The Broken Signet Ring

For eight years, Lucia has waited in a small cottage for the Benedetto family to accept her and her son, Giuseppe. On the night of the Harvest Festival, her husband Salvatore finally summons them to the stone manor, and Giuseppe carries a wooden rose he carved himself as a gift for his grandmother.

But at the gathering, Salvatore publicly claims another woman, Carmela Torrino, as the wife he married before God. When Giuseppe protests, Salvatore strikes him and denies being his father. The signet ring Salvatore gave Lucia eight years ago is snapped in two and dismissed as painted iron, while Carmela displays a true gold Benedetto crest. Rosaria, the family matriarch, burns Giuseppe's gift in the fireplace.

As the family's scorn closes around them, Giuseppe collapses in a severe asthma attack, and Lucia fights to reach the medicine that could save him while the manor watches coldly.