Chapter 3 After hanging up , I didn't return to the banquet hall and left alone . [ ] On the way , I received a message from Luca . [ ] [ Why did you leave ? It's the celebration tonight . Be good , don't throw a tantrum . ] ]] ere befor If this were before , hearing him coax me like this , I would have swallowed any grievance . [ ] But today , I didn't want to endure it anymore . [ ] My fingers moved lightly as I replied . ] ] [ My back injury flared up . Can't stand for long . ] ] ] Half a month ago , he said he had his eye on a piece of jewelry worth 150 million , for an engagement gift . ] It was smuggled goods , hidden in a rival's warehouse . I , who hadn't personally taken action in years , risked everything for him again . [ ] The result was a fractured spine that nearly left me paralyzed . [ ] However , the treasure I fought desperately to obtain ultimately became the engagement gift he gave to someone else . [ ] The chat showed " typing ... " for a long time before a single message came : [] [ Oh , remember to apply medicine . ] ] [ Mm . ]]] After a moment of silence , another message popped up : [ Don't worry about returning the hair clip . Consider it a birthday gift . ] ] my gaze falling on the old leather bracelet around my wrist . ] Eight years ago , I was kidnapped by Luca's enemies . ] After three days of torture , they used me to threaten him into trading his life . ] Afraid he'd do something foolish , I threw myself directly at the kidnapper's blade . [ ] Covered in blood , he rescued me and held me trembling . [ ] " Nina , are you insane ! Even if I die , you're not allowed to die ! Do you understand ? " ] I nodded . Despite being covered in blood , I didn't feel any pain . [ ] 15 Chapter 3 The day I left the hospital happened to be my birthday . He had buzzed his hair short and , with a cold expression , tied a rough leather bracelet around my wrist in a dead knot . [ ] " Nina , happy birthday . " ] By then he was already making a name for himself in Palermo , wearing gold and silver , yet he gave me a leather bracelet . ] ] I only found out later that he had made it from a piece of leather from his own jacket - the first thing he ever owned that meant something . He said it was supposed to keep me safe . [ ] How laughable . [ ] Now he had forgotten that my birthday had passed seven days ago . [ ] I pulled off the leather bracelet and threw it in the trash , then frantically searched for it again . ] The moment I found it , I finally couldn't help but cry . [ ] Turns out I was far from as carefree as I thought . [ ] For the next few days , we tacitly stopped contacting each other . [] Until three nights later , when Luca pulled me out of bed in the middle of the night . [ ] " Nina , Lucia's hurt . Where's the first aid kit ? Find it quickly ! " ] He hurriedly pulled me downstairs and pushed me into the storage room . ] When I came out with the kit , I saw him carefully holding Lucia's ankle . [ ] A pair of twisted high heels lay nearby . " Always so careless when walking , " he frowned , yet his tone was infinitely gentle . " Sprained it , didn't you ?" ] Lucia smiled softly , her eyes bright like a greenhouse flower . ] " It's nothing , just twisted it a little . " [ ] He gently stroked her hair , those hands that had once held guns and been stained with blood now carefully applying a heart - printed bandage to the girl . [ ] And that so - called wound hadn't even broken the skin . [ ] I stared blankly at the scene before me , as if seeing the past . [ ] In the past when I was injured , he had treated me the same way - carefully , like a precious treasure . [ ] But later , as storms grew frequent and scars became commonplace , I could no longer see any heartache in his eyes . [ ] In my youth , I always thought that loving without being loved in return was the most hurtful thing . ] Now I understand : being replaced ? That was hurts fucking far more than not being loved ! ] B ) ( 0 )