Chapter 2

One of his men saw me to the car, asking my destination several times, but I didn't hear him.

I remembered earlier, how I had excitedly gone to Dante, lunchbox in hand, ready to tell him our flight was booked.

Instead, I overheard his conversation with Leo, his subordinate.

"Are you really not going to the US, boss? What about Sera?"

Dante glanced at him lazily. "Go subtly hint at it."

"What if Sera ignores me?"

The tip of his cigarette glowed on and off; he flicked the ash impatiently. "A woman who constantly worries about my safety, who even personally makes me something as simple as porridge – how could she bear to miss your hint?"

"A woman like Sera, I just have to beckon, and she'll come running."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Leo joked:

"Boss, you're amazing. You can even train a woman like Sera to be like a puppy. You should teach me your dating skills."

Dante crossed his long legs, his impatience growing. "A woman like Sera is too much drama. If you date someone like that, you'll have hell to pay."

I looked at the two blisters on my hand from the scorching rice cooker and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He rubbed the old-fashioned lighter in his hand, his expression somewhat strained. "Leo, Willow's condition requires very specific care, resources for which aren't easily found in the US. If I leave, she'll be all alone. I can't bear to abandon her."

In that instant, I felt like I'd fallen into an ice cavern.

I turned off my phone, the flight information still on the screen, and walked away.

It took me a while to find my voice again.

"Take me home."

Volkov Enterprises' towering headquarters sped past the car window, but my heart felt like it was still back there.

In my mind, I made countless excuses for him: it was just a trick to fool his men, to keep our travel plans secret and avoid rivals.

I locked myself in my room for four days straight.

I blocked all of his men's contacts, pretending nothing had happened.

He hadn't come home either.

Until today, when Dante suddenly asked me to meet him at the cigar lounge where we first met.

I thought, I had shielded him from the indiscriminate blades a hundred times; if he would just be honest, I would forgive him.

After following him through life-and-death situations for ten years, I wasn't ready to let go.

The cigar lounge was filled with the scent of various tobaccos. When I realized something was wrong, a man in a black coat had been staring at me for a long time, the cold gleam of a blade flickering from his sleeve.

It was only thanks to my hundred experiences with injury and a strong survival instinct that I managed to escape alive.

When I staggered back to Dante's office door, clutching my bleeding right arm,

I saw my crime boss boyfriend sitting behind his desk, allowing Willow to playfully mess with him.

He was smiling gently as she pulled at his meticulously tailored black suit.

His long, well-defined fingers lovingly stroked Willow’s hair.

Outside, blades flashed and blood stained the streets, but inside, it was peaceful and tender.

The girl's face was flushed with an unnatural color.

"Dante, I'm scared. You gave up going to the US for me. Is it really worth it?"

"If Sera finds out, will she hate me?" she whimpered, her voice shaky with worry.

Unable to take it anymore, I twisted the doorknob, intending to storm in and confront him.

Dante’s voice, nonchalant yet chillingly cruel, was colder than snow:

"Sera? She's just an accountant for my family. What difference does it make where she goes? She'll still be crunching numbers."

"Willow, your health isn't good. The US doesn't have the specific resources for your treatment. How could I bear to leave you here alone?"

I froze, my heart feeling as if a dagger had been plunged straight through it, a cold wind sweeping through my limbs, making me tremble with pain.

Watching Dante bring the cigarette to Willow's lips, a wave of nausea suddenly rose in my stomach.