Chapter 2

The deposit notification hit my phone like a slap. €2,500, gone. Every summer shift at the hardware store, every skipped night out — vanished in a single evening of champagne and candlelight.

But when I saw her smile across that restaurant table, I knew it was worth it.

Elena. That's all I knew. A name, a face, a laugh that made the room go quiet. Three dates in ten days. Three dates where she wore that grey hoodie and let her hair fall loose, and I thought maybe — maybe this was something real.

Monday morning changed everything.

I walked into the glass tower for my first day as an intern, clutching the coffee I'd bought for my new boss. The elevator doors opened to the executive floor. And there she was. Sharp navy suit. Hair pinned back. The same smile, but colder now, polished into something corporate.

"Elena?"

The floor went silent. She turned, and recognition flickered in her eyes — so quick I almost missed it.

"Mr. Marchetti," she said, her voice smooth as marble. "Welcome to Bellini Industries."

The Deputy CEO. The woman I'd sent flowers to. The woman I'd bought a silk scarf for, the one I'd watched laugh over pasta and told my secrets to.

She was my boss's boss's boss.

I couldn't breathe. My savings were ash, my heart was a disaster, and somewhere on her desk sat a bouquet I'd drained my bank account for.

That night, Bruno the security guard found me slumped in the lobby. "She's still up there," he said, nodding toward the lit window on the twelfth floor. "Every night till midnight. That woman works harder than anyone in this building."

I looked up at the light.

Alone. Dedicated. Just like me.

Maybe I was a fool. Or maybe — just maybe — I was just getting started.