"We need to act fast, Sophia. The doctors have no other options. They've done everything they can, but time's running out. We can't lose you."
Every word felt like a dagger to her heart. But she knew, deep down, that he was right. The fight was slipping away, and her father's desperation only made her own helplessness feel more profound. It was a war she couldn't win, not with medicine, not with money, not with power.
As if on cue, the door to the room opened, and Marco stepped in. His face was harder than usual, his features set in a way that warned Sophia of the gravity of whatever news he had to deliver. His eyes met hers briefly before he looked to their father.
"We have a problem," Marco said, his voice low and deliberate.
Don Vincente sat up straighter, concern flickering across his features. "What is it?"
Sophia's heart skipped. Her father had a way of controlling a room with nothing more than a glance, but in that moment, he looked smaller, unsure of how to handle the threat looming over their family.
"It's Giovanni," Marco said, and the words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Sophia's stomach churned. She didn't need to hear more. Giovanni. The man who had haunted her thoughts for as long as she could remember. The man she couldn't have, the one whose loyalty to his family had always kept them apart. But his name, now spoken with such weight, twisted something inside her.
"Giovanni?" Sophia whispered, her voice trembling despite herself. She hadn't seen him in months, hadn't spoken to him since everything had gone wrong between their families. The thought of him felt like an ache she could never fully erase.
Marco stepped forward, his gaze darkening. "He's offered to donate a kidney. To you."
Sophia's heart stopped. The words didn't make sense, couldn't make sense. Giovanni DeLuca, the heir to the rival DeLuca family, the man who had been a constant source of forbidden longing and unspoken tension, had made an offer, one that defied everything she had ever known.
"No." The word escaped her lips before she could stop it. Her eyes snapped to her father, desperate for some sense of reason, but Don Vincente's expression was unreadable.
"You heard me," Marco said, his voice sharp with disbelief. "Giovanni is a match. He wants to save you, Sophia."
Sophia's breath caught in her throat. "Why?" She could barely force the word out, each syllable scraping against her chest. Giovanni's offer didn't add up. Nothing about it made sense. He was from the DeLuca family, the very people who had been enemies of the Vincentes for as long as anyone could remember. Their families had clashed for decades, their bloodlines stained by betrayal and murder. And now Giovanni, of all people, was offering her the one thing that could save her life?
Marco's voice cut through her thoughts, laced with contempt. "He's breaking every rule. Defying his family. He's willing to risk everything for you, Sophia. And for what? You think this is some kind of noble gesture? You think he's doing this because he loves you?" He shook his head. "This is about something else. You know it. The DeLucas don't do anything without a price. He's playing a game. And I'm not sure it's one we can afford to lose."
Sophia's gaze flickered to her father, her heart pounding in her chest. Don Vincente was silent, his face unreadable. He was the patriarch of the Vincente family, a man who had built an empire on blood and fear, and yet now, he seemed almost… broken. His voice, when it came, was low and dangerous.
"I won't accept help from the DeLucas," he said firmly, his eyes hardening with the cold resolve of someone who had seen too many betrayals to trust anyone easily. "Not after everything they've done."
Sophia wanted to argue, wanted to scream at him for being so stubborn, but the truth was, she knew he had a point. The DeLucas were their enemies, and accepting anything from them, even something as vital as a kidney, felt like a betrayal of everything her family had stood for.
But then, a different thought began to worm its way into her mind. What if Giovanni was telling the truth? What if his feelings for her were real? Was that even possible? Was it possible that in the middle of all this hatred and bloodshed, he was willing to give up everything just to save her?
Sophia's thoughts spiraled, each one more conflicted than the last. The weight of her decision and her impossible decision was suffocating.
"Father, I—" she began, but her words were interrupted by a loud crash outside the room. The noise was followed by the hurried footsteps of several guards, their voices low and urgent.
"Stay here," her father commanded, rising to his feet. "Marco, get her to safety."
But Sophia couldn't move. The fear that had been simmering beneath the surface now exploded into panic. She knew what was coming. It was too late to escape. The DeLucas had made their move, and Giovanni's decision had sealed their fate.
"Father, what's going on?" Sophia asked, her voice rising with panic.
Don Vincente didn't answer. He rushed to the door, but before he could open it, it was kicked in by a figure dressed in black, his face concealed by a mask.
"Don Vincente," the figure said coldly, his voice clipped and menacing. "You have a choice to make. Your daughter's life, or the legacy of your family."
The figure stepped forward, and Sophia's blood turned to ice as she recognized the man standing before her.
Giovanni.
He was here and this time there would be no turning back.