Chapter 3The Second Choice Never Stayed

The next afternoon, I went to the South Dock safe house.

Luca was in a port meeting and would not be back for a while, so I brought only one De Luca driver and asked him to wait downstairs.

I went up alone.

My clothes still took up half the closet. My perfume was in the bathroom, my spare medicine was in the drawer, and several books I had never finished were still stacked beside the bed. In the study, I found the guest lists and business notes I had once organized for Luca, all filed neatly under his name.

I packed everything that belonged to me.

Two hours later, the room no longer looked as if I had ever lived there.

I was dragging my suitcase toward the door when the elevator opened.

Luca had come back.

His eyes fell on the suitcase behind me, and his face darkened.

“Bella, what are you doing?”

“Moving out.”

“Moving where?”

“Back to the De Luca estate.”

He came over and pressed one hand on the handle of my suitcase.

“This room has always been kept for you.”

I looked at his hand.

“Kept for me, but without my own access?”

Luca frowned.

“You know what South Dock is. Access isn’t given out casually.”

“But Mira can go to your private dock.”

The air went quiet.

Impatience finally appeared in his eyes.

“Are you really going to keep dragging her into this?”

“I’m only asking.”

“She’s new.”

His voice lowered.

“You’re different from her. Bella, we’re not over. We’re just giving each other space.”

“So you can try other people, and I can too?”

“If that’s what you want.”

He said it easily, as if granting me something generous.

I almost laughed.

“No.”

“I’m traditional. I can’t accept that kind of relationship.”

He stared at me as if he had never heard me speak like this.

“So you’re leaving over this?”

“Not over this.”

I calmly removed his hand from my suitcase.

“I’m leaving because I’ve spent five years waiting for a place I had to fight for again and again.”

“And now I don’t want it anymore.”

Luca’s expression changed.

“What about Julian?”

My fingers paused.

He gave a cold laugh.

“Everyone heard what you said last night. You like Julian Romano now?”

“Bella, if you wanted to make me angry, you should have chosen a better lie.”

I met his eyes.

“And if it isn’t a lie?”

“You really think Julian would want you?”

Luca stepped closer, his voice dropping.

“He has looked down on you since we were children. Did you forget the birthday gift you gave him? He threw it away without even opening it.”

Of course I remembered.

That year, I made Julian a pair of silver cuff links, hoping we could stop fighting for once. Later, Luca told me Julian had thrown them into the trash without a glance.

After that, Julian and I never spoke without cutting each other open.

“My business has nothing to do with you.”

I pulled the suitcase toward the door.

This time, Luca did not stop me.

His voice followed from behind.

“Isabella, do you think Julian will catch you once you leave Moretti protection?”

“Other people may not know, but he knows you’ve been with me for five years.”

I stopped.

The room seemed to freeze.

Luca continued, with cruel certainty in every word.

“If you go to him, he’ll only laugh at you.”

“And when you get hurt, you’ll still come back to me.”

I turned around.

He stood there with no regret on his face, only the cold anger of a man who believed he had been challenged.

The person who knew where I hurt always knew exactly where to cut.

I walked back and raised my hand.

The slap landed hard across his face.

Luca’s head turned to the side. A red mark rose quickly on his pale skin.

A few seconds later, he turned back, his eyes dark.

“Fine.”

He looked at me.

“You have nerve.”

I did not answer.

Outside, the guard lowered his head and said nothing.

I dragged my suitcase into the elevator.

Before the doors closed, Luca spoke again.

“Bella, remember this.”

“Once you leave me, not every road will lead back.”

I pressed the button for the ground floor.

“Good.”

“I’m not planning to come back.”