“Angelico Moretti… gunshot victim. Where… where is he?”

 

Liliana couldn’t even remember how she had driven all the way to the hospital. The entire process had taken place in a hazy, unconscious realm far beyond the borders of her awareness. 

 

Everything felt like a dream. But not a fantastical one—an unbearably horrific nightmare.

 

She felt as if she had become a third-person observer, watching from a step away as the person named Liliana observed, listened, and experienced everything happening to Moretti.

 

As if she could not intervene at all.

 

“Mr. Angelico Moretti… Ah! This way, please!”

 

Even as she followed the guiding nurse toward the hospital room, she seemed only half-present. 

 

The moment the distant dream turned into harsh reality was when she took one slow step after another toward Angelo, who lay deathly still.

 

“Angelo…?”

 

“…”

 

Instead of the unconscious man, the organization member who had brought Liliana spoke up.

 

“He’s deeply asleep right now. The through-and-through wound below his ear has been treated, and the surgery to remove the bullet lodged in his shoulder was successful. Please try to calm down… and just wait until he regains consciousness.”

 

Liliana couldn’t utter a single word in reply. She staggered toward Angelo. 

 

The flesh inside her tightly bitten lip burst, filling her mouth with the metallic taste of blood. But whenever the surging tears threatened to spill, she could only bite down even harder on the raw flesh.

 

Lately, people around her had begun to be attacked one by one by Gasparo’s hit team. 

 

Every single one of those who had lost their lives had been a member of the organization. She never imagined that the hand of death would reach all the way to Angelo.

 

Fragments of an unforgettable past overlapped with the scene before her eyes. 

 

Long ago, on a day when she had rushed to the hospital after receiving an urgent call, Angelo had also been lying neatly on a white bed just like this—shot by bullets fired from the Corella family.

 

The only difference from that day… was that when her trembling hand gently stroked his cheek, she could feel a faint but warm body heat from Angelo. 

 

The overwhelming sense of relief made her legs, which had been planted firmly on the ground, suddenly lose all strength.

 

“Aah…”

 

“Liliana!”

 

Leaning against Silvano, who hurriedly supported her, Liliana tried to steady her ragged breathing. 

 

In the end, the tears she had been holding back burst forth, hot streams flowing down her distorted face.

 

“Why… why are you crying? The surgery went well, and they said he’s fine. Don’t cry.”

 

A flustered Silvano wiped her cheeks, not knowing what else to do, but he couldn’t stop the endless flow of tears.

 

He was alive, yet her emotions were a tangled mess of relief and sorrow. 

 

How could she feel only gratitude that Angelo had survived? 

 

There was no denying that he had been put in mortal danger because of her.

 

If things had gone as they should, he would never have been shot on this warm spring day. 

 

Why had something that never happened in the past occurred at this point in time? 

 

It was obvious that Liliana, who had stirred the currents of change, was the root cause. Covering her face with both hands, she repeatedly whispered in a voice thick with tears:

 

“Angelo, Angelo… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

 

“Liliana, look at me. You didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you apologizing? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

 

“No… that’s not true. It’s all because of me…”

 

Liliana shook her head violently as she sobbed.

 

Because Angelo wouldn’t move exactly as she wished, she had believed it would be better to neutralize Gasparo as quickly as possible. 

 

That was why she had secretly felt glad when Luciano and Gasparo joined hands. It gave them a justification to launch a full-scale attack on him, using Theodoro at the forefront.

 

From the moment they destroyed the Inter Press company that had colluded with Gasparo until now… she had thought everything she did was ultimately for Angelo’s sake.

 

And yet, this was the result.

 

‘Once again… I couldn’t…’

 

Once again, I failed to fully protect Angelo from the gun barrel aimed at him by the Corella family.

 

The palms covering her face became soaked with tears.

 

💫

 

“Liliana, why don’t you go outside with Silvano for a bit and get some fresh air?”

 

It was Enya who spoke, unable to bear watching Liliana sit there with an even paler face than the injured Angelo.

 

Liliana was deeply grateful to Enya, who had stayed with her ever since they left for the hospital. But gratitude and wanting to accept her suggestion were two different things. 

 

With a lifeless expression, Liliana shook her head.

 

What she had overlooked, however, was that Enya O’Connor was not the type of person who would easily back down.

 

“Hurry up! Go outside right now.”

 

“Y-yes…?”

 

Liliana stumbled to her feet under the firm grip that pulled her up. When she glanced back at Angelo, whose eyes were still tightly closed, Enya blocked her view with her own body and urged her on.

 

“Don’t worry about your little brother. You know I’m good at taking care of people, right? I’ll watch over him, so go on.”

 

It wasn’t just Enya who was deeply worried about Liliana’s condition—Silvano quickly stepped in as well. He naturally took Liliana’s hand and led her toward the door.

 

“Come on. If you stay cooped up in the hospital room, you’ll start having bad thoughts you’ve never had before.”

 

“But what if something dangerous happens while I’m gone…”

 

“What are you talking about? There are so many people guarding this place.”

 

He wasn’t wrong. 

 

Not only inside the hospital room, but even in the hallway, members of the Goth Gang and Benedetti’s organization stood with menacing auras radiating from them.

 

“Nothing to worry about, right?”

 

“…”

 

“Just a five-minute walk. Deal?”

 

Liliana couldn’t refuse Silvano as he grinned and raised the corners of his mouth.

 

The outside of the hospital she reluctantly followed him to was filled with the warm colors of spring, making the pale hospital room they had just left feel almost unreal. 

 

It was a painfully beautiful spring day.

 

Silvano led Liliana along a path lush with young green buds and asked in a deliberately playful voice:

 

“See? It feels much better out here, doesn’t it?”

 

“…I’m not sure. The more peacefully I walk like this, the stronger the feeling that I shouldn’t be doing this grows.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You know what I mean… Gasparo even went after Angelo. It doesn’t feel like the time to be taking it easy.”

 

“Liliana.”

 

Hearing her real name instead of pet names like “baby,” “master,” or “Lily,” Liliana turned her head in surprise. 

 

At that moment, strong hands gripped both of her shoulders. Silvano looked straight at her and said,

 

“Don’t think about that right now. We’ll strike back after Angelo recovers and gets his strength back.”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t give yourself a headache over it already. Okay?”

 

Liliana lowered her gaze with an uncertain expression. 

 

But how could she control her thoughts when they refused to obey?

 

This wasn’t the first time he had been attacked by the Corella family—it was the second. If the bullet hadn’t missed and had hit properly, he would have died instantly, just like in the past.

 

The thought that they had to prepare for the possibility that they would target Angelo again dominated her mind. 

 

They needed to fight back as soon as possible.

 

Silvano, who had been watching her, let out a deep sigh. Then he suddenly pulled Liliana into his arms and scolded her gently:

 

“I told you not to think complicated thoughts. When the time comes, I’ll go to Gasparo’s front yard and… spray him with a machine gun or something. So stop worrying now.”

 

At the mention of spraying him with a machine gun, a sudden laugh burst out of her. Silvano patted her back, then tilted his head.

 

“Huh? Why are you laughing? I’m serious—I really will do it if you tell me not to worry.”

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Liliana collected her weak smile and pulled away from his embrace. It was mostly a joke, but it was still quite a comforting and reassuring consolation.

 

Even this rascal was trying to cheer her up with silly words… 

 

Meanwhile, where was Theodoro and what was he doing?

 

“Silvano. Have you heard anything from Theo?”

 

“Suddenly? I haven’t heard anything.”

 

Silvano frowned, clearly showing his displeasure.

 

“Hey, this is unfair. I’m the one hugging you and staying by your side. Why are you suddenly looking for that guy?”

 

“I’m not looking for him… I was just asking.”

 

She brushed it off as if it meant nothing, but her heart felt different. 

 

A bitter taste rose on her tongue. Her only family had been threatened with death, yet Theodoro hadn’t even shown his face, let alone contacted her.

 

I’m not upset. I’m not upset. No matter how many times she repeated it to herself, the aching corner of her chest remained unchanged.

 

Silvano looked at the dark expression she couldn’t quite hide, then turned his head away in resignation. That was when he spotted a man in a suit running toward them. Silvano’s eyebrows shot up high.

 

“What? Is something wrong?”

 

“Huff… huff, Mr. Giacone.”

 

The man who had run over in one breath braced his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. Silvano patted his shoulder, frowning.

 

“What is it? Did something happen?”

 

“No, haa… it’s not like that, but Mr. Theodoro urgently called for you.”

 

“Theo? Me?”

 

At the unexpected news, Silvano looked dazed. Beside him, Liliana’s eyes also widened in surprise. Under their urging gazes, the man quickly continued,

 

“Yes, he called and asked me to bring Mr. Giacone as quickly as possible.”

 

“Out of nowhere… why? We’re not exactly that close.”

 

“I don’t know the details either. He didn’t explain the reason. The car is waiting, so please head out right away.”

 

Liliana grabbed the man’s arm as he prepared to move and asked urgently:

 

“Wait! Did he really not say anything else?”

 

“Ah, now that you mention it, he also asked me to tell you something, Miss Liliana.”

 

“What…”

 

“He said he’s sorry about what happened to your brother. And that it will be difficult today, but he’ll probably be able to visit tomorrow.”

 

“…Is that all?”

 

“Yes, there was nothing else.”

 

A formal, polite expression of sympathy. 

 

How busy must he be that he couldn’t even stop by the hospital, even if it was late? 

 

The arm holding the man fell limply to her side.

 

What had she been expecting? What was the point of hoping for anything?

 

She had always felt uncomfortable with his kindness, and now Theodoro had finally returned to the cold, heartless self she had once wished for.

 

Liliana forced a smile full of self-mockery and squeezed out her voice:

 

“…I understand. Go ahead. You said it’s urgent.”

 

💫

 

Soon after they left… Liliana walked with the other organization members Silvano had handed her over to and tried to pull herself together.

 

With every step she took, one fact became clearer, this was a painful event for her, but to Theodoro, it was nothing more than someone else’s business.

 

And by then, the thought she had earlier grew even firmer.

 

‘I can’t just stay like this. I have to do something.’

 

Hearing Theodoro’s message had solidified her resolve. 

 

He was a man who didn’t care at all about Angelo being attacked. She couldn’t afford to match his pace and leisurely deal with Gasparo while letting her guard down. She had to move.

 

“I need to make a quick phone call. Wait here for me.”

 

Turning her back on the people accompanying her, Liliana stepped into the public phone booth outside the building.

 

As she dialed, a sudden thought crossed her mind.

 

Perhaps the reason Gasparo and Luciano had gone so far as to target Angelo was to make her give up.

 

Maybe they hoped that, overwhelmed by fear, she would beg Theodoro to stop here, saying she didn’t want any more damage.

 

If that was truly what they wanted… she would never let it happen. At this point, even if it meant putting Angelo under forceful protection, she would make Gasparo pay for his crimes.

 

— Hello, this is Wayne Boyd.

 

“Wayne, it’s me.”