Gael's entire day flashed in his mind. His morning consisted of his usual routine for weeks—with Angela in his bed, and their morning schedule: coffee, workout, sex, shower.

Since his father's phone call, everything seemed to go downhill from there. He knew there was something off when his father refused to tell him before meeting the Morellis. In their world, the Don's word was the law.

There was this rule: if you don't follow the Don's orders, then you should face death.

Gael's great grandfather, Domenico De Luca, was ruthless. He came to New York together with the other Italians more than a century ago because of poverty in Italy—around the early 1900s. He was only nine years old then—poor, orphaned, and had no siblings. When he came to the U.S, he did all sorts of jobs to get by. But he was smart, and with his many skills, he became infamous around the streets of Brooklyn in his late teenage years. When he got older, everybody who was desperate wanted to work for him.

Domenico had three sons and a daughter—the middle son was adopted, and he was greedy. Severino's older brother was the heir and was supposed to take over their father when he retired, but the adopted son killed the heir and was about to kill Severino too. However, Domenico found out about it before the adopted son got the chance. This adopted son was Don Mario Morelli's father. Needless to say, Domenico had Don Mario's father killed while Don Mario and his mother fled to Chicago.

Severino eventually became the Don and was also ruthless, just like his father was, but he was more forgiving.

Of course, Gael believed his father wouldn't kill him if he disobeyed, but he still wouldn't commit treason. His father was still the Don, and he was expected to follow. If the circumstances were different and Gael learned about the contract before they met the Morellis, he could have probably persuaded his father to do something else. Nevertheless, Alessandro's words were final.

And now, the day ended with him officially being Lauretta's fiancé, and Angela packed her suitcase and left.

I love you~ she told him.

But she still left.

Were they even still together?

At this point, Gael had no idea. He asked if he could call her, but she couldn't even give him an answer. This was all fucked up. He was rooted in place in the middle of the bedroom, his eyes fixed at the door where she disappeared a minute ago. He couldn't even bring himself to watch her go out the front door. If he did, he might have just gone with the crazy part of him and bolted the door close so she couldn't leave.

"Boss… Do you want me to follow her? I can buy a ticket. I can still catch her," said Trigger.

Gael didn't notice Trigger's arrival. He let out a sigh and thought about the other's suggestion. Angela needed space. She would hate it if she saw Trigger lingering around her. So as much as he hated it, Gael couldn't do what he wanted, or it might just drive her further away.

"Just make sure she gets on the plane safely. Wait until the boarding gate closes and the plane takes off. Meet me after," Gael ordered.

After a nod, Trigger did not waste time and rushed out of the apartment.

Gael then walked out of the bedroom, already calling one of his men who was in Mayne. The soldier was the only one left there, waiting for orders while the rest were already back in New York.

"Santiago," he said when the soldier picked up the call. "Angela's arriving. Pick her up at the airport and drive her to…wherever she wants." Gael didn't really know where Angela wanted to go. He didn't think she'd go back home to her apartment, considering what happened before she left. Maybe she wanted to go back home to her father's house, or to her brother's, or perhaps Nina's.

"What time does she land?" Santiago asked.

Gael realized he didn't even know what time her flight was. His jaw tightened, growing annoyed by the second. "I don't know. Coordinate with Trigger."

"Got it, Boss. Do you need me to guard her?"

He thought about it and then came to a decision. "Stay close but don't bother her. She doesn't like being watched."

"Understood."

And with that, the apartment was silent once again.

Gael scanned the entire place. He didn't know what he wanted to find. All he knew was that his home was empty. But there were traces of Angela everywhere. A hand-knit chunky, weighted throw blanket that she bought early last week was neatly folded on the couch. She said it was warm and cozy and kinda felt like he was hugging her while she waited for him to come home. A pair of white mugs: one had "MINE" and the other had "YOURS" printed on them—he liked the couple mugs because it was cheesy but not overly cheesy; he liked it because she picked it for them.

And the sticky notes. God, the fucking sticky notes. They were everywhere—the pads, not the sheets stuck on things like they did to each other's places. She left some pads on most of the tables in the apartment with a pen next to it for when she thought of something and needed to write it down right away. Angela kept them neat, set in a corner when not in use.

Gael could still smell her scent even though she had already left. Now he hated this place. This home was no longer a home. And he was certain he couldn't stay in the bedroom and sleep on the same bed with her gone. His pillows and sheets smelled like lavender and Angela. He had to get out of there.

Walking back to the bedroom, he went straight to the closet to take some of his stuff and dumped them into an empty bag. Angela didn't take all of her things. His closet was full of his clothes on the right and hers on the left. She wouldn't be able to fit everything in that suitcase she brought from Mayne. He guessed she only took some clothes and essentials with her. This gave him a tiny bit of hope that she would come back to him.

God forbid she'd call and ask him to ship the rest of her stuff to her if she decided it really was over between them. He'd probably just burn everything out of spite.

He sighed. He was certainly not having the best day.

On his way out, he called J who picked up on the first ring.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Where are you?"

"I was at the pharmacy to buy Mika's medicines. I'm on my way home."

Gael thought about asking J to meet him at The Manor, but he decided against it. "I'll pick you up.. Don't go anywhere."