Nothing But This

Everyone knew that the mafia family's second son, Luca Romano, loved Serena Vitale to his very bones.

Five years ago, Serena slept with the Romano family's eldest son, Adriano Romano. Scandalous photos spread far and wide, yet Luca quietly had everything suppressed.

Four years ago, Serena gave birth to Adriano's child, and Luca raised the boy as his own. He could forgive Serena for anything she did as long as she loved him.

Word across the underworld ran that Serena stayed by Luca’s side not out of affection, but to grab at the mafia's power and influence.

Luca did not care. He simply devoted himself wholeheartedly to caring for Serena and the child well because they were each other's first love. They had grown up together in the orphanage.

Serena was an orphan, and Luca was the illegitimate son who the Romano family abandoned. He clawed his way up from nothing. Only he knew the bitterness of that climb.

In college, Luca started his own business and achieved some modest success. That was when his half-brother, Adriano Romano, found Serena and demanded she become his woman.

Serena refused, but Adriano threatened her with Luca's life. At first, she did not believe him. However, she then watched Luca's business collapse around him as deals fell through one after another until a partner's breach of contract nearly killed him.

She could not take that gamble, so she agreed. To make Luca give up on her, Serena used his illegitimate birth to humiliate him the night they broke up. She would never forget the look on his face that day. His eyes had already gone red, but he stubbornly refused to let the tears fall.

He only asked in a hoarse voice, "Serena, are you serious?"

She nodded.

With that answer, Luca turned and left. His back stayed straight, but he stumbled at the corner.

That day, Serena became Adriano's caged canary. She was imprisoned in a villa, humiliated in every degrading way imaginable, and filmed in compromising videos that were pushed to the top of trending searches.

Whenever the pain became unbearable, she would bite down on the corner of her pillow. Her tears soaked through it over and over again. She did not dare scream. The more she screamed, the more it excited Adriano.

All she could do was grip Luca's photograph tight enough to wrinkle the edges, her knuckles bone-white. Every time she could not bear it any longer, she would stare at the person in the photo. She looked at his eyes and at the way he smiled.

She thought that Luca had to be working hard. Luca would come to save her one day.

Over time, she started hallucinating. Hence, when Luca actually came to rescue her that day, she froze in place. She did not dare move forward.

She was afraid that if she moved, the hallucination would disappear, so she stayed frozen until Luca rushed over and pulled her into a crushing embrace. His arms locked around her so tightly that she could barely breathe.

Both his body and voice trembled. "Serena, I'm late. I'm so sorry."

The burning warmth of his embrace told her it was not a dream. Her Luca had really come to save her. He had become the Don. He wielded absolute power now, and he had come to save her.

However, Serena developed severe depression after this experience. She could not sleep through the night. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see those images from her imprisonment.

She was afraid of the dark and of being alone. Luca stayed with her 24 hours a day, holding her as he repeated over and over in her ear, "Serena, it's all over. I'm here. I'm always here."

It took her two months to slowly recover. They eventually went back to how things were before, finding their rhythm again. Then, one day, Serena discovered she was pregnant.

It was Adriano's child.

She planned to terminate the pregnancy, but the doctor told her that her uterus was severely damaged. If she went through with it, she would never be able to conceive again in this lifetime.

When she left the hospital, Serena sat on the steps for a long time. When Luca found her, she just sat there blankly, her eyes hollow. She told Luca what the doctor said. She finished it with, "Luca, let's break up."