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00:02My husband had spent six months fighting a rival family for territory along the Gulf Coast.
00:07When he came home, a heavily pregnant young woman was at his side.
00:11I asked him over and over,
00:12Is the baby yours?
00:14He dropped to his knees at my feet in front of the entire family.
00:17But all he said was,
00:18I'm sorry, I can't tell you.
00:20After six months of family war, my husband, Rafe DeLuca, finally came home alive.
00:25Twelve black sedans rolled into the estate one after another.
00:28I stood on the steps of the main house with Sam in my arms.
00:31A car door opened, Rafe stepped out, helping a young woman whose belly was already showing.
00:37My expression hardened all around me.
00:39The wives of the capos who had come to welcome the dawn home broke into shocked whispers.
00:43The moment Rafe saw me, his gaze flickered away.
00:46Nora, let me explain.
00:48I gave a cold laugh, turned around, and walked away.
00:51Sam looked at his father, then at the woman beside him.
00:54Mommy, who's that lady next to Daddy?
00:56You don't have a Daddy. Your Daddy's dead.
00:58A commotion broke out behind me.
01:01Rafe hurried after us, his dress shoes striking sharply against the pavement.
01:04He cut in front of me and, in full view of every capo,
01:08every capo's wife and every soldier in the family dropped straight to his knees.
01:12Nora, let me explain.
01:14I shifted Sam to my other arm and looked down at Rafe.
01:17We hadn't seen each other in six months.
01:19I never imagined this was how we'd meet again.
01:22Go ahead. I'm listening.
01:23The young woman came over, too.
01:26She stopped beside Rafe, both hands protectively cupping her stomach.
01:30Donna, my name is Lily.
01:31Lily Carter.
01:33The Caruso family attacked the town where I lived.
01:35My whole family was killed.
01:37Don DeLucco got me out of a safe house.
01:39Whose baby is it?
01:41Lily lowered her head and said nothing.
01:43I turned back to Rafe.
01:44He knelt there with his head bowed and his hands braced on his knees,
01:47as if someone had ripped the spine out of him.
01:50I asked you whose baby it is.
01:53Don't ask. I really can't tell you.
01:55A gasp suddenly came from the crowd.
01:57Bianca DeLuca, Rafe's mother, raised her voice.
02:00Her belly's already that big.
02:02Do you really have to ask? Isn't it obvious?
02:04Sounding almost excited, I crouched down with Sam in my arms.
02:08Rafe, I'm only going to ask you three things.
02:12Rafe's Adam's apple bobbed.
02:15First, is the baby yours?
02:19Second, what exactly happened between you and her on the Gulf Coast?
02:24Third, before you brought her home,
02:26did you ever think about how you were going to tell me?
02:29I did. I just never figured out how to say it.
02:32I laughed once, then I stood and hitched Sam higher in my arms.
02:36Sam wrapped both little arms around my neck
02:38and buried his face against my shoulder.
02:39I stepped around Rafe, still kneeling on the ground,
02:42and headed for the main house.
02:44Bianca spoke to the Capo's wives beside her,
02:46not quite loudly enough to be called shouting,
02:49but more than loudly enough for me to hear.
02:52Who does she think she is acting like that?
02:55My son spent six months fighting enemies out there.
02:59So what if you brought a woman home?
03:01Adana can't afford to be this jealous!
03:03My steps paused.
03:04I didn't look back until I had reached the top of the stairs.
03:07Rafe was still kneeling where I'd left him,
03:10his knees seemingly nailed to the ground.
03:12Lily was still there too, looking down at him.
03:14Get up. You're the Don.
03:17How can you kneel to that woman?
03:19She's not worth it.
03:21I carried Sam into the main house.
03:22He leaned close to my ear and whispered,
03:24Mommy, why won't Daddy get up?
03:27Because Mommy hasn't told him he can.
03:29Oh. Who's that lady?
03:30I kicked the bedroom door open, set Sam down,
03:33then crouched so we were eye to eye.
03:35Your father brought her back with him.
03:37Starting today, she's living here with us.
03:39Then whose baby is in her tummy?
03:41Good question, kid.
03:43Mommy would like to know too.
03:45That afternoon, Vincent Marino personally delivered the paperwork for Lily's stay.
03:49Vincent was the DeLuca family's consigliere.
03:52The paperwork stated that Lily was under the Don's personal protection
03:55and would stay temporarily at the estate.
03:58Without the Don's permission, no one was allowed to look into her background.
04:02The paperwork had barely landed on my desk when Bianca arrived with several capos' wives.
04:07They didn't even knock before coming upstairs.
04:10Bianca pushed open the door to Sam's room and walked around inside.
04:15This room is perfect.
04:16It's bright and airy, just what a pregnant woman needs.
04:19I pulled Sam to my side and leaned against the doorframe, watching her.
04:24Mrs. DeLuca, this is Sam's room.
04:29So move the boy somewhere else.
04:30What's the big deal?
04:31She's pregnant.
04:32Is it really so much to ask that he give up a room for her?
04:35Before I could answer, a voice came from behind me.
04:38Lily stood in the hallway holding a canvas duffel bag.
04:41Ma'am, I can stay anywhere.
04:42Please don't make things difficult for the Donna.
04:45All I need is a bed.
04:47Bianca grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her to her side.
04:50The way she did it, anyone would have thought she was protecting her own daughter.
04:56What are you scared of?
04:57I'm here.
04:59Rafe brought you home.
05:00You think the DeLuca family is going to leave you sleeping in the street?
05:03The other women nodded along.
05:05One capo's wife even tried to lecture me.
05:08Nora, you're the Donna.
05:10You need to be more generous.
05:12Since you're so generous, why don't you take Lily home with you?
05:15She shut her mouth.
05:16That night, the estate held a welcome home dinner.
05:20Rafe came over carrying three plates and carefully set them in front of Sam and me.
05:25I sat down with Sam.
05:26I had barely picked up my fork when Lily approached with her own plate.
05:30She didn't dare sit beside me.
05:31She just stood across the table, looking at me expectantly.
05:35Sam glanced at her, then at me, and tugged lightly on my sleeve.
05:38I looked up at her but said nothing.
05:40Only then did she sit, stiff and awkward, keeping her head down as she ate in silence.
05:44Bianca came over with her plate.
05:46She dropped into the seat next to Lily and placed a large piece of stewed meat on Lily's plate.
05:51Eat more.
05:52You're eating for two now.
05:54My fork paused.
05:55Rafe sat across from me, watching me cautiously.
05:58I ignored him and kept cutting Sam's meat.
06:00Bianca smiled at Lily again.
06:02Rafe was a big, strong boy even when he was little.
06:05This baby will probably take after him too.
06:07I finished my meal calmly and set my napkin on the table.
06:11As I passed Rafe, I tossed out one word.
06:15Outside.
06:17There was a stretch of stone wall behind the estate's private chapel.
06:21I shoved him back against it.
06:23Is the baby yours or not?
06:25Rafe leaned against the wall with his head down, refusing to meet my eyes.
06:28After a long silence, he said,
06:30Give me a little more time.
06:31How much time?
06:32Didn't you see how your mother moped me today?
06:34Are you deaf or are you blind?
06:36If Lily is your mistress, then say it to my face.
06:39I'll step aside and let you have each other.
06:42He went silent again.
06:43I turned and walked away.
06:45Early the next morning, I went to the soldiers who had returned from the fighting with Rafe and asked about
06:49Lily.
06:50One soldier's expression changed instantly.
06:53Donna, don't ask.
06:54The Don gave a direct order.
06:55Please don't push a pregnant woman into a corner.
06:57With that, they turned and left.
06:59I stood in the garden, the sun beating down so fiercely that my scalp prickled from the heat.
07:04Then someone called my name from behind.
07:06Donna.
07:07I turned and saw Gabriel, one of Rafe's most trusted men.
07:13Gabriel pulled me into the shade and lowered his voice.
07:16Donna, the day Lily arrived in New Orleans, the first place she went was the Don's office.
07:21When we came out of the meeting room later, she was already sitting in the Don's car.
07:25You know the Don isn't that kind of man.
07:27Just give him a little more time.
07:28Please don't assume the worst.
07:29I looked at him without saying anything.
07:31He seemed to realize there was no reasonable way not to assume the worst.
07:34He gave me an awkward smile and left.
07:36Back in my room, I opened the safe and pulled out the letters Rafe had sent me from the Gulf
07:41Coast over the past six months.
07:43There were eight in total.
07:45The first three were completely normal.
07:47Starting with the fourth, his tone changed.
07:49Looking back now, that must have been when something happened.
07:52Sam ran in and leaned against my knees, tipping his face up at me.
07:56Mommy, what are you reading?
07:59Some old debts.
08:00Within days, people in the family had started calling me a jealous bitch behind my back.
08:05One afternoon, I passed the storage room behind the chapel.
08:08Several Capo's wives were inside sorting donations for a charity sale, talking animatedly.
08:13The Don spent six months fighting a war.
08:16So what if he has a mistress?
08:18Who does she think she is?
08:19Glaring at everyone all day?
08:21That poor girl is pregnant and has already been through enough.
08:25And Nora acts like she wants to throw her out on the street.
08:28I pushed the door open.
08:30The room went silent instantly.
08:31The three women each grabbed a box and hurried out.
08:35Lily, on the other hand, kept her head down and stayed out of trouble.
08:38She helped with whatever work she could around the estate.
08:41Whenever she saw me walking past with Sam, she lowered her head and called me Donna.
08:46Always careful and respectful.
08:48Several of the older women at the estate praised her for being so well-mannered and spoke about her with
08:53obvious affection.
08:54Once, Bianca took Lily's hand right in front of me and said,
08:57Good girl, don't be afraid.
09:00No one here is going to bully you.
09:02I tried asking Lily directly once.
09:04That day, she was in the kitchen arranging washed fruit on a plate.
09:07I walked over and helped her sort it.
09:09She looked up at me and her eyes brightened.
09:11The more I looked at those clear, bright eyes, the more confused I became.
09:15Lily didn't look at me the way a mistress looked at a wife.
09:17Lily, where are you from?
09:20A small town near the Gulf Coast.
09:22What were your parents' names?
09:25They died a long time ago.
09:27How did you meet Rafe?
09:32I asked again, more softly.
09:35Lily, is the baby you're carrying Rafe's?
09:38All the color drained from her face, as if she'd been shot point-blank.
09:42Donna, just tell me the truth.
09:45Tears rushed into her eyes.
09:46One hand covered her stomach while the other braced against the edge of the sink.
09:50Donna, are you going to force me to leave?
09:51Then she clutched her belly and hurried out of the kitchen.
09:54She couldn't move quickly, and Bianca happened to see her rushing out.
09:57I stood there, stunned.
09:59That afternoon, Bianca showed up at my bedroom door with several Capo's wives.
10:03The four of them stood in a row like debt collectors.
10:05She's pregnant, and you still made her cry.
10:07What exactly are you trying to do?
10:10Sam stood beside my leg, hugging my knee.
10:12I pulled him behind me.
10:13If you're so worried about her, Mrs. DeLula, then move her into the room next to your, and
10:18take care of her yourself.
10:19Otherwise, stop gossiping and keep your mouth shut.
10:22Before any of them could answer, I shut the door.
10:24At the end of the month, the family held a charity committee meeting.
10:27Bianca stood at the head of the long table to speak.
10:30Near the end, her tone suddenly shifted.
10:32Some women are so consumed by jealousy that they forget the family entirely.
10:37A real Donna should never make life difficult for a homeless pregnant woman, much less make
10:42herself a laughingstock in front of the whole family.
10:44My back went rigid, and I started to stand.
10:46Under the table, Rafe grabbed my wrist and held me in place.
10:49I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go.
10:51I turned toward him.
10:52Let go.
10:53Not now.
10:54She's accusing me in front of everyone.
10:56I know.
10:57You know, and you're still stopping me from defending myself?
10:59His hand didn't move, anger burned through me.
11:02The moment the meeting ended, I went straight to the records room Vincent managed.
11:07I want to see Lily's file.
11:09I'm sorry, Donna.
11:11The file has been sealed.
11:13The Don also gave strict orders that not a single detail about Lily is to be disclosed.
11:17Who handled Lily's file?
11:22Don Salvador.
11:23Don Salvatore DeLuca, Rafe's father and the former head of the family, had stepped down
11:27three years earlier.
11:28He no longer involved himself in the family's day-to-day affairs and only stepped in when
11:33something serious happened.
11:34I turned and left the records room to find him.
11:36When Don Salvatore saw me, a conflicted look crossed his face.
11:39Nora, take my advice.
11:41Let this go.
11:42Stop making things difficult for her.
11:45I clenched my teeth.
11:47I hated letting it go, but I turned and left anyway.
11:49I had just reached the estate gates when my brother Jake's car came tearing through them.
11:53He was the heir to the Valenti family.
11:55And before I married Rafe, he'd always been the one who spoiled me most.
12:00The car hadn't even come to a full stop before he shoved the door open and jumped out.
12:04He'd rolled up his sleeves, veins standing out on his arms, his face dark with fury.
12:09Nora, just wait here.
12:10I'm going inside to kill Rafe right now.
12:12He pulled out a gun, looking ready to murder someone.
12:14Not yet.
12:16First, I need you to investigate someone for me.
12:19Who?
12:20Lily Carter, everything about her.
12:22Three days.
12:23I'll have an answer for you in three days.
12:25Three days later, Jake came back the moment I saw him walk through the front doors of the
12:29main house.
12:30I knew something was wrong.
12:31His head was down.
12:32His shoulders slumped.
12:34All his usual fire gone.
12:35He walked into the living room, dropped into a chair, picked up a glass, and drained half
12:40of it.
12:40Then he said nothing.
12:41I had a servant take Sam out to the garden and sat across from Jake.
12:47You found something?
12:48Whose baby is it?
12:50I found out.
12:51Then tell me whose it is.
12:53Nora, can't we just say the baby is Rafe and leave it at that?
12:58What do you mean?
13:00Rafe didn't do anything wrong.
13:02Listen to me on this one.
13:04Let it go.
13:05He didn't do anything wrong?
13:07He brought home a pregnant woman and you're telling me he did nothing wrong?
13:10Jake fell silent.
13:12That afternoon, my parents arrived too.
13:14My father walked in, saw Rafe standing at the foot of the stairs, strode straight over,
13:18and slapped him across the face.
13:20Every guard nearby reached for a gun at once.
13:23Rafe lifted one hand.
13:24They all lowered their weapons again.
13:26He stood there without dodging.
13:27Papa, don't call me Papa.
13:30What did you promise in front of both families?
13:33On the day you married my daughter?
13:34I remember.
13:36If that baby is yours, then as of tonight, the alliance between the Valti and DeLuca families
13:41is over.
13:42Let's talk in the study.
13:43My father and mother followed Rafe inside.
13:46The doors and windows were shut.
13:47All I could hear was my father's voice, rising louder and louder.
13:51Then the room suddenly went quiet.
13:53A long time later, the door opened.
13:54My mother came out first.
13:57Take your mother's advice.
13:58Let this go.
14:00Do it for the child.
14:02My head buzzed.
14:03They had gone into that study one way and come out completely changed.
14:07What the hell had Rafe told them?
14:09Why should I let it go?
14:11You haven't even asked me what happened and you're already telling me to let it go?
14:15Because dropping this is best for everyone, especially you and Sam.
14:19I stared at her.
14:20Her eyes were firm.
14:21Then I looked at my father.
14:23He stood by the window with his back to me and the hand holding his gun was still trembling.
14:28If none of you will tell me, I'll find out myself.
14:31Enough!
14:32Stop investigating.
14:35I'm asking you one last time.
14:37Is the baby yours?
14:39I can't tell you.
14:41Fine.
14:43That night, after everyone left, Rafe stood outside my door.
14:46I didn't let him in.
14:47I held Sam and cried for a long time, tears dripping onto the back of his neck.
14:51Sam turned around.
14:53He was only four.
14:54He lifted his sleeve and wiped my face.
14:56Mommy.
14:57Yeah?
14:58Let's leave together.
15:00This place is bad.
15:01It makes Mommy sad.
15:03Mommy isn't happy here.
15:07That night, I packed one travel bag.
15:09I only took our documents, a few changes of clothes, and Sam's favorite storybook.
15:15At two in the morning, I carried Sam to the estate's side gate.
15:19A guard stopped me.
15:21Donna, the Don said no one is allowed to leave for the time being.
15:23I raised my hand and let him see the obsidian ring clearly.
15:26What?
15:27You listen when the Don speaks, but when the Donna gives an order, suddenly it means nothing.
15:34The guard's face changed.
15:35He lowered his head and opened the iron gate.
15:38The night wind slipped down my collar and I shivered from the cold.
15:41Mommy, where are we going?
15:43Away from here first.
15:44The next morning, Rafe came back from the port.
15:48Nora?
15:48No one answered.
15:50A sense of dread tightened in Rafe's chest.
15:52He pushed hard on the door.
15:53It swung open.
15:54The bed was cold.
15:55As if no one had slept in it all night, the closet stood open and half empty.
16:01Sam's pillow and storybook were gone too.
16:04His face slowly draining of color.
16:06At that moment, he finally understood.
16:08I had taken our son and left.
16:10Nora!
16:11How could you do something this reckless?
16:14The father of Lily's baby is...
16:16He stopped.
16:17His expression changed.
16:19Then Rafe swallowed the words that had almost escaped and spun toward the door, shouting,
16:23Lock down every exit!
16:25Rafe turned all of the city upside down, looking for me.
16:28He took a group of men to the bus station first, showing my photo to ticket agents one by one.
16:33Someone said they'd seen me carrying Sam onto a bus headed downtown.
16:38He rushed into the city and searched every hotel and rental apartment along the route.
16:45Vincent took two teams to the airport and the docks and pulled every piece of surveillance footage they could access.
16:51They searched all day and found nothing.
16:53That night, Rafe sat in the station waiting room and didn't leave until morning.
16:58He kept the obsidian ring clenched in his fist.
17:01The one I'd dropped after leaving the estate.
17:03By dawn, its edge had dug a bloody groove into his palm.
17:06The estate was in chaos, too.
17:09What respectable Donna.
17:11Sneaks out in the middle of the night with the air?
17:14Her husband spent six months fighting a war, and she can't even tolerate one woman in the house.
17:19If she has the nerve to leave, she can forget about my son getting down on his knees to beg
17:23her to come back.
17:26He's the Don of this family.
17:28She doesn't care how much she humiliates her husband.
17:31The words had barely left her mouth when an ebony cane tapped lightly against the floor at the doorway.
17:36Don Salvatore stood there, leaning on his cane.
17:38The chapel storage room fell silent instantly.
17:42He had been retired for three years and rarely spoke unless necessary.
17:46None of the women expected him to appear in person.
17:49Nora is Rafe's wife.
17:51She's your daughter-in-law.
17:53Aren't you ashamed of standing here gossiping about her every day?
17:57She's the one being petty.
17:58So what if the Don has a mistress?
18:00What do you know?
18:02Bianca didn't dare say another word.
18:04Don Salvatore said nothing more.
18:06He turned and slowly walked away with his cane.
18:10Then again, the sound fading farther and farther away.
18:13That afternoon, Don Salvatore personally went to Rafe's study.
18:17When he came out, his expression was grim.
18:20Don Salvatore.
18:22Don't address me as Don.
18:24I mishandled this.
18:26Nora never should have been kept in the dark.
18:29Jake searched for me for two days.
18:31When he finally found Sam and me at a cheap hotel on the west side of the city, I was
18:35sharpening Sam's crayons.
18:37Sam lay over the table drawing a picture of an adult holding a child's hand.
18:47Jake sat across from me, pulled a black envelope from inside his coat, and slid it across the table.
18:52I opened it.
18:53Inside was a death certificate.
18:55Name.
18:55Michael Doyle, dot of death.
18:57One week before Rafe returned to New Orleans, a photograph was clipped behind the certificate.
19:03In it, an unfamiliar man stood behind Lily, one hand resting on her still-flat stomach, while the other held
19:09a tiny pair of baby shoes still in their packaging.
19:11They were both smiling.
19:12Who is this?
19:14Michael Doyle.
19:15Rafe's head of security, and one of the DeLucco family's most important associates.
19:19He wasn't a made man, but he'd worked for Rafe for nine years, and saved his life twice.
19:24Jake pulled another piece of paper from his pocket, this one stained with blood.
19:28Don, I'm leaving Lily and the baby with you.
19:30Don't let Caruso find them.
19:32Michael, I clenched the paper in my hand.
19:34The baby's Michael's?
19:37Yes.
19:38After Caruso attacked the port, Michael had been investigating the mole inside the family.
19:44In the final ambush, he took two bullets for Rafe and killed the Caruso heir.
19:50He didn't survive the night.
19:54Michael and Lily never made their relationship public.
19:57Caruso only knew he'd left behind a pregnant woman.
19:59They didn't know who she was.
20:01They put the word out that they intended to wipe out Michael's bloodline, too.
20:05No wonder she'd looked at me that way in the kitchen.
20:07No wonder she'd looked so deeply hurt when she burst into tears.
20:11She hadn't come to steal my husband.
20:13She simply couldn't say the name of the man she loved who had died.
20:16Why did Rafe let everyone think the baby was his?
20:19Because there was still a mole inside the DeLuca family.
20:22As long as he didn't deny it, everyone would assume Lily was the Don's woman.
20:26No one would dare keep digging into her.
20:27Only after they found the mole and eliminated the killers Caruso left behind could the truth come out.
20:34Why didn't you tell me before?
20:38Rafe didn't tell me.
20:39I found it out myself.
20:42What about mom and dad?
20:43Dad went after him with a gun.
20:45The two families almost went to war.
20:47Rafe had no choice but to tell him and make him swear on the honor of the Velati family that
20:50he would keep it secret.
20:51So you were allowed to investigate?
20:53Dad was allowed to point a gun at him and force the truth out of him.
20:56Vincent and Don Salvatore knew from the beginning.
20:58And the one person who had the greatest right to know the truth was the one all of you decided
21:01to lie to.
21:02No, Rafe didn't betray you.
21:03He just couldn't tell you.
21:05You should forgive him.
21:06Couldn't tell me?
21:07Forgive him?
21:08I can understand why he couldn't tell me who Michael was.
21:11I can understand why he couldn't tell me he was hunting a mull.
21:14But he couldn't even tell me in private that the baby wasn't his.
21:17Do any of you understand how much the truth mattered?
21:19Who was the one people pointed at and insulted for two months?
21:22Who was the one Rafe's mother told to give up her son's room to a pregnant woman?
21:26Who tried to stand up and defend herself only to have her husband physically hold her down?
21:30Did any of you ever think about how humiliated I was and now you want me to forgive him?
21:34Dream on.
21:35Get out.
21:36I don't want to see you right now.
21:40Noor.
21:41If you don't leave, I'll take Sam and switch hotels right now.
21:49Rafe hasn't slept in two days.
21:51He seemed to sleep just fine during the two months everyone was insulting me.
21:55Jake said nothing else.
21:56I slammed the door in his face.
21:59That night, after Sam fell asleep, a crayon was still clutched in his hand.
22:03I gently pulled it free and picked up the picture he'd drawn.
22:05There were only two people in it, Sam and me, two little figures, one big and one small, holding hands
22:12beneath the sun.
22:13I'd asked him where his father was.
22:15He'd said daddy was very far away.
22:17I folded the picture, turned off the light, and lay down.
22:21The next morning, I checked out of the hotel.
22:24I didn't go back to the DeLuca estate, and I didn't return to the Valenti home either.
22:28I sent Sam to stay with my mother for a while and went alone to the north shore of Lake
22:32Pontchartrain.
22:33There was a private physical rehabilitation center there called Harbor House.
22:36My grandmother had left it to me.
22:38After I got married, I handed it over to professional management and hadn't been back in six years.
22:43Mrs. Coleman, the director, was in her 50s, finished going through the past few years of accounts, then looked up
22:49at me.
22:50What brought you back all of a sudden?
22:52My husband has passed away.
22:54I told her my husband was dead.
22:56Mrs. Coleman didn't ask any more questions.
22:58She pushed a ring of keys across the desk.
23:01There's only enough money left to keep us running for two months.
23:03The East Wing leaks, the kitchen owes money to suppliers, and we're short six caregivers.
23:09Where do we start?
23:11With the unpaid wages.
23:14Working at Harbor House wasn't easy.
23:16I got to the office at six every morning.
23:18During the day, I went through the books, called contractors, interviewed staff, and helped on the wards whenever we were
23:23shorthanded.
23:24Call bells rang nonstop.
23:26Carts rattled through the halls.
23:27Patients pressed their call buttons.
23:29Relatives argued, and nurses called for help.
23:31The noise never stopped.
23:33The first week, I got three blisters on my hands moving supplies, covered them with gauze, and kept working.
23:38By the second week, the blisters had turned into calluses.
23:42I sold several pieces of my personal jewelry and used the money to cover the back pay owed to 27
23:47employees.
23:48When my father found out, he called me.
23:52The Volante family isn't short on money.
23:54I know.
23:56Then why are you selling your own things?
23:59Because Harbor House is mine.
24:02The other end of the line was silent for a long time.
24:05You're really not coming back?
24:07No.
24:08My father hung up.
24:14At the end of the month, Mrs. Coleman slid a piece of paper with an address across my desk.
24:19It was the apartment I'd asked her to help me find.
24:21It was right across from the rehab center.
24:24One bedroom, one living room, and a small balcony.
24:27I signed the lease that afternoon.
24:29That weekend, I went back to Galveston to pick up Sam.
24:31My parents were waiting in front of the estate.
24:34When my father saw me, his lips moved.
24:35What happened to your hands?
24:38Moving supplies.
24:40The next day, as I was leaving, my mother caught my sleeve.
24:43You're really not going back to Rafe?
24:46No.
24:47He came by the day before yesterday.
24:48He's lost a lot of weight.
24:50Every single one of them had helped keep the truth from me.
24:53None of them had the right to talk me into reconciling with him.
24:56No one at the DeLuca estate knew where I'd gone.
24:59They only knew that Rafe returned to the main house less and less.
25:02He spent his days at the port, slept in his study at night,
25:05and barely spoke to anyone even during meals.
25:08Vincent tried to talk to him once.
25:10Rafe shut the door in his face.
25:11Lily wasn't doing well either.
25:13One evening, she was carrying a plate of dessert toward the dining room,
25:17when her legs suddenly gave out beneath her.
25:19The plate shattered, cream splattering across the floor.
25:22After examining her, the doctor said she was malnourished.
25:26Her blood pressure was dangerously low, and the pregnancy was at serious risk.
25:30If things continued like this, she could lose the baby.
25:34When Bianca went to see her, she brought a basket of fruit.
25:37Lily leaned against the headboard, her face as white as the sheets.
25:40Bianca sat for a while before finally asking the question she'd been holding in for two months.
25:45Lily, tell me the truth.
25:47Whose baby are you carrying?
25:50Lily didn't take the fruit Bianca offered her.
25:53If the baby isn't Rafe's, why didn't you say so?
25:56The Don saved me.
25:58I can't ruin his plan.
26:01What about Nora?
26:04Every single day, I wanted to tell her.
26:06When Bianca returned from the clinic, she ran into Don Salvatore in the hallway.
26:10Salvador.
26:11Don Salvatore stood in front of her for a long moment.
26:13Bianca, when you married me, I told you one thing.
26:17Do you remember it?
26:18Bianca answered nervously.
26:20I remember.
26:21You said a Delina woman either helps hold the family together, or knows when to keep her mouth shut.
26:26For the past two months, you've done neither.
26:29You humiliated your own daughter-in-law over a girl whose background you didn't even know.
26:33I didn't know.
26:34Then that was even more reason to keep your mouth shut.
26:39Nora is the only person in this house who hasn't done a single thing wrong from beginning to end.
26:44Go ask Vincent.
26:46Once you have, think very carefully about what you're going to do next.
26:49By the time Bianca left the hallway, her legs were shaking.
26:52She went straight to Vincent's office.
26:54Lily's baby isn't Rafe's, is it?
26:56Vincent closed the file in front of him and didn't answer.
27:00Then whose baby is it?
27:02There are still things I can't tell you.
27:04Think about it yourself.
27:06If the baby really was the Dons, why did every man who came back from the Gulf Coast protect Lily,
27:10yet not one of them congratulate him?
27:13A living person's pride will never matter more than protecting the child of a dead man.
27:20Michael's belongings were returned to the estate.
27:23The package wasn't large.
27:24It was a metal box recovered from the burned warehouse.
27:27Rafe opened it.
27:28Inside were a neatly folded black suit, an old watch, a bill folded in half, and a letter that had
27:33never been sent.
27:34Lily's name was written on the envelope.
27:36Rafe opened the letter.
27:37If I don't make it back, tell my child his father didn't run away.
27:41I died trying to come home.
27:43Rafe took the letter to Vincent's study that two of them shut the door and stayed inside all afternoon.
27:49Vincent took apart the old watch and found a tiny folded ledger page hidden inside the casing.
27:54It listed several DeLuca shipments whose schedules had been leaked.
27:58The same initials were written beside every entry CG Carlo Greco, a capo responsible for coordinating the DeLuca port operations.
28:05That night, Carlo was caught while trying to leave New Orleans.
28:09He was dragged into the basement, still shouting that he'd served the DeLuca family for 20 years.
28:15Were you the one who sold our movements to Caruso before those attacks?
28:18Carlo stopped shouting.
28:20Using the addresses he gave up, DeLuca men found the last group of Carusas still hiding in the city.
28:26Before dawn, the threat was gone.
28:29The next morning, Don Salvatore ordered Vincent to summon every core member of the family to the private chapel.
28:35It wasn't a family meeting.
28:36It was a formal family tribunal presided over by Don Salvatore himself.
28:41The chapel was packed.
28:43Bianca sat in the front row.
28:44The women who had insulted me sat behind her.
28:47Rafe stood beside the altar instead of taking the Don's seat.
28:50That chair had been left for Don Salvatore.
28:53Don Salvatore walked slowly toward the altar, leaning on his ebony cane.
28:57He had been retired for three years.
28:59This was the first time in three years that he had sat in that old chair.
29:03I've been retired for three years.
29:06Today, I'm stepping into family business one more time.
29:10Because this time, the family owes a debt to one dead man and justice to one woman.
29:18He looked at Bianca, then at the Capos' wives seated behind her.
29:23Vincent walked to the long table and placed three things on it.
29:27Michael's cufflinks, the farewell letter he'd written to Lily, and the bloodstained note entrusting Lily and the baby to Rafe.
29:33Michael Doyle was not a maid man.
29:35For nine years, he carried out 27 operations for the DeLuca family and saved my son's life twice.
29:42The last time, he didn't come home alive.
29:49If I don't make it back, tell my child his father didn't run away.
29:54I died trying to come home.
29:57The woman that Don brought back from the Gulf Coast was not his mistress.
30:01She was the fiancé of a man who died for the DeLuca family, and she was carrying his child.
30:07The handkerchief slipped from Bianca's hand.
30:13Until Carlo was caught and the killers were eliminated, anyone learning the child's identity would have put Lily and the
30:20baby in mortal danger.
30:21That's why the Don couldn't explain publicly.
30:27I was the one who ordered everyone to believe Lily was my woman.
30:31I take responsibility for every consequence.
30:36Over the past two months, several people in this house said ugly things to the Donna's face.
30:42I won't name names.
30:44If you were one of them, stand up!
30:47After a long time, two Capo's wives stood first.
30:50We're sorry.
30:51We were wrong.
30:52Then four more stood.
30:53Then five.
30:55Bianca was the last.
30:57She slowly rose from the front row and turned to face the entire chapel.
31:00I'm Rafe's mother.
31:02I tried to force Nora to give Lily her son's room.
31:07I humiliated her in public at the charity committee meeting.
31:12Everyone in this house who spoke badly about Nora followed my lead.
31:16I was wrong.
31:19Don Salvatore watched her in silence for a long time.
31:22Tell Nora that.
31:24Not us.
31:27After the tribunal ended, Bianca didn't leave right away.
31:30She stood for a long time staring at the empty seat reserved for the Donna beside the altar
31:34as tears kept slipping down her cheeks.
31:37Three days later, she wrote me a letter by hand.
31:39She wrote that if I was willing to come back, she would move out of the main house and hand
31:44over the estate keys, along with everything that belonged to the Donna.
31:48If I still couldn't forgive her, she would come kneel before me herself.
31:52By the end of the letter, the ink had bled across the page.
31:56Gabriel came to Harbor House with two men.
31:59At the time, I was pushing a cart of clean sheets toward the inpatient wing.
32:02Mrs. Coleman called me twice from the end of the hallway before I heard her.
32:06I handed the cart to a caregiver and went outside.
32:10Donna, two days ago, Don Salvatore personally presided over a family tribunal in the chapel
32:15and explained everything.
32:17Michael saved the Don's life.
32:18Lily and the baby were both entrusted to him by Michael.
32:21Bianca and the others were all there.
32:22Don Salvatore ordered Bianca to apologize to you herself.
32:27I opened Bianca's letter, read it, then folded it again.
32:30She said that if you'd come back, she'd move out.
32:33And she said if you want her to kneel, she'll come and kneel before you herself.
32:38Tell her she doesn't need to kneel.
32:42Then when are you coming back to the estate?
32:44I never said I was going back.
32:46But the baby isn't the Don's.
32:48I know.
32:50The Don never touched Lily either.
32:52I know.
32:53Then why?
32:56Because my shift isn't over yet.
33:00That night, I went back to the DeLuca estate, not to move back in, to collect what I'd left
33:04behind.
33:05A winter coat, two pairs of shoes, and a photo album.
33:08On the last page was a picture of the three of us standing in front of the estate, before
33:12Rafe left for the Gulf Coast to fight the rival family.
33:16Sam sat on Rafe's shoulders, grinning wide enough to show a row of tiny teeth.
33:20I stood beside them, straightening Rafe's collar.
33:23My lips were parted, as if I were still speaking.
33:26I was probably telling him to come home safe.
33:28I closed the album and placed it in the cardboard box.
33:31As I stepped outside, I ran into Bianca.
33:33The moment she saw the box in my arms, she went rigid at the foot of the stairs.
33:39Nora, I got your letter.
33:41Stay tonight.
33:44If you don't want to see me, I'll move into the West House right now.
33:47The main house is yours.
33:49So is your place as Donna.
33:51Mrs. DeLuca, I'm not staying away because I'm still angry with you.
33:55Then why?
33:56Everyone here calls me Donna.
33:58But when something actually happened, not one person treated me like the Donna.
34:04You expected me to accept a woman who might have been carrying my husband's child.
34:08Rafe told me to keep quiet.
34:11Everyone else stood there and watched me be humiliated.
34:15Now that the truth is out, you all think that if you give me back the room and the ring,
34:20everything can go back to the way it was.
34:25Nora, I'm sorry.
34:27I accept your apology.
34:29But I'm not coming back.
34:32That's all.