Chapter 2

I had never seen him before, and I'd certainly never spoken a word to him before. And yet, I had been completely naked before him for countless nights before.

A wave of nausea and disgust surged immediately from my stomach. I bit my hand so hard until I could taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth to stop myself from throwing up and prevent the people in the room from realizing that I was there.

The voices in the office still went on.

I could hear Lorenzo's voice, the voice of the man whom I'd loved for three whole years.

He was as cold as ice as he said, "If you're still not sick of sleeping with Eliana yet, Vincenzo, then you'd better hurry up and sleep with her a few more times while you still can within this week.

"News about Fiore's promotion will be announced next week, and I'll be holding a celebratory dinner for her then. I'm also planning to confess to her during the party. And when that time comes, I'll be cutting off all contact with Eliana completely."

"The hell, Lorenzo? You're saying that you're finally going to confess to Fiore after being in love with her for three years? You kept saying that Fiore didn't like relying on other people and wanted to prove her own efforts, so you're only confessing to her after she's gotten the promotion?

"So that you'll both be meeting at the peak of your careers?

"Sure, Eliana did get in her way all the time, and you didn't want to get her mad by letting Fiore take the back door. That's why you came up with this brilliant plan to ruin Eliana to make way for Fiore, didn't you? This is brilliant! Brilliant!"

Lorenzo didn't deny it. He scoffed lightly, and the sound felt like a sharp ice pick striking against my bones.

"Of course! Fiore graduated from a Privy League university. She's completely different from Eliana, who came from the slums. Eliana only agreed to be with me three years ago because I was the Don. It's her own fault and greed that she ended up like this in the end."

Tears blurred my vision so much that I couldn't see anymore. I leaned back against the icy-cold walls and clapped a hand over my mouth, stopping myself from making any sound at all.

So, this was the truth after all.

As it turned out, the bar scene where Lorenzo saved me from a perverted potential business partner by smashing a wine bottle against their head and dragging me out from the abyss had been nothing but a lie from the very start. My fate had already been decided then.

I thought that he was my salvation, but I never thought that he had only pulled me out of that abyss to shove me back into hell instead.

To him, all three years of my love, affection, and sacrifice were nothing more than a carefully-plotted means to pave the way for Fiore's future instead.

I couldn't even be considered Lozenro's bed partner at this point—just a substitute whom he cast to his younger twin brother and could be used as Fiore's springboard instead.

I staggered back to my feet and ran toward the fire escape, shutting the metal door behind me. I then backed against the cold metal and finally lost it, letting out a silent, heartbreaking wail.

The Deyork wind blew in through the vents, as cold as blades against my skin.

The man whom I'd loved for years, and the city that I'd sacrificed so much for, had both ended up being a lie.

I dried the tears on my face and shakily bought a one-way ticket home on my phone. Then, I tapped into my email and began typing out my resignation letter.

Lorenzo Caputo.

Fiore Marotta.

Vincenzo Caputo.

I wasn't ever coming back to this city of lies and deceit anymore, and I didn't want to bother with these people in my life anymore either.

I was still huddled up in a corner against the fire escape door when my phone suddenly rang. The caller ID on the screen said that it was Mom.

I inhaled deeply and shakily swiped on the "answer" button.

A split second later, Mom's shrill curses pierced my eardrums.

"Eliana Torre! How could you be so shameless! Your sex photos have all gone viral online! Did you know how embarrassed your dad and I were when your aunt sent them to the family group?

"Did you think that I paid for your tuition fees for years only for you to end up being a free slut? Forget about ever coming back for the holidays next month! We'll talk again only after this has blown over in a couple of years!"

I opened my mouth to defend myself, wanting to explain to her that I was a victim because I was being framed. However, I swallowed my words just as they had reached my lips.

I should have known earlier that she would never listen anyway.

Since I was young, Mom was only proud of me when I was at the top of the class, won scholarships, and got a job in the Caputo Famiglia's company, showing me off to all her relatives.

However, she chose to ignore me completely when I was suffering from gastritis due to staying up too late at night, or when I lay alone in a hospital bed after being sent in for a stomach ulcer because I was forced to drink too much too often.

In her eyes, she looked at me the same way Lorenzo did—a mere tool for showing off, and that was all.

"Got it," I heard myself saying, my voice so hoarse that I couldn't even recognize myself anymore. "I won't come back."

After hanging up, I swapped my flight ticket home for a one-way ticket to Grayland instead.