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00:00In three years of marriage, I wore myself down taking care of him until I ruined my own body.
00:05Yet behind my back, he quietly had a second child with another woman.
00:09Until that night, when I suffered massive bleeding from an ectopic pregnancy and desperately begged him to come keep me
00:14company.
00:15On the phone, he said coldly,
00:17Can an embryo that has not even taken shape compare with my son?
00:22I did not cry, and I did not make a scene.
00:25I simply disappeared from his world on my own.
00:29Later, his family went bankrupt, and he became a broke, worthless stray dog,
00:33kneeling before me in tears and begging me to look at him again.
00:36But by then, another man was already standing by my side.
00:40On Long Island, New York, rain poured down outside the DeSantis estate, pounding against the living room windows.
00:47Leon's mother, Donna, sat by the fireplace.
00:53Elena, you have been married into the DeSersity family for three years now.
00:59What the family values most will always be bloodlines.
01:03You have no heir, and the elders have already decided.
01:07Sophia and her child will be accepted.
01:23Before she could finish, the heavy front door was pushed open.
01:27Leon walked in carrying a chill of rain, shrugging off his suit jacket, now soaked through.
01:32The moment he saw me, a flash of panic crossed his eyes.
01:35Elena, let me explain.
01:36Daddy!
01:38A childlike voice broke the deadlock.
01:41The nanny led in a little boy.
01:42He had a head of dark brown curls, looking almost like Leon carved from the same mold.
01:46He rushed over and clung tightly to Leon's leg.
01:49Leon lowered his head, his hand landing awkwardly on the boy's hair.
01:53Two years old, he left me behind to take over the family business that was exactly three years ago.
01:58Leon, we are done!
02:00In the first year, he sent me videos every day.
02:03Back then, he said...
02:04Elena, once I get a firm foothold in Manhattan, I will bring you over, and we will live in that
02:12penthouse overlooking Central Park.
02:15Now, the same face stood before me, but this time, he was shielding another woman from the wind and rain.
02:22Elena, I can explain.
02:24Explain what?
02:25I looked at Leon.
02:26Explain how you crawled out of her bed and then kept saying goodnight to me on the other side of
02:30the screen as usual?
02:32Leon's expression darkened.
02:34He lowered his voice.
02:35Elena, do not make a scene here.
02:37Mother and the child are both watching.
02:41Make a scene?
02:42I sneered.
02:43I am only tearing open your pathetic lies for everyone to see.
02:47I took a silver pocket watch out of my pocket.
02:50It was the gift he gave before leaving.
02:52Custom made by Florentine Craftsman by hand.
02:54On the back were engraved our vow, her semper, forever and ever.
02:58Leon froze, then reached out to snatch it.
03:00I let go.
03:01The pocket watch hit the floor with a sharp crack, and then I raised my foot and crushed it hard.
03:06I turned and walked toward the door.
03:07Behind me, her voice trembling.
03:09My stomach hurts so much.
03:12Sophia suddenly bent over, clutching her stomach.
03:15Leon steps as he chased after me came to an abrupt halt.
03:18I pulled open the door and stepped out into the rain.
03:20Back at the house in the Hamptons, I dragged out my suitcase.
03:24Just after I pulled the zipper shut, the lock clicked.
03:27Leon was standing at the door, his eyes bloodshot.
03:30I had not expected him to chase me all the way here.
03:33Elena, calm down.
03:35He pressed down on my hand as I pulled the suitcase.
03:38That child was only an accident.
03:39That night I drank too much.
03:43Sophia has a special condition.
03:45A miscarriage would kill her.
03:47The first one was an accident?
03:49I shook off his hand and slapped him hard across the face.
03:52What about the second one in her belly?
03:54Also an accident?
03:56His tone had already turned angry.
03:58I've said it before.
04:00You'll always be my legal wife, and all my money is yours.
04:05Sophia doesn't want anything.
04:07She just wants the child to have a proper status in the family.
04:11I lit up my phone screen and held it in front of him.
04:14A place?
04:15On the screen was an encrypted email I had just received.
04:18Look closely.
04:19All the cursed assets of the Distantitus family has have been founded in this Sintua.
04:24And the Benefiri your two-year-old urses.
04:26Yuan Finewell remains untouched.
04:28Leon panicked.
04:34My mother forced me to sign it.
04:36She was just trying to protect the child.
04:39Nine o'clock tomorrow morning.
04:41Court.
04:42If you do not show up, I will personally hand over the records of your dealings with Sergei Morozov to
04:48the federal prosecutor.
04:52All I heard was his phone ringing, and Sophia crying on the other end.
04:59Leon?
05:01I am bleeding!
05:03Leon did not appear in court.
05:05He only sent a long string of messages, saying Sophia was showing signs of miscarriage and that he had to
05:09stay at the hospital with her, asking me to calm down first.
05:12I did not reply.
05:13I directly hired a lawyer.
05:15A week later, the Distantus family's annual charity gala was held at a private club in Midtown Manhattan.
05:20It was the most important event of the entire family.
05:23Representatives of the five major families, partners from every business line, and associates from the French power circles all came.
05:30As the only lawful lady of the family, I had to be there.
05:33The moment I entered the ballroom, whispers immediately slipped into my ears.
05:37That is Leon's wife?
05:38I heard she cannot bear an heir.
05:40Sophia is already pregnant with the second one, and she is still firmly holding the position of Mrs. DeSantis.
05:46The DeSantis family does not need a useless woman.
05:49I did not stop.
05:50I walked straight toward the main table.
05:52Leon was giving a speech on stage.
05:54His gaze swept over me, like a silent warning, do not make trouble.
05:58Then the awards began.
05:59Every year, the family gives out the Project of the Year award to honor the most profitable investment project of
06:05the year.
06:05Everyone knew this year's prize would definitely go to the North Shore Revitalization Plan.
06:10That project had consumed nearly half a year of my blood and sweat.
06:13I had personally secured the three key plots of land.
06:15I had opened up the municipal connections one layer at a time.
06:18And I had also rested the two most crucial rounds of financing out of the hands of the five major
06:23families.
06:24The winner is Sophia Rossi.
06:27The host announced the winner's name.
06:28I tightened my grip on the champagne glass.
06:31Sophia wore a black Armani gown, the five-month pregnant belly slightly rounded,
06:34as she walked gracefully onto the stage amid a sea of flashing cameras.
06:38She accepted the crystal trophy.
06:39I want to thank Leon for his guidance.
06:42Without him, I could never have completed such a complicated project.
06:46And looked at Leon with tears in her eyes.
06:48Applause broke out all around.
06:50Leon took the microphone.
06:51Some people turned to look at me, their eyes carrying sympathy, ridicule.
06:55Or simply the look of people waiting for a show.
06:58His gaze nailed to me.
06:59In addition, the family committee has approved that, for health reasons,
07:03Elena DeSantos will indefinitely suspend all family affairs.
07:07Sophia Rossi will take over in her place.
07:10The hall fell silent for a moment.
07:12I sat there, my whole body as though frozen.
07:15That project was something I had built entirely on my own.
07:18Sophia could not even understand the valuation model.
07:21Leon was forcing me to bow my axe.
07:22I wanted to take away everything I had poured my heart into.
07:25Strip me of my power.
07:26And tear my dignity to pieces in front of everyone.
07:29All for the sake of proving one thing.
07:31Without him, I was nothing.
07:32I set down my glass and stood up.
07:34The sound of the chair sliding back was not loud.
07:37Yet it was enough to make everyone around me look over.
07:40I walked straight toward the stage.
07:41Leon frowned and lowered his voice.
07:43Elena, do not make a scene here.
07:45I looked at that face of his and spoke coldly.
07:47DeSantis, stealing someone else's work is a crime in New York.
07:52Elena, give the project to her.
07:55Take it as compensation for the child.
07:57We can talk about what you want later.
08:00Leon stared at me with a frown.
08:01Use my things to compensate your mistress?
08:05Leon, you really disgust me.
08:08Sophia tugged at his sleeve.
08:09Leon, do not blame her.
08:11I only wanted to prove I could also help you.
08:13She turned to me, tears in her eyes.
08:17Madam, this honor should have been yours all along.
08:20I do not want anything.
08:21Praise instantly rose from all around.
08:24Sophia is so kind.
08:25That barren woman is still so arrogant.
08:27Right then, a sharp stab of pain suddenly shot through my lower abdomen.
08:31It felt as though a knife were violently twisting inside my body.
08:34I clutched my stomach and cold sweat instantly broke out on my forehead.
08:38Elena, stop acting in front of me.
08:40Leon gave a cold laugh.
08:42Escort Mrs. DeSacy out.
08:43Two bodyguards came up and seized my arms from left and right.
08:46Too weak even to struggle, I was dragged out of the banquet hall like trash and dumped outside the door.
08:50The door slammed shut behind me.
08:52I heard Sophia's syrupy sweet voice from inside.
08:55Leon, the baby just moved.
08:56I crashed heavily onto the marble floor, and warm liquid began running down the inside of my thigh.
09:01I reached down and touched it.
09:03My fingertips were covered in blood.
09:05Biting my teeth, I called 911.
09:07In the emergency room, the doctor looked at me and froze.
09:09You are eight weeks pregnant already.
09:12You did not know?
09:13That sentence was like a bolt of lightning striking my head.
09:16Pregnant?
09:16A child I had been waiting three years for, three years of medicine, three years of injections, yet still no
09:21news.
09:21And now, on the sturdiest of nights, it had quietly arrived.
09:24Ectopic pregnancy, severe bleeding, surgery must be done immediately.
09:30Family member, we need a family member's signature.
09:33The doctor handed me the consent form for surgery.
09:36I trembled as I dialed Leon's number.
09:38The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.
09:40Elena, what exactly do you want?
09:43Leon, I am at New York Presbyteria Hospital.
09:46The doctor said I am pregnant.
09:49It is exosick.
09:50I am bleeding heavily.
09:52Can you come?
09:54Please?
09:54I am so scared.
09:56There was silence on the other end for two seconds.
09:58Then I heard Sophia screaming.
10:00Leon, Lucas has a fever.
10:02Hurry and come over.
10:03Leon's breathing instantly quickened.
10:05Elena, you actually made up this kind of line to trick me into going over there?
10:09Even if what you said is druth, every other that even taken shape compared with my urns?
10:13I closed my eyes in despair.
10:15I am not lying.
10:16They are about to take me into the operating room.
10:18He cut me off directly.
10:20Elena, stop acting.
10:22Do not make me hate you even more.
10:24The call was hung up.
10:25The busy tone echoed through the empty emergency room.
10:28The doctor looked at me, his eyes full of sympathy.
10:31Ma'am, we cannot wait any longer.
10:33I gritted my teeth, took the pen, and signed my name on the surgical consent form.
10:37Elena Vance.
10:38The operating room lights came on, bright and blinding white.
10:40Anesthetic flowed into my body through my veins,
10:43and my limbs gradually lost all sensation.
10:45At that moment, all I felt was that something had shattered completely.
10:48Not just the child I lost, but also the last ridiculous sliver of hope I had left for Leon.
10:53On the third day after the surgery, the doctor handed me a report with a face full of regret.
10:58I am sorry.
10:59We had to remove your left valerian tube.
11:01Your chances of conceiving naturally are now almost zero.
11:03I looked at the ceiling and did not cry.
11:05On the fourth day, I checked myself out of the hospital and returned to that house on Long Island.
11:10Sophia's clothes were still hanging in the living room.
11:12I placed the signed divorce agreement in the most conspicuous spot on the coffee table,
11:16with the bloodstained medical record form beside it.
11:19Then I changed my phone card, deleted all of my social accounts, and dragged my suitcase out the door.
11:23Leon, the perfect life you wanted.
11:25I am giving it back to you.
11:26But this is not the end.
11:28I swear it.
11:29A year passed.
11:30Manhattan.
11:31Top floor of Rockefeller Center.
11:32I stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the sea of lights below my feet.
11:39Miss Vansa, the closed-door meeting will begin in a few minutes.
11:43By now, I was the co-founder of Vance Studio.
11:46In the year after the surgery, I left Long Island with almost nothing in my pockets.
11:50I buried myself completely in work countless sleepless nights,
11:53building financial models, gathering resources everywhere,
11:56and piling up one deal after another to create results.
11:59Step by step, I rebuilt my life.
12:01At last.
12:02I had earned the right to sit here at the same table with this pack of sharks who would not
12:06spit out the bones.
12:07The DeSantis family lost a fortune in New Jersey this year.
12:11The losses were massive.
12:14Even Leon DeSantis himself is here.
12:17He is probably here to ask for help.
12:19That name pierced my chest like a rusted needle.
12:22I looked up.
12:23The man who had once been so overbearing and untouchable was now standing in a corner,
12:27much thinner, the expensive custom suit hanging loose on him.
12:30He was humbly handing cigars to several elders.
12:34Uncle Carlo, please give me one more chance.
12:37I really can save that territory.
12:43The other man patted his shoulder perfunctorily, then turned and saw me.
12:47Elena, you are here.
12:49Everyone has been waiting for you.
12:50I'm so glad you could make it.
12:52Leon followed his gaze and turned around.
12:54The moment our eyes met, the lighter in his hand dropped to the floor with a click.
12:59He looked at me in disbelief, his voice force.
13:02I walked up to him in high heels, a standard business smile on my lips.
13:06Mr. DeSantis, long time no see.
13:08He stared at me fixedly, his eyes full of shock, surprise, and a trace of belated remorse.
13:14Where did you go?
13:16I searched for you for a whole year.
13:18He subconsciously tried to touch my arm.
13:20I turned slightly and avoided him.
13:23Mr. DeSantis, this is a public place.
13:26Please, please mind your manners.
13:29Elena, I know I was a bastard before.
13:32Sophia and I have already split up.
13:34There is nothing between us anymore.
13:36I cut him off.
13:38Your private life has nothing to do with me.
13:41If you are here to talk financing, go make an appointment with my assistant.
13:44If you are only here for nostalgia, sorry, I am very busy.
13:48I did not look at him again and walked straight toward the main podium.
13:52His gaze was nailed to my back like a red-hot iron, but I never once turned around.
13:56The speech went smoothly.
13:58I shared the latest investment strategies for East Coast commercial real estate,
14:02and thunderous applause broke out from the audience below.
14:05After the meeting ended, I walked alone toward the underground garage.
14:09Just as I took out my car key, a figure suddenly sprang out from behind a pillar and blocked the
14:14car.
14:15Elena, do not go.
14:17Leon was panting hard, his hair a mess.
14:20I am being punished for my sins.
14:23Sophia planted her people inside the family and emptied all of our overseas assets.
14:27She angered my mother until she had a stroke, and now she is lying in a hospital bed, unable even
14:32to move.
14:33Tears streamed down his face.
14:35Every day when I go back to that house, the only thing on my mind is you.
14:38I was wrong, Elena, terribly wrong.
14:40Can you forgive me?
14:43After hearing him out, I felt terrifyingly calm inside.
14:46Are you done?
14:48Elena, I...
14:50A harsh screech of brakes rang out in the underground garage.
14:53A black sports car stopped beside us.
14:55The door swung open, and Sophia rushed out in high heels.
14:59Leon, I knew you were rushing to break up with me because of her!
15:03Elena, you bitch!
15:04How dare you seduce my husband!
15:06Arms folded, I sneered.
15:10Sophia, your husband himself was standing in front of my car like a stray dog.
15:15Not!
15:16So didn't you get...
15:17No, you're here!
15:18Sophia, enough!
15:19If not for your little tricks, Elena would never have left.
15:22Sophia staggered a few steps from the throw and crashed into the car door, then let out a shrill laugh.
15:28Leon, what are you acting so deeply in love for now?
15:32That night, you were the one who drank too much and crawled into my bed.
15:36You were also the one who insisted on handing the family trust over to my son.
15:41Now that I have emptied the company and your mother is paralyzed, only now do you start blaming me?
15:48Do you really think Elaine would even look at a bankrupt loser like you?
15:54I could not be bothered to watch this farce.
15:58Move aside, I am going home.
16:00I opened the car door and got in, but Leon clung to the window and refused to let go no
16:04matter what.
16:05Elena, please, give me one more chance.
16:09I pressed the power window button and directly trapped his fingers.
16:14Leon, the moment you went to accompany Lucas through his fever, it was already over between us.
16:20He froze.
16:22Taking advantage of his days, I stepped on the gas and the car shot forward.
16:26In the rearview mirror, he had collapsed onto the ground, while Sophia was still pointing at his nose and cursing.
16:31I did not look back again.
16:33The next day, an uninvited guest appeared in my office, Leon.
16:37He was clutching a document tightly in his hands, his eyes red,
16:40looking like a demon freshly climbed out of hell.
16:43Security wanted to stop him, but I waved them away.
16:45The moment the door closed, he dropped to his knees with a thud in front of my desk and placed
16:50the file on it.
16:51It was a copy of the medical record from New York Presbyterian Hospital,
16:55clearly stating, ruptured ectopic pregnancy.
16:58Massive bleeding in the abdominal cavity.
17:02Elena, is this true?
17:05That night when you called, were you really taken into the operating room?
17:09I leaned back in my chair and looked at him calmly.
17:11What else?
17:13Did you think I was joking with you?
17:14He suddenly grabbed his hair.
17:16Why did you not tell me?
17:19If I had known it was that serious, how could I have ignored you?
17:23Did I not tell you, Leon?
17:25I told you I was in the hospital.
17:27I told you I was pregnant, bleeding heavily, and terrified.
17:32And you yourself told me not to keep playing those tricks, not to force you to hate me even more.
17:40I am not human.
17:42Elena, I really did not know.
17:44Lucas had a fever.
17:45His eyes were even rolling upwards.
17:47And Sophia was shrieking hysterically on the phone.
17:50I panicked at the time, so I...
17:53Panicked?
17:53You were not panicking, Leon.
17:56You simply made a choice.
17:57Between me and Sophia, between my life and your son's life, you chose to abandon me.
18:03Do you know what it feels like to lie on an operating table and feel your own blood draining away
18:07bit by bit?
18:08Do you know how desperate I was when the doctor told me I might never be able to be a
18:12mother again?
18:16Leon, you did not only kill our child, you also took away my right to be a mother.
18:20I am sorry.
18:22I truly am sorry.
18:25Since you have already read the medical record, then you should know.
18:29You owe me a life.
18:31Now, get out.
18:32Never let me see you again.
18:35And security quickly came in to forcibly drag him out.
18:39His cries echoed all the way down the corridor, growing more and more distant.
18:43I returned to my seat and took a sip of coffee.
18:46An unprecedented sense of pleasure arose from the bottom of my heart.
18:49Leon had completely lost his mind.
18:52The news spread through the family circle like wildfire.
18:55He returned to DeSantis headquarters and carried out an almost devastating purge of Sophia.
18:59Her little scheme of embezzling public funds was nowhere near sophisticated.
19:03It was nothing more than a gamble on his blind trust in her.
19:06After Leon obtained the evidence, he did not go to the family court.
19:09Instead, he called the police directly.
19:12The day Sophia was taken away by the FBI, she had a scene in the family estate, rolling a pregnancy
19:17shot.
19:18Leon!
19:19You cannot do this to me!
19:21I am still carrying your child in my belly!
19:25The child in your belly is not mine.
19:28Leon looked at her expressionlessly, is not mine.
19:31He tore through her call records and credit card bills from top to bottom.
19:34In order to secure her position, Sophia had long since secretly crawled back into her ex-boyfriend's bed.
19:40The so-called pregnancy was merely a chess piece she used to kick me out.
19:44But the truth went even further.
19:46Leon also had Lucas' DNA tested.
19:48The child was indeed his biological son, but how the child came into being was prettier than any affair.
19:54At that banquet many years ago, Sophia bribed a waiter to drug Leon's whiskey.
20:00She calculated her own ovulation time with precision before climbing into his bed.
20:05Leon had always thought it was just one drunk mistake, but from beginning to end, it had all been her
20:09carefully laid hunt.
20:12On the day the truth was revealed, Leon DeSantis smashed his study into a wreck, shattered glass and broken with
20:18splinters strewn everywhere like a graveyard.
20:20For a woman who had schemed against him, for an illegitimate child born out of a trap.
20:24He drove away the only woman in this world who had truly loved him, and with his own hands he
20:29killed the heir they should have had.
20:31Sophia was eventually sentenced to five years.
20:33It was said Leon once went to visit her.
20:36Through the thick glass of the visitation room, she cried and begged him to save her for the sake of
20:40the child.
20:41No one knew what he finally said to her, but not long after he left, she miscarried in prison.
20:46Lucas was sent back to the DeSantis estate and left in Donna's care, she who was now bedridden.
20:50The servants were also dismissed, and the entire estate rotted away little by little in its dead silence.
20:56Donna's speech had become slurred, and her mind was no longer clear.
21:00She could only watch that child, with no one to care for him, crying out amid the ruins of former
21:05gory.
21:06The DeSantis empire was hollowed out by Sophia's greed, and then, with Leon's collapsing mental state leaving it completely defenseless,
21:13it was finally swallowed up by the Irish mob and later divided among the five-family council.
21:19The once glorious Leon DeSantis was now nothing but a joke drowning in debt.
21:23A ghost wandering through the ruins of his own life.
21:27And I, during that same year, secured one high-profile project after another fan studio.
21:33The year-end celebration banquet was held in a hotel in Manhattan.
21:36I wore a custom Vera Wong gown, standing under the spotlight with a glass of champagne in my hand.
21:41I am deeply grateful for everything I went through in the past.
21:46I smiled at the reporters.
21:48They taught me that the most reliable support a woman has will always be herself.
21:54My photos made the front page of every major business media outlet.
21:57I also knew...
21:59I know Leon will see these.
22:00He lives every day in the shadow of his own remorse.
22:04God has his own way of punishing the wicked.
22:07I do not need to do it myself.
22:09They will drag each other down to hell.
22:11After the celebration banquet ended, I walked alone across the Brooklyn Bridge late at night.
22:16Under the dim streetlights, I saw a hunched figure Leon.
22:20He was wearing an old coat washed pale white, clutching something tightly in his hand,
22:24standing ten steps away from me like a homeless drifter, too afraid to come closer.
22:28He had become completely unrecognizable so thin, his hair long enough to cover his eyes,
22:32his face covered with stubble.
22:34I stopped walking.
22:35Helena.
22:36His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.
22:39I said nothing.
22:40He awkwardly wiped his hands on his pants and cautiously came closer, opening his palm to show me.
22:46In his palm lay a silver pocket watch.
22:48It was the foreign teen pocket watch that I had crushed back then,
22:52which he had pieced back together one shard at a time.
22:54Ugly glue marks covered the case.
22:57Helena.
22:58I fixed it.
22:59He looked at me.
23:00I spent a lot of money and found the best watchmaker in the world.
23:03The mainspring is still running.
23:05It can keep going.
23:08He tremblingly turned the pocket watch over, revealing the words Persemper on the back.
23:12See, I truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.
23:16I never, never thought things would turn out like this.
23:21I looked at the pocket watch in his hand, then at his gaunt face.
23:28Is this why you came looking for me, Leon?
23:30Just to show me this?
23:32A gust of wind blew by.
23:34I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness.
23:36And he pulled his coat tighter around himself.
23:38That coat was too small.
23:40It no longer fit.
23:42I just wanted to see you.
23:44To look at you one last time.
23:46You have seen enough, I said.
23:48Now you can go.
23:49He stood there without moving, his lips trembling slightly.
23:52I pointed at the pocket watch in his hand.
23:56Do you know what this pocket watch looks like now?
23:59Just like you.
24:01Once it is broken, it is broken.
24:04Even if you piece all the fragments back together, it is still just a pile of scrap metal.
24:09I took a bottle of liquor from my bag and poured it directly over it.
24:13He flailed like a madman, desperately trying to wipe the liquor off.
24:16No, no.
24:19No.
24:20This is the only thing I have left.
24:22Please, do not destroy it.
24:25I am not the one who destroyed it, Leon.
24:28You did that to yourself.
24:29I looked at him.
24:31Put away that face of a victim.
24:33You are not crying for me, Leon.
24:36You are crying because you yourself cannot accept where you have ended up.
24:39What you truly miss is the Leon DeSantis who had a wife, an empire, and a mistress.
24:45Now that you have nothing left, you are cleaning this scrap of metal because it only serves your pitiful pride,
24:51forcing yourself to feel something.
24:54He collapsed to the ground at once, covering his face with both hands and crying.
24:59I have nothing left.
25:02Elena, God really has abandoned me.
25:07My mother curses me in bed every day.
25:11Lucas, he will not even look at me.
25:14Every time I close my eyes, all I see is you, covered in blood.
25:18I cannot go on living.
25:19I looked at him, my voice steady.
25:22Then die.
25:24He suddenly lifted his head, his eyes blood red, his lips trembling.
25:28Do you really think you can live on like this with atonement and still earn my forgiveness?
25:33You yourself disgust me.
25:37Listen carefully, Leon DeSantis.
25:41From the second you hung up that phone, you had already become meaningless to me.
25:46I turned and left, while his crying grew farther and farther away behind me.
25:50One month later, Harris.
25:52Vance Studio won a massive asset restructuring project in Paris, and as the person in charge, I would be based
25:57here for three years.
25:58I never imagined I would meet him here, Matteo Ricci, the youngest son of the Ricci family.
26:02For years younger than me, yet the youngest godfather in the entire European Mafia alliance.
26:07Flipping through my files, reading out my name.
26:10Elena Vance, the North Shore Bank reconstruction project is your case.
26:14He sat across the conference table.
26:16I am the one in charge.
26:18He closed the file and reached out his hand to me.
26:20He did not call me DeSantis.
26:22Welcome to Paris, Elena.
26:23Then lifting his eyes.
26:24For the Ricci family's projects, I will work only with you.
26:27Over the next three weeks, we met almost every day discussing the project, negotiating terms, and occasionally sharing a meal
26:33together.
26:34He was very quiet.
26:35Unlike Leon, he did not need to dominate the room with his voice.
26:39Most of the time, he simply listened carefully, occasionally asking one or two questions, and every single one struck the
26:44key point.
26:45I have to admit, being with him was easy.
26:47But that ease was completely shattered in the fourth week.
26:50That night, after we finished discussing the last few terms at a restaurant by the same, he sat down his
26:54wine glass and looked at me and said,
26:57There is something I want to tell you first.
26:59I am interested in you.
27:01I raised a brow.
27:03Mateo, you are four years younger than me.
27:06And so what?
27:07The Ricci family will not accept.
27:09What the Ricci family thinks is up to me.
27:11He cut into the lamb chop on his plate, a faint smile touching his lips.
27:14You do not need to answer me now.
27:16But do not use age or family as an excuse to reject me.
27:19Those things mean nothing to me.
27:21I did not know how Leon got the news.
27:23At night, I received an encrypted message.
27:25It contained only one photo.
27:27Mateo and me in the restaurant, shot from an angle that deliberately made it look ambiguous.
27:31Below it was only one sentence.
27:33You have a new man beside you?
27:34Do you know what he does?
27:35I put the phone back into my bag and did not reply.
27:38Fifteen minutes later, a second message arrived.
27:41He comes from the Sicilian Ricci family.
27:43Do you know how much blood is on their hands?
27:45Elena, do not let him fool you.
27:47Then came a third, you never belonged in that world.
27:49Come back to me.
27:50I will not hurt you again.
27:52Looking at the messages popping up one after another on the screen,
27:55I suddenly found it absurdly ridiculous.
27:57He had clearly been the one to push me into the abyss,
27:59and yet now he still had the nerve to tell me that I did not belong in that world.
28:03I moved my finger and directly blocked him.
28:05Clearly, Leon did not intend to let go just like that.
28:08He flew to Paris.
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