Alle Kapitel von He Left Eight Times—I Left Forever: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

When I got home, I sorted out my assets in Italy and called my father.“Father, I'm not marrying Luca Romano.”There was silence on the other end for a few seconds before my father laughed.“You're finally willing to come home.”“He's walked out on your wedding eight times and turned you into a laughingstock in our circle. How could a man like that truly love you?”“You're the princess of the Norelli Family. You could have any man you wanted. Come home.”I gave a bitter smile.My father was right. It had simply taken me an entire lifetime to understand it.“I'll take care of everything here and come back in a week.”After hanging up, I looked at the mountain of wedding gifts sent by the major Families, piled across the floor.The smile faded from my face, leaving only exhaustion in my eyes.I thought back to the day Luca and I first met.I had hidden my identity and slipped away from my bodyguards, only to be targeted by assassins from a rival Family.They chased me into an alley with

Luca didn’t notice the change in my mood. Instead, he kissed my hair again and said softly, “Then I’ll go pick up Vivian and get her out of the Marino Family.”I turned away, intending to go back to the bedroom and rest, but just as Luca was about to leave, he suddenly turned around and handed me a jewelry box.“Mero just released a new bracelet. I thought you might like it.”I accepted it without much reaction. “Thank you.”With Vivian still on his mind, Luca didn’t say anything more before leaving.Once his car disappeared from sight, I casually tossed the bouquet of roses out the window. It hit the ground below, scattering red petals across the pavement.As I reached to close the window, my eyes caught the gold lettering embossed on the jewelry box.It was Vivian’s name.I understood immediately. Luca must have ordered two of the bracelets, one for her and one for me, only to bring me the wrong box.I wondered what expression he would make when he realized his mistake.Without givin

Vivian had barely eaten a few bites before saying that her head hurt.I had no appetite either, so I took my suitcase and prepared to leave for the airport.What I hadn’t expected was for Luca to come back for something just then. The moment he saw me with my luggage, he stopped short.“Are you going somewhere?”“Yeah,” I replied flatly.Maybe he was too worried about Vivian. Normally, the slightest hint of distance in my voice would have put him on alert, but this time he merely asked, “How many days will you be gone?”I was about to tell him I wasn’t coming back when his phone rang and cut me off.There were only two hours left before my flight.I had imagined this moment countless times before. I thought that when the day finally came for us to part, I would scream myself hoarse, my eyes red, unable to let him go.I never imagined I would feel this calm.After ending the call, Luca looked back at me. “What were you about to say?”I shook my head. “Nothing.”He didn’t press me any fu

A person really could change when their surroundings changed.Luca still crossed my mind occasionally, but my new life kept me busy enough that I rarely had time to dwell on him.Despite his young age, Victor could identify more than a thousand different plants, and every species required a different method of care. I had been away from gardening for years, so I needed to relearn everything, from the temperature each plant preferred to how much water it needed and whether it required fertilizer.I had always been competitive, and whenever I chose to do something, I wanted to do it well. These hands had been stained with blood, and I had spent most of my life moving through the shadowy side of the Family business, yet now I carried a notebook everywhere. Patience had never been one of my strengths, but I followed Victor around every day, asking him the name of every plant I saw and how it should be cared for.If any of my old friends had seen me like this, they probably would have thoug

Victor’s words cleared some of the haze from my mind.I brushed him off with a joking tone. “Forget it. I’m perfectly happy on my own right now, and Luca won’t be able to bother me for long.”Victor showed little reaction, as though he had already expected that answer, and simply stayed beside me until the music festival came to an end.After I returned home, I began sorting through my luggage and decided that I would leave Mavino after a while.The house was so quiet that the only sound came from leaves rustling outside the window. As I packed, Luca’s cold, resolute expression from that afternoon suddenly flashed through my mind, and my hands slowed as I remembered what he had said when I turned away from him.“Diana, I’ll only lower myself enough to beg you to take me back once.”“If you still say no, I won’t keep chasing you. This will be the last time you ever see me.”At the time, I had assumed his pride had been wounded and that he was only saying those things to save face, so I