Chapter 4

The day before my flight was a Friday. Chloe sent a lengthy list of requirements for her gallery job in the group chat.

She wanted to land a top executive role at the Family's main art gallery, which required sorting out massive amounts of background check materials and recommendation letters.

Luca immediately tagged me in the group, telling me to draft the reference letters for her.

Cassian told me to pick up her custom-made dress on my way.

Roman simply dropped a screenshot of a reservation at the club's VIP pool room.

"Tomorrow night, usual time. It's also a welcome party for Chloe joining the gallery. Go early and get things set up. Consider it your farewell party from me."

Still, not a single one of them remembered to ask which day my flight to Europe was scheduled.

Nor did anyone notice that my Family security clearance had been fully transferred, and all my personal accounts had been switched to local Sicilian bank cards.

I ignored those demanding messages.

I simply went to the club alone.

The club manager looked extremely shocked when he saw the black card I handed him.

"You five have used this VIP suite for over six years. Are you sure you want to cancel the membership?"

"Yes."

"There's still a large balance on the card. Do you want to transfer it to Mr. Roman's account?"

"No need. Just clear it to zero."

I canceled the reservation for our regular room and took everything out of the storage locker.

A few thick pool score sheets, the custom pool balls engraved with our initials that we had bought together years ago, and my old pool cue that I was used to.

Roman thought the cue was too old and told me to get a new one.

I never replaced it.

I put that old pool cue, the custom pool balls, and the score sheets into a paper bag and asked the staff to leave them for the guys.

As I was packing up, the manager asked casually.

"Are you going on a long trip, Miss Elena?"

"I'm taking a new position in Sicily."

"Will you be transferring back?"

I paused my movements and thought for a moment.

"Probably not."

This was the first person in two weeks to seriously ask about my future plans.

Not my own brother, not my childhood friend, nor the boyfriend I had been with for years and was about to marry.

Just a club manager I saw occasionally once a week.

Towards evening, Roman finally showed up at my apartment.

He leaned against the doorframe and casually tossed a box of pills into my arms.

"Chloe saw you wheezing pretty badly the other night, so she kept pestering me to buy this for you on the way."

I glanced down at the packaging.

The box clearly listed ingredients for treating skin allergies.

"You bought the wrong one."

Roman looked annoyed. "I couldn't have. It's the exact same packaging you always take."

He wasn't even interested in taking a second look, nor did he care what actual medication I took daily.

I handed the box back to him.

"Did you come over today just to deliver this?"

"Tomorrow night is Chloe's welcome party for the gallery. We rented out the place to celebrate. Come along, and I'll make up for your farewell dinner. You know the crowd, so get there early and help set things up."

All for Chloe again.

Back when I secured control of the Sicilian territory, they simply brushed me off with a rigged game of pool.

Now that Chloe was merely taking a fake position at an idle Family gallery, they were renting out an entire venue to celebrate.

"I don't have time to go."

Roman's eyes swept across the living room, finally noticing that the apartment looked unusually empty.

"Where is all your stuff?"

"Shipped off."

"Shipped where?"

Before I could answer, Chloe's phone call came through.

She cried through the line, saying her car had broken down downtown and there were thugs around making her terrified.

Roman instantly turned and headed downstairs.

Right before stepping into the elevator, he threw a sentence at me without looking back, "Don't go anywhere. Wait for me to come back and we'll talk."

I stared coldly as the elevator doors closed.

There would be no future for us anymore.

At five o'clock the next morning, I headed to the international airport alone with a light suitcase.

While I was checking in, Luca was still sending multiple voice notes in the group, urging me to print out the reference letters.

Cassian was also demanding to know why the dress shop owner said no one came to pick up the clothes.

Roman dropped one sentence into the chat: "Duke is fine now, stop throwing a fit."

I calmly pressed the power button, snapped the old SIM card in half, turned around, and boarded my international flight.

On Saturday night, the four of them arrived at the club right on time.

The usual pool table by the window was already occupied by other guests.

The manager handed the heavy paper bag I left behind to Luca.

Inside was only a beat-up pool cue, a returned set of custom balls, a few score sheets, and a final receipt for closing the account.

Only then did Roman sense something was wrong and hurriedly tried to call me.

But all he heard from the phone was an unfamiliar automated voice.

That was when the manager finally spoke up.

"Gentlemen, don't waste your energy. Miss Elena already left for her new role at the Sicilian estate on a flight this morning."

"Didn't she tell you?"

At the exact same time, my flight landed at the airport in Sicily.

The moment I inserted my new SIM card and connected to the network, hundreds of missed calls and unread messages flooded my screen.（卡点位）