Worn by Love and Hate

"Ugh!"

As I looked at the scene before me, my first reaction was pure nausea. It was disgusting.

Luca's chest rose and fell slowly. Every single breath seemed to require every ounce of strength he had left.

His lips were cracked and pale, making it obvious that no one had cared for him in a long time.

The muscles on his arms, once muscular and firm, were now sunken and misshapen.

This was the man who used to rip guns from enemies' hands and lift heavy crates of weapons with ease. Now, he looked fragile and broken.

Sergio and Elena hadn't just neglected Luca. They took advantage of his vegetative state, fooling around right at his bedside.

My tears burst forth instantly. Like a person possessed, I charged forward, grabbed Elena by the hair, and wrenched her out of Sergio's arms.

"This is what you call loyalty?" I screeched.

While struggling, Elena screamed, "Janella, I know I betrayed you and Luca, but I'm still young! I don't want to spend my life taking care of a man who's basically dead!"

Without hesitation, I slapped her hard. I wished I could choke her. "I asked you to leave back then, but you insisted on staying!"

"I was stupid!" Elena cried, covering her face.

"I regret it now! I don't want this life! I love Sergio now. I never wanted to replace you as Madre. I just wanted to be with Sergio. My Papà died for yours. Without him, you and Luca would have been dead long ago. Can't you show some gratitude and let me have him?"

There it was. That "gratitude" again.

Luca had risked his life for that word, and now Elena was using it to threaten me.

I finally realized how sinister people could be. Love and gratitude were nothing more than stepping stones for their own interests.

I raised my hand for another slap, but Sergio grabbed my wrist tightly. The next second, he swung me back hard.

My back slammed hard against the cold wall. The impact was so violent that my vision went black and my ears started ringing.

Just then, Luca, somehow sensing danger, found some strength to bite through his oxygen tube. The machine screeched alarms, and blood poured from his mouth.

Startled and overwhelmed with panic, I frantically pressed the call button.

But Sergio merely frowned. He looked annoyed, as if he weren't witnessing Luca on the brink of death but was simply bothered by an irritating noise.

Doctors and nurses rushed over but just stood at the door with their heads bowed. No one came inside.

I screamed, "What are you waiting for? Save Luca!"

Silence fell over the room, and no one moved.

Finally, Sergio looked up and said calmly, "Calm down, amore. He's just a vegetable. Keeping him alive is a waste."

"Sergio, how can you be so heartless?" I yelled, grabbing a metal IV stand beside me and swinging at him.

He sidestepped, dodging easily. His gaze had turned cold and unrecognizable.

I knew then he wasn't going to help, so I pulled out my phone to call for help.

Before I could dial, he snatched the phone and threw it off the 13th floor.

"Janella, stop this. You'll still be Madre. I'll provide you with all the money and status you need, and I'll even hire the best doctors to treat Luca. But don't you dare interfere with Elena and me. If you want Luca to stay alive, do as you're told."

Luca's breathing grew fainter and fainter, and the look of agony on his face tore my heart to shreds.

At that moment, he lay on the bed like a fish gasping for air on dry land.

I gave in. I had no choice in the face of absolute power. One word from Sergio, and both Luca and I could vanish without a trace.

After that, Elena and Sergio got even bolder. They were even caught kissing in public.

As word spread, the made men of the family collectively felt that Sergio had crossed a line by taking his life savior's wife.

Once word got out, the Lorusso family's reputation would be permanently tarnished.

The Consiglieri did their best to talk sense into Sergio, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Then, Elena got pregnant, and everything blew up.

Sergio came to me and said, "Janella, sign the divorce papers. Then, call a family meeting and admit that Luca forced himself onto Elena years ago. You became the other woman just for revenge. If you don't, you'll never see Luca again."

I knew he meant it, so I agreed, begging only that Luca wouldn't be hurt.

At the family meeting, I recited the confession he had prepared for me. The words were agonizing.

"…It was Luca who forced himself on Ms. Lazzari back then. I seduced Don Wexler out of revenge…"

Murmurs rippled through the room. Their looks of scorn and derision cut through me like cold blades.

I almost couldn't finish my statement.

Behind me, Sergio whispered, "Think of Luca."

Choking back my fury and resentment, I recited the rest of that distorted web of lies.

After I left the room, all I wanted was to see Luca. But Sergio's Soldato told me Elena secretly recorded me reciting the confession and played it to Luca in his ward.

Luca, though in a vegetative state, nearly lunged forward in fury, but Elena had people restrain him. In the end, overcome by rage and shock, he stopped breathing.

In his final moments, his lips shaped my name.

I held Luca's lifeless body and cried for an entire day, until it felt as if I were weeping blood.

Meanwhile, my phone was flooded with news that Sergio and Elena had finally ended up together.

In the photos, they were linked arm in arm, smiling sweetly. Their smiles were absolute daggers to my eyes.

Elena sent me a taunting message. "Did you know? Sergio and I loved each other long before you thought it happened. Luca became a vegetable because Sergio exposed his weak arm in front of the enemies that day."

I lost my mind after reading that.

I grabbed a gun and broke into Sergio's villa, ready to kill them both for Luca.

The first shot was blocked by Sergio's Soldato. Before I could fire again, they pinned me down.

When the gun was taken from me, I screamed at the top of my lungs, accusing Sergio and Elena of their crimes.

Sergio just frowned and told everyone calmly, "Janella lost her mind after Luca died. It's tragic. Scusa, but I promise you, I'll never give her another chance to hurt anyone again."

Then, he bribed witnesses and forged evidence to put me into a forensic psychiatric ward on charges of intentionally harming the Don of the Lorusso family.

For seven long years, I was locked away in a room where the sun never shone. My cellmate was a violent woman who beat me up every single day.

For food, they gave me nothing but moldy crusts and murky water.

It wasn't until a sudden, raging fire broke out that I was able to seize the chance and escape that living hell.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, pulling me back from my memories. I looked up to find Sergio watching me with a hesitant expression.

I pulled out my phone. It was a text from my fiance, Zefiro Palo. "Cuore, my car is parked just outside."

A faint smile touched my lips as I replied, "Okay."

With the contrast clear in my mind, I turned around and treated Sergio and Elena with even more coldness. "If you don't return the house keys, I'll shoot you for trespassing."

Their faces paled at once, and they finally left.

I went into Luca's bedroom and hurried to pack his things.

By the time I finished packing and stepped out, I was met by the sound of a heated quarrel.

"Why is she getting half of the Lorusso family's profits? She gave everything to me willingly! Don't think I don't know you've been looking for her ever since she disappeared from the psych ward. You just can't let her go!"

Elena screamed with venom, "I got pregnant and endured all the insults for you! And now you want to please her? She belongs back in the psych ward! Someone needs to teach her a lesson there!"

A sharp slap cut through the curses.

"Luca nearly died saving your leg. Without him, you would've been crippled! You destroyed Janella's family, ruined her life, and betrayed Luca. Aren't you afraid he'll come after you and drag you down to hell?"

The moment I heard Luca's name, all warmth drained from my eyes.

When I grabbed the suitcase and walked out, I saw Zefiro appear behind the two of them. He walked right past them to my side, then took the suitcase from my hand.

Sergio froze. His gaze locked onto Zefiro with a deadly intensity as his fists clenched tight.

"Who is he?" he asked, his voice raw and hoarse.

I reached out and intertwined my fingers with Zefiro's.

For the first time in seven years, Sergio saw me wear a look of pure happiness, but it wasn't for him. It was for a man he didn't know.

"Let me introduce you. This is Zefiro Palo, my fiance," I said.