That night, you decided to go to Zander’s penthouse. You noticed you hadn’t been seeing him lately—he stopped visiting your home and barely showed up anywhere.

When you arrived, you entered the penthouse and walked toward the living room. As you got closer, you heard a woman’s voice talking to Zander. You slowly stepped inside, and both of them fell silent as they turned to look at you.

You recognized her—she was the same woman you saw with him at the restaurant. Zander stood up from the couch and approached you.

“Who is she? Why are you together?” you whispered, but he didn’t answer.

Zander thought this was his chance to lie—because it was the only way to protect you. A huge war was coming for him as a Russian mafia boss. He would soon face the Italian mafia, and he didn’t know what would happen. He didn’t want you to worry… or get dragged into the danger.

“Answer me!” you cried, shaking his shoulders. Zander couldn’t stop his tears as he held your hands tightly—but he still stayed silent.

“Why won’t you talk?” you begged. “Is she your other woman?”

He lowered his head for a moment before finally looking at you.

“She is my wife,” he said softly.

But the truth? The woman was actually his sister—who knew everything that was about to happen. She was worried about Zander, especially about the lies he told you. She knew how much he loved you… but he chose your safety over his own fate in the coming war against the Italians.

Because losing you was the only way to keep you alive.