People always say that when you love someone, you don't see their bad side. Or maybe you see it... but you don't want to believe it. When you love someone, you believe them completely. Whatever they say, you believe. Whatever they do, you forgive. You don't question them because questioning feels like you are doubting your own love.

You just want to make them happy. You want to give them everything. Your time. Your loyalty. Your trust. Your future. Yourself. Love is selfish in a strange way. You don't love because the other person deserves it. You love because you want that person to be yours, to be happy, to smile because of you.

And Albert had loved like that. Albert Romano was not a man who loved easily. But when he loved, he loved completely. He trusted completely. He gave everything without calculating profit and loss like a business.

But the thing that hurts the most is not that they lied. Not that they cheated. Not that they used you. The thing that hurts the most is this: You were honest. You were loyal. You were real. And still they chose to betray you.

That is what breaks a person completely. Because after that, it is not just heartbreak. It is trust that dies. After that, you don't love the same. You don't trust the same. You don't believe the same. You don't look at people the same. You start doubting everyone. Every smile looks fake. Every compliment looks like manipulation. Every woman looks like she wants something. And that is exactly what happened to Albert.

By the time Albert reached the Romano Mansion. The mansion was lively as usual - voices from the living room, someone laughing, staff moving around, the smell of lunch being prepared. Everything was normal except him.

He entered the house, greeted everyone normally, even sat for a few minutes while Nonna complained about day and Sofi argued with someone about something useless. He even replied normally when Aravi asked about his meeting. On the outside, Albert was completely calm. On the inside, he was not calm at all.

After some time, he quietly went to his room, closed the door, removed his coat, and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing. And then, after five years, memories he had buried deep started coming back.

Gia.

He clenched his jaw slightly. five years ago, he had loved that woman. Not like a rich man playing around. Not like a casual relationship. He had loved her seriously - quietly, deeply, completely. He had trusted her. Trusted her stories, her tears, her struggles, her fake life.

She had told him she was an orphan. She had told him she worked part-time jobs to survive. She had told him she loved him, not his money. And he had believed everything. Albert Romano, one of the most intelligent businessmen, had been fooled so easily by one woman.

Then one day he found out the truth.

She was not poor. She was not an orphan. She was already dating another rich man. And she was using Albert for money, gifts, and connections. When he confronted her, she didn't even cry properly. She just said, "You are rich, Albert. Why are you making this a big deal?"

That day something inside him broke. Not his heart. His trust. After that, Albert changed completely. He stopped trusting women. He stopped talking to women unless necessary. He stopped believing in love, relationships, emotions - everything.

In his mind, one idea slowly formed over the years: All women are the same. Greedy. Attention seekers. They love money, power, and status - not men. The only women he respected were his family - Nonna, Aravi, Lucia, Sofi, and now Kiara.

Everyone else? He kept distance. For five years, he lived like that. Work, business, family, responsibilities. No relationships. No dating. Nothing. And recently, after so many years, he had finally started thinking maybe his family was right. Maybe not every woman was like Gia. Maybe he should give someone a chance. Maybe he should move on properly.

That was why he had finally agreed when the family started talking about his marriage. he thought his past was finished. Closed. Buried. Gone. And then today...

She appeared again. Like a ghost from the past he didn't want to see. Albert leaned back and closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair in frustration. It's not like he still have feelings for her hell I hate her. he hate her the most in this world."

And that was true. He didn't love Gia anymore. But what she did to him had changed him permanently. She didn't just break his heart. She changed the way he looked at love, women, and relationships forever.

And now her return didn't make him emotional... It made him restless. Because he knew one thing very well: People like Gia never come back without a reason.

____

The office of Vittoria was silent, but the silence was not peaceful - it was heavy, sharp, and filled with anger. The moment she entered her private office after the meeting at Romano Industries, she threw her file on the table. Papers scattered across the glass surface. Her jaw was tight, her eyes burning with humiliation and rage.

She walked to the side table, poured herself a drink with shaking hands, and took a long sip, trying to calm herself down - but the more she thought about the meeting, the angrier she became. "The way he talked to me..." she muttered under her breath. She could still hear his calm, cold voice in her head:

"Focus on the numbers, not on impressing me."

Her grip tightened on the glass. "And the way she was looking at me..." Vittoria said through clenched teeth. She suddenly kicked the leg of the table in frustration. The chair behind her moved with a loud sound.

"In this industry, I worked for years," she said angrily, pacing the room. "Years! I worked day and night, proved myself again and again, fought with board members, fought with competitors, handled clients twice my age, just to reach the CEO position..."

She stopped and looked at her reflection in the glass wall. "I worked so hard to become CEO," she said slowly, "so that I could stand at the same level as Donato Romano. So that I could meet him, work with him, impress him, become important in his business world..."

Her expression darkened. "And when i was close, too close then, you came," she said softly, her voice now cold instead of angry. "Kiara." She said the name like it was something bitter. "Only for you to come and destroy everything," Vittoria whispered.

She remembered the way Kiara sat beside Donato in meetings like she belonged there. The way Donato listened to her. The way he held her hand under the table. The way he defended her without even looking at her.

That was not just a business partner. That was a man who was completely aware of his wife. And Vittoria hated that. She walked slowly to the window and looked at the city lights. "No," she said quietly. "I won't let that happen."

She took another sip of her drink and smiled slightly - a cold, dangerous smile. "I did not come this far to lose to some typical Indian wife who sits beside her husband and thinks she owns him," she said quietly, her voice full of arrogance and jealousy.

She placed the glass down and crossed her arms, looking at her reflection again. "Enjoy as much as you want, Kiara," she said softly. "Enjoy sitting beside him, attending meetings, holding his hand, acting like the perfect wife..."

Her smile slowly turned into something darker. "Because I will make sure Donato Romano is not yours for long." She let out a small laugh - not a happy laugh, but a cold, menacing one. "You may be his wife," Vittoria whispered to her reflection, "but this world - business, power, influence - this is my world."

She picked up her phone and looked at Donato's contact number, which she had saved long ago but never dared to use personally. Her thumb hovered over the screen for a moment. "This is not over, Mrs. Romano," she said quietly. Then she locked the phone, smiled slowly, and looked out at the city again - already planning her next move.

____

Evening had settled over the city, and the top floor office of Romano Industries was quieter than usual. Most employees had already left. The lights of the city were visible through the glass walls, and inside the office, only two men were sitting - the two men who carried most of the Romano empire on their shoulders.

Donato and Enzo were sitting with evening coffee, ties loosened, jackets off, discussing things that were half business, half personal - the kind of conversations they only had when no one else was around.

"So," Donato said casually, taking a sip of his coffee, "how's the progress going... to make your mother a mother-in-law?"

Enzo almost choked on his coffee and glared at him. "Don't ask me, Donato. I was just a finger away from killing that girl today. She is so irritating. I don't know how Mom likes her so much that she wants to make her daughter-in-law."

Donato smirked slightly. "What's her name... Lia, right?"

Enzo groaned and leaned back in the chair. "I swear to God, I didn't even talk to her properly, and that girl had the audacity to call her friends to the restaurant and make me meet all of them and then tell them that we are soon going to marry."

Donato actually laughed this time. "That's fast."

"Fast?" Enzo said irritably. "That's a disaster. I told her clearly I am not interested, I don't want to continue this dating nonsense, but she never listens. She is like, 'Oh Enzo, don't worry, you don't have to like me now. Once we get married, you will start liking me.'"

Donato shook his head, amused. "Confidence level is high."

"I am going home today and telling Mom clearly," Enzo continued. "Remove that girl from my life. I don't like that leech."

Donato leaned back, still slightly smiling. "So... does that mean you like someone else?"

For a split second, Enzo froze. Just for a second. He wanted to say yes. He wanted to say Elena. He wanted to say he was already in love and that was the real problem. But he just smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, bro. If that was the case, you would have been the first person to know."

I am sorry, Donato, Enzo said silently in his mind. But this is one thing I can't tell you.

To change the topic, Enzo leaned forward and asked, "What about your investigation? That stalker... any progress? Did you find anything?"

Donato's expression changed immediately. The light mood disappeared. He sighed and shook his head slowly. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You know, ever since we came back from India, that stalker has gone completely silent. No messages, no calls, no sightings, nothing."

He looked out the window for a moment, then said quietly, "And that silence is what is scaring me." Enzo watched him carefully but didn't interrupt. Donato continued, his voice lower now. "I don't like enemies who disappear. When an enemy is loud, you know where to look. But when an enemy becomes silent... it means they are planning something."

His jaw tightened slightly. "I am not scared for myself," he said quietly. "I am scared they might do something to Kiara. I just want to reach them before they reaches her."

Enzo nodded slowly. "they hasn't done anything to Kiara yet... but there is no guarantee they won't hurt her later. Or maybe not Kiara - maybe some other woman to send you a message." Donato's eyes darkened slightly at that thought. "So," Enzo continued, leaning back in his chair, "why don't we check if they is really quiet... or if they are planning something big?"

Donato looked at him. "How?"

Enzo was silent for a moment. Then a slow smirk appeared on his face. "I have a plan," he said calmly. "You just have to carry on normally. No extra security, no panic, no sudden changes. Everything normal." and just follow my plan."

Donato narrowed his eyes slightly. "And then?"

Enzo took a slow sip of his coffee and said quietly, "Let's see... what your he or she does this time."

Donato looked at him carefully. "You think the stalker could be a woman?"

Enzo shrugged slightly. "In our world, Donato, enemies don't come with labels." He stood up, picked up his jacket, and added, "Sometimes the most dangerous enemies are the ones you don't even consider as enemies." He walked toward the door, then stopped and looked back. "Just do what you normally do. Go to office, go home, attend meetings, go to parties, move with Kiara like always..." He smirked slightly. "And let's see who gets restless first - you... or your stalker."

Donato didn't reply, but his expression had turned serious again. Because he knew one thing very well: A silent enemy... A jealous business rival... A woman from the past... A rejected lover... In his world, anyone could be dangerous.

The office door closed behind Enzo with a soft click, leaving Donato alone in the quiet top floor office of Romano Industries. For a long moment, Donato didn't move. He just sat there, staring at the city lights through the glass wall, Enzo's words echoing in his mind.

Let's see who gets restless first - you... or your stalker.

Donato slowly finished his coffee, then stood up and put on his jacket. His face had returned to its usual calm, cold expression - the Donato Romano the world knew. The smiling, relaxed Donato only existed around a few people.

Enzo.
His family.
And Kiara.

At the thought of Kiara, his jaw tightened slightly. He picked up his phone and called her. She picked up after two rings.

"Hello"

"Did you reach home safly" Donato asked calmly.

"yeas Ro," Kiara replied. "Why? What happened?"

"Nothing," he said. "just asking, do you want anything?."

There was a small pause. "No just you come back safly to me"

"Okay," he repeated in the same calm voice. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Before she could ask more questions, he hung up.

____

Kiara was seating in her room when Donato arrived. She could always tell from his face when something was bothering him, and tonight his expression was too calm - which was more dangerous than anger. He walked inside, removed his jacket, and placed it on the chair.

"You're scaring me," Kiara said quietly.

Donato looked at her for a few seconds, then said, "From tomorrow, everything will continue normally. Office, meetings, dinners, parties - everything."

Kiara frowned. "It already is normal."

"No," he said slowly. "Until now, I was trying to protect you by being careful. More security, less public appearances, different routes, different schedules." He stepped closer to her. "Now I'm going to do the opposite."

Kiara's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he said calmly, "I'm going to act like I am not scared. Like I don't care. Like I don't even remember that someone is watching us."

"And why would you do that?" she asked.

Donato looked at her with dark, steady eyes. "Because I want them to make a mistake." The room went silent.

Kiara swallowed slightly. "Donato... what if their mistake hurts someone?"

His expression didn't change, but his voice became quieter. "That's why I will be watching more carefully than ever." He gently held her wrist and pulled her a little closer. "Listen to me very carefully," he said. "If anything unusual happens - a new person around you, unknown calls, messages, someone following you, anything at all - you tell me immediately. No hiding, no ignoring, no thinking it's small."

Kiara nodded slowly. "Okay."

He looked at her for a few more seconds, then said softly, "I am not scared for myself. But if something happens to you because of me... I will destroy whoever is behind this." There was no anger in his voice. No shouting. No dramatic tone. And that was exactly what made it terrifying.

____

The café was warm and lively, filled with the soft sound of music, the clinking of cups, and quiet conversations. Elena sat with her friends at their usual corner table near the glass window. Books, notebooks, and a laptop were spread across the table, but at this point, they were talking more than working on their project.

Elena was explaining something about their presentation when one of her friends suddenly smirked and stopped listening. "Elena," she said, dragging the word slowly, "your admirer is here again."

Elena didn't need to ask who. She already knew. Still, she tried to ignore it and kept looking at her notebook. "We are here to discuss the project, not random people," she said calmly.

Her friend leaned forward slightly and whispered dramatically, "Random people don't stare at someone for forty minutes straight."

Elena sighed and finally looked up. Across the café, at a table near the opposite wall, a young man was sitting alone with a coffee cup in front of him. He wasn't even pretending to look somewhere else anymore. He was looking directly at her - not in a creepy way, not in a rude way - just... watching her quietly, like he was waiting for something.

And this was not the first time. Elena and her friends came to this café often, and she had seen him many times before. A few times he had even tried to talk to her, but she had politely ignored him every time.

"Elena, why are you ignoring that poor guy?" her friend said dramatically. "He is so handsome! If he proposed to me, I would have accepted him long ago."

Another friend joined immediately, laughing. "She's right. Elena, you're going to turn nineteen next month and you are still single. In our friend circle, everyone is taken. Only you are single. Why don't you at least give him a chance? He looks decent. A good guy."

Elena closed her notebook slowly and leaned back in her chair. "I am not interested," she said quietly.

"You don't even know him," the second friend said. "How can you decide without talking? He has been trying to talk to you for so long and you just ignore him like he doesn't exist."

Elena didn't reply immediately. Instead, she looked at the boy again. He really was handsome. Probably around her age. Well dressed, calm, not loud like other boys. And the way he looked at her was not shameless - it was patient, almost respectful.

She sighed softly. "Okay guys," she said finally, starting to gather her things, "I am going home now. My driver is here."

Her friends immediately started teasing again. "You are running away again!" Elena just smiled a little, said goodbye, and walked out of the café. But before stepping outside, she turned once more and looked back toward his table.

He was still looking at her. For a moment, their eyes met. He didn't smile. He didn't wave. He just looked at her - like he was waiting for her to make a decision. Elena quickly looked away and walked outside.

She sat in the back seat of the car, looking out the window as the city lights passed by. But her mind was not on the road, not on her project, not on her friends. It was on him. And on Enzo. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

What should I do? she thought. Should I give him a chance?

Her mind immediately brought Enzo's face in front of her eyes - his cold expressions, his rare smiles, the way he spoke, the way he protected people without showing it. She loved him. She had loved him quietly for a long time. But he didn't love her. He had a girlfriend now.

He had his own world where she didn't belong. Elena opened her eyes slowly and looked out the window again. "If he can... then why can't you?" she whispered to herself. Her fingers tightened slightly on her bag.

"Just move on, Elena," she murmured quietly. "Enzo is not yours." But even after saying that, her chest felt heavy. Because some loves don't end even when you tell them to.

_____

Enzo was driving home, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting near his phone. But his mind was not on the road. It was on Donato. On the stalker. And on Elena. He exhaled slowly.

"Elena..." he muttered to himself.

He still remembered the first time he saw her. The way she spoke. The way she looked at him - not like others looked at him with fear or greed - but normally, like he was just another man. And maybe that was exactly why everything became complicated.

Enzo stopped the car at a red light and leaned his head back slightly. "There are too many secrets in this family now," he murmured. Donato had secrets. He had secrets. And somewhere in the shadows, someone else was watching all of them.

The signal turned green, and he started driving again. He didn't know yet that very soon, when everyone is busy behind the silent stalker someone else would make a move. And that move would not be against Donato. Not against Kiara.

But against someone no one was protecting. Someone no one thought was in danger.

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