- 55 minutes ago
The Red Lily I Chose to Forget
Category
๐ฅ
Short filmTranscript
00:00I paid a fortune to wipe my memory clean.
00:03I forgot the fiancรฉ who forged me from a street kid into a blade.
00:07I forgot the girl I once saved off a trafficking line,
00:10who then stole everything I had.
00:12I only remembered life before 18.
00:14Rainy nights, the orphanage,
00:17the bitter taste of cheap coffee,
00:19and one old poetry book, swollen from water.
00:22Three years later, I ran a used bookshop in Palermo.
00:26That dusk, the shop was empty.
00:28The bell over the door suddenly rang.
00:31Three men in black suits stepped out of the shadows.
00:34The lead one peeled off his leather gloves.
00:36His voice was low.
00:38Nightshade, why did you never answer the Don's recall?
00:41I stopped sliding a book back onto the shelf.
00:46Sorry, you have the wrong person.
00:49He took a step closer.
00:53Luca Moretti drowned the whole commission in blood for you.
00:59And you don't even give one explanation?
01:02The shop went so quiet I could hear a motorbike pass the corner.
01:06I looked at him.
01:08My chest ached for no reason.
01:10I had a memory override once.
01:12I kept my voice polite.
01:14Who is this Luca Moretti you're talking about?
01:17All three men froze at once.
01:21I followed their eyes to the other side of the street.
01:24A man stood in the dusk.
01:26Black coat.
01:28Tall.
01:29Lean.
01:30I didn't know him.
01:32But he looked at me like I had once killed him with my own hands.
01:38Later I learned his name was Luca Moretti.
01:42He was once my fiancรฉ.
01:45He was also the man who drove me onto that operating table.
01:49It all began at dawn, on the day of our wedding.
01:53That night the terrace of Villa Moretti was still lit.
01:56White roses filled the small chapel.
01:59Everyone was waiting for me to become Mrs. Moretti.
02:01But I couldn't find Luca.
02:03I went around the long hall and pushed open the terrace door.
02:06And I saw him holding Mia Bellini in his arms.
02:10She rose on her toes and kissed his lips.
02:13I didn't cry.
02:14I didn't scream.
02:16I was Nightshade.
02:17Red Lily's sharpest cleaner.
02:21Before my emotions broke,
02:23my body moved first.
02:24I struck for Luca's throat.
02:26My fingertips stopped on his artery.
02:28Mia screamed and threw herself at me.
02:30Valolina, don't hurt him!
02:33The next second,
02:34she shoved me into the pool.
02:36My head hit the wall.
02:38Cold water flooded my mouth.
02:40I opened my eyes underwater and almost laughed.
02:44Five years ago,
02:45I pulled Mia off a trafficking line.
02:46She was 15 then,
02:48thin as a sheet of paper.
02:50I taught her to read codes.
02:52I taught her to clean ledgers.
02:54She would make hot soup for the men after a job.
02:57She would say thank you in a trembling voice.
03:00Those blood-soaked men did no time.
03:02They said Red Lily finally had a real woman in it.
03:05When they said that,
03:07I was in the corner stitching a knife wound on my arm.
03:12Back then,
03:13Luca would frown,
03:14walk over,
03:14and take the needle from me.
03:16You're always harder on yourself than on the enemy.
03:19He tied the knot.
03:21I laughed at his shaking hands.
03:23Clumsy for a man who could strip a gun in three seconds.
03:27I believed that line.
03:29For ten years,
03:30we dodged hunters in the jungle.
03:34We emptied our magazines back-to-back in warehouses.
03:38We dragged each other out of blood at the docks.
03:41The first time I took the fall for him,
03:42I was locked for three days in the black site.
03:44He knelt outside the cell,
03:46eyes red enough to kill everyone.
03:48He said that for the rest of his life,
03:49he would never betray me.
03:51But a vow doesn't break in a single moment.
03:54It rots slowly from the first time
03:56someone starts playing favorites.
03:58I woke in the medical wing.
03:59I thought he would at least ask if it hurt.
04:03But when he spoke,
04:04his voice held only a tired warning.
04:07Mia was just scared.
04:09Don't use your night sheep methods on her.
04:12I looked at the old scar below his collarbone.
04:16Ten years ago,
04:17that bullet should have gone through my heart.
04:20You're afraid I'll deal with her in private?
04:25Red Lily forbids infighting.
04:27The wedding moves to next week.
04:29This ends here.
04:30The encrypt device by the bed bugged.
04:32Mia's name flashed on the screen.
04:35Luca glanced at it once.
04:36His brow tightened.
04:37She's having a panic attack.
04:38I'll go check on her.
04:40Luca.
04:40He stopped at the door.
04:42I asked him calmly.
04:44If it were her in the water tonight,
04:46would you also tell me it ends here?
04:48He didn't turn around.
04:50You're stronger than her.
04:52Don't waste my time on this.
04:53The door closed softly,
04:55but it was a nail pinning ten years of love to the bedside.
04:59My private terminal lit up with a black market ad.
05:03Phynex protocol.
05:05Rebuild your identity.
05:08Seal your trauma.
05:09I stared at that line for a long time.
05:12A tainted blade can be reforged.
05:13But a tainted love is not worth polishing.
05:17I booked my first neural overwrite.
05:20After the first overrode,
05:21my mind felt rinsed in ice water.
05:23Many memories remained,
05:25but they were locked behind an invisible door.
05:27I knew I had been hurt,
05:28but I couldn't grasp the shape of the pain.
05:30The doctor told me that once the final overhaul was done,
05:33I would lose every emotional tie to Red Lily
05:35that had formed after I came of age.
05:39I signed the consent form.
05:42What if I regret it?
05:44The doctor didn't look up.
05:46Once you enter the final opera round,
05:48the regret gets overwrought too.
05:51I smiled.
05:54Good.
05:56When I got back to the safe house,
05:58a celebration was underway.
06:00Mia sat in the center,
06:02holding a diamond-set tactical watch.
06:04Lana Creechie saw me and rushed over.
06:07Nightshade,
06:07Mia gave us key intel on the Balkan contract.
06:12The Don praised her himself.
06:14She pushed the gift box into my hands.
06:15You brought her into the family.
06:17It's only right that you give it to her.
06:18I walked to Mia and held out the box.
06:20She reached for it.
06:22The instant our fingers touched,
06:23the box dropped.
06:24The sapphire face shattered,
06:26like a crushed eye.
06:27Mia's tears fell at once.
06:30Valentina, I know you hate me,
06:31but this is from everyone.
06:35Someone whispered.
06:36She went too far.
06:37A maid woman,
06:38fighting a young girl over a man.
06:40Luca rose from the fireplace.
06:42He came over,
06:44picked up the broken watch,
06:46and pressed it back into my palm.
06:51Apologize.
06:52I looked at him.
06:54You saw me drop it?
06:56I saw her cry.
06:57That line cut deeper than any blade.
06:59I set the broken watch on the table.
07:03Then keep watching her cry.
07:05Mia's sobbing paused.
07:06Then she lunged and wrapped herself around my legs.
07:09Sister,
07:09don't send me away.
07:10Those men out there will eat me alive.
07:12Her nails dug deep into my ankle.
07:14I stepped back on instinct.
07:16My knee gave a slight push.
07:18But Mia screamed and fell,
07:19her left hand bending at an unnatural angle.
07:22Luca shoved me aside and scooped her up.
07:24I hit the corner of the table.
07:26A dull pain spread through my side.
07:29You have disappointed me.
07:30I braced myself against the table
07:32and didn't look at anyone.
07:34Luca.
07:35I apply to leave Red Lily.
07:37The whole safe house went silent.
07:40Luca sneered.
07:42How many days do you think you'd survive outside the family?
07:49That's my business.
07:51You're just jealous.
07:52Cool off for a few days.
07:53The wedding goes on.
07:55That night,
07:55I went to Don Salvatore's study.
07:58The old man sat in shadow,
07:59a cigar between his fingers.
08:01Your contract debt was cleared long ago.
08:03He pushed an encrypted key to the edge of the desk.
08:06This is enough to start over anywhere.
08:08But those who leave Omara have no family behind them.
08:11I took the key.
08:12There was never anyone behind me to begin with.
08:15He looked at me for a long while.
08:16Are you certain you want to give up the night sheep seat?
08:18I looked down at my hands.
08:20These hands had cleared 27 targets for Red Lily.
08:23They had taken three fatal hits meant for Luca.
08:25They had carried Mia out of a shipping container.
08:27But now,
08:28they only felt dirty.
08:29I'm not giving up a seat.
08:31I pushed the resignation ship onto the desk.
08:33I'm giving up on them.
08:36On the way back to the safe house,
08:37Luca called.
08:38I answered by accident.
08:40Your folding blade is with me.
08:41It was the knife we had taken from a target's vault
08:43after our first job together.
08:45Luca had carved LM and VR into the handle.
08:47He said if he ever betrayed me,
08:49I could use it to stab through his heart.
08:51I went quiet for a moment.
08:53No need to send it.
08:55Nightshade.
08:56We made it through 10 years.
08:58Why blow up over a small thing with Mia?
09:00A small thing.
09:00I repeated those three words.
09:02The last bit of warmth in my body drained away.
09:04Late that night,
09:05Luca came anyway.
09:07He set the knife on my nightstand,
09:09like he was handing me a step towards peace.
09:12When I woke at dawn,
09:13I read the carving on the handle.
09:15LM and MB.
09:18That was not my knife.
09:20I opened the hidden drawer.
09:21My blade still lay there.
09:24Untouched.
09:25So even our token of life and death,
09:27he had copied a second one for Mia.
09:29I felt no anger.
09:30I just revoked the safehouse primitutes.
09:32I took one bag and moved into a cash-only motel downtown.
09:36The noise of ordinary people came through the thin walls.
09:40For the first time,
09:41a stranger's world felt safer than home.
09:44However, the next morn,
09:46Luca issued an urgent order,
09:48requiring me to go to the medical wing.
09:50The moment I stepped into the hall,
09:52Luca burst out of a side door.
09:54He slammed me hard against the metal wall.
09:56His forearm pressed into my throat.
09:58What did you do to Mia last night?
10:01I was at the motel last night.
10:03Who else but you could have bypassed every camera,
10:06gotten into her room,
10:07and cut her alarm line?
10:09Lana and a few maid men stood behind him.
10:11No one moved.
10:12In the warn,
10:13Mia hugged her knees in the corner of the bed.
10:15As soon as she saw me,
10:17she let out a tearing scream.
10:19Don't let her near me!
10:21She said she'd send me back to those men!
10:24Luca let go of me.
10:25His voice went cold.
10:27Mia was diagnosed with severe PTSD.
10:29The doctor says her finger tendons are damaged.
10:31She'll never hold a gun steady again.
10:33So you'll face a disciplined hearing.
10:34I looked past his shoulder.
10:37Through the gap in the door,
10:38Mia was peeping me.
10:40Her face was wet with tears,
10:42but her eyes were utterly fearless.
10:43That was the look of a hunter
10:44who had just confirmed the trap had worked.
10:47I suddenly walked into the ward
10:49and stood in front of Mia.
10:52Was that person last night really me?
10:54Mia's pupils shrunk.
10:56The next second,
10:56she grabbed the metal cup from the bedside table
10:59and threw it at me.
10:59The rim grazed my brow.
11:01Blood slid down the corner of my eye.
11:02She shrunk behind Luca,
11:04crying so hard she could barely breathe.
11:06Don't touch me, sister.
11:07I'll give Luca back to you.
11:08Just let me go.
11:09Lana spoke first.
11:10Night show.
11:11Enough.
11:12She's terrified.
11:14And you're still pushing her?
11:15I wiped the blood from my eye.
11:17Lana,
11:18the year you tripped the alarm,
11:20I dragged you out of a pile of corpses.
11:22You owe me a life.
11:23And now you're just spending it testifying for her?
11:26She looked away.
11:27One thing has nothing to do with another.
11:29I finally laughed out loud.
11:31Wonderful.
11:32It seems what Red Lively taught you best
11:34was ingratitude.
11:35I looked at Luca.
11:37You want to judge me?
11:38I'm protecting the rules of the family.
11:41No, Luca.
11:42I wiped the blood from my lip.
11:45My voice was very soft.
11:47I'm protecting her.
11:51Hours later,
11:52I woke in the Blacksite interrogation room.
11:55Restraints held my wrists and ankles.
11:58A thin sensor was taped beside my temple.
12:02Luca stood at the door,
12:04like a judge with no feeling.
12:06Valentina Rinaldi,
12:07you are charged with private violence
12:09against a family member
12:10in breach of Omagia.
12:12Where's the evidence?
12:14Mia's testimony.
12:15The medical records,
12:17the camera blind spot.
12:18Snap your skill.
12:20I laughed.
12:21So skill can be evidence now?
12:24Luca's fingers paused
12:25on the discipline order.
12:26For one instant,
12:27I thought he would look at me.
12:29But he didn't.
12:31The pen came down.
12:32The signature was sharp.
12:34Begin.
12:35Two masked figures stepped closer.
12:38One drove a probe
12:39into the back of my neck.
12:40The torture leaned close
12:41to my ear and smiled.
12:43Don't worry.
12:44Someone gave special orders.
12:46There will be no scar on you.
12:47The moment the device started,
12:49pain exploded from my spine
12:51into my brain,
12:51as if someone were threading
12:53a red hot wire
12:54through every nerve I had.
12:55I bit through my lip.
12:57Blood filled my mouth.
12:58But I made no sound.
13:00Faint footsteps came
13:01from outside the wall.
13:02I knew Luca hadn't gone far.
13:04I also knew
13:05he would not come back.
13:07I don't know how long
13:08it lasted.
13:09The restraints loosened.
13:10I slid off the chair,
13:11not even feeling my nails
13:13tear and break.
13:14The next day,
13:15the door opened.
13:16Luca stood in the backlight.
13:18Exhaustion in his eyes.
13:19And a late,
13:20tangled something.
13:21So many eyes
13:22were watching last night.
13:24I had to give everyone
13:25an answer.
13:26I braced on the wall,
13:27stood,
13:28and walked around him.
13:31Done giving answers?
13:33Mia's cry came
13:34from the end of the hall.
13:36Luca, I'm so scared.
13:38His hand stopped in midair,
13:39then withdrew.
13:40Go back to your room.
13:41Don't cause more trouble.
13:43I watched him run
13:45towards that voice.
13:46My terminal buzzed.
13:48The final transfer
13:49had cleared.
13:50I flagged down a taxi
13:52and gave the address
13:53of Phoenix Clinic.
13:54The doctor attached
13:55the sensors to me
13:56and confirmed
13:57the final procedure.
13:58After the overroute,
13:59you'll forget Red Lily,
14:01forget Nightshake,
14:02and forget Luca Moretti.
14:05Will the body memory go too?
14:07No.
14:09So I might still flinch
14:10from gunfire.
14:12And I might still grip a knife
14:13that isn't there
14:14in my sleep.
14:15The doctor glanced at me.
14:17Yes, but you won't know why.
14:20That's enough.
14:21I nodded.
14:22He handed me one last document.
14:24That was a refusal
14:25of restoration clause.
14:27Once signed,
14:28no one could wake my memory
14:29in the name of lover,
14:31family, or guardian.
14:32I signed it fast.
14:34As the pen came down,
14:35the back of my hand
14:36still trembled
14:37from the nerve pain
14:37after to the torture.
14:38The doctor asked
14:39if I wanted to leave a message.
14:41I thought for a long time,
14:43then recorded these words.
14:45If Luca Moretti finds this place,
14:47please don't let him see me.
14:49I don't hate him.
14:51Hate still means remembering him.
14:53But I don't want
14:55to remember anymore.
14:56I close my eyes.
14:59Begin.
15:02My consciousness was pulled away
15:04piece by piece.
15:05Gunshots, vows,
15:07the jungle,
15:08the carving on the knife,
15:10Luca's back once shielding me,
15:12all curling and blacking
15:13like old photographs.
15:14The last thing burned away
15:16was the part of me
15:16that loved him.
15:17Before the deep sleep took me,
15:19I had already arranged
15:20my own death.
15:21I bought an unidentified
15:23female body,
15:24a death certificate
15:25scorched by fire,
15:26a clean route to Sicily.
15:28I made every clue
15:29point to the eastern border,
15:31while the real me
15:32would be loaded onto
15:32a freighter bound for Polesmo
15:34after the final overrode.
15:35When the doctor counted to three,
15:37I said one last line
15:38to Nightshale
15:39in my heart.
15:40You did well.
15:41You can die now.
15:43After I disappeared,
15:44Luca had really come
15:45looking for me.
15:46It was the third day
15:47after my overhoad.
15:48He went to the safe house.
15:49First,
15:50he wanted to swap back
15:51the knife with the wrong name
15:52and to end the Cold War
15:53with a new ring,
15:54but the fingerprint scanner
15:55flashed red.
15:57It let out a harsh
15:58rejection tone.
15:59He tried again,
16:00still red.
16:01The permission
16:02had been permanently revoked.
16:03He called in
16:04the family's cleanup staff.
16:06The man pulled up
16:06the back ward
16:07and his face dartened.
16:10Boss,
16:11her file status
16:12is permanent separation.
16:13Signed off by the Don himself
16:15three days ago.
16:16Luca stared at that line
16:18and didn't move
16:18for a long time.
16:20Where did she go?
16:21There's no destination
16:22in the system.
16:24What did she take?
16:25One bag,
16:27one encrypted fund.
16:29The man paused.
16:30In all her operation records,
16:32she wiped him clean herself.
16:36Luca rushed into my room.
16:38The closet,
16:39empty.
16:40The drawers,
16:41empty.
16:41Even the pen I used
16:42was gone.
16:43Only the knife he'd sent
16:44lay on the nightstand.
16:46LM and MB.
16:47He finally read the names
16:48on the handle.
16:48In that moment,
16:49he felt uneasy
16:50for the first time.
16:51But he still didn't think
16:52of the worst.
16:53He thought I was only hiding
16:54for a few days.
16:55He thought I would come back
16:56on my own like every other
16:57fight before.
16:57But he didn't know
16:58I had deleted the option
16:59of coming back
17:00with my own hands.
17:01Mia moved into Luca's room
17:03soon after.
17:04Because she said
17:04she had nightmares
17:05living alone.
17:08She said she only felt
17:09safe close to him.
17:11She made soup,
17:12changed bandages,
17:13stayed up until dawn
17:14when he drank.
17:15She would press
17:16a wet cloth to his forehead
17:18over and over
17:19when he ran a fever.
17:20She would show
17:21every passing maid man
17:22a smile,
17:22restrained and brave.
17:24Hence,
17:25a new saying spread
17:25through the family.
17:26They said Mia
17:27was a good girl.
17:28They said nightshade
17:29was too cruel,
17:30unworthy of the boss's tenderness.
17:32Only one person
17:33never echoed
17:34any of it.
17:34That was Luca.
17:36He didn't turn the page
17:38just because he married Mia,
17:39the way everyone assumed.
17:41He started drinking.
17:42Villa Morelli's liquor cabinet
17:44emptied by half
17:44in a week.
17:45The living room
17:46reeked of whiskey
17:47and tobacco
17:48all year round.
17:49He took every
17:49clean-up contract
17:50no one else dared touch,
17:51like he was sending himself
17:53into the muzzle
17:53on purpose.
17:54On the Balkan job,
17:55he cleared an entire
17:56warehouse alone.
17:57He came back
17:58with two new bullet holes
17:59in his left shoulder.
18:00He didn't even wipe the blood
18:01before taking the next job.
18:03It was on the docks
18:05of Chicago's south side.
18:06It was meant to be
18:07the simplest recycling job,
18:09but he blanked out
18:10right before pulling
18:10the trigger.
18:11The dying target
18:12lashed back
18:13and a blade sank
18:15into his stomach.
18:16Blood ran down
18:16his black suit,
18:17but he felt nothing
18:19and pushed the man's head
18:20under the river.
18:21Back on shore,
18:22he leaned on the railer
18:24and laughed.
18:25There was no life
18:26in that laugh.
18:26That was the first time
18:28Red Lily pulled Luca
18:29off the active roster.
18:32Don Salvatore ordered
18:33him to rest,
18:34with no end date.
18:35He sat in the empty room,
18:37polishing the real knife,
18:39carved with LM and VR,
18:41once and again.
18:42The blade shone bright enough
18:44to reflect his sunken eyes.
18:46He didn't know
18:47I had seen the copy
18:48before I left.
18:49He didn't know
18:50the knife was never
18:51what cut me.
18:52It was that he assumed
18:53I would always stand
18:54in place,
18:55waiting for him.
18:57When he was drunk
18:58to the point
18:59of losing his mind,
19:00he repeated
19:01only one name.
19:02Valentina,
19:03come back.
19:04Valentina,
19:05I was wrong.
19:06But in the empty room,
19:08no one answered him.
19:10Mia couldn't wait
19:11to sit still.
19:12She had waited
19:13three months,
19:14but Luca never
19:14touched her once.
19:18She finally understood.
19:19As long as I was alive,
19:21Luca would never be hers.
19:23So she spread word
19:25that someone had seen
19:27Nightshapes' body
19:28at the eastern border.
19:30Three days later,
19:31a wallet,
19:32warped by fire,
19:33was delivered
19:33to Villa Moretti.
19:35Inside were my old cards,
19:37and a photo burnt to half.
19:39That was a clue
19:40I had left on purpose.
19:42I needed everyone
19:43to believe Nightshope
19:44had died in the east,
19:46but I never expected
19:47Mia to be the first
19:48to use the false death news.
19:50When Luca got the wallet,
19:51he looked like a man
19:52with his bones pulled out.
19:54He shut himself
19:54in his room
19:55for a full week.
19:56No food.
19:58No drink.
19:59He saw no one.
20:01The aide stood outside
20:02for seven days,
20:04hearing only glass shatter
20:06now and then.
20:07Mia decided
20:08the time had come.
20:11That deep night,
20:12she carried in
20:13a bowl of hangover soup.
20:14In it was enough drug
20:16to black out a grown man
20:17for an entire night.
20:18Luca, have a little.
20:19It'll help.
20:20He lifted the bowl
20:21to his lips.
20:22He leaned on the headboard,
20:23eyes hollow,
20:25without even the strength
20:25to push it away.
20:27He drank it down,
20:28from her hand,
20:29with no defense.
20:31The drug rose fast.
20:33His mind blurred,
20:34bit by bit.
20:35The last thing he saw
20:37was Mia's face,
20:38leaning close,
20:39and the flash of triumph
20:41in her eyes.
20:42The next dawn,
20:43Luca woke
20:44to a splitting headache.
20:45Mia lay beside him,
20:47wrapped in the blanket,
20:48one shoulder bare,
20:49the sheets a mess.
20:50She had silenced
20:51the terminal on the table,
20:52but the screen still
20:54blicked a red
20:54life sign alert.
20:55The aide's urgent voice
20:57came through the door.
20:58Boss, are you in there?
21:00Your life signal
21:01went dark
21:02for three hours last night.
21:03The electronic lock
21:04was opened
21:05by emergency override.
21:06A few made men
21:08burst in,
21:09then froze in place.
21:10Don Savator
21:11stood at the door too.
21:12The old man's eyes
21:13swept the messy
21:14bed,
21:14and landed
21:15on Luca's pale face.
21:16The whole room
21:17went terribly quiet.
21:18Red Lily
21:19does not interfere
21:20in private affairs.
21:22The Dodd's voice
21:23was low,
21:23but everyone
21:24bowed their heads.
21:25But you touched
21:26a woman under
21:27your protection,
21:28so you'll give
21:29her a title.
21:30Luca opened his mouth.
21:31He wanted to explain,
21:33but he remembered
21:34nothing.
21:35He knew he had
21:36been set up.
21:37But in Red Lily,
21:39the scandal itself
21:40was evidence.
21:42Omada doesn't
21:43care about truth.
21:45It cares about
21:46the family's reputation.
21:48He had no proof
21:50he'd been drugged.
21:51He couldn't even
21:52explain what had
21:53happened the night
21:54before.
21:55The wedding
21:56was rushed
21:56and absurd.
21:57Villa Moretti's
21:58small chapel
21:59was dressed in
21:59new white roses,
22:00almost identical
22:01to the ones
22:02prepared for me.
22:03Luca stood
22:04before the priest
22:05in a black suit,
22:06like a man
22:06marched to the gallows.
22:07Luca Moretti,
22:09will you protect
22:09Bellaluri
22:10until the end
22:11of your life?
22:11The priest asked.
22:12Luca looked at Mia,
22:13but his mind
22:14was full of my shadow.
22:16My back.
22:17The night I took
22:18the fall for him.
22:19The way I laughed
22:21at his shaking hands.
22:22Cold laugh I gave him
22:24when I opened
22:24my eyes underwater.
22:25His stomach turned.
22:27Under the wide skirt,
22:28Mia secretly
22:29pinched his hand.
22:30Everyone is watching.
22:31We don't want to
22:32disappoint the dawn,
22:33right?
22:33She lowered her voice.
22:35Luca closed
22:36his eyes.
22:37I do.
22:37He said those words
22:38like swallowing
22:39broken glass.
22:40After the banquet,
22:41he walked back
22:42to the new bedroom alone.
22:44Rounding the corner
22:44of the hall,
22:45he heard laughter inside.
22:47It was Mia and Lana.
22:49This time,
22:50I owe it all to you.
22:51Mia's voice was sweet
22:52to the point of clogging.
22:54If you hadn't helped
22:55me edit the cameras
22:56and shift the timeline,
22:57how would Luca
22:58never believe Valentina
22:59broke in at midnight
23:00to scare me?
23:01Lana laughed softly.
23:03Nightshade has skill,
23:04sure.
23:04But she's too proud.
23:07So she pulled me out
23:08of a pile of corpses.
23:09So what?
23:11Every time she looked at me,
23:12it was like she was
23:13pitying a trash.
23:15Mia scoffed.
23:16However good she is,
23:17she's just a dead woman now.
23:18A dead woman,
23:19her own man,
23:20sent to the operating plate.
23:22Outside the door,
23:23Luca's hand slid
23:24slowly off the wall.
23:25Fake.
23:26All of it fake.
23:27Mia's PTSD was fake.
23:29The night raid was fake.
23:30My death was fake too.
23:32But one thing was real.
23:33It was he who signed
23:34that discipline order.
23:35It was he who had pushed me,
23:36step by step,
23:37into the Phoenix Protocol.
23:39In that moment,
23:40Luca finally understood
23:41he hadn't lost a fiancรฉ
23:42who threw a tantrum.
23:43He had killed,
23:44with his own hands,
23:45the only person in this world
23:47who ever truly loved him.
23:48Luca pushed the door open.
23:50The laughter in the room
23:51cut off at once.
23:52Mia's face turned white
23:53in an instant.
23:53The jewelry box in Lana's hands
23:55hit the floor with a clack.
23:56Gems scattered everywhere.
23:58Luca walked towards Mia,
23:59step by step.
24:00His pace was slow,
24:02but each step landed
24:03like it was crushing
24:04the heartbeats of two women.
24:05Say it again.
24:06Mia backed away.
24:08Her lower back hit the vanity.
24:11Luca, you misheard.
24:12We were just talking
24:13about the wedding.
24:14He gripped her throat
24:15and pinned her to the wall.
24:19The PTSD was fake.
24:21Mia's toes nearly left the floor.
24:24She clawed at his wrist,
24:25her voice breaking.
24:26It's just because
24:27I loved you too much.
24:28I've loved you since I was 15.
24:30Why does Valentin get everything
24:32and I get nothing?
24:33Valentina's death news.
24:34You did that too?
24:36Do you?
24:38She's done with you!
24:40Mia burst into tears.
24:41I'm the one who stayed.
24:43I'm the one who changes
24:45your bandages every day.
24:48I'm the one who's
24:49really good to you.
24:51Luca's hand tightened further.
24:53And the cameras?
24:53He turned to look at Lana,
24:55cowering in the corner.
24:56Lana's knees gave out.
24:57She dropped straight
24:58to the floor.
24:59I edited them.
25:00But I only helped Mia once.
25:02Luca, I really didn't mean
25:03to get her killed.
25:04I thought she'd only be
25:05locked up for a few days.
25:07Luca let go of Mia.
25:08She collapsed on the ground,
25:10coughing hard.
25:11He wiped his hand
25:11with a handkerchief,
25:12like he'd touched
25:13something filthy.
25:14Then he threw the handkerchief
25:15onto Mia's face.
25:16He keyed his terminal.
25:18His voice held
25:18no rise or fall.
25:19Discipline crew.
25:21Come to the bedroom.
25:22Hearing those words,
25:23Mia crawled to him
25:23like she'd gone mad.
25:25She wrapped around Luca's leg.
25:26Kill me if you want.
25:27Just don't cut me
25:28out of your life.
25:29For the three years
25:30I stayed with you,
25:31I'm begging you.
25:31Luca looked down at her,
25:32only cold disgust
25:33in his eyes.
25:34Killing you would be
25:35too easy.
25:36Several men in black
25:37arrived quickly.
25:37They hauled Mia up
25:38and dragged her
25:39toward the door.
25:40Mia went from begging
25:41to cursing.
25:42Her voice was as sharp
25:43as a knife scraping glass.
25:44Luca Moretti,
25:45you'll regret this.
25:46Valentina is never
25:47coming back.
25:48She's dead.
25:49You send her to die
25:50with your own hands.
25:50You'll never see her
25:51again in the night.
25:53Luca stood in place.
25:55He didn't turn around.
25:57He gave the aide
25:59his orders.
26:00Mia Bellini framed
26:01a maid family member,
26:02faked a death,
26:03broke Omarda,
26:05take her to the
26:05Palermo Blacksite
26:06CIS ball.
26:07For how long?
26:08Luca's voice
26:09held no warmth.
26:11Until she forgets
26:12she ever saw the light.
26:13The Palermo Blacksite
26:14censor.
26:15That was Red Lily's
26:16oldest place of punishment,
26:18an underground water vault
26:19left from the family's
26:20smuggling years.
26:21The stone walls
26:22wept year round.
26:23A chain nailed
26:24into the wall
26:25on one end
26:25and locked to the
26:26prisoner's neck
26:27on the other.
26:28There was no light,
26:29no day or night.
26:30There was only the
26:31sound of water
26:32dripping into water.
26:33One drop,
26:33then another.
26:34The first night
26:35Mia was taken down,
26:36her crying carried
26:36through the vents
26:37for a long time.
26:38She screamed Luca's
26:40name over and over
26:41and cursed me
26:42over and over.
26:43The aide asked
26:44if they should gag her.
26:46No need.
26:47Luca stood
26:48beside the well,
26:49watching the cold
26:50lamp reflected
26:51on the water.
26:54Let her hear
26:55how ugly she sounds.
26:56He turned to leave.
26:58Halfway out,
26:59he stopped.
27:00He pulled a brand
27:01new wedding ring
27:02from his pocket.
27:03The one he'd been
27:04forced to slide
27:05onto Mia's finger.
27:06He casually tossed
27:07it into the black
27:08water below.
27:09The ring sank.
27:11Without even an echo.
27:13That girl who had
27:14once played so pitifully.
27:15That girl who used
27:16one bowl of soup,
27:17one act,
27:18one fake death
27:19to ruin ten years
27:19of my life,
27:20was finally locked
27:21in a lightless citizen.
27:23They say three months
27:24later,
27:25when the guards
27:25brought food,
27:26she no longer
27:27screamed Luca's name.
27:29She just hugged
27:31her knees
27:31and laughed
27:33at the water stains
27:34on the wall
27:35over and over.
27:38But none of this
27:39had anything
27:39to do with me anymore.
27:42I didn't even know
27:43such a girl
27:43had ever existed.
27:45Lana was taken
27:45to the commission hearing.
27:47To light of her own crime,
27:48she handed over
27:49all the evidence.
27:50The camera edit logs,
27:51the ledger for the
27:52faked body,
27:53Mia's dark web orders
27:54for the drugs.
27:55Item by item,
27:56it all matched.
27:57Luca took the evidence
27:58to Don Salvatore.
27:59For the first time,
28:01he knelt in that study.
28:02His back bent
28:03like it had been broken.
28:04Tell me where Valentia went.
28:06The old Don
28:06looked down at him.
28:07She took what she was
28:08owed before she left.
28:10As for where she went,
28:11I have no right to ask.
28:12No.
28:13Luca raised his head,
28:14eyes red.
28:14I'm begging you,
28:15tell me.
28:16The old Don
28:17was silent for a long time.
28:18He slowly ground out
28:19his cigar in the tray.
28:21I only know one thing.
28:22What she begged for
28:23was not to escape
28:24red lily.
28:25What she begged for
28:26was to forget me.
28:27That line cut deeper
28:28than any bullet.
28:29Luca knelt there,
28:30unable to say another word.
28:31From that day on,
28:32Luca was a blade
28:32with no sheep.
28:33He began the reckoning.
28:34Everyone who had ever
28:35mocked me.
28:35Everyone who handed
28:36Mia a knife
28:37who spoke ill of me.
28:38One by one,
28:38they were dragged
28:39to the commission
28:39or sent to the most
28:40dangerous border front.
28:41None came back.
28:44The ones who jeered
28:45for me to apologize
28:46were stripped
28:46of every contract cut.
28:48Lana Ricci was stripped
28:49of her maid woman status
28:50and sent to a border
28:51counting house,
28:52never to set foot
28:53in Villa Moretti again.
28:54The torturer
28:55who used the neural device
28:56on me in that room
28:57was dragged into
28:57the very same metal chair
28:58by Luca.
29:03Luca strapped him
29:05with the same restraints
29:06and taped on
29:07the same sensors.
29:10They said when
29:11that man came out,
29:12he couldn't speak
29:13one full sentence.
29:14Someone advised
29:15Luca to stop.
29:17The whole family
29:18had been purged
29:19into fear.
29:21But he only said
29:22one word.
29:25What she went through,
29:27every one of them
29:28should feel once.
29:29In the end,
29:30his reckoning
29:31even traced
29:31the black market
29:32clinic's transfer records.
29:33But the trail ended
29:34at an anonymous lock
29:35he could never open.
29:37He sat in the study
29:38for an entire night.
29:39The next day,
29:40he ordered every mirror
29:41in the family removed.
29:43The 80s didn't understand.
29:44Only he knew
29:45he couldn't stand
29:46the face in the glass.
29:47It was the face
29:48of a man
29:48who sent the one
29:49he loved into hell
29:49with his own hands.
29:51But late punishment
29:51meant nothing.
29:52He washed all
29:53of red lily in blood.
29:54He killed everyone
29:55who ever wronged me.
29:56But he still could not
29:57find the me he lost
29:58with his own hands.
29:59A blood deat
30:00can be collected
30:01one by one.
30:02But the person you lost,
30:04not one can be traded back.
30:07And I,
30:08at that time,
30:09was in Palermo at dawn,
30:11watering a pot
30:12of red spider lisses,
30:15knowing nothing
30:15of all this
30:17and feeling nothing
30:18of it either.
30:21Three years later,
30:23my life in Palermo
30:24was quiet,
30:25like an old book.
30:26My name now
30:28was Valentina Bellani.
30:30Every morning at seven,
30:32the smell of bread
30:33from the bakery
30:33downstairs reached
30:34my room before my alarm.
30:39I would brew
30:40a weak cup of coffee
30:41and sit by the window,
30:43writing the day's stock list.
30:46Then I would go downstairs
30:48and open the old
30:49wooden door of the shop
30:51and carry the pot
30:53of red spider lilies
30:55out into the sun.
30:57On quiet afternoons,
30:59I would recommend
31:00poetry to whoever
31:02wandered in.
31:03In the evening,
31:04Marco would come
31:05on his electric scooter
31:06to pick me up.
31:08He would take me
31:09to the little restaurant
31:10on the corner.
31:11I lived on the second floor
31:13of the shop.
31:13The room was small,
31:15but from the window,
31:16I could see a sliver
31:18of the sea.
31:19No encrypted channels.
31:21No mission countdowns.
31:23No one in my ear
31:24ordering me
31:25to clean a target.
31:27A life this ordinary
31:28feels almost like luxury.
31:30Marco always says
31:31I'm like someone
31:32who just learned
31:33to be a person.
31:34But I say
31:35that's not so bad.
31:38Being a person
31:39is better than
31:39being a blade.
31:41I don't know.
31:41I once held a gun.
31:43I don't know
31:44why my body
31:45tense a beat early
31:46at the sound
31:46of clashing metal.
31:50Once,
31:51the kitchen behind
31:52the restaurant
31:53dropped a whole stack
31:54of knives.
31:56I pulled Mari behind me.
31:58Almost on instinct.
32:00Even I froze.
32:02Marco looked at me
32:03for a long time.
32:04You must have been
32:05hurt really badly
32:06somewhere in the past.
32:09I believed him.
32:12After all,
32:13I did have one
32:14faint old scar
32:15on the back of my neck.
32:16I didn't know
32:16where it came from,
32:17but it didn't hurt.
32:20That was enough.
32:22These three years,
32:23I had run the shop well.
32:25I remembered
32:26every regular's taste.
32:27The baker downstairs
32:29saved me the first
32:30corzone out of the Ivan
32:31every day.
32:32The old woman
32:33at the corner flower stalk
32:35gave me her
32:35leftover daisies.
32:38Marco taught me
32:39to ride that old scooter.
32:41My first time out,
32:42I knocked over
32:43three trash casses.
32:45He laughed at me
32:46for a whole week.
32:48At night,
32:49I would sit by
32:50the second floor window
32:51and watch that
32:51sliver of sea.
32:53No bodies on the water.
32:55No deals.
32:56No targets to clean.
32:58Only moonlight.
32:59And the lamps
33:00of distant fishing boats.
33:01I started to believe
33:03a person really
33:03could start over.
33:04No need for a codename.
33:06No need for a gun.
33:07All you need
33:08is a creaking wooden door
33:09and a sun that rises
33:11on time every day.
33:12Until that dusk,
33:14Belondi Books
33:14had no customers.
33:17I was pushing a row
33:18of old books
33:19back onto the shelf.
33:20The bell over the door
33:21suddenly rang.
33:26Three men in black suits
33:28stepped out of the dusk.
33:30Their shoes were polished.
33:32Their eyes were cold.
33:34They carried an air
33:35that didn't belong
33:36on this quiet old street.
33:38The lead man
33:39peeled off
33:40his leather gloves.
33:42Nightshade.
33:44Why did you never answer
33:45the dawn's recall?
33:49I stopped what
33:50I was doing.
33:52I'm sorry.
33:54You have the wrong person.
33:55My name is
33:56Valentina Belendi.
33:58He took a step forward.
34:02Luca Morendi
34:03drowned the whole
34:04commission in blood
34:05for you.
34:07And you don't even
34:08give one explanation?
34:09The shop went so quiet
34:10I could hear a motorbike
34:11pass the corner.
34:12I looked at him
34:13and my chest ached
34:15for no reason.
34:17The ache was faint
34:18like something
34:19deep in my body
34:20had bumped a door.
34:21Lightly.
34:22I tried to keep
34:23my voice polite.
34:24I had a memory
34:25override once.
34:27Who is this
34:28Luca Morecci
34:28you're talking about?
34:29All three men
34:30froze at once.
34:31I followed their eyes
34:32to the other side
34:33of the street.
34:34A man stood
34:35deep in the dusk.
34:36Black coat.
34:37Tall and lean.
34:39Like a shadow
34:40stepping out
34:40of an old nightmare.
34:41I didn't know him
34:42but the way
34:43he looked at me
34:44was like I had
34:44once killed him
34:45with my own hands.
34:46The man slowly
34:47walked into the shop.
34:49The bell rang again.
34:50I looked up at him
34:50and thought he was strange.
34:52He wore an expensive coat.
34:54He looked like a man
34:54who could decide
34:55many people's in death.
34:56Yet in front of me
34:57his face
34:58went white.
34:59You don't know me?
35:00His voice was badly
35:01hoarse.
35:02He hadn't spoken days.
35:03If we knew each other
35:04before I'm
35:05thought about it.
35:06My memory stops
35:07at 18.
35:08The doctor said
35:09everything after that
35:10was cleared.
35:11Not a single thing.
35:12There was a tremble
35:13in his voice
35:14I couldn't read.
35:15You really don't
35:16remember me at all?
35:19No.
35:20I don't remember.
35:22I shook my head.
35:23I saw his hands
35:24shaking violently.
35:26And suddenly
35:26I couldn't bear it.
35:28You don't look well?
35:29Would you like
35:30to sit down
35:30for a moment?
35:31It was as if
35:32those words
35:33had struck him hard.
35:34His whole body swayed.
35:36I took a book
35:37from under the counter
35:38and handed it to him.
35:39It was an old
35:40poetry collection
35:40about making peace
35:41with the past.
35:42You carry a lot
35:43of violence with you.
35:44Maybe this book
35:45will help quiet you
35:46a little.
35:47He took the book.
35:48His fingertips
35:49trembled so much
35:50he could barely hold it.
35:53The next second
35:54a tear fell onto
35:55the cover of the book.
35:57I froze.
35:58I didn't know
35:59why this stranger
36:00was crying.
36:01And I never knew
36:02that long, long ago
36:03I had seen him
36:04take a bullet.
36:04Seen him kill.
36:05Seen him grin
36:06in a pool of blood.
36:08But I had never
36:09once seen him
36:10cry like this.
36:11The bell over the door
36:12rang a third time.
36:13Marco pushed the door open.
36:15He carried our packed
36:15dinner in his hand.
36:16Val, the restaurant
36:17said the seafood soup
36:18was almost sold out.
36:19But I got the last
36:20two servings.
36:21I smiled at once.
36:22That smile had grown
36:22on my face
36:23over these three years.
36:24Light, unburdened.
36:25Then let's close early.
36:27I turned to the crying man
36:28and apologized softly.
36:30Sir, we're closing now.
36:32He stood by the door,
36:34watching me turn off
36:35the lights,
36:36watching me lock the door,
36:38watching me naturally
36:39climb onto the back
36:40of Marco's scooter.
36:42My arms wrapped around
36:44another man's waist.
36:45Before Marco started
36:47the scooter,
36:48he looked back
36:48and asked me,
36:49Who was that man?
36:53I looked back
36:54for a glance.
36:55Under the street lamp,
36:57the man in black
36:58stood very straight.
37:00Yet it looked like
37:01the whole night
37:02had bent his back.
37:03I don't know.
37:04Probably someone
37:05who got the wrong person.
37:07The scooter rolled
37:07through the narrow
37:08old street.
37:09I couldn't help
37:10but look back
37:11one last time.
37:12The man was still
37:13standing there,
37:14holding the book
37:15I had given him.
37:16The rain hadn't
37:17fallen yet,
37:18but his shoulders
37:19looked already
37:20soaked through.
37:21My chest felt tight
37:23for a moment.
37:24The feeling was
37:25unfamiliar,
37:26like a door
37:27deep inside me
37:28had been blown
37:28open a crack,
37:29then quickly shut again.
37:31I lowered my head
37:33and pressed my chest.
37:35Are you feeling unwell?
37:37No.
37:38I looked up
37:39at the glowing
37:39restaurant sign ahead.
37:41That warm yellow sign
37:42was the color
37:43of my life now.
37:44It's just that
37:45some people seem
37:46to live very hard lives.
37:47Marco smiled.
37:48Then stay away
37:49from people
37:50who live hard lives.
37:51I smiled too.
37:53Okay.
37:53What I didn't know
37:54was that after that night,
37:56Luca went to
37:56the Phoenix Clinic.
37:57That black market clinic
37:59was hidden
38:00under an old pharmacy
38:01by the port.
38:02No sign at the door.
38:04Only one green lamp,
38:06about to burn out.
38:07On.
38:07Off.
38:09The doctor saw
38:10the red lily crest
38:11under at Luca's coat.
38:13His face went white
38:14at once.
38:15Mr. Morady,
38:17the Phoenix Protocol
38:18contract is protected
38:19by anonymity.
38:21I cannot disclose
38:22client information.
38:24Luca set a gun
38:25on the table.
38:26The muzzle pointed
38:28at himself.
38:31I'm not asking
38:32where she is.
38:33The doctor's
38:34atoms-joeman moved.
38:36Then,
38:36what do you want to ask?
38:39Whether it can be restored?
38:41The doctor was silenced
38:43for a long time.
38:44Finally,
38:45he pulled up
38:46an encrypted file.
38:47Mr. Morady,
38:49you have to understand.
38:50The final overroute
38:51is not hypnosis,
38:52nor is it
38:53ordinary trauma sealing.
38:54What she asked to delete
38:55was the entire identity
38:57chain of her adult years,
38:58the emotional chain,
38:59and every trigger
39:00for danger responses.
39:01We kept her basic language,
39:03life skills,
39:03and bodily instincts.
39:04But everything related
39:05to red lily
39:06has been severed.
39:07Luca's knuckles
39:08tightened bit by bit.
39:09I asked if it can be restored.
39:11The doctor lowered his head.
39:13In theory,
39:13those fragments
39:14could be forcibly stimulated,
39:15but she would suffer
39:16a mental breakdown.
39:17More importantly,
39:19the doctor paused.
39:20Before the procedure,
39:21she signed a refusal
39:23of restoration clause.
39:24The doctor took
39:25a recording device
39:26from the drawer
39:26and pushed it across
39:27to Luca.
39:28This is the message
39:28she left.
39:29She said if you ever
39:30came looking,
39:31I should play it for you.
39:32He pressed play.
39:33In the recording,
39:34it was my voice.
39:36At that time,
39:37I had just come off
39:37the neural torture.
39:38So weak,
39:39I could barely speak
39:40one full sentence.
39:41But the clarity
39:42in that voice
39:43was sharper than ever.
39:45If Luca Moretti
39:46finds this place,
39:47please don't let him
39:49see me.
39:49There was a long pause
39:51in the recording.
39:52I don't hate him.
39:53Hate would still mean
39:54remembering him.
39:55But I don't want
39:56to remember anymore.
39:58Another patch of static.
40:00Night's shea
40:01was Red Livy's blade.
40:05She loved Luca.
40:09And she was broken
40:11by Luca
40:11with his own hands.
40:15When the procedure ends,
40:17the person who survives
40:19owes him nothing,
40:20owes the family nothing,
40:22owes no vow,
40:23anything.
40:24Please,
40:25let her be free.
40:26The recording ended.
40:28Luca listened
40:29and said nothing
40:30for a long time.
40:31The whole clinic
40:32was quiet
40:33except for the hum
40:33of that green lamp.
40:35The doctor took out
40:36one more thing,
40:37a paper document.
40:39It was an ordinary
40:40pre-op consent form,
40:42a small patch of
40:43dark brown blood
40:44on the corner.
40:45From the day I signed it,
40:47when the back of my hand
40:48trembled from nerve pain,
40:49below the signature,
40:50I had written one extra line.
40:52The handwriting was
40:53slightly distorted
40:54from trembling.
40:54Nightshade died
40:55in the final Oberoad.
40:56Please don't not revive her.
40:58Luca stared at that line
40:59for a very,
41:00very long time.
41:01Long enough
41:02that the doctor thought
41:03he would never speak again.
41:05In the end,
41:06he took from the inner
41:07pocket of his coat
41:08the folding blade
41:09carved with LM and VR.
41:11That was the real one.
41:12Ten years ago,
41:13he had carved
41:14both their names
41:15into it himself.
41:17He said if he ever
41:18betrayed me,
41:18I could use it
41:19to stab through his heart.
41:20He set the knife down
41:21beside the consent form.
41:26Seal it into the file.
41:27The doctor froze.
41:30Mr. Moretti,
41:31this is yours.
41:32No.
41:33His voice was empty.
41:35Like it had been
41:36blown through
41:37by sea wind.
41:39It belongs to the one
41:40who's already dead.
41:42With that,
41:43he turned and left.
41:45Without looking back.
41:48That knife,
41:49which had witnessed
41:50ten years of life
41:51and death,
41:52was finally sealed,
41:53along with that form
41:55that reads
41:55Please do not revive her.
41:57Into a file
41:58no one will ever
42:00open again.
42:01Back at Villa Moretti,
42:03Luca called
42:03a commission meeting.
42:04He pushed through
42:05three new rules.
42:07First,
42:07Nightshep's file
42:08is permanently sealed.
42:09Status changed
42:10to deceased.
42:11Second,
42:12Bellandi books
42:12and the three streets
42:13around it,
42:14marked as a permanent
42:15red lie and no entry zone.
42:17Third,
42:17no member may approach
42:18Valentina Bellani.
42:19Not in the name
42:20of protection,
42:22pursuit,
42:22recall,
42:23or revenge.
42:24An older capo
42:25spoke up,
42:26hesitantly.
42:27Boss?
42:28She knows too much
42:30of the family's
42:30old business,
42:31after all.
42:32Even with the memory
42:33loss,
42:33she's a risk.
42:37Maybe we should
42:37cut the...
42:38Luca lifted his eyes
42:40and looked at him.
42:41That one look
42:41froze in the whole room.
42:43I am the risk.
42:44He said it,
42:45one word at a time.
42:46Whoever touches her,
42:48I will handle them
42:49personally.
42:50No one dared
42:51say another word.
42:52After the meeting,
42:53the aide handed him
42:54a black envelope.
42:56Boss,
42:56that bridal suite
42:57in Villa Morelli
42:58is still kept as it was.
43:00Inside are your old things
43:02and nightshades
43:04and the dried white roses
43:06prepared for the wedding.
43:08How would you like
43:09them handled?
43:12Luca didn't take
43:13the envelope.
43:14Burn them.
43:14He only said two words.
43:16The aide hesitated.
43:17All of it?
43:18All of it.
43:19That room burned
43:20the whole night through.
43:22The wedding dress
43:23I never got to wear.
43:24The velvet box
43:26that held the ring.
43:27The old photos
43:28from missions
43:28we ran together.
43:30And the knife
43:30carved with the wrong name.
43:33All of it
43:34devoured by the fire.
43:36Into the fire
43:37he also threw
43:38one more thing.
43:39A photo of the two of us
43:41ten years ago.
43:43In the photo
43:44I leaned on his shoulder.
43:46Both of us
43:47smiling softly.
43:48It was the only photo
43:50where neither of us
43:51held a gun.
43:52He watched that face
43:53get licked black
43:54by the fire.
43:56Curl
43:56turned to ash.
43:58Luca stood in the courtyard
44:00watching the firelight
44:01re-read in the windows
44:02of Villa Moretti
44:03bit by bit.
44:05The aide beside him
44:06wanted to say something
44:07but in the end
44:08didn't dare.
44:09They say he didn't
44:10shed a single tear
44:11that night
44:12because the time
44:13when he could really cry
44:15he had already
44:16used it up
44:17in that tiny bookshop
44:18in Palermo.
44:19That night
44:20a fine rain
44:21fell over Palermo.
44:23I was in the shop
44:24with Marco
44:25sorting newly arrived
44:27old books.
44:28I looked up
44:29at the rain
44:30outside the window
44:30and suddenly thought
44:32of the pot of pot
44:32of red spider lallies
44:33at the door.
44:35So I went over
44:36and carried it inside.
44:38Marco laughed at me.
44:40Val,
44:41those flowers
44:41look a little unlucky.
44:42They say they bloom
44:44on the road
44:45to the underworld.
44:46I lightly brushed
44:47the blood red petals
44:48with my fingertip.
44:50Is that so?
44:51I think they're more
44:52like a reminder.
44:54The roads
44:55you shouldn't
44:55go back on
44:57don't go back.
44:58In a car
44:59at the corner
44:59of the street
45:00someone watched me
45:01one last time
45:02through the rain.
45:03I didn't notice
45:04and that was good.
45:06From that night on
45:07the name
45:08Valentina Rinaldi
45:10was gone
45:10from Red Lime's
45:11Ledgers.
45:13Only a code name
45:14sealed away forever
45:16and I never saw
45:18the man
45:18called Luca Moretti
45:19again.
45:20The days after that
45:21remained ordinary.
45:22I opened the shop
45:24every morning
45:24carried the red spider
45:26Lillians out
45:27into the sun.
45:28In the afternoon
45:29recommended stories
45:30that quiet the heart
45:31to strangers.
45:33In the evening
45:33locked the shop door
45:35and climbed
45:36onto Marco's scooter.
45:38Sometimes late at night
45:39I would touch
45:39that faint old scar
45:41on the back of my neck.
45:42I still didn't know
45:43where it came from.
45:43I only knew this.
45:45Every time the bell rings
45:46I would
45:46on instinct
45:47look up toward the door
45:48and then confirm
45:49there is no darkness
45:50there.
45:51Only the light
45:52of ordinary people.
45:53Later Marco
45:54asked me why I loved
45:55the red spider
45:55Lillians so much.
45:57I said I didn't know.
45:58Maybe because they
45:59bloom so quietly.
46:00They need no leaves
46:01beside them.
46:02They need no one
46:03to look back at them.
46:04When their season comes
46:06they wake from the soil
46:07all on their own.
46:08Just like me.
46:09I don't remember
46:10Night Shape.
46:11I don't remember
46:12the man called
46:13Luca Moretti.
46:14I don't know
46:15that someone
46:16washed a whole city
46:17in blood for me.
46:18I don't know
46:19that someone
46:19burned all our past
46:21facing a fire.
46:23None of it
46:24has anything to do
46:25with the me of now.
46:26But I know this.
46:27The me of now
46:27opens the door at dawn
46:29locks the shop at dusk
46:30greets every ordinary
46:31tomorrow
46:32to the sound of a bell.
46:33This is not a new life
46:34granted to me by anyone
46:36nor is it redemption
46:36bought with the city's blood.
46:38This is freedom.
46:39Freedom I took
46:39from the hands
46:40of my old self.
46:41Freedom I claimed
46:42for myself.
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