The city never slept.
But Bosco Moretti did.
Just not peacefully.
He sat in his office, the dim light casting shadows across the room. A file lay open on his desk.
Riyana Leone.
He hadn't meant to look into her life.
At least… that's what he told himself.
But something about her didn't make sense.
Her sharp words.
Her hatred for men.
Her complete rejection of anything that even resembled affection.
People weren't born like that.
They became like that.
And Bosco needed to know why.
Marco stood across from him.
"You're sure about this?" Marco asked.
Bosco didn't look up.
"Just read."
Marco exhaled and opened the file.
"There's not much about her childhood. Protected. Private. Typical for Dante Leone's daughter."
Bosco remained silent.
"But…" Marco continued slowly, "there is something from a few years ago."
Bosco's fingers stilled slightly.
"What?"
Marco glanced at the page.
"A guy."
Bosco's jaw tightened almost invisibly.
"Name?"
"Alex."
The name meant nothing to Bosco.
Yet something about it already irritated him.
"Continue."
Marco nodded.
"They met during her university years. Same social circle. Same group of friends."
Bosco leaned back slightly.
"And?"
Marco hesitated.
"She wasn't always like this."
Bosco's eyes lifted.
"What do you mean?"
Marco looked at him carefully.
"She used to be… different."
Flashback
Riyana laughed.
Soft.
Bright.
Carefree.
The kind of laugh that made people turn their heads.
She sat with her friends at a café, her sketchbook open in front of her.
"You're smiling again," one of her friends teased.
Riyana blushed slightly.
"Stop it."
"Is it because of Alex?"
Riyana tried to hide it.
But she couldn't.
Her smile gave her away.
Alex.
He had entered her life like something out of a dream.
Charming.
Confident.
Attentive.
He noticed the small things.
The way she held her pencil.
The way she smiled at sunsets.
The way she believed in love.
"You're different," he had told her once.
"I like that."
And she believed him.
She believed everything.
Riyana wasn't cold back then.
She believed in love.
In destiny.
In forever.
She was soft.
Too soft.
Marco's voice cut through the silence.
"He pursued her."
Bosco's gaze hardened.
"How?"
"Constant attention. Calls. Messages. Showing up unexpectedly. Acting like the perfect man."
Bosco's fingers tapped the desk slowly.
"And she believed him."
"Yes."
Marco paused.
"She didn't accept him immediately."
Bosco's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Why not?"
"She was careful."
Marco gave a small, almost ironic smile.
"But he was patient."
Flashback
"Riyana," Alex said softly.
She looked at him.
They were standing under the soft glow of streetlights.
"I'm serious about you."
Her heart raced.
"Don't say things you don't mean."
"I do mean them."
He stepped closer.
"I'm not like other guys."
And that was exactly what she wanted to hear.
Riyana hesitated.
Then slowly…
She nodded.
"Yes."
Marco closed the file halfway.
"She accepted his proposal."
Bosco's jaw tightened.
"And then?"
Marco's expression darkened.
"That's when everything changed."
Flashback
At first…
Nothing seemed wrong.
But slowly—
The messages became fewer.
The calls shorter.
The attention faded.
"Maybe he's just busy," Riyana told herself.
She didn't complain.
She didn't question.
Because she trusted him.
Because she loved him.
Because she believed love required patience.
"Classic pattern," Marco muttered.
Bosco didn't respond.
His gaze had gone colder.
Flashback
One month later.
Everything ended.
Just like that.
"I'm with someone else."
Riyana stared at Alex.
Her world stopped.
"What…?"
"I don't want to continue this."
Her voice trembled.
"Why?"
Alex shrugged casually.
"Riyana… with you, it was just attraction. Nothing else."
The words hit like a blade.
"And now…" he continued, completely indifferent, "that attraction is gone."
Riyana's hands shook.
"No… no, you don't mean that."
"I do."
Her voice broke.
"Please… don't do this."
Alex sighed, clearly irritated.
"I want a mature girl. And you're not."
Riyana froze.
Around them, his friends stood watching.
Some smirking.
Some whispering.
No one helping.
No one stopping him.
No one caring.
Tears filled her eyes.
"I can change—"
"You don't need to," he cut her off.
"I'm already done."
And then…
He walked away.
Just like that.
Marco's voice dropped.
"She begged him not to leave."
Bosco's hands clenched slightly.
"And he still left."
Marco nodded.
"Yes."
Flashback
The worst part wasn't him leaving.
It was everything after.
No one comforted her.
Instead—
"It's your fault."
"You chose him."
"You should've known."
The blame fell on her.
Every single time.
And still…
She didn't leave that group.
Because somewhere in her broken heart—
She still hoped.
Bosco's voice was quiet now.
"That's not all."
Marco looked at him.
"No."
He opened the file again.
"There's more."
Flashback
Days later—
The truth came out.
"He cheated on you."
Riyana's heart stopped.
"What?"
"While he was with you… he was with someone else."
The room spun.
"When?"
The answer destroyed her.
"At the same time."
At that exact moment—
While she was painting him.
While she was smiling.
While she was believing in love—
He was with another girl.
In another city.
Riyana collapsed.
Her world shattered completely.
"She broke down," Marco said quietly.
"Badly."
Bosco didn't move.
"She cried for days."
Silence.
"She prayed to forget him."
More silence.
"Every day."
Bosco closed his eyes briefly.
Flashback
"Please…"
Riyana whispered through tears.
"Take this away…"
Her hands trembled as she pressed them together.
"I don't want to remember him anymore…"
Her voice broke.
"I don't want to feel this anymore…"
But memories didn't disappear.
Pain didn't vanish.
Love didn't fade.
It twisted.
It hardened.
It changed.
And slowly…
So did she.
Marco closed the file.
"That's when everything changed."
Bosco opened his eyes again.
"She stopped believing in love."
"Yes."
"She started hating men."
"Yes."
"She became… this version of herself."
Marco nodded.
"Yes."
Silence filled the room.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Real.
Bosco leaned back in his chair slowly.
His gaze distant now.
Thinking.
Processing.
Feeling something unfamiliar.
Marco watched him carefully.
"Well?"
Bosco didn't answer immediately.
Because for the first time—
Riyana made sense.
Her anger.
Her walls.
Her hatred.
It wasn't arrogance.
It wasn't pride.
It was pain.
Deep.
Real.
Unhealed.
Bosco's voice was quieter now.
"He broke her."
Marco didn't disagree.
"Yes."
Silence again.
Then Bosco spoke.
"Find him."
Marco blinked.
"Alex?"
Bosco's eyes hardened.
"Yes."
Marco hesitated.
"And then?"
Bosco's expression turned cold.
"Then I decide what to do."
Marco sighed.
"This is getting personal."
Bosco didn't deny it.
Because it already was.
And somewhere deep in his mind—
One thought echoed clearly.
No one…
Breaks something…
And walks away like it meant nothing.