Again, it was about Dante. Natalie took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Why do you think I know about that? He’s an acute paranoid. Do you think he’d tell me every time he traveled?”The man shoved the muzzle of his gun harder into the back of Natalie’s head. “If he were wary of you, he wouldn’t treat you like a lover,” he said coldly.Natalie clenched her hands into fists. “You must not know him. He’s good at acting.”“Where did he go?!” the man snapped slightly while pushing the gun hard out of impatience. Natalie’s head hurt from the weapon. She stifled her groan.“I don’t know,” Natalie hissed. She secretly held the scissors under her pants. If the situation was urgent, she might use it to stab the man.“You don’t seem to be taking my threats seriously.” Suddenly, the man kicked Natalie’s leg so hard that she fell to her knees. Both knees hit the floor, and it hurt a lot.Natalie’s eyes watered slightly. She gritted her teeth against the pain and anger. “Are you George and
Natalie had received many stitches on her arm. The palm of her left hand was also stitched up. She was hospitalized and didn’t regain consciousness until the morning.When she opened her eyes, the first person she saw was her grandmother. The old lady was sitting on the sofa beside the hospital bed with her eyes closed. Her face and skin looked tired.Unconsciously, Natalie’s tears fell. She cried and sobbed not because of the pain in her body, but because she remembered the horrific incident of last night. She still felt scared and shocked.Minerva, who couldn’t sleep well, heard Natalie’s sobs. Both of her eyes opened. “Oh, my dear...”She got up and approached her granddaughter. Her hand gently rubbed Natalie’s head. “Are you feeling sick? I’ll call the doctor,” she said.Natalie shook her head. She wanted to grasp her grandmother’s hand, but she couldn’t move her hand. It was excruciating. Her left palm was also bandaged, and she couldn’t hold on to anything.“Don’t move too much.
At night, Dante sat on a bar stool, massaging his forehead. His eyes were closed. The whiskey glass before him was empty, but his mood still hadn’t improved.Alex walked over and patted him on the back. “What are you going to do after this?”“I don’t know,” Dante muttered. He looked lethargic and lackluster. His cell phone rang for the umpteenth time, but he ignored it.“Do you hate her?” Alex asked, after seeing how Dante repeatedly ignored Natalie’s phone calls. It made him wonder how he felt about her.“I don’t know.”Dante asked the bartender for another whiskey. He seemed reluctant and lazy to talk about Natalie. However, the more unwilling he was to talk about her, the more obvious his fear of facing his emotions and feelings became.Alex, who had worked with Dante for years, could certainly recognize his abnormality. Although the man didn’t say or express it, Alex knew Dante must be disappointed with Natalie.“You wouldn’t just leave her, would you?” Alex sat down next to Dante
Dante wasn’t very busy that day and didn’t want to overthink about Natalie, so he came to visit his grandfather’s winery in Napa Valley. It was only about an hour and a half away from where he was staying.Roberto’s winery and vineyard in Napa Valley was much bigger than the branch in New York. However, the old man was more comfortable living in New York, where he could oversee his family’s illegal business.The manager and person in charge of the winery was Javer, one of Dante’s uncles, with whom he had almost no dealings. Javer only focused on taking care of the winery and never wanted to deal with the Vittorio family’s illegal business. So Dante also rarely interacted with him.When Dante came to visit, Javer was naturally surprised. The tall man met him immediately. “Dante, what’s so magical about you coming here?” His tone was sarcastic.“Uncle, I see your vineyard is getting busy,” Dante said as he watched the planters tending to the vines.Javer snorted. “Does the sunrise from
When Dante arrived at the hospital, it was midnight and past visiting hours. However, he could sneak in with Alex’s help.In front of a closed door, he stood uncertainly. Moments later, he knocked softly on the door. It didn’t take long for Minerva to open the door.“Dante?” The old lady looked surprised, not expecting to see Dante there. Hadn’t Natalie hidden their whereabouts at the hospital?Dante pressed an index finger to his lips, asking Minerva to keep quiet. He glanced into the room and saw Natalie already sleeping. “Sorry, my arrival was too sudden and intrusive,” he whispered.Minerva immediately shook her head. “Not at all. Natalie must be happy to have you here. Please come in,” she said gently.Dante did not enter immediately. Instead, he walked to a waiting chair outside the room. Minerva sensed he had something to say, so she closed the door and followed him.“What is it? Do you have something to say?” Minerva asked.The man sighed. “Natalie hid everything from me. She
The next day, Dante drove Natalie and her grandmother home. Alex came with him, too. When they arrived, there were already several bodyguards standing guard at Minerva’s house. Natalie was surprised and asked Dante as soon as they got out of the car. “You arranged this?” “Your grandmother asked for it,” Dante replied casually. Minerva, who heard that, immediately coughed. How could that man take advantage of an old woman like her? “Grandma?” Natalie looked at Minerva in surprise. She never thought her grandmother would ask something like that of Dante. “You don’t mind, do you?” asked Minerva, supporting Dante’s lie. After all, the man was pretending not to know about the attack that night. Natalie shook her head slowly. The placement of bodyguards was a good thing. It wouldn’t be easy for Leon or George’s gang to get to her if there were bodyguards. It was better that she didn’t make a big deal out of it. “Thank you,” she said to Dante. She was just worried that he already knew
Inside the gloomy old room, Dante tortured Leon just like how Leon had tortured Natalie. He was even more cruel. He stabbed not only the palm of Leon’s left hand but also the palm of his right.Then he stabbed and slashed both arms until Leon lay covered in blood. The sounds of screams of his pain and cursing were drowned out by the pouring rain.Dante’s subordinates standing guard outside the room could only gulp. Even after working for the man for a long time, they were still unaccustomed to the sound of those screams of pain. They had goosebumps. Dante was always merciless to his enemies.“Does this hurt?” Dante stepped on Leon’s palm, which had been pierced by his knife.Leon was completely helpless on the floor. He looked at Dante hatefully. “If you’re outraged that I hurt her, just kill me,” he hissed in a trembling voice.“Want to die? It’s not that easy.” Dante grinned coldly. “I haven’t asked who your boss is.”“I won’t tell you!” Leon replied coldly and sharply. “You’ll neve
“Honey, are you okay?” Minerva knocked on Natalie’s bedroom door as the woman did not come out. She became worried.“Grandma, I’m fine. Please leave me alone,” Natalie replied from inside the room.“You haven’t eaten dinner yet,” said Minerva. However, Natalie did not respond. Finally, the old woman sighed and walked away.Meanwhile, Natalie wiped away the tears on her face. She opened the window curtains and looked up at the sky. There were only gray clouds with no stars. Even the sky seemed to sympathize with her.Natalie sighed. It had been months since she got out of prison, and since then she had struggled and endured every day for the safety of her younger sister and grandmother. She was willing to endure physical and mental torture for their sake. However, her sister had said such hurtful things.She laughed blandly, unable to shake off the pain in her heart. Her eyes were closed. “You really let me down, Kelsey,” she whispered.Had Kelsey known the sacrifices she made and the
“What happened to you, sis?” Kelsey let go of the hug. She cupped her hand on Natalie’s cheek and gently wiped away her tears. A complicated look filled her eyes.They had been separated since Kelsey was in middle school. Even before Natalie was imprisoned, they rarely saw each other. Even so, Kelsey used to see Natalie’s face either on the internet or in magazines. She knew her sister’s appearance wasn’t like that and shouldn’t have changed that much.Natalie shook her head and smiled. “Nothing. I just had surgery to change my identity. Call me Cavendish in the future, okay?”Kelsey didn’t say anything. She pulled Natalie’s hand towards her dorm room. She lived alone there, so she had more freedom to bring guests in.“Sis, I missed you.” Kelsey hugged Natalie after they entered the room. She burst into tears. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be a good sister,” she said through tears.“No, Kelsey.” Natalie shook her head. “You’ve suffered a lot over the years. Living alone isn’t easy, but you’ve
Natalie sat near the plane window. Her seat was only economy class, but she didn’t complain or mind. Just being able to go to London was good for her.Moments later, the plane took off. Natalie stared out the window in silence. She tried not to think about anything, including Dante. Since yesterday, she had always distracted her mind from thinking or remembering anything about him.Meanwhile, Dante was in the first-class seat. He wasn’t worried that Natalie would escape his watchful eye. They were on the same plane, after all.The trip took a while. They arrived in London at midnight. Natalie got off the plane and immediately looked for a money changer at the airport. Luckily, she had experience flying to London, so there was no confusion.She exchanged her dollar bills for British currency and then left the airport to find a place to stay. Somehow, she felt that someone was following and watching her. She quickly turned around and looked around, but no one looked suspicious.Natalie
The next day, Aland went to Dante’s penthouse without Natalie knowing. He sneaked out and pretended to be mysterious when leaving the hotel. George, who had been watching them since last night, frowned.“Where is he going?”George quietly followed Aland. He became even more curious after realizing Aland was going to Dante’s penthouse. “What’s he planning?”Aland was asked by Dante to pretend to steal. So, he acted mysteriously and carefully. He knocked on the door. It wasn’t long before Cedric opened it.“Aland, you—”“I want to see Mr. Vittorio,” Aland said.Cedric let him in and closed the door again. Then Aland went straight to Dante. It turned out that the man had already prepared the items he would take.“Here are Natalie’s passport and wallet. She has to leave tonight,” Dante said seriously.“Are you really going to just let her go? What if she runs into trouble in London?” Aland asked cautiously.Dante smiled. “You don't need to worry. I’ve already arranged everything.”Aland c
Dante lay in the coffin comfortably. The lid was not closed, so he could see Alex looking at him flatly. “Looks like you’re quite happy living in a coffin,” Alex quipped.The smile on Dante’s lips grew. He heard the sound of approaching footsteps and signaled Alex to be quiet. This time, he wanted to know how his younger brother would respond.Anthony stared at the black coffin in the living room with narrowed eyes. Roberto, who saw his arrival, immediately asked, “Why did you come here?”“Grandpa, I heard about it,” Anthony said without removing his gaze from the coffin. He hadn’t gotten close enough to it to see Dante’s face or body.“Why do you have to hide things like this? Is my brother really dead?” Anthony asked his grandfather.Roberto took a deep breath. “Anthony, how many people expected his death? If our enemies find out about it, they will immediately take advantage of the situation,” he replied seriously.“Why did you come here? You haven’t answered my question,” the old
That night, Natalie ran out of the apartment building looking like a mess. Her long hair was tangled and messy. She was only wearing pajamas, so her arms, bruised from Dante’s whipping, were visible to others.Her cheeks were red from the man’s slap, and there were even traces of his fingers. She looked down and covered it with her hands because she didn’t want others to see it.Barefoot, Natalie ran on the sidewalk. People might notice her, thinking she was crazy or homeless. However, she didn’t care. Her feelings were completely shattered, and she just wanted to escape as far as possible.Snowflakes fell onto her body, making her even colder. Her lips turned pale and blue. She hugged her body in the hope that no one would chase her.Unknown to Natalie, someone was watching and following her from afar. It was George who was always watching the apartment building. He wanted to approach her to find out if the information about Dante’s death was true.Just as he was about to approach Na
Natalie was really sick. That whole day, she just lay in bed with a weak body. Even the next day, she had trouble getting out of bed. Lizzy, who knew about her situation, became worried.“Mister, don’t you want to do something? She’s really sick, not just pretending,” Lizzy said to Dante. She hoped he would call a doctor or do something to treat Natalie.Dante was lazing around in his room. He was pretending to be dead, so he couldn’t do any work outside. When Lizzy spoke, he only glanced at her. “Just let her be sick. I won’t bother her,” he said.“Don’t you still need her existence? If she’s sick, how will she get to London?” Lizzy continued to persuade her employer.“Why do you care so much about her? You’re better off here, keeping me company,” Dante said as he patted the bed beside him. He smiled sweetly at the girl.“Sir, no kidding!” Lizzy gave Dante an annoyed look. She knew he wasn’t serious.“Alright. I’ll see her later,” Dante said indifferently.Lizzy finally stopped bothe
That night, Natalie was too tired from crying until she fell asleep sitting on the floor and leaning against the side of the bed. She woke up when someone suddenly opened the door in the morning.Lizzy came in carrying a tray of breakfast. She placed it on the table and stepped closer to Natalie.“Miss...” The girl looked at Natalie sadly. What happened last night really saddened her. She hadn’t expected Natalie and Dante’s relationship to suddenly fall apart.Natalie looked down and tried to stand up. She looked at her own horrible-looking reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy and red. Her lips were pale, and her appearance was a mess, but she didn’t care.“I want to talk to Dante,” Natalie said hoarsely. She had been crying for so long that her voice was almost gone.Lizzy sighed. “Miss, he wants you to leave America immediately.”“Leave America?” Natalie was surprised to hear that.“Mr. Vittorio wants you to go to London. He doesn’t want to see you again or have anything to
In the middle of the night, Roberto was about to fall asleep when Marco suddenly knocked on the door and entered his room. “Sir, Alex wants to see you. He has urgent news,” Marco said seriously.Dante’s grandfather frowned. He finally sat up. “In this middle of the night?”Marco nodded. Roberto sighed. “Let him in,” he said.Before Marco left the room to call Alex, Alex had already barged in. His face looked pale and worried. “Sir, I have some bad news,” he reported.“What is it?”Alex swallowed. He looked down and said, “Something happened to Dante. He’s...”Roberto looked at him sharply. “What happened to my grandson?!”“Someone badly injured him. He’s... dying,” Alex replied quietly, without daring to look at the old man.“No way!” Roberto shook his head in disbelief. Suddenly, he held his heart and looked in pain. “What... has happened?”Alex raised his gaze and panicked at Roberto’s pale face. Had he lied too much to the old man to cause a relapse of his heart disease?“Sir, calm
In the car, Alex waited uncertainly. Dante still hadn’t called him, so he was worried. Was everything okay?He held his cell phone uncertainly. After some consideration, he finally decided to call him. The phone rang for a long time, but Dante didn’t answer.“Ah, too long. I’d rather go up to the penthouse,” he muttered.Finally, Alex grabbed the gun from the dashboard and exited the car. He had to carry a weapon, just in case. After that, he hurried up to the penthouse.Arriving at the penthouse floor, Alex pressed the bell several times. Unfortunately, no one would open the door for him. He sighed and barged in with his access card.The first sight he saw surprised Alex. The penthouse was a mess. Rose petals and small crushed candles were scattered on the floor. Some glassware, such as vases, was also broken and scattered.Alex immediately went deeper and saw Dante sitting quietly at the dining table. Lizzy and Aland, who were standing in the corridor, immediately looked at Alex exp