Chapter 6
Leonardo’s face drained of color as old Mr. Mancuso collapsed. He rushed him to the hospital, and the entire
Mancuso family fell into chaos.
After a night of emergency treatment, the doctors finally announced he was no longer in danger. But he had
slipped into a coma. No one knew when or if he would wake.
Leonardo stood outside the hospital room, irritation rising like heat. He lit a cigarette. A doctor hurried over
to stop him, but Leonardo grabbed him by the collar.
“You. You’re that arrogant little intern Sofia was meeting. You actually dare show your face here? Where is
she? Is she hiding at your place with my child? Tell her to come out right now!”
For once, the usually composed doctor lost control. He shoved Leonardo back, eyes red.
“You bastard. You think money makes you untouchable?”
“Do you know where I was that day? I accompanied Miss Romano to the funeral home to collect her
grandmother’s ashes. She lost her child and her last relative in a single day.”
“And you, as her husband, were out drinking with your mistress. Do you even have basic empathy?”
Nurses rushed over to restrain them, all whispering condemnations aimed squarely at Leonardo. And for the
first time, their words struck him silent.
All he could see was Sofia’s face that day, so calm it bordered on numbness.
For years he had trained himself to ignore her emotions. How could he possibly have recognized the devastation quietly crushing her? His chest tightened painfully.
But even then, he forced himself to shake his head.
“You’re all lying for her. I don’t believe a word of it. Sofia cared so much about her grandmother. If her grandmother really died, how could she be that calm?”
“And the child… she risked her life for that child. She wouldn’t just stand there emotionless.”
Yet even as he protested, fear churned violently inside him.
Leonardo like a man fleeing a crime scene. The moment he walked into the empty house, the truth slammed
into him.
That day, when they fought, when he hit her, Sofia had come back only to pack her things. She had truly
made up her mind to leave.
“Sofia! Sofia Romano!”
His calls echoed through the house unanswered. Leonardo stumbled, collapsing onto the floor.
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That was when he saw a wedding ring lying beneath the table. The one he had custom-made shortly after
their wedding.
Sofia cherished it. For seven years, no matter how much they fought, she never took it off. To both of them,
the ring was more than a symbol.
It held their first tenderness. Their only shared hope. And now, it sat abandoned in a dusty corner.
Sofia had vanished. Leonardo’s world fractured, the silence of the house deafening. He stared at their home,
familiar yet suddenly unrecognizable.
Grief and fear closed in from every direction.
Old Mr. Mancuso remained unconscious. Family affairs were left to Leonardo alone. But his entire mind was
consumed by Sofia.
Before this, the company ran smoothly under his grandfather. The household was cared for by Sofia.
Leonardo never had to think about anything. He wasted his days drinking and indulging without
consequence.
But overnight, the two people who held up his world, his only sources of stability were gone. He couldn’t support a corporation. He couldn’t support a collapsing home.
Cornered and helpless, Leonardo chose to escape. Every night he drank until he could no longer feel. He clung to photos of Sofia and cried until dawn.
One night, as he drank himself numb, the door to his room opened. A slender figure walked in and gently wrapped her arms around him.
The familiar scent made Leonardo’s long-dead heart beat wildly. He held the person tightly, pouring out
everything he never said.
“Sofia, you’re finally back. You don’t know how much I missed you.”
“Grandfather’s condition is getting worse. The family is suffocating me. And when I get home, you’re not there. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“Don’t leave me again. I’ll change. I swear I won’t go out messing around anymore. We can have another baby. We can be a proper family.”
Lost in drunken delusion, Leonardo spent the night clinging to the figure beside him. It wasn’t until the morning light streamed through the windows that he saw her clearly.
Isabella.
Isabella lay lazily against his chest, voice soft and sweet.
“Leonardo, I heard everything you said last night. Sofia doesn’t deserve your love. Let me stay with you instead. I’m not useless like her. I’ll give you a healthy, perfect child.”
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This time, Leonardo didn’t fall for her softness. He kicked Isabella straight out of the bed. His face was ice
as he stood and dressed.
“Isabella, you were nothing but entertainment. The only woman I love is Sofia. You were nothing but a distraction for my spite.”
“From now on, I’m done with you. If you dare interfere again, I won’t spare you.”
He tossed a check into her face. Then threw on his coat and walked out.
Last night, Leonardo finally understood something with crystal clarity. In this world, he could lose everything.
But he could not lose Sofia. No matter what it took, he would find her.
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