By the time Serafina returned to the safe house Augusto had prepared for her, night had already covered the city.
The windows were dark.
No lights were on.
Augusto had not returned.
A small sense of relief surfaced in her heart, but it was quickly replaced by a dull ache she could not ignore.
She stepped into the bedroom and slowly smoothed the wrinkles on the bed.
A quiet laugh escaped her.
Augusto had left in such a hurry that he hadn’t even cleaned up the room he once treated like a sacred place.
Every corner of this house had once reflected his obsession with purity. Every surface had been wiped spotless, as if the slightest trace of dirt from the outside world was unbearable.
But now, everything was different.
She finally understood.
Ceciliana was the person who mattered most to him.
Serafina stood there for a long time before moving again.
Without expression, she removed the sheets and blankets from the bed and placed them into the washing machine one by one.
Then her eyes fell on the bathtub.
The bloodstains left behind earlier were still burned into her memory.
The water had once been clear.
Then it had turned red.
It looked like a mouth opened by a monster, laughing at her years of patience and sacrifice.
She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe.
Then she walked over and emptied the tub.
She watched the water disappear, pretending that the pain and memories would disappear with it.
But some wounds could not be washed away.
Serafina returned to the bedroom and opened the photo album that held their past.
The first picture was taken on a beach under the golden sunlight.
In the photo, Augusto was kneeling in the sand, carefully writing the words:
“A lifetime for two.”
She remembered how happy she had been that day.
She remembered the warmth of his hand holding hers.
She remembered believing that moment would last forever.
But now, the same picture felt like a cruel joke.
Without hesitation, Serafina tore the photo from the album.
Then another.
And another.
Until every memory they had created together was reduced to pieces scattered across the floor.
The couple rings.
The gifts.
The souvenirs they had collected during their years together.
Everything that once carried warmth now felt like a burden.
She threw them all away.
Finally, Serafina opened the drawer and took out a bank card.
The money inside came from years of managing the Family’s legitimate businesses and hidden accounts.
Not too much.
Not too little.
Exactly five hundred thousand dollars.
Augusto had once cleared her father’s blood-debt with the syndicate’s creditors.
For years, she had thought that debt represented his love.
But now she understood.
It had also become a chain around her heart.
A chain that made her feel she could never truly leave him.
Tonight, she was finally removing it.
She didn’t want to owe Augusto anything anymore.
Not money.
Not gratitude.
Not love.
The cleanest ending between them was one where no debts remained.
Serafina contacted a cleaning crew and asked them to completely clean the house from top to bottom.
Every corner.
Every trace.
Everything had to be restored to the spotless condition Augusto once demanded.
This was the last thing she would do for him.
After that, she sent him a single message.
Then she dragged her suitcase out of the house.
She never looked back.
Her fingers briefly touched the seashell pendant around her neck.
The last thing connecting her to the past.
Then she let go.
At the roadside diner, Augusto finally turned his phone back on after charging it.
The screen immediately lit up with countless notifications.
More than fifty missed calls.
Over a hundred unread messages.
His brows furrowed as he opened the conversation.
But the first thing he saw was a short message from Serafina.
[Let’s end this.]
His expression froze.
He scrolled upward.
The messages above were all from her.
The location of the clinic.
The voice recordings.
Her trembling cries.
Her desperate pleas for him to come.
Her voice carried a fear he had never heard before.
For a brief moment, Augusto’s heart tightened.
But almost immediately, he dismissed the feeling.
He convinced himself that it was just another way for Serafina to gain his attention.
She had done similar things before.
Hadn’t she?
Still, as he looked through the messages again, he had to admit one thing.
He had been too harsh that day.
Since she had finally reached out, perhaps he should stop being so cold.
He took out the small bottle of disinfectant he always carried.
After applying a drop to his fingers, he quickly typed a reply.
[Stop acting stubborn. I’ll bring your favorite strawberry cake home tonight.]
His finger hovered above the send button.
Then Ceciliana leaned closer with a playful smile.
“What’s wrong? You look distracted. Did you argue with your girlfriend?”
Augusto immediately locked his phone screen.
He forced a calm expression.
“It’s nothing. Just some unnecessary trouble.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he froze.
For some reason, every time Ceciliana mentioned Serafina, guilt flashed through him.
Almost as if he had betrayed the person he used to be.
The man who had once loved Ceciliana with all his heart.
Outside the window, heavy rain began to fall.
The sound reminded him of countless nights from the past.
Serafina hated thunderstorms.
Whenever lightning tore through the sky, she would cling to his wrist and refuse to let go until she fell asleep.
Was she afraid now?
Was she hiding beneath the blankets, waiting for him to come back?
The thought appeared before he could stop it.
But he quickly pushed it away.
He didn’t want to be the one who cared more.
His finger stayed above the screen for several seconds.
Then he deleted the message.
He told himself she only needed time to calm down.
After a few days, she would realize she couldn’t live without him.
She would return like she always did.
After all, he was the Don.
People always came back to him.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
A faint smile appeared on Augusto’s face.
He removed his coat and placed it over Ceciliana’s legs.
He looked like a gentleman protecting someone precious.
But he never knew that, while he turned up the car’s heat for Ceciliana, Serafina was sitting alone beneath a bus shelter nearby.
Shivering in the rain.
Waiting for nothing.
He had already missed his final chance.
The cold wind cut through her coat, slicing into her skin.
Serafina looked down at her phone.
Only one hundred eighty dollars remained in her account.
With shaking fingers, she searched for the cheapest motel she could find.
Somewhere far away.
Somewhere the Family would never think to search.
The rain soaked through her clothes.
Her breathing became heavier.
A flash of lightning tore across the sky.
She instinctively curled up, fear taking over her body.
The phone slipped from her frozen fingers and fell onto the wet pavement.
“Do you need help?”
A young man picked up the phone.
He wiped away the mud covering the screen before gently returning it to her.
The familiar voice made Serafina’s body stiffen.
She slowly raised her head.
For a moment, she wanted to run.
She forced herself to stand.
But exhaustion overwhelmed her.
The world spun.
And before she could take another step, darkness swallowed her completely.
She collapsed into the cold rain.
