On the way back to her residence. 

 

Inside the car racing through the midnight streets, only Johnny Mathis’s Heavenly flowed from the radio.

 

While the organization member Tommy drove silently, Liliana, seated in the back, quietly gazed out the window. 

 

On the darkened street, Theodoro’s face from earlier faintly appeared.

 

“Or… are you hiding something from me?”

 

The moment his faintly smiling face saying those words resurfaced, Liliana’s complexion, reflected in the window, darkened heavily.

 

Why had Theodoro made such an expression while saying that? Could he have noticed something? 

 

She quickly shook her head, pushing the assumption away.

 

‘There’s no way.’

 

If Theodoro had found out anything about her and Wayne, he would have tried to kill her right there on the spot. There was no chance he would have let her live.

 

‘Yes… that’s right.’

 

Liliana let out a deep sigh and tried to calm her anxious heart. Still, the lingering unease could not be helped.

 

It was probably because every word and action Theodoro had shown today felt strangely off.

 

“Theo.”

 

“…”

 

“Theodoro.”

 

“…Speak.”

 

Even after the kiss ended, Theodoro had buried his head in her shoulder for a long time without saying anything.

 

He hadn’t shed a single tear, yet for some reason, it felt as if he was crying inside.

 

“Are you okay…? Are you feeling unwell—”

 

“No. Don’t worry about it.”

 

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no way he had reacted like that after discovering her background.

 

Even Wayne, who had been with the organization for five years, had been brutally murdered. 

 

There was no reason for him to grieve over the betrayal of a woman who had only been in the organization for half a year.

 

‘Then what on earth is going on….’

 

Since Theodoro hadn’t said anything, there was no way for her to know. Liliana sighed and turned her gaze away from the window.

 

She had meant to erase the man whose intentions she couldn’t read from her mind. But her eyes naturally stopped on the potted plant she was holding, making the attempt meaningless.

 

“Ah…”

 

Liliana looked at the daffodil swaying in time with the car’s movement.

 

“Should we postpone the conversation you wanted to have today? You don’t look well at all…”

 

“There’s no need. There was nothing I wanted to talk about. I called you just to give you your birthday present.”

 

“Birthday… present?”

 

Only then did Theodoro lift his head and look back at the office desk with a hazy gaze. For a moment, his eyes holding the daffodil seemed to twist—perhaps it was just her imagination.

 

“…Take it.”

 

For a gift from the mafia underboss, it was modest and therefore somewhat embarrassing as a birthday present. 

 

She had expected him to casually toss her the usual expensive clothes, accessories, or shoes that he always gave under the pretext of maintaining her dignity.

 

Because it was a gift he would never normally give, her heart instead felt warm and fuzzy.

 

“Do you like it?”

 

At the sudden voice, Liliana looked up. In the rearview mirror, Tommy was glancing at her with a light smile.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“The flower. You’ve been touching it nonstop.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Liliana looked down at the potted plant in her arms again and smiled faintly.

 

“…Yes. I like it.”

 

“I really hope you do. Theodoro spent a long time worrying about what to get you for your birthday. I suggested jewelry several times, but he kept refusing, saying you don’t really like that kind of thing.”

 

“…”

 

“Compared to all that worrying, flowers seem like too light a gift, haha. Still, when he saw that flower, Theodoro insisted on digging it up himself.”

 

He dug it up? Theodoro? Liliana’s eyes widened.

 

“It wasn’t something you bought?”

 

“Ah, did he not tell you? He personally dug it up from the lakeside today. We offered to do it, but he said he had to do it himself…”

 

“Ah… I didn’t know.”

 

“It seems he thought of you the moment he saw it. He even asked us if it didn’t resemble you, Miss Liliana.”

 

“Pardon…? He said that? Does it look like me?”

 

“At first glance, it does seem a bit similar. Of course, your hair color is much brighter.”

 

Liliana blinked her large eyes and looked down at the platinum blonde hair swaying at her chest.

 

Perhaps because of the sharp streetlights flowing in through the car window, her platinum hair, which looked a clearer yellow than usual, really did resemble the color of the daffodil’s petals, just as Tommy said.

 

“Ah…”

 

Liliana moved her lips, but no words came out. Perhaps she simply couldn’t speak. With trembling fingertips, she gently stroked the delicate petals.

 

For some reason, it felt as if Theodoro never projected any color onto her; he simply looked straight at her as she truly was.

 

 This modest flower gift, which might have meant nothing special to him, became the greatest comfort to her.

 

For just a little while… yes, just for a little while, she felt she could be free from the terrible pressure and sense of duty that demanded she remain purely white.

 

💫

 

The next day was her birthday. 

 

Except for when she was very young, she remembered never having spent her birthdays in a noisy, lively way.

 

That day, from early morning, Silvano came to her house carrying a mountain of gifts. He said that aside from what he had prepared, all the rest were birthday presents delivered directly to her.

 

There were so many that Liliana had to spend the entire morning with Silvano just opening them.

 

There were gifts from organization members she often saw at the De Lucia bar, from the members who took turns picking her up and protecting her these days, and even from branch leaders she had become quite close with.

 

“W-what is this…? This is so embarrassing…”

 

“What the hell? Which perverted bastard sent underwear?”

 

“Not a perverted bastard… It’s from Mrs. Bruno.”

 

“Why the hell did that crazy woman send underwear? Is she telling you to go all the way with Theo or something?”

 

The thin lace underwear that couldn’t even cover the important parts was from Anna Bruno. 

 

Just as Silvano guessed, it was undoubtedly sent to cheer on her hot and passionate love with Theodoro.

 

“Give that to me.”

 

“Huh? You’re going to wear it?”

 

“What…? It doesn’t even fit me, and I don’t want to wear it. No matter how openly you see me, I don’t have that kind of taste.”

 

“Then what, is it for your collection?”

 

“Ah, why do you keep looking at me like that? Just throw it away for me.”

 

There were embarrassing gifts like that, but there were also gifts that surprised her in a different way.

 

They were the ones sent by Carmine Lombardi and Alan Goldberg. She thought they had built a friendly relationship, but to receive personal congratulatory letters and gifts… 

 

It made her feel proud that her days hadn’t been meaningless, along with a strange emotion.

 

Moreover, she had never been congratulated by so many people in her life.

 

The fact that the people who gave her her first grand birthday were all from the underworld made her let out a helpless laugh.

 

Around noon, she received a call from the Goth Gang siblings. She had never once mentioned her birthday, yet somehow the news had reached them.

 

They suggested that if she had nothing special planned, she should come over for a birthday party and catch up.

 

Since she had no particular schedule and Silvano kept urging her, saying it would be fun, Liliana reluctantly pretended to go along and headed to the Goth Gang’s hideout.

 

“Sean, has your financial situation improved lately? The coffee tastes much better. Last time I thought it was poison.”

 

“It has gotten better. Though my back is about to break from your lover sucking money out of me every month.”

 

“Then should I make West Peal spit it back out?”

 

“That joke is terrifying. Once given, it can never be taken back.”

 

“You two, stop fighting and come over here! The pie is ready!”

 

Enya warmly welcomed them and even personally baked a birthday cake. 

 

Silvano, who had disappeared for a moment, came back with a whipped cream cake and made a tearful face while watching them enjoy the delicious pecan pie.

 

Up until then, it had been a happy birthday.

 

She knew that she probably wouldn’t be able to spend a birthday like this again in a year’s April… no, in two years, or three years.

 

Because she knew this noisy, boisterous birthday would be both the first and the last… it felt all the more precious and meaningful.

 

It would have been perfect if it had ended right there. Then it truly would have remained in her memory as a happy twenty-seventh birthday for a long time.

 

“Tommy, where’s Miss Liliana? Isn’t she here?”

 

“What? Why are you here?”

 

“She needs to move right now. Step aside.”

 

“Hey! What the hell is this all of a sudden?!”

 

In the middle of the lively birthday party, a member of the Benedetti organization suddenly burst in. She instinctively sensed that something bad had happened.

 

“Miss Liliana, I’m truly sorry for the suddenness, but you need to come with me right away.”

 

“What? Where? What’s going on?”

 

“Your… younger brother has just been rushed to Lincoln University Hospital…”

 

At those following words, Liliana threw down the plate and fork she was holding and rushed out of the room. 

 

The news was that Angelo had been shot and urgently transported to the hospital.