From NYU Labs to Street Flyers The Price of Loving a Don Chapter 01
The day I caught my mafia boyfriend, Luca Greco, in bed with my best friend, Elena, I completely lost it.
I took photos and blasted them for everyone to see. Unable to handle the public humiliation, Elena threw herself off a building.
She survived. But Luca hated me for it. He had his men corner me on a rooftop.
I fell from the eighth floor, ended up in a vegetative state, and rotted in a hospital bed for three years.
To save my life, my mother drained her life savings and worked herself to death. She never got to see me open my eyes again.
And Luca? He married Elena just two months into my coma. They even had a child together soon after.
When I finally woke up, Luca tracked me down again.
This time, he personally dragged me to an eighteenth-floor balcony. He wrapped his hand around my neck, forcing half my body over the railing.
He threatened to kill me, trying to break my spirit and force me to behave.
As the wind roared in my ears, something snapped, and I suddenly saw things clearly.
I apologized to him. I swore I would never disturb their happiness again.
Then, I asked him for three hundred thousand dollars to wipe the slate clean, took the money, and vanished from his life completely.
Five years later, I was handing out flyers on the street under the scorching sun.
A luxury car rolled to a stop right in front of me. The window rolled down, revealing Luca’s familiar face.
I froze for a fraction of a second, but quickly forced a smile and slid a flyer through the open window.
“Our new shop is having a grand opening promotion, sir. Stop by if you have some time…”
Before I could finish, he lunged forward and grabbed my wrist.
He stared dead at me, his voice raw and gravelly as he ground his teeth.
“Serena. You’ve been hiding from me all these years just to live like a stray dog?”
…
The blinding sun made my head spin, and sweat dripped down my cheek. I instinctively glanced at my watch.
It was brutally hot today, leaving the streets mostly deserted. Most of the hours my boss demanded had already passed, but a thick stack of flyers still remained in my hands.
If I didn’t hand them all out, my pay would be docked. I immediately swallowed my pride, speaking to Luca in a half-negotiating, half-begging tone.
“Sir, could you please let go of me? I still have flyers left to hand out…”
Luca’s grip on my wrist tightened. A flash of sharp pain crossed his eyes, but his lips pressed into a thin, mocking line.
“Serena, stop playing the victim in front of me. Was the money I gave you back then not enough for you to squander?”
“You hid from me for years, only to suddenly pop up in front of me now. Your motive is a little too obvious!”
His words were harsh, practically pinning the label of an opportunistic gold digger right onto my face.
Lifting my right arm, which held the rest of the flyers, I wiped the sweat from my brow. I let out a helpless laugh and explained.
“You’re overthinking it. I’ve been working part-time handing out flyers on this exact street for almost a month now. I didn’t just suddenly appear.”
“I’m sorry for causing a misunderstanding. Can you let go of me now? I’m really running out of time. If I don’t finish, my boss will dock my pay.”
Luca stared at me intently, trying to catch a single trace of a lie on my face. After a long moment, he slowly closed his eyes, his deep voice carrying a heavy, repressed emotion.
“Serena, you used to hate the sun more than anything. If it was even a little hot, you refused to step foot outside, terrified of ruining your skin.”
“You cared about your image more than anything, never leaving the house without flawless makeup… But now, look at you. Can’t you find a more respectable job?”
My eyes widened slightly. For a moment, I honestly couldn’t comprehend his train of thought. I could only keep up my customer-service smile and reply.
“It’s fine. It’s just handing out flyers. What’s unrespectable about that?”
“Besides, people have to grow up. Handing out flyers might be hotter than working as a hotel maid, but at least I can make sixty dollars in three hours. I’m already very satisfied.”
I didn’t know which phrase had triggered Luca’s sensitive nerves, but as he stared at my sunburned cheeks, the rims of his eyes flushed red.
“Sixty dollars? Sixty dollars is all it takes for you to throw away your dignity? Look at how many trust-fund brats used to throw fortunes at your feet, and you wouldn’t even spare them a glance!”
“But now, you’ve degraded yourself to this point?”
Suddenly, my phone rang. I looked at him uncomfortably, and he finally, slowly let go of my wrist, allowing me to take the call.
During my darkest times, I used to take dozens or even hundreds of these calls a day. I had long since learned not to lose my composure like I used to.
My tone was casual, as if I were just chatting about the weather.
“I know. By the end of this month, right? The money is already set aside.”
“Don’t worry, this is the final payment. I won’t delay it any longer.”
As the call disconnected, Luca’s grip on the steering wheel tightened so hard that the veins on the back of his hand bulged violently.
He took a deep breath, his lips turning white, his voice thick and strained.
“Serena, did you cross the wrong people out there?”
“Even though I was furious with you back then because of Elena, we still shared three years together… If you had just told me earlier, I wouldn’t have sat back and done nothing.”
Realizing he had completely misconstrued the situation, I smiled and shrugged it off.
“Thanks for the concern, but it’s really fine. It’s just a debt collector.”
“Those three years I spent as a vegetable were a total money pit. To keep me alive, my mom took out a bunch of high-interest loans from loan sharks. Now that I’m awake, I have to pay them back.”
