was dressed in a backless, emerald-green dress, which was from the gifts Vito bought for her on the first night she was here. When she added the diamond necklace, its weight felt he







