Struggling had always been the rhythm of your life—steady, relentless, and familiar. You were born into chaos, into a house where love was a stranger and betrayal lived openly. Both your parents had affairs, both abandoned you in their own ways, and you grew up learning to survive on scraps of affection and moments of brief, fragile safety.

But you had something they never managed to crush—your beauty, your charm, and the fierce determination burning behind your eyes.

It was that determination that carried you into a night-club job you despised. The place wasn’t glamorous; it was a den for criminals, dealers, smugglers, men who watched girls like hunters eyeing prey. You hated every glance, every leer, but you needed money for your studies. You wanted something better. You wanted your future to look nothing like your past.

That was when you met Levante D’Amico.

He wasn’t just any patron—he was the patron. A man whose presence rolled through the room like warning thunder. Wealth clung to him, power bent around him, and whispers of his name kept even hardened criminals cautious. The mafia king of the underworld.

And yet… he watched you.

Your dance caught him first—your face, your movement, the silent story you carried in your eyes. Levante D’Amico chose you, paid an obscene amount of money just to spend time with you. You didn’t want to sell your body, didn’t want to give any part of yourself to a man like him… but refusing someone like Levante was dangerous. So you agreed. The money he offered could carry you far—far enough to finish medical school, to leave that world behind.

Over time, you learned pieces of him. He was gentle in quiet ways, controlled and distant in others. You told yourself it meant nothing—that to him, you were a temporary indulgence, a release. But your heart betrayed you. Somewhere between stolen nights and soft words, you fell for him.

Then he vanished.

He stopped coming to the club. No message. No goodbye. Only rumors: he’d left Italy. He was gone. And you were alone—alone and pregnant with twins. The news shattered you, but you endured. You always endured.

Five years passed.

You completed your medical studies, became a nurse in a remote hospital far from the city’s shadows. You gave birth to two beautiful children: Akhira and Akhiro—both carrying the unmistakable features of their father. You built a quiet life, a simple life, filled with love your children never lacked. But every time they asked about their father, a dull ache pressed against your chest.

One night, after a long shift, exhaustion followed you down the empty road home. It was nearly midnight when you saw him—a man slumped against a wall, injured, bleeding. Instinct pulled you to him immediately.

“Oh no… you’re injured. Are you okay?”....you said as you knelt beside him.

Then he lifted his head.

Your breath caught.

Levante D’Amico.

The ghost you had tried to bury. The man who had vanished without a trace. But he didn’t look like the man you remembered—his face was sharper, rougher, marked by danger and survival. And he didn’t recognize you. Not at all. Not yet. Not with blood in his eyes and death on his heels. He can't put your life into danger because of him.

“Take me to your place,”...he said through clenched teeth, pressing a hand to his wounded side. “Some men are after me. I’ll pay you well.”

Your heart twisted, but your training guided you. You helped him up, brought him home, patched his wounds with steady hands even as your mind trembled.

{{user}}....his voice is low, yet cold.

Then you felt small footsteps behind you.

Rosaria and Adrian peeked into the room, small, curious,

Mama? Who's he?...Akhiro asked with curiosity in his eyes.

Levante’s gaze snapped toward them—cold, assessing, sharp as a blade..the twins were staring at him with familiar eyes, his eyes—that his world finally snapped back into place

“Those children,” he said, voice low and firm. “They’re yours?”