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.

I couldn't even remember how I got back to my apartment, the place where "Lorenzo" and I had lived for the past three years.

I stood at the entrance, staring at the door. Every time I pushed it open, I would always be welcomed with a warm pair of arms and a series of hot, lustful kisses. I would always see the smile on "Lorenzo's" face as he welcomed me home and told me how much he missed me.

However, I'd only just realized now that the person who hugged me and kissed me every night was never the person I thought he was.

I went inside and began packing.

I packed up the jewelry Lorenzo bought me, the clothes Vincenzo bought me, and all our couple items over the past three years before throwing them into the recycling center downstairs.

I watched as the items sank into the dark abyss of the huge recycling truck and felt a sense of hollowness in my chest.

When I got back to the apartment, the door suddenly opened.

"You're back, darling. Did you just take out the trash? What did you just throw out?"

This voice was very, very similar to Lorenzo's. I had been hearing this voice countless times over the past three years as he whispered sweet nothings and dirty talk into my ear.

But I only found out today that this voice belonged to someone else called Vincenzo.

I turned around and finally looked at him seriously for the first time.

His face was almost identical to Lorenzo's, but the flippancy and cynicism in his eyes were completely different from the cold indifference in Lorenzo's eyes.

It had been three whole years since I slept with this man, but this was the very first time I was finally taking a good look at him.

"I just threw out all the things you gave me last time. And you're saying that you don't remember what they are?"

My voice was calm and flat, and he couldn't read my emotions from my tone alone. Only I knew how I felt.

I dug my nails firmly into my palm.

Vincenzo froze for a split second. Then, he chuckled and approached me, trying to hug me as he always did."

"Alright, alright. Don't stay mad anymore. I've already settled everything related to the leaked photos and suppressed the rumors about them. I'm sure it was leaked by a rival Famiglia, trying to attack and undermine our morale.

"It also doesn't matter if your promotion falls through because of this. I'll be taking care of you anyway. You can just resign and become a full-time housewife instead. I'll still be able to support both of us."

He would take care of me?

They destroyed my career, ruined my reputation, and completely crushed the past three years of my life, and yet, Vincenzo could still casually say that he'd "take care" of me and "support" me?

Before I could speak, Vincenzo hugged me from the back, pressing me back against his warm, burning body. He then planted kisses on my neck as his breathing turned quicker.

"Don't keep thinking about these anymore, darling. I missed you so damn much…"

His familiar touch and scent would have immediately made me go putty in his arms if this were in the past, and I would have responded wholeheartedly to him.

But now, I could only feel waves of nausea surging within me.

I shoved him off with all of my might as I spoke in a cold, icy voice.

"Don't touch me."

Vincenzo froze as a flicker of surprise and a hint of hurt appeared in his eyes. However, he quickly masked them and shrugged instead, then turned and walked into the bathroom.

I lay on the bed with my back to the bathroom.

The water sounds soon stopped, and the door opened. The mattress sank behind me as he climbed into bed, releasing cool, dampish steam.

I kept my eyes shut and didn't move a muscle.

Then, I felt Vincenzo pressing his body against mine and rubbing against me relentlessly.

His touches, which used to make my heart flutter, now only felt suffocating to me.

Finally, at the moment of his release, I heard him moan in my ear in the most tender voice I'd ever heard.

"Fiore… I love you…"

My eyes shot wide open at once, tears silently flowing down the corners of my eyes and dampening the pillowcase underneath my face.

So, that was how it was.

Lorenzo wasn't the only one obsessed with Fiore. Even Vincenzo was in love with her too.

As it turned out, I couldn't even be considered a substitute at this point. I was just a tool for Lorenzo and Vincenzo to relieve their unrequited lust and desire for Fiore instead.

Vincenzo sighed heavily in content and satisfaction, turned over in bed, and quickly fell asleep.

I kept my eyes wide open and stared at the Deyork moonlight outside the window until daybreak.

Every night of the past three years had been nothing but a pathetic joke.

The spot next to me was already cold by the time I woke up the next day, just like how it had always been for the past three years.

I used to always come up with excuses for Lorenzo, saying things like him just being used to waking up early, or being too busy with work, or naturally disliking intimacy after sex.

But now, I learned that it wasn't because he disliked intimacy. It was just that he disliked intimacy with me.

I suppressed the nausea in my guts, cleaned up the mess left from the previous night, changed into my work clothes, and headed toward the company.

I realized that something was wrong as soon as I set foot into the company.

Everyone's eyes were still fixed on me, but even more blatantly, disdainfully, and with more schadenfreude than yesterday. It was like they were waiting for some drama to unfold.

My colleague next to me, Nadia Russo, cautiously tugged at my sleeve and whispered, "Eliana, there's a problem with the database from the case you were handling. The Underboss wants to see you at his office."

I felt my heart sink.

I pushed open the door to the Underboss', Claudio Bianchi's office, and saw that Fiore was already seated inside.

She was wearing a white suit with exquisite makeup on her face. She even gave me a fake smile when she saw me walking into the room.

"Eliana, you and Fiore had been jointly managing the database for the Famiglia's cases. But now, all the core data has been corrupted, and it's all garbled. Explain this."

Claudio spoke while rubbing his temples, looking exhausted.

I was just about to speak when Fiore immediately cut in first and said, "I know that I locked the computer after checking the database with my other colleagues that night. Only Eliana and I have access to the computer, and I was with the other colleagues for the entire night. They can vouch for me."

She then paused and looked at me with a sly expression on her face. "As for Ms. Torre… Nobody knows where she was that night."

I quickly thought back about that night, my mind racing.

I was with Vincenzo at the apartment that night. He had prepared a candlelit dinner for me and even opened up a bottle of wine he claimed was a special brew from Rotugal. It tasted a little funky, but I didn't think much about it and drank it all up.

After that, I fell into a daze and made love with him all night long.

So, Vincenzo hadn't been romantic that night after all. It had just been a scheme all along.

He had spiked the wine long before I drank it so that I would blank out and give them enough time to frame me for the blunder, and so I wouldn't be able to defend myself.

"I was with Don Caputo that night," I said, gritting my teeth as I spoke.

I had no choice but to expose my three-year secret relationship with Lorenzo to save myself. However, the office door opened just then, and Lorenzo walked in, expressionlessly tossing an iPad onto Claudio's desk.

It was video footage from the office surveillance cameras, showing him entering the office together with Fiore on the exact night the data was corrupted.

"I was with Fiore discussing a new dock project that night, and this is the full CCTV footage as proof. It's impossible that Fiore was the one who did it."

Lorenzo didn't even spare me a glance, speaking in such a calm manner that he might as well just be describing the weather.

All my blood ran cold at that moment.

His Plan A was to expose my intimate photos and ruin my promotion. Meanwhile, he came up with a Plan B to frame me for the database error so Fiore could maintain a clean record.

If the photos didn't ruin me first, then this disgrace of me ruining the database would ensure that I could never recover in this industry.

They had set up a trap for me from the very start, luring me in step by step, completely removing me as an "obstacle" from Fiore's path to her promotion.

"I understand," Claudio said with a sigh. "Since you're unable to provide an alibi, Eliana, then you will be held responsible for this. Rebuilding the database will cost millions of dollars. But considering you're a long-time employee in the Famiglia, you can just pay the fine, and we'll leave it at that."

"It wasn't me!" I exclaimed in a shaky voice. "I never did it!"

Claudio waved his hand dismissively at me and stopped me from fighting back. I could only walk out of his office in a dejected manner.

I'd only just reached the hallway when I heard Lorenzo's voice from the back.

"You don't have to worry about the fine. I'll pay it on your behalf. You've already lost the chance at the promotion because of your photos, but Fiore must have no stains on her record at all. Just admit the fault and take one for her."

I stopped in my tracks, looked up, and forced the tears back in.

So to him, my career, reputation, and life could never hold up to Fiore's career—something that couldn't get a single stain on it.

"I'll make dinner for you myself tonight to make it up to you," he added in a self-righteous tone he probably thought was a gentle one.

I didn't look back at him nor stop walking forward.

I couldn't afford to eat the dinner he was planning to make for me. The price for it would be my entire life in his hands.

I went back to my seat, turned on my laptop, and opened a blank document before typing out my resignation letter.

All three years of our relationship were only worth this thin sheet of A4 paper now.

I printed it out, signed my name, and went knocking on Claudio's office. I set down the letter before him.

"Thank you for the Famiglia's support. This is my week's notice for my resignation. I've already made up my mind about leaving. Kindly acknowledge it as soon as possible."

Claudio looked at me with shock in his eyes.

"Are you really planning to resign, Eliana? Someone's already agreed to pay the fine on your behalf. You—"

"I've made up my mind."

He looked at me for a while. Then he sighed and signed off on my resignation letter, acknowledging that my notice period and the resignation procedures would be completed within the week.

I took a copy of the letter back from him. It was very light, but it weighed down heavily on me, almost suffocating me.

I would be flying off to Grayland in exactly one week as well.

And when that time came, I would be 30,000 feet above sea level in the air, leaving behind this utterly rotten city and never returning for the rest of my life.