Chapter 4

Early the next morning, Leonardo rushed to the hospital.

He spoke with the doctor about my condition first. Then he came into my room, sat beside the bed, and took my hand.

"Why didn't you call me when you got sick last night?"

I picked up my phone and showed him the call log.

The call had only rung twice.

Leonardo glanced at the screen and said nothing more.

"Rocco already explained everything." I took my phone back. "I know. Isabella needed you then."

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me, his hand gently stroking my back.

"She was clutching that letter and kept asking me why I couldn't save her father. I really couldn't get away."

I remained silent.

"Elena, before Matteo died, he left her in my care. All these years, she's been alone in Sorrenza, and all I ever did was send her money. I never stopped to think that she didn't even have anyone to talk to."

He paused briefly.

"Her father trusted me with her. I can't let her get hurt again."

So he had always remembered the promise he made to her father.

The promises he made to me could always wait a little longer.

Seven years earlier, he truly had turned back to save me.

Later, when he was wounded, I was the one who stayed beside him, found him a doctor, and reached out to the people who were still willing to help him.

I looked after his wounded men and cared for the families of the brothers we had lost.

Not once did I feel I was doing it for someone else.

He had promised that we would survive together and build a home of our own.

Because of that promise, I was willing to face anything alongside him.

Only after I lost the baby did I stop using that rescue as a reason to keep enduring.

He had saved me once.

He was also the man who called away the person trying to save me.

Leonardo lifted a hand and brushed my cheek.

"Once you're feeling better, I'll take you to the beach for a few days. I'll put everything with the family on hold. For those few days, it'll just be you and me."

We had talked about that trip a long time ago.

Our bags had already been packed when the struggle for power suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Several of his men were injured, and their families needed support.

I canceled the trip.

He held me and promised that once everything was over, he would make it up to me.

Later, he became Don.

Yet he never found the time to take me to see the ocean.

Every time I brought it up, he said we would go once things settled down.

This time, he offered without me having to ask.

"Okay. Let's make it 7 days from now."

He agreed immediately and picked up his phone to arrange the trip.

I watched him make the plans and did not mention that Vittorio had already booked another journey for me.

That night, Leonardo stayed by my bedside the entire time.

Whenever I shifted even slightly, he woke and asked whether my incision hurt.

When I wanted to get out of bed, he bent down to put my slippers on and helped me walk slowly across the room.

Near dawn, he fell asleep in the chair with one hand resting on the edge of the bed.

I looked at him for a long time.

After he fell into a deep sleep, I sent Vittorio a message.

[Everything stays as planned.]

Once I returned to the estate, I never asked about the nursery again, and I let the matter of the torn letter go.

Leonardo thought I was finally recovering.

Every day when he came home, he looked for me first.

He asked what I wanted to eat and what else we needed to bring to the beach.

One by one, I returned the pieces of jewelry he had given me to their boxes.

When the housekeeper noticed my vanity had been cleared off, she asked why I had even put away the necklace I always wore.

"I'm going away to rest. I won't need any of this."

She nodded and helped me select a few outfits for the beach.

Everyone in the estate had seen how much Leonardo once treasured me.

They believed that if he spent more time with me, I would soften like I always had before and eventually forgive him.

No one imagined that I had no intention of staying.

In the end, I took only the old travel bag.

Inside were a few changes of clothes, the baby's little blanket, and the phone containing the recording of the heartbeat.

Everything I needed was already with me.

Anything I had not brought when I came was not worth taking when I left.

Seven days later, the doctor confirmed that I had mostly recovered.

The car was already waiting outside, but Leonardo was still on the phone.

Something had gone wrong with the business Isabella was handling.

Several older members refused to accept her arrangements and demanded to speak with him personally.

He ended the call, walked over, and smoothed my hair.

"Go on ahead. I'll join you as soon as I deal with this."

I did not ask when he would arrive.

I did not remind him that he had promised to spend those few days alone with me.

"Okay."

Before getting into the car, I returned to our bedroom.

My wedding ring felt slightly tight.

I slowly twisted it around my finger several times before it finally slid free.

Then I placed it inside the jewelry box and closed the lid.

Downstairs, Vittorio took my travel bag.

"Nothing else?"

"Nothing else."

He glanced back at the estate.

"Donna, once you leave this time, you won't be able to come back whenever you want to pick something up."

I tightened my grip on the little blanket.

"There's nothing left I'll miss. Everything I wanted to take is already with me."

Only after the car passed through the gates did a message from Leonardo arrive.

[Get some rest when you get there. Wait for me tonight, and we'll have dinner together.]

I did not reply.

I got into the car Vittorio had arranged and placed the travel bag beside me.

As we drove away from the coast, I looked at Leonardo's message one final time.

[Get some rest when you get there. Wait for me tonight, and we'll have dinner together.]

Then I turned off my phone.

...

It was already dark by the time Leonardo finished the meeting with Isabella.

She hooked her arm through his.

"Have something to eat with me before you go. I've barely eaten all day."

Leonardo checked the time.

"Elena's waiting for me."

"Just for a little while, please?"

He was about to answer when his phone rang.

"Don Caruso, the Donna's car has been in an accident."

Leonardo's expression froze.

"What?"

"The car went off the coastal highway. The search team is already down there, but they haven't found her yet."

He shot to his feet, knocking over the chair behind him.

"You must have it wrong. She should be at the villa by now!"

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"We checked the license plate. It's the car that picked her up."

Leonardo ended the call and immediately dialed my number.

No one answered.

He called again.

There was still no answer.

Isabella reached for him.

"Leonardo, maybe it's just..."

He shook off her hand and pressed the call button again.

His last message remained on the screen.

The one telling me to wait for him for dinner.

There was no reply beneath it.

I had never missed a call from him before.

Leonardo stared at the screen.

His fingers slowly loosened.

The phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor.