For three or four days after Theodoro left for Phelps City, Demercy was quite peaceful. 

 

There was nothing particularly unusual.

 

Theodoro, who called once or twice a day, reported that he was there, finding evidence that Gasparo was abusing his company power to deploy hitmen for personal matters.

 

Unfortunately, there weren’t any significant results…. And so the days passed.

 

On that day, Liliana had gone to work at the bar as usual and was practicing with the accompanists.

 

De Lucia bar was unusually quiet and lonely. For some reason, the people who usually frequented the bar throughout the day were nowhere to be seen.

 

“Mauricio, maybe we should just call it a day and close up?”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous…”

 

Liliana also chimed in to Mauricio, who sharply refused the accompanist’s suggestion.

“Why? It’s really quiet today. It’s almost awkward to perform.”

 

She had sensed something was off since a while ago, but had brushed it aside…

 

It was only later, when a group of crew members rushed in, that she realized something had happened.

 

“This is insane. Shouldn’t we be laying low somewhere too?”

 

“I don’t know, damn it. Theodoro isn’t here, what do we do?”

 

“This time, it doesn’t seem like money will fix it. I heard the cops already applied for an arrest warrant.”

 

“No, how did John end up…? If this continues, aren’t we all screwed too?”

 

Liliana, who was helping Mauricio wipe glasses, turned pale.

 

Crash!

 

The glass she dropped fell to the floor and shattered into pieces, but she couldn’t even bother with that.

 

“What did you say…?”

 

“Ah, you didn’t hear? John Bruno was arrested. He’s in a holding cell right now.”

 

That’s when she found out. John Bruno, the branch manager whom Theodoro and Liliana had desperately worked to bring in, had been arrested.

 

Without a moment to spare for other thoughts, Liliana ran to the corner of the bar and picked up the phone. 

 

The tips of her fingers dialing the number were trembling slightly.

 

Brrrring, brrrring…

 

The ringing tone, like a tinnitus, continued to sound in her ear, but the other party did not answer.

 

‘Sigh… As expected, he’s not answering.’

 

There was no way Theodoro would have returned to his hotel room by just 7 PM. Even though she had expected it, Liliana’s shoulders slumped.

 

“…Theo. When you get this message, please call me at home. By the time you get back, I’ll probably be off work too.”

 

In the end, she only left a voice message and put the receiver down with a troubled heart. 

 

An unresolved anxiety gripped her heart, and ominous forebodings sprouted and grew vigorously in her mind.

 

Why, of all times, was John Bruno arrested just when Theodoro was away? 

 

It could be a coincidence, but she had a feeling it wasn’t.

 

‘This… can’t be a coincidence.’

 

Liliana, alert, scanned her surroundings and then carefully dialed the phone again.

 

The person who answered soon was Vincent Del Piero. She let her voice, lowered as much as possible, flow into the receiver.

 

“…It’s me.”

 

— Ah, good timing. I was just about to contact you.

 

“Today… we need to have a meeting, right?”

 

— Let’s do that.

 

“Let’s meet at ‘Under the Bridge’ at 11.”

 

In this situation with Theodoro absent, in this situation where he couldn’t return to Demercy immediately, the ones she could trust and rely on were Vincent and Silvano. 

 

And besides them, only herself.

 

💫

 

Vroom—

 

The sound of a car starting up came from outside the container. 

 

Soon, the sound of the car faded away along the bumpy unpaved road.

 

This was Theodoro’s ‘under the bridge’ hideout, the place where Liliana had her first initiation ceremony and which had since been used as a secret meeting place.

 

As the noise subsided, the inside of the container was filled with a silence as if cold water had been poured over everything.

 

Liliana let out a sigh that rose from her core and reached her arm toward the side of the sofa. 

 

The meeting had run late, and it was already past midnight. It was well past the time when Theodoro should have called her house…

 

Click—

 

She picked up the receiver and called the hotel. 

 

Almost before the ringtone could sound a few times, it cut off, and a low, gruff voice rang in her ear.

 

— Hello.

 

“Ah… Theo, it’s me.”

 

Theodoro, in his hotel room at that hour.

 

Finally feeling the tension drain away, he let out a hollow sigh and ran his hand through his hair. 

 

From under the black hair cascading through his fingers, a sharp light gleamed in his sunken eyes.

 

— Are you kidding me?

 

“Pardon? What?”

 

— Where are you?

 

“Ah, well, I was having a talk with Mr. Vincent—”

 

— What if someone who was supposed to call doesn’t answer their phone for hours?

 

He irritably loosened his tie. He had been anxiously waiting for her, staring at the phone all this time, unable to even wash up because of her.

 

— Isn’t it reasonable to assume something might have happened?

 

The rebuke came without giving her a chance to answer, but the corners of Liliana’s lips trembled slightly.

 

“Don’t tell me you were worried?”

 

— If I were, would you hurry up and get home already?

 

For the first time that day, she let out a frivolous laugh.

 

It’s just a matter of hearing your voice now. 

 

Nothing has been resolved yet. For some reason, the tension that had gripped her all evening seemed to be fading.

 

“You have Silvano, and there are plenty of other people assigned to you as well. You don’t need to 

worry. Right now… I’m at the container. I was in a sudden meeting with Mr. Vincent…”

 

— Ah. Is he there with you?

 

“No, he left right after the meeting ended. Silvano said he would drive him, so they left together.”

 

Theodoro suppressed his anger, stopping himself from snapping at her, “Even if it is a safe house, have you really lost your mind? Why are you there alone?”

 

— You’ve really made yourself at home in someone else’s empty house, Liliana.

 

“Hmm…”

 

Liliana ignored his irritable tone and looked around the container.

 

The modest furnishings filling the space were still the same. The dazzling night view outside the window was still the same. 

 

Everything was identical, except the owner of this place was conspicuously absent.

 

“Made myself at home, I guess. It feels really awkward and strange being here alone.”

 

— Why? Did you think I would be there?

 

Leaning against the wall, a subtle smirk played on Theodoro’s lips as he took the call.

 

Meanwhile, Liliana, who was about 1,000 km away from that place, felt her heart sink and bowed her head deeply.

 

“Ah, no… That’s not it…. It’s just that the person who should be here isn’t…. So I just meant it feels strange.”

 

It was a flustered, clumsy answer. 

 

Theodoro let out a short, puffing laugh and finally got to the main point.

 

— Anyway, a sudden meeting, huh? I don’t remember you saying anything about that just this morning.

 

“Ah…”

 

As the conversation seemed to be gradually approaching its main point, the reality she had momentarily forgotten returned to Liliana.

 

She took a deep breath, recalling the conversation she had with Vincent just minutes before.

 

“John Bruno was arrested? There were no signs of that at all.”

 

“Well… these things usually happen without warning, don’t they?”

 

“Was Mr. Luciano involved? That was my first thought as soon as I heard the news.”

 

“Most likely, yes. It seems he used Gasparo to send Theo to Phelps and then seized the moment to act… In short, it’s a warning. A message that this is what happens if you side with Theo.”

 

Her fears were confirmed. 

 

Since Vincent agreed and had joined in, it was safe to assume the possibility of Luciano not being involved was almost zero.

 

Liliana chewed her lip anxiously, her face full of unease.

 

“If this continues… it wouldn’t be surprising if even the people we barely managed to bring in start to leave. If the trial proceeds and he actually gets a prison sentence, it would be really…”

 

“I know, but the situation isn’t looking good.”

 

Vincent’s expression began to darken. He pressed his fingers against his shadowed eyes and muttered.

 

“All the work John has done has been under Luciano’s thumb, after all. If they hand over just one or two pieces of evidence to the police, the indictment will proceed swiftly. He won’t even be able to avoid a trial in the end.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“And then, as if pretending to be generous, that bastard Luciano arranged a lawyer for him… but it was someone I’ve never seen or heard of before.”

 

“Wait a minute, what about Bill Grant?!”

 

At her surprised question, Vincent shook his head. 

 

By then, Liliana’s complexion was rapidly turning pale.

 

Bill Grant. They passed over the man known as the Benedetti family’s dedicated lawyer and assigned some unknown lawyer to John?

 

So, didn’t that mean Luciano had decided to abandon John Bruno completely?

 

Although Benedetti had been practically pouring money into investigative agencies… if they were going to hand-feed a crew member to them, the Gilligan County District Attorney’s Office wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

 

They would be desperate to bring him to justice by any means necessary. 

 

And unless he had a lawyer specializing in organized crime, the outcome was as clear as day.

 

Theodoro, having heard up to that point, closed his eyes tightly and let out a strained breath. He was forcibly swallowing all the curses that had risen to his throat.

 

Yeah, he had felt something was off even while moving to Phelps. 

 

The problem was that he had let his guard down, grown complacent, because Luciano and Gasparo had been quiet for the last few months.

 

He roughly tore at the buttons on his shirt, undoing them aggressively, and spat out the words in a suppressed voice.

 

— Even if we had properly retained a lawyer, things probably wouldn’t have gone our way.

 

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

 

— For my brother to proceed legally… I think it means Judith has decided to side with him.

 

“Ah…”

 

— If that’s the case, then Andrew Whitmore will preside over the trial. No matter what lawyer we got, it would have been difficult to save John.

 

The tips of Liliana’s fingers holding the receiver trembled slightly.

 

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of that. 

 

Yet, the reason she hadn’t brought it up first… was because she was afraid Theodoro might change his mind again and decide to team up with Judith.

 

Even though she knew, honestly, that would be the best choice for resolving the situation, she just didn’t like it.

 

“But still… um… you ended up going to Phelps the very day after what happened with Judith. For Luciano to plan this all in one day… wouldn’t it have been difficult? To conclude that Judith is involved in this—”

 

— My brother must have been preparing to discard John beforehand. Then a perfect opportunity came along.

 

Liliana couldn’t bring herself to deny it any further and shut her eyes tightly. 

 

Although she tried not to show it, her muffled voice spilled out.

 

“So… what do you want to do? When you return to Demercy, are you thinking of meeting with Judith again?”