We were halfway there when Stefan's phone started ringing.

Sienna's thin, weak voice came through. "Stefan, my stomach hurts…"

She had not even finished the sentence before Stefan told the driver to pull over. He turned to me. "Sienna is sick. She needs me. I have to go. I'll be at the church tonight. On time. I promise."

I looked down and nodded.

He seemed surprised. "You used to hate it whenever I dropped everything to run to Sienna. What changed?"

I started to answer, but he continued, "I don't know what you're trying this time, but we are engaged. That means Sienna is no threat to you. Don't do anything stupid."

Then he told me to get out of the car.

I stood on the pavement and watched it disappear. A bottomless bitterness settled over me.

I had never wanted to hurt Sienna.

Stefan's impression of me came from a single moment years ago. I had turned a corner and found Sienna in the corridor with the Don of a rival family. They had been kissing as if no one else existed. I had gone straight to Stefan and told him what I had seen. I had even tried to persuade him not to be with her.

He did not believe me. He thought I was trying to smear her name.

After she died, he drowned in grief for years. If I could relive that moment, I would turn around and walk away, letting them have each other. Anything would have been better than what followed.

I flagged down a cab and went to the embassy alone to sort out a visa.

…

By the time I returned to the estate, dinner was already on the table.

I leaned in to check the dishes. Every one of them was something I liked.

Stefan's mother, Elena Rossi, spotted me from across the room. "Annie's back! Come eat, come eat."

His father, Marco Grimaldi, came downstairs, took one look at the empty space behind me, and grunted, "That useless boy. Who knows where he wandered off to. He's about to have a family and still has no sense."

Their warmth touched something tender. After my parents died in the gang war, I was completely alone. Stefan's parents stepped in and filled that absence without fanfare. For years, I followed their lead without question.

Not this time.

"Marco, I don't want to marry Stefan anymore," I said.

The table fell silent.

"I'm leaving for Rodona tomorrow. The visa is already done. I won't be here to look after you, so please take care of yourselves."

Elena stared at me. "What are you saying, child? We watched you grow up. This is your home. Where do you think you're going? Did Stefan do something to you? Tell me. I'll deal with him myself."

She reached for my hand. "Annie, trust us. We know our son. Stefan loves you. He would not have come back for you again and again if he didn't. And every birthday, without fail, he prepares something special for you. Just give it a little more time. Once you are married, things will settle."

They had said the same in my previous life. They had believed it completely.

The ending had not matched that faith.

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her. "Elena, it's all right. I respect Stefan, but he does not feel the same way about me. Forcing two people together when one of them does not want it only makes everyone miserable."

I paused, then added carefully, "I also went to see a tarot reader yesterday. She said that if we go through with this marriage, it will end badly for both of us. And afterward, Stefan could die before he turns 26… because of me."

Saying it aloud felt like a blade turning in my chest.

Elena went very still.

"That's nonsense," she said, though her voice wavered. "The cards don't know anything. That won't happen."

"Maybe not," I said. "But maybe they are pointing us toward something we already know. Letting each other go might be the kindest thing we can do. For both of us."

I let the silence sit for a moment.

"Stefan has always known his own mind. A decision like marriage should be his to make." I took out the visa and set it on the table. "Elena, I'm sorry. I know what you have both given me, and I know I am not repaying it as I should. But there is somewhere I need to go. I hope you can let me. I will find a way to give back everything you have given me. I promise."

Marco had remained silent throughout. He let out a long breath, then nodded.

Elena looked at him, then back at me. She left for a few minutes and returned with an envelope.

"We respect your choice," she said quietly. "But remember this. If you grow tired out there, or find yourself in trouble, this will always be your home."

I could not hold myself together after that. I pulled her into a hug and cried until no sound came out.

As long as I stayed out of Stefan's life, the tragedy I had already lived through would not happen again. He was a genuinely good person, and good people deserved long lives. This time, everyone would be all right.

Two of his three regrets were resolved. One remained. I hoped it would go as smoothly.

…

That evening, at the church, couples moved past me in pairs. They stood before the altar and made their wishes under the cross. I could not explain why it moved me, but it did.

"Annie."

I turned at the sound of Stefan's voice.

A slap landed before I saw it coming.

"Annie…" His voice shook. "I thought something had changed in you. I was wrong. You just found a new angle. Why did you go to my parents and tell them Sienna was involved with someone else? Because of you, she just slit her wrists."

My cheek burned where he had struck me.

In my previous life, Sienna slit her wrists on the night of our wedding. Stefan could not find a matching blood type in time. He helplessly stood there and watched her die.

He hated me for it. Even in the moment he took that bullet for me, part of him still wished he had never met me.

But we were not married yet. So why had Sienna's attempt come early?

It did not matter. I had come back to settle Stefan's regrets, and this one had arrived on its own.

I met his gaze. "My blood type matches Sienna's. You want me to donate. That's what this is, right?"

He blinked, just once. Then his voice dropped back into that hard, flat register. "You caused this. Giving your blood is the least you can do. Don't stand there looking like I owe you something."

I smiled and said nothing.

…

Stefan took me to Sienna's house. She lay in bed, her small face drained of color, frighteningly still.

Without a word, he pushed me toward the doctor.

The doctor did not hesitate. He inserted the needle into my arm and ran the test.

The machine beeped.

The doctor looked up, visibly relieved. "It's a match."

Then his expression changed. "However, Sienna has lost a significant amount of blood. Miss Romano would need to donate a large volume to stabilize her. That level of blood loss carries serious risk. There is a chance Miss Romano's body may not be able to handle it."

I looked at Stefan. His eyes remained fixed on Sienna.

I smiled to myself, quiet and restrained. "It's fine. If it saves her, that's enough."

Stefan turned to look at me. A crease formed between his brows.

A moment passed. Then he turned away again. "Consider it a debt. I owe you one."

The needle went in again. I watched my blood move through the line and felt myself growing lighter, emptier, with each passing minute.

My thoughts drifted.

After my parents died, all the kids at school sensed my vulnerability and closed in. Stefan was the exception. He stepped in front of them without being asked. Later, he held me and said, "I'm here. Don't be afraid. I'll always protect you."

He meant it. Even when he came to hate me, he kept protecting me. He could not seem to stop himself.

That was how I fell in love with him. That was why I could not let go.

But I knew what I had to do. I could not love him this time. I had to sever whatever bound us, cleanly and completely, before it could grow into something that destroyed us both.

The blood kept flowing, and the room began to tilt.

As I lost consciousness, Stefan's voice surfaced from somewhere in my memory. "Annie, how much better my life would have been if I had never met you."

Tears slipped from the corners of my eyes before I could stop them.

"Stefan… I promise. This time, I'm letting you go," I mumbled.

…

When I opened my eyes again, sunlight filled the room. I lay in a hospital bed, my body hollowed out, too heavy to lift.

It was already 11:00 a.m. I needed to leave.

Voices drifted in from the corridor. Nurses spoke among themselves.

"Did you all go to the church last night? They say it really works."

"I went. My parents went years ago, and they're still completely devoted to each other. I believe it."

I listened and let out a small, crooked smile. I had missed it after all.

The door opened.

Stefan entered carrying a lunch tray. Everything on it was something I liked. He had remembered. I had not expected that.

He stood beside the bed and studied me for a long moment. The edge from last night was gone. "Anything still hurting?"

I shook my head.

"Sienna is out of danger. Thank you."

I nodded.

He held my gaze for a while, then said, "I was out of line yesterday. I said too much."

He paused. "But don't go near Sienna again. She has nothing to do with any of this."

The words settled in my chest like a stone.

"Okay," I said.

Stefan exhaled. "I didn't take you to make your wish last night. I'll make it up to you after the wedding. You've always wanted to go to Rodona, right? We'll go there for our honeymoon."

"You don't have to do that. That was my decision. You don't owe me anything for it," I said.

He turned away, his posture leaving no room for argument. "I already had my assistant start the arrangements. Once you've recovered, we'll go."

I lowered my gaze and said nothing. My eyes drifted to his arm, to the old bullet scar—the one he had gotten the first time he saved my life.

Without thinking, I reached out and touched it. "You were hurt like this because of me. Do you regret it?"

"Don't read into it. I would have done the same for anyone." Stefan's voice remained even.

I nodded. "And the night you stood in the cold to pray for my fever?"

"Same answer."

I fell silent.

So that was how it had always been. I really had imagined everything.

I gathered a smile. "Stefan, thank you. For every time you saved me."

I kept my voice gentle. "I lost my parents when I was young, and all I ever wanted was a place I could call home. I know now that I looked for it in the wrong person. I'm sorry for making things harder for you."

After today, none of this would carry forward. Stefan could have Sienna. He would not have to spend five years in conflict with me. He would not die at 26 for the sake of someone he had never loved.

This time, I would make sure he lived.

Stefan opened his mouth to speak.

Before he could, the doctor appeared in the doorway. "Mr. Grimaldi, Sienna has woken up. She's asking for you."

The change in his expression was immediate. Something lit his eyes, and he was already moving.

He reached the door, stopped, and looked back at me. "Wait here."

"Stefan…"

He turned.

I smiled at him warmly without reservation. "I hope the rest of your life is everything you want it to be."

He frowned. "I'm just going to check on Sienna. I'm not abandoning you. Listen to the doctor and stay in bed. I'll be back later."

Then he was gone.

I waited until his footsteps faded. Then I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

The doctor appeared at once. "Miss Romano, you can't—"

"I'll rest properly, I promise." I steadied myself against the mattress. "Please tell Mr. Grimaldi that I've gone to Rodona. Tell him I wish him well."

-

Stefan left Sienna's room and went straight down the corridor.

He pushed open the door to Annie's room and found the bed empty.

He seized the nearest nurse by the arm. "Where is she? She could barely stand. Where did she go?"

The nurse shook her head, unable to offer any answer.

One of his men came running, nearly colliding with him in the doorway, breathing hard. "Boss, there's a problem. Gunfire just broke out at the intersection down the street. Someone who looked like Miss Romano has been shot."