Chapter 7

Tommaso's voice carried a tremor, his eyes flickering with anger I couldn't understand. I nodded faintly, smoothing the creases on the comforter.

"Va bene. One last week. I won't mention him again."

Tommaso froze, his brows knitting together. "What do you mean, one last week?"

I didn't answer. I simply got up and walked to the vanity, beginning to remove my earrings. For five years, I'd prepared myself in front of this mirror every day, playing the perfect Signora of the Volpe family. But in one more week, all of this would be over.

"Alessia, what did you just say?" he pressed, a note of unease creeping into his voice. Just then, hurried footsteps and crying came from outside the door.

"Tommaso!" Gelsomina burst into the room, her eyes brimming with tears. "You're punishing me because of that woman?"

Her voice was especially jarring in the quiet night.

"I'm your sister! You've never treated me like this before, and certainly not for some outsider!" she shrieked hysterically.

Tommaso wearily rubbed his temples. He looked older than usual. "Gelsomina, you almost killed her."

"So what?" Gelsomina's voice grew even sharper. "She shouldn't even exist! This house only needs the two of us!"

I watched this familiar scene quietly, just as I had countless times over the past five years. Tommaso would always choose to soothe her, then apologize to me. The cycle repeated endlessly.

Sure enough, he walked toward Gelsomina, his voice softening. "Come now, don't cry. I'm not punishing you..."

"I don't want to hear excuses!" Gelsomina cut him off. "You're taking her side!"

Tommaso sighed helplessly and followed her out of the room. "Gelsomina, wait. Let's talk about this."

Their voices faded down the hallway, leaving me alone in the empty room. I continued packing my last few personal belongings: only Marco's ring and a few photographs.

Just then, the sharp screech of brakes came from outside the estate. Then came a volley of gunfire.

I set down the jewelry box and hurried to the window. A rival family had surrounded the estate over a cargo dispute. Muzzle flashes lit up the night, but what happened next caught everyone off guard.

Gelsomina had somehow gotten hold of a red motorcycle and was preparing to burst through the estate gates. She revved the engine and charged straight toward the armed men.

The gunfire intensified. I watched her body jerk violently on the motorcycle before she crashed heavily into a pool of blood.

"Gelsomina!" Tommaso let out a heart-wrenching roar. Completely ignoring the enemies still shooting, he rushed out recklessly.

Bullets whizzed past him, but he paid them no mind. He simply scooped Gelsomina up from the blood.

"Get a doctor! Get a doctor now!" He carried her back toward the estate, his voice filled with a desperation I'd never heard before.

I immediately called Dr. Mancini. "Doctor, get to the estate immediately! Gelsomina's been shot!"

Tommaso laid Gelsomina on the living room couch. Her face was deathly pale, her breathing so faint it was barely audible.

"Tommaso..." she called out to him weakly. "It hurts... it hurts so much..."

"You'll be fine. Dr. Mancini's on his way," Tommaso said, gripping her hand tightly. "You'll be okay. I promise."

After an emergency examination, Dr. Mancini's expression turned grave as he uttered quickly, "She's lost too much blood. At least 1,500 milliliters."

"She has Rh-negative blood. We need to find a matching donor immediately."

"Use mine!" Tommaso didn't hesitate, rolling up his sleeve. "I'm Rh-negative too."

"Don Volpe, your blood type matches, but she's lost so much blood. She needs a massive transfusion." Dr. Mancini looked at him with concern. "This will put a severe strain on your body."

"I don't care!" Tommaso cut him off, his tone absolute. "Save her! Use all my blood if you have to!"

The doctor began preparing the transfusion equipment. Tommaso lay on a makeshift bed beside Gelsomina. An hour passed, and Gelsomina's color improved slightly, but Tommaso had grown so weak he could barely speak.

"Don Volpe, you've already given a lot of blood." Dr. Mancini tried to dissuade him. "If this continues, you'll go into shock."

"Keep going!" Tommaso said weakly but firmly. "She's not completely stable yet."

Another half an hour passed, and Tommaso's body began trembling uncontrollably. His lips had turned white, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Tommaso, that's enough." I walked over to him. "You'll die."

He looked at me, equal parts of pain and pleading swirling in his eyes. "I can't lose her," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "She's my only family..."

Dr. Mancini checked Gelsomina's vital signs again and finally breathed a sigh of relief. "She's stable for now, but Don Volpe, you must stop the transfusion immediately."

Tommaso wanted to insist, but his body had reached its limit. His voice was troubled with worry as he murmured, "Gelsomina…"

Finally, his body swayed. He couldn't hold on any longer and lost consciousness.