Not Afraid of the Mafia Heir’s Threat Chapter 02
Shame and panic hit me all at once, so hard I could barely breathe.
I fumbled and shut off the screen.
I had promised him…
Then the screen lit up again.
Vanessa had sent me a video.
My hand shook as I tapped it open.
The footage was shot inside a dim VIP lounge.
Lorenzo sat there with a cigarette between his fingers, his voice lazy and relaxed. “Don’t worry. First place in the singing competition is yours.”
Gianna sat right beside him.
They were close. Too close.
Forcing out a smile, Gianna said, “Stop. Sera’s beautiful and her family is incredibly rich. I can’t compete with someone like her.”
Lorenzo stared at her for a long moment.
Like he was mesmerized.
Then he said lightly, “She won’t dare.”
Gianna caught his hand and blinked up at him. “Why not?”
Lorenzo didn’t answer.
Neither did she push.
She just reached for the drink on the table under the flickering, low amber lights flickered over them.
Lorenzo sighed and caught her wrist. “You’ve got a competition coming up. Easy, baby. No drinking.”
Gianna only looked at him.
And just like that, his defenses completely crumbled.
He pinched her cheek with a helpless smile and said, “I’ve got nude photos of her.”
“Happy now, princess?”
The video ended.
It felt like my heart had been ripped open, then filled with burning sulfur, Lorenzo personally pouring it into the wound.
Vanessa’s voice messages kept coming.
“Sera, did you and Lorenzo have a fight?”
“How could he…”
“And who’s that girl with him?”
“Did he really take… those kinds of pictures of you?”
My throat felt like it had been sealed shut with concrete.
I wanted to tell Vanessa not to worry, but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out.
So I typed instead. “No. He was joking.”
“Are you still at work? Get home early.”
My head throbbed with a dull ache as I collapsed onto the couch.
Gianna.
Gianna.
I closed my eyes and let the tears slide down.
During freshman orientation, Gianna had been the student representative.
She stood onstage with her hair in a clean ponytail, speaking from the podium with confidence and grace.
That day, I had gotten heat exhaustion.
I was limp in Lorenzo’s arms while he fanned me, clearly amused. “Look at her. She’s practically glowing with energy.”
“And you,” he said, glancing down at me, “look like a sick little kitten.”
“What would you even do without me?”
My head felt foggy, and I only glanced at Gianna once before burying my face in his neck. “Lorenzo, I want a popsicle.”
He tapped me on the forehead. “No. You want your stomach acting up again?”
I gave a soft little hum and buried my face in his neck.
Then I forgot all about Gianna.
But later, I found out she was a music major as well.
She was bright and open and warm, the kind of girl who always seemed to have energy to spare.
She got along with everyone in class.
When Lorenzo came to pick me up after class, he joked, “It’d be nice if you had half that energy.”
At first, I didn’t think much of it.
But after a while, he started bringing her up more and more.
The honey water he used to bring just for me?
He started bringing one for her too.
I got upset and asked him, “Why are you being so nice to her?”
Lorenzo crossed his long legs, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. “Sera, it’s hard enough studying music when you don’t have money.”
“She’s had it rough. She just hides it well.”
“It’s just honey water.”
But after that, it wasn’t just honey water anymore.
There were desserts. Snacks. Afternoon tea.
And the fights between Lorenzo and me got worse.
He always said Gianna had it hard.
He always told me to make allowances for her.
And now, for her, he had gone all the way.
My humiliation. My privacy.
He had turned all of it into leverage, just to make her happy.
I stared at the single star outside the window and couldn’t understand what I had done wrong.
Why didn’t Lorenzo want me anymore?
I bit down hard on my own wrist, my mouth filling with a salty, metallic flavor, until the taste of blood forced me to exhaustedly let go.
The pain was searing, and I never wanted to go through this again.
Lorenzo was right about one thing.
I was weak.
Whenever something happened, my first instinct was always to crawl back into my shell and disappear.
But I didn’t want to keep hurting like this.
So I picked up my phone and booked a flight out of the country for seven days later.