#shortstory #ShortDrama #AImovie #fulldrama #RomanceDrama
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00:00The night the Morettis were raided,
00:03I found a recording in my husband's study.
00:07Viola wants my schedule.
00:09Makes me check in every damn day.
00:12She even keeps track of how much I drink.
00:16Her father's on the run.
00:18The Morettis are finished.
00:19And you're still letting her keep you on a leash?
00:23She keeps this up.
00:24I'll have my lawyer draw up the divorce papers.
00:32So that was it.
00:35What I thought was love, Luca saw as a leash.
00:38I stopped asking where he went.
00:40Stopped waiting up.
00:41Stopped cleaning blood off his shirts.
00:43I even started looking for an apartment.
00:46Luca kicked my bedroom door open.
00:51And threw his gun, keys, and phone onto my bed.
00:56His eyes were red with exhaustion.
01:01Go ahead.
01:03Check.
01:04My schedule.
01:05My location.
01:05My ammo.
01:06How much I've had to drink.
01:07You used to check all of it.
01:09So why'd you stop?
01:11Viola.
01:12What?
01:14Are you gonna find yourself a better trained dog?
01:17Freezing rain hit New York that night.
01:19Luca didn't come home until 1147.
01:25His coat was soaked.
01:27His hand was scraped raw.
01:28There was dark blood on his cuff.
01:31Before, if Luca came home late, I'd ask where he'd been, who he'd met, whose blood was on him.
01:36I'd make him lock up his gun, check the magazine, then shower off the smell of smoke and gunpowder.
01:41Tonight, I didn't ask a thing.
01:44Viola, aren't you gonna ask why I'm two hours late?
01:47You had stuff to do.
01:50He stared at me like he didn't know me anymore.
01:54Then my phone rang.
01:55My father said the edbook's going back 10 years.
01:57Every account was frozen.
01:58They'd seized our hotels, warehouses, and shipping company.
02:05Several of my uncles had already fled the country.
02:10He had to disappear, too.
02:12Viola, don't come looking for me.
02:14From now on, you're Mrs. Bellini. Nothing more.
02:18The call ended.
02:20I just sat there.
02:24Luca came over and set a glass of water beside me.
02:28What happened?
02:32Nothing.
02:34It was the first time I'd kept something from him.
02:37That recording was still in my head.
02:39She keeps this up.
02:41I'll have my lawyer draw up the divorce papers.
02:43My family was finished.
02:45If I was no use to him anymore, I could take the hint.
02:51The next day, I scrapped every rule I had for Luca.
02:55The gun cabinet stayed unlocked.
02:57The liquor cabinet was open again.
03:00His driver no longer had to report his whereabouts.
03:03I even wiped the 1am check-in rule off the kitchen whiteboard.
03:06Maria looked stunned.
03:09Ma'am, did you and Mr. Bellini have a fight?
03:13No.
03:16Then why get rid of all the rules?
03:21From now on, he can do whatever he wants.
03:23I thought Luca would be thrilled.
03:26Instead, he came home at 8.
03:28Four hours early.
03:33He set his glass beside my papers.
03:35I just moved them aside.
03:37Keep it away from my papers.
03:42His eyes lit up.
03:45Actually, forget it.
03:46It's your house.
03:47Do what you want.
03:48The light in his eyes vanished.
03:50He didn't say a word through dinner.
03:53Afterward, he poured himself a full glass of whiskey.
03:55I used to take it away.
03:57Tonight, all I said was,
03:59Just don't overdo it.
04:00It's hard on your stomach.
04:02He stood there with the glass for a while.
04:05Then poured the whole thing down the sink.
04:11It tastes awful.
04:14I looked at the whiskey he'd been saving for seven years.
04:17I didn't call him on it.
04:22Luca started acting strange.
04:27He used to keep his phone on silent during meetings.
04:31He said processed.
04:33Now he was texting me every two hours, telling me where he was.
04:37I never replied.
04:52Did you see my text?
04:54I did.
04:56Then why didn't you answer?
04:58I thought you hated me checking up on you.
05:01Who said I hated it?
05:05Luca, wouldn't this be easier for both of us?
05:09Being with me is that hard now?
05:11That's not what I meant.
05:12Then what did you mean?
05:13Just get back to your work.
05:17I started packing.
05:19I left the jewelry and expensive clothes behind.
05:24Three years ago, a hotel group in London offered me a director of operations role.
05:30I turned it down because Luca hated me being away from New York for too long.
05:36Now, there was no reason to say no.
05:40Where are you going?
05:41Business trip.
05:46How long?
05:48Not sure.
05:49Not sure.
05:52What do you mean, not sure?
05:53Used to hate it when I asked questions like that.
05:57That was then.
05:59That night, Luca deliberately stayed out.
06:03Midnight.
06:051am.
06:062am.
06:07I never called.
06:10At 317, the lock clicked.
06:15Luca came in from the cold.
06:19Then woke me.
06:21Then woke me.
06:26Viola, I'm home.
06:29Okay.
06:31You're not going to ask where I was?
06:33Luca, it's after 3.
06:34So?
06:35I'm trying to sleep.
06:39The next day, I found out Luca hadn't been working at all.
06:45He'd spent the whole night sitting alone at the family club, checking his phone every 10 minutes.
06:51Ma'am, are you and the boss getting divorced?
06:55Why?
06:55Last night, he asked if a wife would normally get mad when her husband stayed out past 3.
07:00What'd you say?
07:01We said yes.
07:02And?
07:03That somehow made him even more annoyed.
07:07They're going cheap.
07:09Now's the time to buy.
07:10The Morettis are finished anyway.
07:22What finally made up my mind was a family meeting.
07:25My father had barely gone into hiding, and the Bolognese were already moving to buy.
07:34Three Moretti hotels at auction.
07:43When did you get here?
07:46Just now.
07:49What's wrong?
07:51Just tired.
08:00When we married, everyone said the Bellinis and the Morettis were one family now.
08:12So much for that.
08:17I'd like to proceed with the second interview.
08:22I didn't go to the auction.
08:24But that afternoon, the news confirmed it.
08:30The Bolognese had bought a 51% stake in the Moretti hotel group.
08:40Here.
08:41For you.
08:43What is it?
08:44Just look.
08:45Tomorrow.
08:46Viola, what the hell's been going on with you?
08:49Nothing.
08:50You don't ask where I go.
08:51You don't care how much I drink.
08:53You won't touch my gun or even look at my phone.
08:55Isn't this what you've always wanted?
08:57When did I ever say that?
08:59Forget it.
09:02Three days later, I saw photos of Luca meeting with Elena.
09:05The prosecutor handling the Moretti case.
09:08First he bought my family's hotels.
09:10Then he met with the woman hunting my father.
09:13That was it.
09:14I was done.
09:16I want to file for divorce.
09:18Are you sure?
09:19I'm sure.
09:20Does Luca know?
09:21He doesn't need to.
09:22Divorcing a Bellini takes more than a signature.
09:26That's why I called you.
09:37Who are you talking to?
09:40A lawyer.
09:43What lawyer?
09:45None of your business.
09:47He used to hate it when I asked him these questions.
09:51Now he was the one following me around all day.
09:55Where were you this morning?
09:57Grabbed a blight with a friend.
09:58Then why does the driver say you were on Fifth Avenue this afternoon?
10:02Luca, are you checking up on me now?
10:04Yes.
10:06Didn't you hate it when I did this to you?
10:09It annoyed me.
10:10But I never said you couldn't ask.
10:13I couldn't be bothered to argue.
10:15I turned to leave and he grabbed my wrist.
10:20Who's that lawyer?
10:21A friend.
10:22A man?
10:24Yes.
10:26Find another lawyer.
10:27Why should I?
10:29I don't like it.
10:31And why is that my problem?
10:32The Bellinis held their winter gala on Long Island.
10:35Usually I'd check everything for Luca.
10:38His drinks, his seat, the security routes, even his cuff clinks.
10:42This time, I did nothing.
10:45Ten minutes before the gala, he came to me holding two ties.
10:50Which one?
10:51Whichever you want.
10:52Black or burgundy?
10:54Either.
10:56Then maybe I just won't wear one.
10:58Suit yourself.
11:01Halfway through the gala, the power went out.
11:05Three seconds later, gunshots rang out in the west corridor.
11:08Everyone panicked.
11:12I grabbed the radio off the table without thinking.
11:20Secure the main hall.
11:21Get the elderly and the kids out through the kitchen.
11:26Second floor security.
11:27Stay where you are.
11:28Hold the stairs.
11:31Switch to backup power.
11:32Lock down every garage door.
11:41I was still watching the security feeds when Luca came back with his men.
11:44They dealt with the attackers.
11:47He stood in the doorway, watching me for a long time.
11:55You're finally taking charge again.
11:58Of the family.
11:59Not you.
12:02Not you.
12:03Not you.
12:08See you.
12:09Luca, did you lie to me?
12:12No.
12:14There's not even any blood.
12:16It hurt before.
12:18Don't come to me with this again.
12:19Why not?
12:20I thought you hated me fussing over everything.
12:26Did you...hear something that night?
12:30The next day, he called Mateo and three other senior members back to the estate.
12:36When I came downstairs, four of the family's most feared men were standing in a row like schoolboys.
12:50Tell her.
12:52Ma'am, we just had too much to drink that night.
12:55What are you talking about?
12:57Tell her what you said that night.
13:00Word for word.
13:01We were giving the boss a hard time, saying he was scared of his wife.
13:06He was just trying to look tough.
13:08Said if you kept checking up on him, he'd call a lawyer.
13:11And then?
13:12Afterward, he told us to keep our mouths shut.
13:15If you heard a word of it, whoever talked would get shipped off to guard warehouses in Sicily.
13:19Viola, I never actually wanted a divorce.
13:21But I did annoy you, didn't I?
13:25He said nothing.
13:27And whatever warmth I had left went cold.
13:42Got it.
13:44That night, I put the divorce papers on his desk.
13:48Lucas stared at the first page for a full minute.
13:52Then he laughed.
13:56Who gave you these?
13:57Gabriel.
14:01Who is he?
14:02My lawyer.
14:03I'm not agreeing to this.
14:06You don't get to decide that on your own.
14:08In this family, I do.
14:12And that's exactly why I'm leaving.
14:17You're really leaving?
14:18Yes.
14:21To London?
14:23How did you know?
14:25I know the owner of that hotel group.
14:27Listen, Viola.
14:28I can change.
14:30But I don't want to manage you anymore.
14:34Three days later, Luca got drunk.
14:37That almost never happened.
14:39He knew better than anyone what losing control could cost a man in his world.
14:43But at 2 a.m., Metello brought him home.
14:46I was going to leave him with Maria.
14:52Luca grabbed my wrist and wouldn't let go.
14:54Let Maria take care of you.
14:56No.
14:58Let go.
15:02No.
15:03He emptied his pockets onto the bed.
15:05His gun, his car keys, his phone, and a sheet of paper with his whole schedule on it.
15:12Check.
15:13Check what?
15:14I used to check everything.
15:15Where I went, who I saw, how many drinks I had, how many rounds I carried.
15:20Go on.
15:21Check.
15:22Luca, you're drunk.
15:24I know exactly what I'm saying.
15:26Isn't this what you wanted?
15:27Freedom?
15:32Like I'd said something ridiculous.
15:41Freedom.
15:41I came home every day knowing someone would tell me I reeked of smoke, ask why I was 20 minutes
15:45late, take my drink away.
15:46I thought that was home.
15:48Now you don't ask me anything.
15:50Viola, you don't think of this as home anymore?
15:52I couldn't speak.
15:54He stared at me, finally letting me see how scared he was.
16:03Or are you going to find yourself a better trained dog?
16:21His drunken words didn't change my mind.
16:23But the next day, Luca started following every rule I'd ever made.
16:27Home before 11.
16:28Hand over his gun at the door.
16:30Tell me when he drank.
16:31Get his injuries treated.
16:32Even location sharing was back on, the thing he'd hated most.
16:36Turns out, Luca was impossible when he had no shame left.
16:40What are you doing?
16:42Following the house rules.
16:43I got rid of them.
16:46I didn't agree to that.
16:48I made the rules.
16:50Then make them again.
16:51You're shameless.
16:53What made me waver was a call from my lawyer a week later.
16:56He told me the three Moretti hotels had never ended up in the Bologna's name.
17:00The auction was only a temporary step.
17:03What do you mean?
17:04The assets were transferred into a family trust.
17:08Who's the beneficiary?
17:10You.
17:12I took the documents and stormed straight into Luca's meeting room.
17:24Everyone out.
17:26You heard her.
17:34Explain.
17:36So you found out.
17:37Why buy the Morelli hotels and put them in my trust?
17:41Buying them at the court auction was the only way to get those assets out from under the freeze.
17:46That explained the hotels.
17:48But there was still the photo.
17:50Why had Elena, the federal prosecutor on the Moretti case, met with Luca in private?
17:55And your meeting with Elena?
17:57Was that about this too?
18:02That was for your father.
18:10The prosecutor was willing to drop my father's two most serious charges.
18:15In return, the Morettis had to hand over a ledger proving another family was trafficking weapons.
18:21Luca hadn't sold my father out for a truce.
18:23He'd been negotiating a way out for him.
18:28Why didn't you tell me?
18:29Your father asked me to keep it quiet.
18:31You could have at least told me you weren't trying to take over what was left of my family.
18:36I thought you'd understand when I gave you the documents.
18:38You couldn't just say that?
18:41You used to ask.
18:49Clearing up one misunderstanding didn't make divorce papers disappear, at least not to me.
18:53Luca clearly disagreed.
18:57Where did you put the papers?
18:59In the safe.
19:01What's the code?
19:03Not telling you.
19:04Are you twelve?
19:05I can print another copy.
19:07Already had the printer moved.
19:11For the first time, I seriously considered hitting him with a rat Tupian 4.
19:15But I had to admit, I didn't want to leave.
19:19Nearly as bad as I had a few days ago.
19:21London sent the final offer.
19:23I didn't accept right away.
19:25He asked me to dinner to talk about my decision.
19:28We talked for two hours.
19:30When I came out, his car was parked across the street.
19:46Back home, he tried twice to hang up his jacket, then gave up and tossed it over a chair.
19:50He pretended to read, but kept glancing at the receipt beside my phone.
19:54Does he like you?
19:55Maybe.
19:56Do you like him?
19:58I don't know.
19:59Then I'll win you back.
20:01We're still married.
20:02Even better.
20:03Luca's idea of winning me back was painfully old school.
20:07Day one, he bought me an entire flower shop.
20:09I sent it back.
20:11Day two, he bought my favorite Italian restaurant.
20:13I made him sell it back.
20:14Day three, he finally got smart.
20:16No gifts.
20:17He just came home early and made pasta himself.
20:23You put too much salt in this.
20:25Too much?
20:26Way too much.
20:28Then show me how it's done.
20:31I finally got it.
20:32He wasn't trying to learn how to cook.
20:34He just wanted me to keep picking on him.
20:38Luca, are you trying to get me to yell at you?
20:41Maybe.
20:47It was the first time I'd really laughed with him, since the Morettos fell apart.
20:53Six months later, my father came back to the States, not as a fugitive.
20:58His cooperating witness deal was over and he was free.
21:01The Morettos would never be what they were, but we'd kept three hotels and two warehouse properties.
21:05I owe you for this.
21:08No.
21:09I owe Viola.
21:17My father said the worst thing in a marriage wasn't fighting.
21:20It was when both people stopped talking because they thought there was nothing left to say.
21:25Then I thought about the past six months.
21:27I stopped asking.
21:29Luca stopped explaining.
21:31We'd almost let our marriage die in silence.
21:33So, you still want the divorce?
21:39Having second thoughts?
21:41No.
21:42Not asking doesn't mean you don't care.
21:45And saying nothing isn't the same as protecting someone.
21:50So, I decided to meet Luca halfway.
21:58Where are you going tomorrow?
22:02Docs in the morning, family meeting in the afternoon, then in the evening...
22:06What time will you be home?
22:08Before ten.
22:10Nine thirty.
22:12Deal.
22:13On our fifth anniversary, Luca took me to the top floor of the reopened Moretti Hotel.
22:17He'd turned all my old rules for me into a booklet.
22:23Rule six.
22:24Viola doesn't get to disappear without a word.
22:26Who approved that one?
22:28I did.
22:30Fatohed.
22:31Then rewrite it.
22:33Rule seven.
22:34If either of us wants out, we talk first.
22:37Anything else?
22:39Not for now.
22:40Can we add more later?
22:42Depends how you behave.
22:44Okay.
22:45I'll try to be the best trained dog you've ever had.
22:48When my family fell apart, I thought I'd have nowhere left to go.
22:52Eventually, I understood.
22:54Home wasn't a house or a last name.
22:56It was someone who remembered to come back on time, no matter how dangerous the night got.
23:05Inside the envelope was a photo of my father, outside a Brooklyn restaurant the night before.
23:11On the back, one line.
23:13A different last name won't erase the Moretti's debts.
23:21From now on, no going out alone.
23:23Not for a while.
23:25You're making the decision for me again?
23:30I'm suggesting you don't go out alone for a while.
23:32Tell me why.
23:34After the Moretti's fell, three groups fought over the docks and warehouses we'd left behind.
23:40Now the assets were back in my name.
23:43They weren't going to take that quietly.
23:46It didn't take Luca long to narrow it down to the Sorrentinis.
23:53So they're threatening me?
23:56Not just you.
23:57Your father, too.
24:00Viola, let me handle this.
24:02And this time, I'll tell you exactly what I'm doing.
24:07Fine.
24:09But if this is about the Morettos, I'm in it.
24:13Viola, it's dangerous.
24:17I'm the only Moretti still living openly in New York.
24:20I don't get to sit this out.
24:23That's exactly what makes you a target.
24:26I reminded him that keeping me in the dark had nearly cost us our marriage.
24:32This time, he didn't shut me out when things got dangerous.
24:40She's calling the shots today.
24:42Follow her lead.
24:46We'd only just recovered the two warehouses.
24:49Everyone thought I'd hold on to them for dear life.
24:51But I knew I had to play my cards while they were worth the most.
24:56That was how I'd get them to the table.
24:59Luca took one look and understood.
25:02Tell the Sorrentinos we're ready to talk.
25:07Ma'am, we just got those warehouses back.
25:09Exactly.
25:11That's why they'll come to the table.
25:15Just before 10, my father's driver, Antony, disappeared.
25:18His car was still in the hotel's underground garage.
25:25Ma'am, Antony's missing.
25:30Antony had been with the Morettis for over 20 years.
25:34If this was just a warning, there was no reason to go after him.
25:37He's not at his place.
25:38Worse.
25:39We couldn't reach my father either.
25:41He promised me last night he'd stay home today.
25:48Your father has never exactly been known for following orders.
25:52Is this really the time for jokes?
25:54I'm not joking.
25:56I'm trying to keep you from grabbing a gun
25:58and going after him yourself.
26:05They hadn't been taken by force.
26:07If my father had willingly got in that car,
26:10whoever called him was someone he knew.
26:12Someone he trusted.
26:19Uncle Carlo.
26:21Mateo, dig into him.
26:30Carlo was my father's cousin.
26:32He used to handle the shipping accounts.
26:34A week before the federal investigation,
26:36he'd suddenly left for Italy.
26:38The books that brought down the Morettis
26:40had first leaked from the shipping company.
26:42And three days before our accounts were frozen,
26:45his company had received a payment from the Sorrentinos.
26:52What a coincidence.
26:55Viola, I'm fine.
26:58Little princess.
27:00Been a long time.
27:05Uncle Carlo.
27:06You still remember your Uncle Carlo.
27:09I'm touched.
27:10Skip the reunion.
27:12What do you want?
27:13Three hotels,
27:14two warehouses,
27:15and the original ledger your father has.
27:18Tomorrow night.
27:19Eleven.
27:20The abandoned theater.
27:21You come alone.
27:22If I see one Bellini,
27:25your father won't make it back to New York again.
27:32That was when I understood
27:33what I'd always wanted from our marriage.
27:36Neither of us had to spend our whole life
27:38protecting the other.
27:39When danger came,
27:40I just wanted us to stand on the same side.
27:43What do you want to do?
27:46I'm going.
27:48Okay.
27:49Then we plan this together,
27:51and we bring your father home.
27:58At 10.40 the next night,
27:59I walked into the abandoned theater alone,
28:01as agreed.
28:03Luca stayed outside.
28:05That was the plan we'd made together.
28:07Carlo still had my father.
28:09I couldn't risk it.
28:14Sign it.
28:19All the hotels and warehouses
28:21transferred to you?
28:23They're Moretti property anyway.
28:25Since when were you the only Moretti?
28:31Now I understood.
28:33This wasn't just about the businesses.
28:35He was scared of what the Ledger proved.
28:37His dealings with the Sorrentinis.
28:40Hand over the original.
28:42You're still scared.
28:44My father doesn't have the Ledger.
28:46Where is it?
28:48I have it.
28:50I'd hoped to trade its location for our freedom.
28:53But Carlo had never intended to make a fair deal.
28:56He wanted hostages he could keep using,
28:59not just information.
29:01There was no point negotiating any further.
29:05Let them go,
29:06and I'll tell you where it is.
29:08Viola!
29:09Antony can leave.
29:11Your father stays.
29:15Then we have nothing to discuss.
29:19I could turn my back.
29:21Because I knew I wasn't the one afraid
29:23of this deal falling apart.
29:25You're just like your father.
29:27Always thinking you can dictate terms to anyone.
29:30Wrong.
29:31I just know you need that Ledger more than I do.
29:35Hey!
29:35Fritz!
29:36Before getting in the car,
29:38my father had activated the emergency tracker
29:39his lawyer had arranged.
29:40By the time Carlo tried to run,
29:43it was too late.
29:45You called the cops?
29:48Wasn't me.
29:51It was me.
30:06When Luca arrived,
30:07he didn't look at Carlo or anyone else.
30:09He looked straight at me.
30:11Only when he saw I was safe
30:12did he finally let himself breathe.
30:15Are you hurt?
30:17No.
30:18No.
30:27What Carlo said as they took him away
30:29made one thing clear.
30:32This was far from over.
30:34You think catching me ends this, Viola?
30:37The Sorrentinos were never just after your warehouses.
30:40They want the Bellini seat at the port.
30:50The Sorrentinos wanted the Bellini's two votes
30:53on the New York Port Joint Committee.
30:55Those votes would decide freight operations,
30:58dock leases,
30:58and warehouse permits for years.
31:00If the Bellettis lost their seats,
31:02the Sorrentinos could take over logistics
31:05across the entire South District.
31:07The Morettis were just the first step.
31:09Viola,
31:09this was an internal Bellini matter.
31:11Her two warehouses determine
31:13whether we keep our seats at the port.
31:15If she doesn't belong at this table,
31:16neither do you.
31:25He hadn't made my decision for me.
31:28He just made sure I had a place to speak.
31:30I could handle the rest.
31:34The Sorrentinos didn't need a war.
31:36They needed the committee
31:37to believe the Bellinos had lost control.
31:40So I signed new warehouse contracts
31:42through the hotel group's legitimate business.
31:44Then I had my lawyer separate the two warehouses
31:46from the family's old holdings.
31:48Everything was legal and transparent.
31:51Suddenly, they had nothing to use against us.
32:02You're better suited to this than I ever was.
32:07On voting day,
32:09the Bellinis kept their seats.
32:10For the first time,
32:12the Morettos no longer depended
32:13on the dirty business that had kept us alive.
32:16I'd thought the family's fall
32:17meant losing who I was.
32:20Now I understood.
32:22A family wasn't its warehouses
32:24or the numbers in a ledger.
32:26As long as someone was willing to rebuild it,
32:28it wasn't gone.
32:42Once the crisis passed,
32:44we slipped back into our old routine.
32:46He checked in.
32:47I asked my questions.
32:48Committee this morning,
32:49docks this afternoon,
32:50dinner with Mateo tonight.
32:52Did you drink?
32:53One glass.
32:55What time?
32:567.40.
32:56Who poured it?
32:58Mateo.
33:01After everything we'd been through,
33:03we made new rules.
33:05Neither of us would decide for the other.
33:07Neither of us would face everything alone.
33:10Rule 8.
33:12Neither of us gets to decide the other's life
33:14and call it protection.
33:17Rule 9.
33:18When there's danger,
33:19we don't face it alone.
33:20Who approved that one?
33:22Both of us.
33:33After the port crisis,
33:35the Bellinis decided to put Luca
33:36in charge of the family.
33:38The position meant power.
33:40It also meant he'd be the first target
33:42in every conflict.
33:44Before that meeting,
33:45he hadn't said a word to me.
33:47Luca,
33:48from today on,
33:49you lead the Bellini family.
33:52I accept.
34:10I understood why he said yes.
34:12The Bellinis needed someone
34:14who could keep everyone in line.
34:16But we'd just promised
34:17not to decide each other's lives,
34:18and he'd chosen the most dangerous future
34:20possible for both of us.
34:22Viola.
34:23When were you going to tell me?
34:25After you took over?
34:26Or after someone put a gun to my head?
34:30This wasn't a last-minute decision.
34:32Then you had even more time to tell me.
34:36I can't leave the family in their hands.
34:39So you still think
34:40a good enough reason
34:41lets you decide first
34:42and tell me later.
34:51He still came home before 9.30.
34:54But for the first time,
34:56I knew coming home on time
34:58couldn't fix what was wrong between us.
35:05Where are you going?
35:06The hotel.
35:08For how long?
35:09I don't know.
35:11Didn't we agree
35:12we wouldn't leave to punish each other?
35:14I'm not punishing you.
35:15I just can't keep waiting every night,
35:18wondering if my husband
35:19will make it home.
35:21I'll fix this.
35:22This time,
35:24don't try to fix it for me.
35:34My first night away,
35:35he didn't force his way in
35:37or post guards outside my door.
35:39He just brought the things I'd forgotten.
35:41Then he waited for me to decide
35:43whether to let him in.
35:51Can I come in?
35:53Five minutes.
35:56That's enough.
36:02He told me nearly half the Balaji's business
36:04was still in a legal grey area.
36:06If he stepped down now,
36:08whoever took over
36:08would drag the whole family
36:09into something worse.
36:11I understood.
36:12That didn't make me any less scared.
36:18Every time you say you have no choice,
36:20I end up living with the consequences too.
36:22I know.
36:23No, you don't.
36:24You know how to make people fear you.
36:28You don't know how to stop your wife
36:29being terrified of losing you.
36:32Then teach me.
36:34I don't want to.
36:41Something happened at one of the Baluni's docks
36:44that night.
36:45I found out later he'd gone straight there
36:47from the hotel.
36:49This time,
36:50he didn't keep it from me.
37:08Viola, I never actually wanted a divorce.
37:16He'd promised not to hide things anymore.
37:18But as soon as he got hurt,
37:20the old habit came back.
37:24Tilt the camera down.
37:25There's no need.
37:28Luka.
37:29It's a scrape.
37:30You're hiding things again.
37:32I was going to tell you after I got it treated.
37:34That's still hiding it.
37:37He said it was just a scratch.
37:39I made him come over anyway.
37:41But the wound wasn't what made me angry.
37:44It was how his first instinct
37:45was still to hide the bad parts.
37:48I thought if you saw it,
37:50you'd be even less willing to come home.
37:52So you decided what I should see.
37:54Again.
37:57I'm sorry.
37:58You're getting quicker at apologizing.
38:01I've learned what it can cost me.
38:05I asked for 30 days apart.
38:07Not a divorce.
38:08Not a test.
38:10I wanted to know if we'd still choose each other
38:12without the roles of husband and wife
38:14deciding for us.
38:1530 days.
38:16We live apart.
38:17No checking up on each other.
38:18And no using family business
38:20as an excuse to see me.
38:22You're sure?
38:23I'm sure.
38:25Okay.
38:27On day 7,
38:28I learned that not checking up on him
38:30was harder than I thought.
38:33Especially when,
38:34the next morning,
38:35every business outlet was asking
38:37if the new Bellini boss
38:38was planning to marry the Romano heiress.
38:48we'd agreed we needed space,
38:50but seeing him close to someone else
38:52still got to me.
38:53You looked at me a lot tonight.
38:55Don't flatter yourself.
38:57Then you must have seen me step away from her.
38:59Why would I care?
39:01Why would I care?
39:01You wouldn't.
39:12Sophia wasn't trying to steal my husband.
39:15She was the Romano's new head of investments,
39:17and Luca wanted her as a partner
39:19in his legitimate logistics business.
39:21The marriage rumors had been planted
39:23by a few Bellini elders.
39:24Relax.
39:25I'm not interested in your ex-husband.
39:28He's not my ex-husband yet.
39:30Even better.
39:31I'd rather stay out of the crossfire.
39:37I wasn't supposed to interfere,
39:39but once I heard about the marriage proposal,
39:41I couldn't help asking,
39:42the elders want you to marry her?
39:45They brought it up.
39:47Why didn't you tell me?
39:48You said 30 days.
39:50No checking in,
39:51no coming to you about family business.
39:53So you just weren't going to tell me?
39:56Viola,
39:57I'm doing what you asked.
39:59I turned them down.
40:04Once,
40:05a scene like this
40:06would have had him digging
40:06into three generations of Gabriel's family.
40:10That night,
40:11he didn't even come over.
40:15He was really learning to let go,
40:17and when he stopped asking questions,
40:20I was the one who couldn't get used to it.
40:22You're not going to ask?
40:24Ask what?
40:25Who I had dinner with,
40:27what time we finished.
40:29You don't like me checking up on you.
40:31You told me to learn to let go.
40:34I'm learning.
40:50The Bellini old guard wouldn't give up.
40:52They wanted Luca to secure the Romano votes
40:55with a marriage alliance
40:56and keep his position as head of the family.
40:58An engagement on paper for three votes.
41:01Surely you can see what matters here.
41:04I can.
41:05Then sign.
41:07I mean, I know which matters more.
41:09Three votes or my wife.
41:12I heard him reject the marriage alliance
41:14in front of everyone.
41:16The jealousy in my chest finally eased.
41:20You heard that?
41:21I did.
41:22There's no marriage alliance.
41:24I know.
41:26That's all I get?
41:27What do you want?
41:29A reward?
41:30A little praise wouldn't hurt.
41:33Once the old guard started losing money and power,
41:36someone was bound to make a move.
41:39That night, Luca was ambushed at the docks.
41:42I didn't hear it from his people.
41:45The hospital still had me listed as his emergency contact.
41:57I stayed by his side all night.
42:00I could pretend all I wanted.
42:02I couldn't fool myself into thinking I didn't care.
42:06What are you doing here?
42:08I'm your emergency contact.
42:09How do you think I got here?
42:11I forgot to change it.
42:13Don't you dare.
42:14Did I keep you waiting again?
42:16Yes.
42:18You always do.
42:27I spent the night at the hospital and finally admitted it.
42:31I still loved him.
42:33But loving him and being able to stay his wife
42:35were two different things.
42:38I don't want to spend my life wondering
42:41if something happened to you.
42:43Every time the phone rings.
42:45So you still want a divorce?
42:49Yes.
43:00This time, he didn't stop me.
43:03He didn't decide for me again.
43:05What happened to In This Family, I get the only say.
43:09Last time, I wouldn't sign because I was afraid you'd leave.
43:13And this time?
43:15This time, I finally understand.
43:20Loving you doesn't give me the right to make you live in fear with me.
43:24You wanted your freedom.
43:25It's yours.
43:37The day the divorce became fanal, Luca was the one who moved out.
43:41I'd imagined leaving that apartment so many times.
43:44I never imagined how quiet it would be when it actually felt empty.
43:49The apartment's yours.
43:51It belongs to the Bellini's.
43:53It did.
43:54It's in your name now.
43:55I don't want it.
43:56Then sell it.
43:57It's your decision.
44:12At last, I was completely free.
44:22After the divorce, he really stepped out of my life.
44:25Location sharing was off.
44:27The driver stopped reporting to him.
44:29My security went back under the Moretto's control.
44:31I'd once thought he asked too much.
44:33Now he didn't even ask if I'd arrived safely.
44:36Has he been busy lately?
44:38The boss said we're not to report anything about you unless you ask us to.
44:43I was just asking.
44:59I thought I'd feel relieved.
45:01But when he gave me a polite nod, like any other friend,
45:05it hurt more than his jealousy ever had.
45:17We hadn't rooted out everyone in the old guard.
45:20Luca happened to be meeting a client at the same restaurant that day.
45:23That was how he spotted the danger before my security did.
45:29Were you following me?
45:31I had a meeting here.
45:32You used to say you're never going out alone again.
45:35I used to be your husband.
45:37Now all I can do is ask you to be careful.
45:45Luca.
45:49But when he really let go, just as I'd asked,
45:52I felt the first sting of regret.
45:58Didn't you say you'd win me back?
46:00You told me to let go.
46:01So you just did?
46:03Viola, I have to learn to listen to you sometime.
46:15London offered me a one-year global operations role.
46:18I asked Luca if he'd walk away from the baloney's dangerous business for good.
46:22Maybe we still had a chance to leave together.
46:25Come to London with me.
46:28I can't.
46:31I can't.
46:31Why not?
46:33The family still needs me.
46:35You nearly died at the docks.
46:38That's why I'm changing things.
46:40Not running away.
46:42I made him choose between the family and me.
46:46For the first time, he wouldn't give me what I wanted.
46:53If you don't walk away, I'm never coming back.
46:57Then don't come back.
47:07I'd always thought he was the one who didn't understand love.
47:10Only then did I see I'd turned love into another kind of control.
47:14I was so afraid of losing him, I wanted to cut every danger out of his life.
47:32London needed my answer the next day.
47:54Before I left, my father told me what Luca was doing.
47:57He hadn't walked away from the balonies.
47:59He was dismantling the most dangerous parts, piece by piece.
48:03Over the past three months, he'd given up some of their most profitable shady businesses
48:08and made a lot of enemies doing it.
48:10He hasn't changed the way you wanted him to.
48:12I know.
48:13But he is changing.
48:16Why didn't he tell me?
48:19So you'd feel you owed him? That's not who he is anymore.
48:25Before I left, he brought back the jewelry box my mother had left me.
48:29He'd even quietly had the crack repaired.
48:31You forgot this.
48:39How did you get in?
48:41I used to live here.
48:43My access still works.
48:45And now?
48:47Now it's your home.
49:00On the drive, he didn't ask when I'd be back.
49:02Didn't say London was too far.
49:05By the time we reached security, I couldn't hold it in anymore.
49:09Is that all you have to say?
49:13Congratulations on getting the job you wanted.
49:16Luca, weren't you going to win me back?
49:19Winning you back doesn't mean locking you in New York.
49:22So you're just going to watch me leave?
49:26I want you to stay.
49:30But I don't own you.
49:44I finally left New York, just as I'd wanted.
49:48But the moment the plane lifted off, for the first time, I wished he'd refused to listen.
50:04The London job suited me better than I'd expected.
50:08In four months, I landed three new projects.
50:12For the first time, I had a life that had nothing to do with either family.
50:18The only thing I couldn't get used to was that Luca hadn't interrupted it once.
50:33In the four months after I left, Luca made the hardest break in the balloonies' history.
50:39He didn't abandon the family.
50:42He turned a position he'd had to defend with a gun into a business that could stand in the light.
50:49Why did he suddenly go this far?
50:52It wasn't sudden.
50:53He's been working on it since the attack at the docks.
50:57He never told me.
50:58You never asked.
51:05I thought leaving New York would help me let go.
51:07But I still didn't want to miss a single thing about him.
51:10Oh, and the Bellini old men have tried to set up two more marriage alliances for him.
51:15Why are you telling me this?
51:17Because he's telling me this.
51:18Because he turned them both down.
51:19Said he'd been married once.
51:20He'd already used up his quota.
51:35Four months apart.
51:37And he'd put exactly the polite distance between us that I'd asked for.
51:43Miss Moretti, it's been a while.
51:54Sofia saw my face and decided to tell me everything.
51:58Luca had given up two votes within the family to refuse the marriage alliance.
52:03And for cleaning up the old businesses, his own people had nearly forced him out.
52:09His biggest problem used to be trying to carry everyone.
52:13Now you tell him not to bother you, and he actually trains himself to stay quiet.
52:17Who told him to be that obedient?
52:20You did.
52:23But standing in front of him, I realized I couldn't bear how completely he'd stuck away.
52:29Didn't you say you'd win me back?
52:33I did.
52:36Then what have you been doing for the past four months?
52:39Respecting your decision.
52:41I asked for respect, not for you to disappear.
52:44You told me to get out of your life completely.
52:47Viola, isn't this what you wanted?
52:48I'd come to demand answers.
52:51But once I started talking, even I couldn't tell what I couldn't let go of.
52:55I don't want it anymore.
52:56Don't want what?
52:57Freedom?
52:58The divorce?
52:59Or me keeping my distance?
53:06I finally admitted it.
53:08I'd never regretted loving him.
53:11I regretted pushing him so far away.
53:15Any of it.
53:18Viola.
53:20I made a mistake.
53:33It took me four months to admit what I missed.
53:36Not checking up on him.
53:37Not the lock turning at 9.30.
53:40Not having someone keep every danger away.
53:43I missed Luca.
53:45His temper.
53:46His stubbornness.
53:48Even the way he could never explain a damn thing properly.
53:54I want the man who puts his drink in front of me on purpose, waiting for me to take it.
54:00And the man who's scared to death, but still pretends he can carry everything alone.
54:06That last part doesn't sound like a compliment.
54:09It wasn't.
54:16I didn't know until that night that he'd kept his ring on a chain against his chest since the divorce.
54:23I never took it off.
54:26We're divorced.
54:27I know.
54:29Then why are you still wearing it?
54:34To remind myself how I lost my wife.
54:36My turn to ask.
54:38Luca, would you go out with me again?
54:49This time, neither of us wanted to guess.
54:51Whatever we wanted, we'd say it.
54:54I'll go out with you.
54:57Is there a condition?
54:59Yes.
55:00If you miss me, say it.
55:02If you're jealous, say it.
55:04If you're scared, say that too.
55:06Don't make me guess anymore.
55:09Deal.
55:10On our first day together of Voice Howe, he was still the man who took being one minute late seriously.
55:16It's only one minute.
55:17My new boyfriend's late on day one.
55:22Give me a chance to make it up to you?
55:25Depends how you behave.
55:29The scorched ring was just like our first marriage.
55:33It had left its scars.
55:36We didn't have to make it look the way it used to.
55:39I've had it repaired so many times.
55:41The burn marks won't come out.
55:44Then stop trying.
55:45You don't want it?
55:47Our old marriage is over.
55:49Why keep the old ring?
55:52For our second wedding, neither of us invited anyone who needed convincing.
55:56This time, our marriage had nothing to prove to either family.
56:02You've thought this through?
56:04I have.
56:05And you?
56:08I've been waiting almost a year for you to ask me that.
56:11That was the end of the old rules.
56:13We decided to write new ones for who we were now.
56:16Rule one, no leaving to test the other's love.
56:20Rule two, no calling silence protection.
56:23Rule three, neither of us gets to decide the other's life.
56:26Rule four, talk things through.
56:28Rule five, home before 9.30.
56:30How is that one still in here?
56:32Got a problem with it?
56:33No.
56:34I like it.
56:35I like it a lot.
56:36After that, home before 9.30 was still the rule.
56:40The difference was, we finally understood.
56:45The rules weren't a leash.
56:48They were how we let each other know we were okay.
56:53Still checking up on me?
56:55Depends on my mood.
56:57Then I'll try to be the best trained dog you've ever had.
57:00No.
57:01Hmm?
57:02Try learning to be my husband.
57:05We both thought holding on tightly enough would make the other stay.
57:09Eventually, we learned.
57:11Love wasn't one of us keeping watch while the other ran.
57:14It wasn't giving up who we were for each other.
57:17It was having whole lives of our own and still choosing to come back to each other at the end
57:22of every day.