Lost to Cherry Trees and the Wrong Man

Third-Person POV

Lila had gone missing.

When Lucy Martin, the housekeeper, rushed into the study, Angelo was studying the map of Brucklin territories, scribbling furiously on his notebook.

He did not even bother looking at Lucy, asking annoyedly, "What is it now? Is she asking me to see the blossoms on the cherry tree? Or did she make me yet another bracelet? Get her to be quiet and stop bothering me."

He had been terribly busy recently, needing to strike a deal with the someone in Mannattan District while clearing out the traitors of Brucklin District. He also needed to prepare a wedding gift for Cyrus.

After all, Cyrus was his business partner, the Don of Sullivan family who controlled half of Neuyark City's docks.

The gift to him had to suit his prestige. There was no room for mistakes.

When he finished everything at hand, the skies were already dark.

In the dining room, steak, truffles, and red wine covered the dining table. The only person missing was Lila.

Angelo furrowed his brows.

He dropped his cutlery on his plate and grumbled, "If she doesn't want to eat, she can starve. Don't leave any food for her."

The housekeepers did not dare to say anything. That morning, Lucy had an earful from him just because she mentioned that Lila had not eaten. No one was going to poke the bear.

The night breeze carried a chill, rustling the olive tree outside Angelo's study window. He went over to close the window, but something on the branch caught his eye.

It was a cherry ornament that Lila had woven the year before, somehow carried to the tree by the wind.

He suddenly thought about an incident when they were young. He had tried to climb the cherry tree to pluck some cherries for Lila when he fell down from the ladder and his knees bled terribly.

Lila cried when she went over to him. Her tears dripped onto his pants.

He forced a smile as he said, "Lila, don't cry. I fell on purpose. Look, I can still move my feet."

Since when did that love for her turn into annoyance and irritation?

Angelo leaned against the window, subconsciously tracing his fingers on the windowsill.

It was ever since Lila drank the poisoned milk on his behalf.

At first, he was indeed guilty. He would spend all his days with her, buying her ice cream, taking her to the park to fly kites.

However, he got busier each day. He started to meet the other dons of other mafia families. He started learning how to manage a territory and how to navigate family politics.

He had met many capable and intelligent women. When compared to Lila's child-like self, he started to despise her more and more.

He felt that Lila was not good enough for him.

"Fine."

Angelo sighed and yelled at the door, "Lucy, make a cup of hot cocoa and send it to Lila's room."

Lucy suddenly ran in with tears as she exclaimed, "Don Rizzo, I'm sorry! L-Lila has been missing since yesterday!"

Angelo stiffened, thinking he had misheard Lucy. "What did you say?"

"I didn't see her yesterday morning. I thought she was playing in the back garden, but she didn't return at night. We went looking for her the entire day, but no one found her."

Lucy added with a catch in her throat, "The other housekeepers did not dare to tell you because they were afraid you would get mad."

Silence instantly hung thick in the air while Angelo stared at the rug on the floor.

His mind blanked.

A few seconds later, he suddenly grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and said with a trembling voice, "Prepare the car! We'll comb through every bar, casino, and dock of Regina County. If none of you find her, you're all fired!"

All of his men were baffled at Angelo's reaction.

He was usually annoyed at Lila. Why was he going mad looking for her?

One of his men thought that Angelo was just putting on an act.

He muttered softly, "Don Rizzo, I'm sure we don't need to go through all the trouble, right? Lila isn't the only daughter of the Bennett family. With your current standing, you could easily get another bride…"

Before he could finish, Angelo kicked him in the chest and glared at him. "What did you say?"

He was in so much pain he could not say anything. The other men quickly dragged him away.

One of the capos said cautiously, "Don Rizzo, do you think she might have b-been k-kidnapped? There's a gang in Regina County who have been kidnapping young ladies and selling them to the red light district."

Angelo's heart ached as if someone was squeezing it tightly. He thought about an incident two years ago.

He was drinking with Cyrus when Lila ran over to him with a cake in her hands and excitedly exclaimed, "Angelo, I'm twenty years old! We can finally get married!"

He was engrossed in a chat with Cyrus. Annoyed by the interruption, he aloofly replied, "The promise was to wait for twenty years, silly. You've got it mixed up."

Later, he found out that Lila had spent the entire afternoon crying on the bench in the back garden.

Then, an old woman, pretending to sell candy, tried to trick her by saying that she had medicine that could make her smart, and that she wanted to bring her to get it.

Luckily, Cyrus found out about that in time, stopping them right at the red light district.

That night, Angelo gave Lila an earful.

"Are you stupid or something? Why did you believe her? Did you actually go with her just for some candy?"

Lila's tears felt non-stop, but she explained, "It's not because of the candy. She said that there's a cure that would make me smart. I thought that if I became smart, you wouldn't despise me anymore…"

Angelo shut his eyes, trying to suppress those memories.

He had no time for regrets at that moment. He had to look for Lila.

The next few days, he barely got any sleep. He had combed through every single street and warehouse at the docks, yet Lila was nowhere to be found.

At night, when he lay on the couch, he always had the same dream.

In his dreams, Lila sat on the bench in the back garden with a bracelet she was weaving halfway in her hands.

She asked, "Angelo, when are you going to marry me?"

Every time he thought of responding to her, he would wake up.

Early in the morning, one of his men pushed a gift cart in.

"Don Rizzo, the wedding gifts for Don Sullivan have arrived. The jewelry store asked that you have a look at the products."

He handed Angelo a jewelry box. Inside was a blue sapphire necklace and a platinum couple's bracelet. He got it custom-made.

The blue sapphire necklace was the same color as the marble-bead necklace that Lila lost when she was ten years old.

Angelo looked at the necklace and his eyes suddenly burned.

He closed the box swiftly and said icily, "Alright. Looking for Lila is priority. We can talk about the gifts later."

At that moment, another subordinate ran in hurriedly with a canvas bag in his hands. "Don Rizzo, we found this on the streets of Mannattan District. It belongs to Lila!"

Angelo quickly took the bag over and opened it. Inside was a piece of a half-eaten cookie and an unfinished cherry ornament.

Angelo's initials were on the ornament. Lila was clearly going to give it to him.

His heart was suddenly pounding quickly. Even his tone got a little springier.

"Quickly, let's head to Mannattan District! Tell the kitchen to prepare Lila's strawberry waffles for her when she returns."

Tracing the unfinished ornament, he made up his mind. Once he found Lila, he was going to take her to pick out a wedding ring and settle on a date for their wedding.

He was in the wrong in the past, but he was going to make it up to her.