The gunfire downstairs grew louder, mingled with horrified screams.

Carlo's men had arrived.

I turned, barefoot on the carpet, and walked toward the oil painting of our wedding photo.

In the painting, Luciano held me close without smiling, his gaze fixed on me with a serious expression.

Back then, he told me, "Tatiana, I'll protect you."

Now, he was the one who invited trouble.

He was also the one who brought these people who wanted me dead here.

I raised my hand and smashed my fist into the frame.

The glass shattered upon impact.

Blood trickled down my fingers, staining our intertwined hands on the painting red.

Expressionless, I tore the canvas open to reveal the secret compartment behind it.

There was a dusty metal box in that secret compartment.

I opened the metal box, revealing a Glock 19, three fully loaded magazines, a bloodstained folding pocketknife, and a miniature improvised explosive device.

At the very bottom of the metal box lay a yellowed photo.

In the photo, a teenage girl was hugging a little boy, and they were both smiling brightly.

That was my brother, Sunny.

Before becoming Tatiana Buzzelli, I scraped by in the Southeast Darland black market. I didn't even have a name.

There was nothing I wouldn't do to earn money to save Sunny's life.

I committed every sin imaginable, long past the point of redemption.

Night after night, Sunny would wake up, shaken by nightmares.

He'd hold my hands and cry. "I'm scared. I don't want you to kill anymore. Can we leave, please?"

I swore to Sunny that I'd leave with him once I earned enough money.

We'd go somewhere no one knows us and lead a peaceful life.

Alas, that day never came.

My enemies soon came knocking. Sunny lay in my arms, his body slowly turning cold.

In the end, he told me, "Live well…"

The day I buried Sunny, I said goodbye to my past.

I thought I was able to cut off ties with Kostra and start anew as Tatiana Buzzelli.

I gave myself a new name and swore never to kill again.

I wanted to set an example for Sunny, even if it was too late.

After that, when I met Luciano, I thought that it was a fresh start.

He was always busy, so I did my best to take care of the household chores and affairs.

He liked gentle women, those who relied on him.

That was why I couldn't even kill a mosquito in front of him. If I nicked my finger, I'd run to him for comfort.

I worked hard to play the fragile wife, Tatiana.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I'd return to the dangerous life I once used to lead.

Luciano was the one who forced me to do this.

He was the one who pushed me back into that life with his very own hands.

I carefully slipped the old photo into the hidden pocket against my chest, right over my heart.

Then, I picked up the Glock 19.

The door to the bedroom was kicked open with a loud bang. Four mercenaries burst in.

The leader had a scarred face. When he saw me in my gown, his gaze turned lewd.

"Oh? That coward Luciano fled with his mistress but left his gorgeous wife behind? He must be fucking blind!"

He whistled and grinned as he made his way toward me.

"You're in luck. We haven't gotten a taste of a Don's lover before…"

I stood with my back to them, slowly wiping off the blood on my fingers.

I then lifted my long hair, exposing my neck.

Luciano had kissed it countless times.

"He's blind, that's true," I said softly, my voice icy cold.

The scarred man froze, not understanding the underlying meaning in my words. "What?"

"But a stronzo like you doesn't have the right to judge me."

I slowly turned around, pointing the gun at him.

"Wanna fuck me? Dream on!"

I spun around swiftly, holding the gun.

Following two gunshots, the two men who had been shouting earlier dropped to the ground. The bullets had pierced their foreheads.

Before the remaining two could react, I was already in front of them.

I deftly landed a kick on the third man's kneecaps, then stabbed the dagger into the fourth man's artery.

Blood splattered all over my face.

I casually wiped the blood on my hands across the scarlet folds of my dress.

Luciano had given this to me as a birthday gift last year. He said that red complemented me.

Now, it was redder than ever.

I stepped across the bodies strewn across the floor and made my way to the window, then removed the wedding ring I had been wearing all the time from my finger.

Luciano had given me this ring when he proposed.

The inner band was engraved with our initials.

I had secretly modified it. It wasn't just a symbol of love, but my own protective charm.

Now, I tossed it into the dustbin without hesitation.

My phone screen lit up, signaling that my text had been sent. "Luciano, we're even now."

After walking into the kitchen, I twisted open all the gas valves.

I then flicked the Zippo engraved with our initials open.

The lighter fell to the ground.

Almost at the same time, the gas downstairs ignited, setting off a far more violent second explosion that lit up the entire night sky.

I made my way to the balcony. One second before the explosion happened, I leaped into the icy cold ocean.

Not far away, a submarine belonging to Kostra Group surfaced.

On the helicopter, Luciano held the trembling Loretta, a sharp ache tightening in his chest.

This pain had nothing to do with the pacemaker.

An ominous feeling rose in his heart.

"Luciano, where are we going?" Loretta asked, sobbing softly in his arms.

Luciano didn't reply or lower his head to look at her.

He stared at the silent phone in his hand, waiting for any information on me, even if it were just one word.

An unease gnawed at him, and all he could do was comfort himself again and again.

The safe house was secure. He had dispatched Team A for extraction, which was the most elite force the family had to offer. They would definitely arrive before the explosion.

Everything was going according to plan.

But why?

But why? The unease inside him did not ease. Instead, it grew heavier by the second.

Tension and restlessness closed in, as if something vital was being torn away, leaving him in a quiet panic.

A soft ding sounded.

His phone screen lit up. It was a text from me that read, "Luciano, we're even now."

There were no questions or curses.

All I did was send a curt, cold text.

Even?

They had spent seven years together. How could I cut ties with him with just a short text?

No, that didn't seem like something I would say.

Unless…

In an instant, he realized the enormity of his mistake.

"Tati!"

In that very second, a massive fireball erupted into the night, instantly engulfing the entire manor.

Even the helicopter flying midair was caught in the searing blast.

After the shock, Luciano shoved Loretta away and stumbled to the window, peering down at the manor below.

"No!"

He lunged for the control stick like a man possessed, his eyes bloodshot and blazing with fury.

"Turn back! Turn back now! Now!"

"Don, calm down! It's too dangerous down there!" the pilot shouted.

"Tatiana is still inside! I said, turn back!"

Luciano slammed his fist onto the dashboard, and the device erupted in a shower of sparks.

In the end, the helicopter landed on a helipad three miles away from the manor.

Luciano anxiously leaped from the helicopter before it could even touch down properly.

The blast tore holes in his trench coat, and a haze of black smoke stung his eyes.

"Tati!" he shouted, charging toward the inferno like a madman.

"Luciano, you can't go inside! You'll die!" His loyal aide, Zeno Allegri, and a few men grabbed him by the waist.

"Get out of my way! Let me go!" He thrashed wildly, trying to free himself. "Let me go! I promise I'd come for her!"

He broke free from their grip and stumbled toward the ruins of the manor.

The searing heat scorched his skin, yet he felt nothing.

He knelt on the scorching ground, digging fiercely through the rubble with his bare hands.

He was desperate to find any trace of her, yet terrified that I was here.

He prayed I had managed to escape, even as fear washed over him in waves.

His subordinates, who had rushed over, doused the flames or lent a hand where they could, but not one dared step forward to stop him.

Shards of glass cut his fingers, and the scorching metal seared his palms, yet he barely noticed and continued scraping with his hands frantically.

Without warning, the main beam on the second floor collapsed with a boom.

A massive wave of heat threw Luciano to the ground.

Burning planks rained down, crashing onto his back.

"Don, we have to leave now!" Zeno shouted as he charged forward, dragging Luciano away from the edge of the blaze with the help of his men.

Luciano let them pull him along, but his eyes remained locked on the raging inferno until the thick plumes of smoke obscured his vision.

Just as they were pulling him clear of the fire, he clutched Zeno's collar.

A hoarse, strained sound tore from his throat. "T-Tatiana…"

Before Luciano could finish, his head lolled to the side, and he blacked out.

…

When Luciano regained consciousness, the fire had been put out entirely, leaving behind nothing but charred ruins.

He stumbled into the master bedroom.

Beneath the charred cabinet, he dug out a ring, coated in soot and blood.

It was the ring he put on for me on the day he proposed to me.

Luciano gripped the ring tightly. It still carried a bit of warmth.

The blistering metal bit into his palm, a sharp pain that shot straight to his chest.

The bloodstains on it had been scorched dry, impossible to wipe away.

He didn't dare imagine what had happened here after he left.

"I-Impossible…" he muttered, his body trembling profusely.

Tears streaked through the soot on his face, carving two dark lines across his face.

Suddenly, he remembered the last time I had tied his tie. My fingertips had felt just this warm.

"Tatiana…"

He lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss to the ring.

Right then, the inner band of the ring cracked open, revealing a tiny storage card.

His hands were trembling as he inserted it into a laptop. The screen lit up.

"Luciano, can you answer one last question for me?"