A Mafia heir walks away from his wife and daughter for his childhood sweetheart. What he doesn't know is that she's a trap, planted by his enemies.
By the time the truth comes out, the damage is done. He's on his knees asking for forgiveness, but can he win back the family he threw away, or will he live with regret alone?
This is the complete episode, so watch until the end to find out.
Would you forgive him? Tell us in the comments.
#FullEpisode #MafiaRomance #DivorceDrama #SecondChance #FamilyDrama
By the time the truth comes out, the damage is done. He's on his knees asking for forgiveness, but can he win back the family he threw away, or will he live with regret alone?
This is the complete episode, so watch until the end to find out.
Would you forgive him? Tell us in the comments.
#FullEpisode #MafiaRomance #DivorceDrama #SecondChance #FamilyDrama
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:00Three years into our marriage, Dante knelt before the Moretti altar and begged for family punishment, just to end our
00:06marriage.
00:06Because Sarah, his kidnapped childhood sweetheart, had returned.
00:11Now they pushed the divorce papers toward me.
00:14Sarah suffered because of me. I can't fail her.
00:17What about our daughter?
00:19Dante lowered his eyes.
00:21Sarah can't have children anymore, and she can't bear to see mine.
00:25Lily will be struck from the family registry. I'll place her with another family.
00:30I took the papers, folded them, and slipped them inside my coat.
00:33Fine. I'll sign. But Lily is mine.
00:37From tonight on, Lily and I are no longer part of the Moretti family.
00:41Whether we live or die, it has nothing to do with you.
00:44The chapel went so quiet. I tightened my arms around Lily.
00:47He hadn't expected me to agree so readily. His mother, Lucia, hurried over.
00:51Elena, you're being foolish. He can't just end this marriage. We won't allow it.
00:55Vittorio stood up, shaking with rage.
00:57You ungrateful bastard. Elena bore your child and ran this household for you.
01:02What did she ever do wrong?
01:03That woman has poisoned your mind.
01:05The old conciliere, Carlo, leaned forward.
01:08Dante, no man in this family has ever thrown out his wife and child.
01:11If you insist on doing so, you must first endure hundreds of lashes.
01:15This is on me alone, but Sarah suffered because of me.
01:18I can't fail her again.
01:19Lily, I can't keep her.
01:21But I'll make sure she never wants for anything.
01:27A dark and heavy rattan whip was brought out.
01:31Dante took off his jacket and knelt upright.
01:34When the whip cracked, gasps filled the family chapel.
01:38After a hundred lashes, blood soon streaked across his back, but he clenched his teeth and made no sound.
01:44Get out of my sight. Kneel outside until you come to your senses.
01:48Dante struggled to his feet, walked to the chapel doors and knelt in the rain.
01:52His face was paper white. His lips were blue from the cold.
01:55Still, he clung to that one sentence.
01:57Even if I freeze to death here today, I still want to end this marriage.
02:00I watched Dante stand there, ready to die for Sarah, and my chest stung.
02:05Once, he had knelt before his parents and sworn he would marry only me.
02:08Back then, he was the Moretti heir. I was just an accountant's daughter.
02:12The gap between us was huge.
02:14Everyone called him crazy, but he still insisted on marrying me with the highest Moretti honors.
02:19The altar lights shone in his eyes as he said gently,
02:23Elena, I will be good to you. For the rest of my life.
02:27How the hell did we end up here? It all started yesterday.
02:31Yesterday, we were holding Lily's christening.
02:34The Moretti compound was packed with guests.
02:36That was when Sarah appeared.
02:38She was thin as a ghost, with torn clothes and hollow eyes.
02:44She stood in the doorway.
02:45Dante!
02:46At that sound, Dante, always so calm and untouchable,
02:50dropped the champagne glass in his hand.
02:52He pushed past the guests who came to congratulate him and stumbled toward her.
02:56Then he pulled her tightly into his arms.
02:58I had never seen him lose control like that.
03:01I'm sorry. It was my fault, Sarah.
03:04I shouldn't have followed the rules so blindly.
03:06Lily, I shouldn't have said those cruel things. I did this to you.
03:13Knew he never got over her. She is finally back.
03:16I watched my husband hold another woman and told myself it was fine.
03:20He only felt guilty. He loved me now.
03:22We had Lily. This family would not fall apart.
03:25Elena, I want a divorce.
03:27I'm sorry, but Sarah was taken because of me.
03:30She was abused for years and now she can't have children.
03:33I owe her too much.
03:34I have to spend the rest of my life making it up to her.
03:38You want to end our marriage?
03:40What about Lily? What happens to our daughter?
03:43Sorry. I really can't keep her.
03:45I hit him, screaming and sobbing.
03:47He took every blow without moving.
03:49His jaw clenched and his eyes full of pain.
03:51But he never took it back.
03:53By dawn, I had no fight left.
03:55No tears left.
03:56Fine.
03:59The blade wounds and the cold finally took Dante down in the rain.
04:02His men rushed over and carried him back inside.
04:05A doctor was called.
04:06I stood outside the room, listening to Lucia cry softly inside.
04:11I felt nothing but cold inside.
04:13Back in my room, I started packing.
04:15I had lived in the Moretti house for three years.
04:17I was surprised by how much I had collected.
04:19Almost all of them were gifts from him.
04:21But now, every piece felt like a joke.
04:23I was folding my usual clothes into the suitcase when I heard footsteps outside.
04:27Dante came in.
04:28He was still too weak to stand alone.
04:29Elena, I'm sorry.
04:31This was all my doing.
04:32I kept packing.
04:32I'll tell everybody we ended the marriage by agreement.
04:34Not that I cast you aside so your reputation stays intact.
04:37He paused.
04:38You're still young.
04:39You'll find someone better one day.
04:40I'll give you enough to start over.
04:42I stopped and turned to look at him.
04:43He looked so sincere.
04:45Dante, don't pretend you're doing this for me.
04:47He froze for a second.
04:49You just want to feel better so you can marry Sarah without guilt.
04:53You said you don't want to miss her again.
04:55Then what was I to you these three years?
04:58His lips moved and he swallowed hard.
04:59At last, he spoke.
05:00Elena, regret is part of life.
05:03Not everything can be made right.
05:05I looked at him quietly.
05:06That face had once made my heart race.
05:08Now it was full of fake sorrow.
05:10So Lily and I together still mean less than your regret?
05:13Pain flashed in his eyes, but he still only said one thing.
05:15I'm sorry.
05:16Fuck your apologies!
05:20I stopped looking at him and kept packing, but my thoughts slipped back to the past on
05:25their own.
05:26It pulled me back to Christmas Eve three and a half years ago.
05:29A masquerade in midtown Manhattan.
05:32Everything in that ballroom screamed money.
05:37I slipped away from the crowd and found a fortune teller booth in the corner.
05:46There was a card on the table.
05:48A riddle was written under it in gold ink.
05:53I was born the moment you looked, and I died the moment you touched.
05:57A reflection.
05:59I turned.
06:01A man in a black mask stood there.
06:04I believe the prize is a dance.
06:07Would you like to claim it?
06:09I nodded blankly.
06:11He held out his hand.
06:17The untouchable man I had only heard about in rumors was now holding my hand on the dance
06:22floor.
06:24The second time was a hotel uptown.
06:26A storm knocked the power out.
06:28Guests were stranded.
06:29Hallways were dark.
06:30And everyone was panicking.
06:32He found me sitting alone in a corridor.
06:37He just handed me his room key, told me his driver would be waiting in the morning, and
06:41disappeared.
06:43I found out later that he spent the night on a chair in the lobby.
06:46Then came the garden party at the Moretti estate.
06:49His mother was showing him potential brides.
06:53I was only there as a courtesy invite.
06:55I sat alone in the corner of the garden.
06:58I was trying to find a way to leave without being rude.
07:01Then Dante found me.
07:07Hiding in the corner at my mother's party.
07:09Bold move.
07:12Maybe it was the champagne, or maybe I was just tired of pretending.
07:16So I told him the truth.
07:17Because I know I don't belong here.
07:19And I know I'll never be good enough for someone like you.
07:24That's funny.
07:25I was just thinking the opposite.
07:30Three months later, he married me against his mother's wishes, and Carlo Bianchi's advice.
07:36Everyone in the city said he married for love, not leverage.
07:40I believed them.
07:41I believed we'd grow old in that house.
07:45Turned out I was just the intermission.
07:48For the first two years, Dante was the kind of husband other women dreamed about.
07:52He traced my eyebrows with his thumb when I was still half asleep.
07:58When I had a cold, he walked out of meetings to come home to me.
08:04When I got pregnant with Lily, he became softer and more careful.
08:08I thought this was what forever felt like.
08:12Then one afternoon, I knocked over a picture frame in his study.
08:17I picked it up.
08:21It was an old photo of Sarah.
08:27I was still staring at the photo when the door opened behind me.
08:34Who told you to touch that?
08:36Get out.
08:40Dante crossed the room and nearly knocked me aside as he snatched the frame from my hands.
08:44I caught myself on the desk and stared at his back.
08:47He checked the glass for cracks and ran his fingers over the frame.
08:50Who is she?
08:52He stayed silent for a long time.
08:54Then he said,
08:54Someone I grew up with.
08:56Serafina.
08:57And then he told me everything.
08:58Sarah's parents had been family allies.
09:00They were killed by a Volkov hit when she was eight.
09:03Don Vittorio took her in and raised her under his roof.
09:06He gave Dante one order.
09:07You were responsible for protecting her, training her, and keeping her alive.
09:11So Dante taught Sarah to shoot.
09:13Fight.
09:15Read people and survive in their world.
09:17Day after day, year after year, she became his shadow, and he became her shield.
09:22She told me she was in love with me.
09:24I rejected her.
09:25I told her it could never happen.
09:28My father had put her life in my hands, and crossing that line would have been a betrayal.
09:31That night, Sarah left the compound alone and got drunk.
09:35The Volkovs took her from the street.
09:37Three years.
09:38I tore the whole city apart looking for her.
09:40But everyone told me she was dead.
09:42Then Dante turned around and took my hands.
09:44Meeting you was when I finally stopped looking.
09:48You were the reason I stopped drowning, Elena.
09:50We had the worst fight of our marriage that night.
09:52Dante could not answer.
09:54In the end, he grabbed the photo and threw it into the fireplace in front of me.
09:58I watched the flames eat Sarah's face.
10:00Dante pulled me into his arms.
10:02He said there was only me now, and I believed him.
10:04After that, he became even better to me.
10:06Everyone in New York envied me.
10:08I thought the past was dead until Sarah walked through our front door.
10:11She said Dante's name loose.
10:12And three years of marriage went up in smoke.
10:16The bag was packed.
10:17I took one last look around the room I had called mine for three years.
10:21Elena, I-
10:22Don't.
10:22Don't say you're sorry again.
10:24I can't hear it one more time.
10:26We're done here.
10:27And I hope she was worth it.
10:29His jaw tightened.
10:30It took him a moment to speak.
10:31I had my people draw up a full accounting of everything I own.
10:34I took it and flipped through without hesitation.
10:36Two estates outside the city.
10:37Three commercial properties in Manhattan.
10:40Five million in cash.
10:41He was generous because guilt was expensive.
10:43When a scream tore through the next room.
10:46The nanny screamed from Lily's nursery.
10:48And I dropped the folder and ran.
10:50My heart stopped.
10:51No!
10:53Sarah's hands were wrapped around my baby's throat.
10:56Get off her!
10:57The nanny clawed at Sarah's hands.
10:59I grabbed my Lily and held her against my chest.
11:02One more second and she would have been-
11:04I snapped.
11:06I grabbed Sarah by the hair and dragged her to the floor.
11:08You put your hands on my baby!
11:10You touched her!
11:11There can't be any babies!
11:12Dante can only have me!
11:14He can only have me!
11:15Then Dante grabbed me from behind.
11:17Pulled me back.
11:17She's sick, Elena.
11:18You're taking Lily away anyway, so Sarah will never see her again.
11:21Dante!
11:22Do you know who you are?
11:24You're the Moretti heir.
11:25Look at you.
11:26You're protecting the woman who had her hands around your daughter's neck.
11:28So much for Moretti's honor.
11:33That was for the three years I'll never get back.
11:35And that was for Lily!
11:37Red bloomed across both cheeks.
11:38He did not move.
11:39Did not flinch.
11:40Did not let go of Sarah.
11:41I turned away.
11:43Nanny, we're leaving.
11:44Right now.
11:45He called after me.
11:46Elena!
11:47Lily takes my name.
11:49She'll never carry yours.
11:51And if you ever come near her again, I'll put you in the ground myself.
11:55We're done.
11:56Forever.
11:59It was still raining.
12:00I held my daughter against my chest and walked out of the Moretti estate.
12:04At the end of the driveway, I stopped and looked back one last time.
12:07The highway stretched south, and New York slowly disappeared in the rearview mirror.
12:11The nanny sat beside me in the back seat with our only bag, while Lily slept in my arms.
12:17I sold everything Dante gave me and put the money under my maiden name.
12:20Now it was my war chest to keep Lily safe and far from the Moretti name.
12:24Three days into the drive, Lily got a fever.
12:26She would not eat, would not nurse, and soon stopped crying altogether.
12:31I held her through the night as her little face burned red with fever.
12:34If we were still in the Moretti house, a doctor would have arrived in ten minutes.
12:39Ma'am, please let me hold her while you sleep.
12:42I shook my head and pulled Lily closer.
12:44Then I remembered Lily's christening.
12:46My daughter Lily.
12:48God protect her.
12:49God keep her happy.
12:51Those words were still warm in my mind, but the man who said them had already become a stranger.
12:57A week later, we reached Savannah.
13:00My parents were waiting on the porch.
13:02My mother saw me step out with Lily in one bag, and her face collapsed.
13:05My father took the bag without asking questions.
13:08You're home.
13:09The house looked exactly how I remembered.
13:12Your father retired last year, and we moved back here to grow old, quietly.
13:17She smoothed my hair like I was still a child, her eyes filling with tears.
13:21We never thought you would come home like this.
13:23I left out Sarah's hands around Lily's neck, and Dante choosing Sarah over his own daughter.
13:27A hundred years of Morelli money and power, and that was the best they could do.
13:33My mother held Lily and me and rocked us both.
13:36She kept saying,
13:37My poor sweet girl.
13:39There was no judgment and no shame, only fury, grief, and love.
13:42Lily slowly got better in Savannah.
13:44The southern air suited her, and her cheeks filled out again.
13:47When she started laughing, every terrible thing felt a little farther away.
13:51I took over my parents' small businesses, including a boutique and a few rental properties.
13:56They were not glamorous, but they were mine.
13:58The days became full enough to keep me from drowning.
14:01Sometimes, late at night, I still thought about New York.
14:04But every time I did, the ache grew quieter.
14:07My mother was right.
14:11On a Tuesday in early spring, I had Lily at the boutique with me.
14:15I was halfway through the numbers when I heard Lily crying.
14:18I was out the door in three seconds flat, and there was a man crouched in front of the stroller,
14:23holding up a little music box, trying to get her to smile.
14:26Sorry about that.
14:27She's too cute.
14:28I couldn't help myself.
14:29Didn't mean to make her cry.
14:30I scooped Lily up and forced myself to sound normal.
14:33It's fine.
14:34You're from up north, aren't you?
14:36Something about your voice.
14:38My guard went all the way up.
14:39Born here.
14:40Spent some time in New York.
14:42He nodded.
14:43Did not push it.
14:44Tipped his head and walked away.
14:45I asked around later.
14:47His name was Nico Santoro.
14:49Nico came from old southern money with rumored underworld ties.
14:53But three years ago, after a health scare, he walked away and came here to disappear.
14:57Most people in town just knew him as Nico.
14:59Quiet.
15:02I saw him again at an open mic night at a bookstore downtown.
15:05The theme was spring.
15:07Everyone was writing little poems and reading them aloud.
15:09I scribbled something on a napkin without really thinking.
15:12Wind still carries petals through that gate like it's waiting for someone who won't return.
15:16That's gorgeous.
15:17But Jesus, that's sad.
15:19I turned around.
15:20Nico.
15:20My napkin in his hand.
15:21I reached for it.
15:23He pulled it back.
15:24Let me keep it.
15:25I'll trade you a painting.
15:26The next morning, Nico sent me a watercolor.
15:28Nico started coming to the boutique, sometimes buying something, but mostly just sitting,
15:32talking, and never asking about my past.
15:34Once Nico learned I was raising Lily alone, little gifts began appearing for her.
15:41She babbled, grabbing at his collar.
15:43He let her.
15:44Every time.
15:45My mother noticed.
15:46One evening, she cornered me in the kitchen.
15:48Elena.
15:49You're still young.
15:50Mom.
15:51The only thing I want right now is to raise my daughter.
15:53On Lily's first birthday, he sent a gold locket.
15:56I tried to give it back.
15:59He would not take it.
16:00It's not for you.
16:01It's for her.
16:02A kid shouldn't have to pay for the mess her parents made.
16:05That night, I held Lily in the rocking chair, watched the locket catch the light, and cried
16:09until I could not stop.
16:10He was right.
16:11He was right.
16:12Lily did not do anything wrong.
16:14The whole city was there.
16:16All of them were saying the same thing.
16:18Dante Moretti, the loyal one, finally reunited with his true love.
16:22Sir, it's nearly time.
16:23I nodded, but I was looking past him, out the window.
16:26Elena had planted the magnolia tree herself when she moved in, saying she wanted the courtyard
16:30to smell like home when it bloomed.
16:32The tree was still there.
16:33She was not.
16:34Sir?
16:34I blinked.
16:35Took the veil from him, white silk.
16:37It turned my stomach.
16:38Three years ago, I lifted Elena's veil under candlelight and made a promise I thought I
16:42meant.
16:42I'll be good to you for the rest of my life.
16:44Sir, the car's waiting.
16:46I breathed, turned, walked out.
16:51The drive to the second estate felt like driving to my own funeral.
16:54People on the street were watching.
16:56Is that the new wife?
16:57The one he threw everything away for?
16:58He heard he kicked out the first one.
17:00Her and the baby both.
17:01Jesus.
17:02My knuckles went white on the wheel.
17:04At the altar, I looked at Sarah in her white gown, and all I saw was Elena.
17:08Do you take this woman?
17:09I nodded.
17:10It was done.
17:10I wanted to get drunk enough to forget Elena walking out.
17:13But the more I drank, the clearer it got.
17:15Late that night, after everyone had gone, I pushed open the bedroom door.
17:19Dante.
17:20She stood, reached for my shirt buttons.
17:23I stepped back.
17:26You're still thinking about her.
17:28No.
17:29I turned away, walked to the table, poured water.
17:31Then why won't you touch me?
17:33She came up behind me, wrapped her arms around my waist.
17:35I waited so long for this.
17:37I went through so much.
17:39And tonight was supposed to be...
17:41I peeled Sarah's hands off me.
17:43I'm tired.
17:44Get some sleep.
17:45Dante!
17:46I lost everything for you.
17:48My body, my future, my ability to ever have a child, and you can't even look at me?
17:52Sarah, give me time.
17:56I gave you three years to love somebody else.
17:59Three years to build a life with her.
18:01To have a baby with her.
18:02And that still wasn't enough?
18:04She grabbed my face, kissed me, hard.
18:06I'm sorry.
18:09That night, I slept in the study.
18:12Elena used to curl up on that leather couch with a book, then fall asleep waiting for me
18:16to finish work.
18:17I lay there staring at the ceiling and did not close my eyes until sunrise.
18:23Three months into this marriage, I barely recognized myself in the mirror.
18:27I tried with Sarah.
18:29Dinners, conversations, gifts, and every promise that she was safe now.
18:33But every time she touched me, I saw Lily's purple face and the cold madness in Sarah's
18:39eyes.
18:39My head told me she was a victim.
18:41That she was broken.
18:43That she needed help.
18:44My body would not let her within three feet of me.
18:47One rainy afternoon, I was driving back from a sit-down in Jersey, and I pulled into a diner
18:52to wait out the storm.
18:54A few guys at the counter were talking over coffee and pie.
18:57I was heading for a booth in the back when I heard it.
19:01That Moretti kid.
19:03Real piece of work.
19:04Dumped his wife and baby for some girl.
19:06Piece of work is generous.
19:08You know who that girl actually is?
19:10What do you mean?
19:11She's some dead friend's daughter, right?
19:12Grew up in the house?
19:13Friend's daughter, my ass.
19:14She was Volkov, born and raised, trained as a sleeper to get close to men like Dante.
19:19The diner sounds disappeared.
19:21There was just a ringing in my ears.
19:23The kidnapping three years ago was staged to compromise the Morettis, but Dante moved
19:26on and married someone else, so the plan died.
19:29When the Volkovs heard his wife had a daughter, they sent her back to break the marriage, isolate
19:34him, and use the child as leverage.
19:36I did not hear the rest.
19:38I ran through the rain, got behind the wheel, and tore down the back row while the wife was
19:43fought to keep up.
19:47Allie's daughter?
19:49Volkov's sleeper?
19:50Staged?
19:51Was the kidnapping staged?
19:53For three years, I had searched for her and drowned in guilt, only to learn every second
19:58of it had been manufactured.
20:00I tore through the compound gates, left the car running in the drive, and went straight
20:05to Syrah's wing.
20:13Dante, what?
20:16Who are you?
20:18I'm Syrah, you're hurting me.
20:20Volkov.
20:21You're Volkov, aren't you?
20:24Her face did something I had never seen before.
20:27The mask slipped for a fraction of a second, and underneath there was nothing.
20:31No fear, no love.
20:32Just a calculation.
20:34That was all I needed.
20:35For a pawn, a carefully manufactured weapon aimed at my family, I threw away my wife.
20:41Dante, please, let me explain.
20:43Explain what?
20:44How you played me for years?
20:45How you wrapped your hands around my daughter's throat?
20:48I didn't.
20:49That day, I lost control.
20:52I was jealous.
20:53Bullshit.
20:54The plan was working perfectly, but the baby made things complicated.
20:58She tied Elena to me in a way you couldn't undo, so you tried to remove the problem.
21:03Permanently.
21:05Lock her downstairs.
21:06Nobody opens that door without my say-off.
21:10Her screaming followed me down the hall, but quieter.
21:13Stopped.
21:14Dante!
21:15Dante!
21:16Dante!
21:21I stood alone in the courtyard.
21:23Rain poured down on me for the second time in my life because of this woman, and Elena's
21:27voice came back, clear as glass.
21:29Do you know who you are?
21:30You're the Moretti heir.
21:32What did I do?
21:33For a lie, a perfect lie, I took my own family apart, with my own hands.
21:36The day we dealt with Sarah for good, both my parents were in the room.
21:39We did it in the chapel, where everything had started, and somehow that felt right.
21:43The evidence was laid out on the altar, where my blood had dried six months ago.
21:46Documents.
21:47Intercepted communications.
21:49Testimony from a Volkov defector.
21:50All of it pointed in the same direction.
21:52Sarah knelt on the marble, hands bound, and finally, she stopped pretending.
21:56She told us everything.
21:57She was Volkov.
21:57Had been since birth.
21:59Raised from childhood as an infiltration asset.
22:01Her assignment, get close to the Moretti heir.
22:03Use him to tear the family apart from the inside.
22:05The kidnapping was a theater.
22:06Every minute of it was orchestrated.
22:08The plan was to push me so far over the edge that I'd go to war with my own father
22:12trying
22:12to save her.
22:13Then I met Elena, and everything the Volkovs had worked towards started falling apart.
22:16I was happy.
22:17Stable.
22:18Building something new.
22:19Moving on.
22:19They shelved the operation.
22:20Wrote it off.
22:21Until Elena got pregnant.
22:24A baby deepens the bond, Sarah said.
22:26She was kneeling on stone.
22:28Mascara running.
22:28But she was smiling.
22:29This empty, poisoned smile that made my skin crawl.
22:32My handler reactivated me.
22:34Told me I had to break you apart no matter what.
22:36He said Dante Moretti was a man who ran on guilt.
22:39Give him something to feel guilty about, and he'd destroy himself.
22:41So she built her story.
22:43The abuse.
22:44The infertility.
22:44The broken, fragile woman who'd been destroyed because of him.
22:47Every word of it.
22:48Fiction.
22:49She timed her return for the christening on purpose.
22:52Maximum impact.
22:53Maximum witnesses.
22:54She knew exactly what it would do to me to see her standing there, ruined, while I held
22:58my newborn daughter.
22:59And Lily!
22:59The baby was a problem.
23:01Sarah said flatly.
23:02As long as the child existed, Elena would always be tied to you.
23:05To the family.
23:07The job was to sever all connections.
23:09Permanently.
23:10She meant to kill my daughter.
23:11It wasn't a breakdown.
23:12It wasn't madness.
23:13It was the mission.
23:14My mother did not make it to the end of the confession.
23:16She went down, and they had to carry her out.
23:18My father, Don Moretti, stood with tears streaming down his collar.
23:21You fool.
23:23You stupid, stupid boy!
23:27I knelt in front of them both in confession.
23:29Then I stood up.
23:30Went upstairs.
23:31Packed a bag.
23:31I was going to Savannah.
23:32I was going to find Elena.
23:34Even if she slammed the door in my face every single day until I was dead.
23:37The drive was three days.
23:38I did not sleep.
23:39At every gas station.
23:40Every rest stop.
23:41Every shit motel parking lot.
23:43I wrote to her.
23:44On napkins.
23:44On receipts.
23:45On the backs of maps.
23:46Everything I should have said.
23:48Everything I should have seen.
23:49How sorry did not even begin to cover it.
23:50I mailed them from every town I passed through.
23:52Addressed to her parents' house.
23:54Not one reply.
23:54I hit Savannah on the 4th of July.
23:56The whole town was out.
23:57Barbecues.
23:58Flags.
23:58Kids with sparklers.
23:59Everyone was celebrating something.
24:01I found the house.
24:02I straightened my jacket.
24:03My hands were shaking.
24:04I rang the bell.
24:05Can I help you?
24:06I'm here to see Elena.
24:07I'm-
24:07The word husband died in my throat.
24:09An old friend.
24:10He went inside.
24:10I stood on the porch with my heart trying to break through my ribs.
24:13She said no.
24:14He came back.
24:14The door closed.
24:15I did not leave.
24:16Then the door opened again.
24:17It was not Elena.
24:18Nico Santoro stood on the porch.
24:20Sleeves rolled up.
24:21Relaxed.
24:26Mr. Maradi.
24:27Who are you?
24:28Nico.
24:28I'm Elena's friend.
24:30I need to talk to her.
24:31Please.
24:31Five minutes.
24:32She said no.
24:32I have things to tell her.
24:33Important things.
24:34About Sarah?
24:35About the Volkov connection?
24:36She already knows Mr. Maradi.
24:37I told her myself.
24:38I have resources.
24:40When news that big moves through certain channels, I hear about it.
24:42I brought it to Elena.
24:43She said, and I'm quoting,
24:44that has nothing to do with me anymore.
24:46Please.
24:47Just let me see her.
24:48One minute.
24:48I just need her to look at me while I-
24:50Come in.
24:50But if she says no, you walk immediately.
24:52Are we clear?
24:53Yes.
24:54I followed him through the gate, into a courtyard, and there she was, under the magnolia tree,
24:59Lily in her arms.
25:01She was wearing a blue sundress.
25:03Elena.
25:04She looked up, saw me.
25:06Her expression did not flicker.
25:08The nanny carried my daughter inside without looking at me.
25:10Mr. Maradi.
25:12What can I do for you?
25:15I came to apologize.
25:17Elena, I was a fool.
25:19I was blind.
25:20I was manipulated, and I was too stupid to see it.
25:22Everything she told me was a lie.
25:24The kidnapping, the abuse, all of it.
25:26She was sent to destroy us, and I let her-
25:28Are you done?
25:28Good.
25:29Then you can go.
25:30Elena!
25:31Dante, you think I'm angry because she conned you?
25:34I'm angry because you watched that woman strangle our baby, and you pulled me off her
25:37and held her.
25:37I'm angry because you stood in that chapel talking about honor and duty and code, and
25:42then you did the most cowardly, honorable thing any man has ever done in front of me.
25:46Now you found out you were tricked, so you drove a thousand miles to kneel in my garden
25:50and asked me to make you feel better?
25:51Let me ask you something, Dante.
25:52If it had all been real, if Sarah really had been kidnapped, really had been destroyed
25:56because of you, would you have done anything differently?
25:58You would have thrown us away the same, wouldn't you?
26:00Elena smiled, and it was the saddest thing I had ever seen.
26:03Tears rolled down her face, but she was smiling.
26:05So what difference does the truth make?
26:11Leave, and don't come back.
26:14Lily is mine.
26:15She carries my name.
26:16She doesn't know yours, and she never will.
26:18Elena!
26:20Mr. Moretti, it's time.
26:23I watched her walk away, watched Nico catch up to her in three easy strides.
26:29I stayed in Savannah three months.
26:31Every day I went to the gate, stood there, waited.
26:34I saw him through the gaps in the fence, carrying Lily around the yard, spinning her, making
26:38her shriek with laughter.
26:39One of the neighbors told me that Nico had proposed.
26:42Elena didn't say yes, but she didn't say no.
26:45I left the next morning.
26:47On the way north, I pulled off at St. Augustine's.
26:51The old father was still here, sighed like he had been expecting me.
26:54My son, you're carrying something too heavy for one man.
26:57Father, if a man does something unforgivable, something that can never be undone...
27:00He lets it go.
27:01And if he can't...
27:02Then he endures.
27:05On the seventh day, I took my vows.
27:08When the news reached New York, my father, Vitario, went gray overnight.
27:13They sent people to find me.
27:15I told them all the same thing.
27:17This was my debt.
27:19This was what I owed.
27:21A year later.
27:22Spring.
27:23The wedding was small.
27:25My parents.
27:26Nico's sister.
27:27A handful of close friends.
27:28That was all.
27:29Lily was my flower girl.
27:30She was almost two and a half now.
27:32Just steady enough on her feet to make it down the aisle without falling.
27:34Clutching a basket of petals and throwing them in completely random directions.
27:37Everyone laughed.
27:38When Nico lifted my veil, I looked up into his face.
27:42Now I knew better.
27:43The man in front of me was real.
27:45He was here.
27:46He was solid.
27:47He was not going anywhere.
27:49The ceremony ended.
27:52Nico took my hand.
27:54Elena.
27:55Lily is my daughter now.
27:56And you?
27:57You're everything.
27:58I looked up at him.
28:00Light moved across his face.
28:02This time I believed it.
28:04A thousand miles north.
28:05A bell tolled.
28:07St. Augustine's Monastery.
28:08That cold stone room.
28:10A single candle.
28:11A prayer book.
28:12The man who had once been Dante Moretti now knelt before the altar.
28:15Eyes closed.
28:16Lips moving through prayers he could never quite finish.
28:18Every night his mind went where it always went.
28:20Christmas Eve.
28:21A masquerade.
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