THE MAFIA'S COLLATERAL

It all officially began in that bone-chilling, deserted hallway of the university campus. I was rushing toward my next lecture room, tightly clutching my heavy textbooks against my ribs like a protective shield. As I passed by one of the abandoned lecture halls, the sharp, suffocatingly tense voices echoing from within made me freeze dead in my tracks. The wooden door was slightly cracked open. Driven by pure, reckless curiosity, I couldn't help but peek through the frame, and my heart skipped a frantic beat when my eyes landed on Dante Vance—the most famous, untouchable guy on campus. Standing right next to him was the notorious daughter of a brutal underworld mafia don. She was an absolute psychopath, completely obsessed with him and refusing to grant his soul a single second of breathing room. Dante looked entirely trapped; it was agonizingly clear that he only tolerated her toxic presence because he deathly feared her father’s savage, underworld wrath.The dangerous, quiet whispers filtering through the room terrified my conscience to the absolute core. Realizing I had heard far too much forbidden information, I spun around on my heels and ran as fast as my legs could physically carry me away from the danger. But in my blinding, frantic panic, I didn't even notice the textbooks slipping smoothly from my weak grip. My private diary—the one containing my deepest, most vulnerable secrets and forbidden desires—slammed onto the cold concrete floor with a heavy thud. The sudden noise instantly alerted them, and I heard them rushing out of the room. I didn't look back, completely blind to the fact that Dante had reached down and picked up my fallen journal. By the time evening arrived, my worst, most twisted nightmare had officially traced me home. Dante walked straight into the small, dimly lit restaurant where my father and I worked, accompanied by a group of well-dressed, dangerous men. And in his iron grip, he held my diary.