Original subtitles

My boyfriend kicked me to stop me from going to see my sick father.

That night, I climbed into his mother's bed.

Her hand slid down the curve of my waist, her lips close against my neck.

Chloe and I were the two personal maids Declan O'Connell, the family's only son,

relied on most.

On the night of my 21st birthday, Declan announced to a table full of friends,

I'm announcing it.

Lily's my girlfriend from now on.

After that, he started picking apart everything about me. Every time I had a

day off, he always found a reason not to let me leave. This month, I begged him

for ten whole days.

Please, Declan. My father is gravely ill in Pennsylvania. The doctors say he's

dying.

Let me go back to see him.

All right, I'll let you go. Sorry, Miss Bailey. Mr. O'Connell was clear. You're

not to leave.

Declan swirled his glass of red wine.

I changed my mind.

Chloe says she's got a family emergency, too.

Tell you what. You two settle it with archery.

Whoever wins gets to leave tomorrow.

My dad's a hunter.

I've been drawing a bow since I was seven. He applauded every arrow Chloe

loosed. When it was my turn, he had them move the target back 20 yards.

Chloe's arrow still went wide.

Declan slid his arms around her from behind, covered her hand with his, and

guided the shot into the... Sorry, Lily.

You lose.

And it's not that I won't let you go. It's that you're way too pretty. And the

second you leave the estate, people will talk. Be a good girl and stay home.

I watched Chloe laughing, nest against his chest. He never meant for me to win.

Not from the start.

That night, I climbed into Declan's mother's bed.

She was Vittoria.

Madrona of the Moretti family, and the only person on this estate who could go

over Declan's head and let me out. Four years ago, to swallow up the East Coast

dock trade, she married Patrick, head of O'Connell Shipping. Soon after the

wedding, Patrick died in a car crash.

That left Medina Morelli as the only voice that mattered in this family.

Madrina Moretti, please, take care of me.

Lily's father walks ahead and turns back, smiling at Lily.

Hurry up, Lily. As soon as he turns his head, Lily's father falls off the cliff.

Lily rushes forward at once.

No! Dad!

Catherine O'Connell, the former mistress of the house, paid for his surgery.

Her condition?

I'd become her son's personal maid.

You're Lily, the new girl, right? Are you cold?

That was Declan.

Once, he ran a fever of 102, held onto my finger.

Lily, when I grow up, I'm gonna marry you.

Sure.

I'll be waiting.

But he grew up, and he changed.

A while back, his friends teased that I'd end up his wife sooner or later, and

he went red to the tips of his ears.

Her chin's too sharp.

Her waist too small, her lips are too red. Keep a girl like that around, and

everyone will laugh at me for being led around by a pretty face.

The whole room laughed.

My chest ached. He really did hate me. As for Viteria, I'd only seen her a

handful of times, from across the room at parties.

She could shoot a man who disrespected her, then go right back to joking with

investors as if nothing had happened.

That's Boris.

Would someone like that even look at me?

But on this estate, the one person Declan can't control is that woman.

I put on my best dress and set out for Madera Moretti's residence.

Crossing the rose garden, I spotted Chloe in the distance.

There's no family emergency, really.

I just wanted you to take me out for duck breast with cherry sauce.

Do you think Lily will be upset?

She's a maid.

What's she gonna do, get mad?

We're not even married. Would she dare snap at me?

The umbrella slipped from my hand and hit the ground. So it had been a setup

from the start.

Sick with disappointment, I turned away and ran into someone soft and warm.

What are you doing here?

Madrina Moretti.

The hand at my waist was so warm.

I came to beg you to take me in.

She held the umbrella over us and studied my face for a long time.

You're one of Declan's.

Go back.

She turned to leave.

If I went back tonight, what waited for me tomorrow would be far worse than

you're not allowed out.

I grabbed hold of her.

All these years, haven't you been afraid someone close to you would turn on you?

Since you married in, the O'Connells have never stopped watching you. She

stopped in her tracks.

My father is dying.

I've got no one.

You can trust me.

And besides, I've admired you for a long time.

She turned and looked down at me. Rain and tears ran together on my face, and I

forced out a smile.

Madrina Moretti, please.

Take care of me.

A crack of thunder lit up the whole estate like daylight.

Her eyes were so deep I felt like I was being swallowed whole.

Slowly, I loosened my grip.

Had I lost the bed after all?

Suddenly, the rain above me stopped.

The black umbrella tilted over me, sheltering me.

Once you walk into my room, there's no going back.

I wasn't planning on going back.

She bent down and carried me inside.

She set me down on the rug in front of the fireplace and wrapped a bath towel

around my soaked shoulders.

Cold?

I nodded, then shook my head.

She crouched down and tipped up my chin with her fingertip.

Miss Bailey, do you understand what you're doing?

I do. Her thumb brushed across my lower lip. I don't like tears mixed into a

deal. Walk away now and I'll pretend tonight never happened. I caught her

wrist. I don't want to go back. Is this what you want?

Or what you think I want?

I looked into those dark eyes and suddenly couldn't stand to lie anymore.

Both.

Then that's enough.

At first, her kiss was gentle, as if testing whether I'd pull away. When I

didn't, she deepened it. One hand at the back of my neck, the other sliding down

along the edge of the towel. When I didn't, she deepened it.

The cold metal of her family crest ring settled against my skin and I shivered.

Look at me. I opened my eyes and fell into her gaze. So focused, it frightened

me and made me want to sink into it. Don't hold back.

No one's here but us.

A ragged breath tore out of Ai, and I shook and stroked my back, slow,

helpless, in her arms. She pulled me close into my back and slow and steady,

over and over. Good girl.

You did so well.

I pushed myself up and kissed her back, clumsily.

I wanna... Let me...

You too.

She was surprised, but she indulged me anyway.

When my fingertips and lips moved down her skin, those unshakable eyes finally

closed and a low sigh escaped her throat. In the end, I fell asleep in the

hollow of her shoulder.

Her fingers combed through my damp hair, slow and steady.

And she murmured a line of Italian I couldn't understand.

At dawn, a soft knock at the door startled me awake.

Bettina stood by the window. I pulled the covers up to my chin. She smiled.

You can go out today. Go see your father.

I can go out?

Of course.

She hemed down and draped a coat over my shoulders, then pinned an expensive

emerald brooch to it. I recognized it. She'd been wearing it a lot lately.

This is too valuable.

I can't accept it.

You deserve it.

I left in a black Mercedes, glancing back once at the estate's tall iron

gates. Twelve years from the age of ten until now, and this was the first time

I'd ever walked out through them. I got home, pushed open the door, and saw a

figure curled up in bed.

Lily? Is that you?

Dad! It's me!

I thought I'd never see you again.

I'm so sorry, sweetheart.

I've been nothing but a weight around your neck.

I pressed his hand against my cheek.

No, Dad!

I'm doing fine over there.

I'm going to get you the best doctors, a nice house, the best of everything.

Dad smiled, a little light flickering in his clouded eyes. Good. Looks like your

old man gets to live the good life.

Suddenly, the rotting wooden door was kicked open.

Declan stood in the doorway, his face dark.

Lily, you work for me.

You walk off the job without my permission.

I stepped in front of Dad's bed.

I'm here with Midorina Moretti's permission.

Can't stand losing at archery.

Lying. So now you're lying?

Since when does my mom care maid what a maid does?

Lily, it was just a contest.

Why are you this upset?

We even brought cherry shortbread and money for your dad. You know, anyone who

leaves their post without permission.

gets blacklisted by the family.

I belong to Medina Moretti now. She's the one who let me come home.

If you don't believe me, make a phone call.

What are you talking about? Never. My mom would never get involved with some

low-level maid.

Before he could finish, he saw the coat and the emerald brooch on me, and he

faltered.

Where'd you get something this flashy?

Somebody strip that coat off her and burn it!

I couldn't believe he was ordering them to tear my clothes off in front of

everyone. Lily, how could you drag the Medela into your lies?

That coat isn't meant to girls like us.

The guards hesitated.

What are you waiting for?

Don't make me say it twice.

Two guards forced me to the ground.

My coat collar was yurked askew, and the brooch sliced my finger.

Let go of me!

You animals!

Let her go!

Dad pushed himself up from the bed, reaching out with a hand like a dry twig

to clutch at a guard's sleeve.

Don't! Don't touch my Lily!

On instinct, the guard shoved him hard.

Dad's back slammed into the bed frame. A mouthful of bright red blood spurted

out, and his hand went limp.

Marco and Enzo shouldered through the guards.

Mr. O'Connell, this is the Medina's order.

Miss Bailey is under Moretti protection.

No one stops her, and no one lays a finger on her.

What do you mean, under Moretti protection?

While the guards' grips slackened, I broke free and threw myself at the bed.

Dad, I'm taking you to the hospital.

Dad opened his eyes.

Bloody foam running down from the corner of his mouth.

I was on my way out anyway, sweetheart.

I just held on to see your face one more time.

Now I've got no regrets.

His hand rested on my knee, already cold.

Lily, I never thought it would end like this.

Satisfied now?

What's that got to do with Declan?

Your dad didn't have long anyway.

Declan was kind enough to come see him if...

Shut up. He crouched down next to me.

I didn't talk to you.

I begged you again and again to let me go home to see my dad.

Every time you said yes and every time security stopped me at the door.

Then you set up a contest between me and Chloe and only moved only my target

back. Were you ever really going to let me win?

Well, you call me flashy.

I'm your maid. I'm an embarrassment.

I find someone to protect me, and suddenly, I've thrown myself away.

Lily! Have you lost your mind?

You're just a maid.

Chloe, you're a maid too. You think because Declan looks at you twice,

you're above the rest of us?

Enough.

Come back with me right now.

Tomorrow, I'll announce publicly that you're my girlfriend.

Declan O'Connell's girlfriend.

And I'll give your father the send-off he deserves.

And don't think my mom actually wants you.

That woman has never had a heart.

When she gets bored of you, let's see what you do then.

Every time it counted, Declan's promises turned out to mean nothing.

And I didn't need him anymore.

At least she let me see my dad one last time.

I took off the coat and laid it gently over dad's face.

I belong to Madrini Moretti.

Mr. O'Connell, watch your mouth.

Fine!

Turns out you're an even better social climber than I thought.

You turned down the O'Connell heir to go crawling to a mob boss 11 years older

than you, and she's my mother!

Your father married that mob boss too, didn't he?

You're never going to have another good day in this house.

When did I ever have a good day in this house?

He stormed out.

The funeral was simple.

I picked a plot on the hillside cemetery.

next to my mother.

The sky was heavy and gray on burial day, and the funeral home's printed

programs were swept up by the wind, a swarm of pale moths.

With Dad gone, there was no one left in this world who'd call me Lily. The

estate's side gate was open.

Luca stood waiting for me, flashlight in hand.

The Madeira got an urgent call from the port and flew to Baltimore.

She asked me to tell you.

Settle in.

Everything can wait until she's back.

I moved into the room next to Victoria's bedroom.

The sheets were freshly changed.

The next day, Luca brought me a keycard.

Every door in the house was now open to me.

Otherwise, nothing seemed to have changed.

I was still a maid, and my debt contract was still locked away with the O

'Connells' lawyer.

That day, at the corner of the corridor, I ran straight into Chloe.

She'd taken my place as Deccan's head personal maid.

She was wearing a dress I'd never dared dream of, with two young housemaids

trailing behind her.

Lily, that outfit looks gorgeous on you.

Anyone who didn't know better would think you were the lady of some house.

But an ugly duckling is still an ugly duckling.

Flap around all you want, you'll end up back in the mud.

Exactly. It's a passing fancy for the Medadia.

Nothing official.

I just wonder if some people's fathers...

were so ashamed of their daughters that they coughed up a mouthful of blood

though for men and died of it i stopped and turned around chloe flitched under

my stare but she lifted her chin anyway i'm only telling the truth your father i

slapped her across the face five red finger marks rising on her cheeks

you hit me i hit you what do i need an appointment

You insult me like that?

Is it because you look down on me?

Or because you don't take Madrina Moretti seriously?

Hold her down!

I'm telling Declan right now.

Some trash who slept her way up, no name, no title, and she thinks she can

lord it over this house?

I grabbed her by the hair and slapped her again, backhanded, with everything I

had. Chloe, I'm here because the Madrina herself said I stay.

What about you?

You bring hangover tea to Declan's study and stay until midnight.

What are you after?

Last time he was blackout drunk, you took off your jacket and climbed under

his covers.

If I hadn't walked in, you'd have gotten what you wanted. I raised my hand for

the last slap, but it never landed.

Well, this is lively.

I froze.

I turned around.

Vittoria stood with her hands in her coat pockets. Who knew how long she'd

been there?

with Marco behind her.

I let go and lowered my head.

For the first time, she called me by my first name.

Lily.

Why did you raise your hand?

My heart sank.

A woman like her cares most about appearances.

I'd struck someone in public.

I'd embarrassed her.

Madrina! I'm innocent!

She used your name to hit me, and then she made up filthy lies about me!

It was my fault.

The hallway went dead silent.

After a long moment, she spoke.

It was your fault.

Why did you do it?

Yourself?

Don't you have people for that?

I froze.

Chloe's sobbing cut off mid-breath.

Does anyone in this house still not know she's mine?

Someone insults her in public.

Father. And dares to bring up her dead father.

Chloe Pierce.

You're dismissed from this house.

You have one hour to pack.

You leave New York tonight.

Marco, see her out and make sure she understands.

Doesn't come back.

Chloe's face went white as paper as two bodyguards hauled her up.

Madrina, have mercy!

Please! Her cries faded as she was dragged away.

Vittoria murmured a few instructions to Luca and walked off toward her study.

Watching her go, I understood.

This wasn't enough.

If I wanted a good life, one where no one could bully me, I couldn't spend it

hiding under someone else's umbrella.

After that, Vittoria came back to the estate more often, but she was still

called away to meetings every other day, and usually didn't get home until nearly

midnight. I stood at the door with an umbrella, waiting for her.

She stepped out of the car, saw me, and her gaze darkened. It's freezing out.

Who told you to wait here?

Nobody. I couldn't stand the thought of you.

Coming home in the cold.

It was my idea.

From then on, I did it every day.

When she left in the morning, I had her lunch packed half an hour early.

When she read documents at night, I sat beside her sorting accounts.

When she coughed once, the next day I swapped in honey lemon tea for her

throat. I started tracking her schedule, organizing her mail, checking every

account on every shipment moving through the port.

Eventually, she stopped keeping things from me and began leaving files within

my reach.

Then, one evening, she came home early for once and suddenly spoke.

Who gave you the name Lily?

Corners of my mouth curved.

The day I was born, my dad took a whole smoked ham, the best thing we had, to

the town's retired teacher and asked him for a good name.

The old man was drunk.

He looked out the window at the water lilies in the pond and said, Call her

Lily.

Your father must have loved you very much.

I moved behind her and began kneading her tense shoulders.

He did love me, and so do you.

You're everything to me now.

Tell me what you need, and I'll do it.

She let out a low scoff.

Funny.

There's not a shred of sincerity in that.

But if I'm everything to you, you should have a proper place at my side.

Tomorrow, Marco will take you to see my lawyer.

My hand went rigid. I'd always assumed I'd never get this chance. Not in this

lifetime. I lifted my face, tears pooling in my eyes, and refused to let

them fall.

Thank you.

Her fingertips twitched, as if she wanted to wipe away my tears, then

dropped back to her side.

People at my side don't cry at every turn.

Let others see it, and they'll laugh at you.

I wiped my eyes, and slowly, the corners of my mouth lifted.

The next day, Vittoria called me into her study. Two lawyers stood by the

fireplace. Your debt contract.

The Morettis bought it. Principal and interest, $480,000.

Paid in full.

Vittoria handed me a silver lighter.

Burn it.

I lit one corner of the contract.

Flames licked across my crooked ten-year-old signature, across the thick

thumbprint my dad had pressed there.

Tomorrow, go to the dressing clothes.

Go to the dressing room and pick out some proper clothes.

From today on, you work under me, but not as a maid.

As my chief of staff.

And the pay will only go up. I was just reaching for the box when the study door

burst open.

Devin stood swaying in the doorway, collar torn open, face flushed.

Luca stepped forward to block him.

Mr. O'Connell, please leave. Get out of my way! Aren't I an O'Connell?

Aren't I an O'Connell? You're in here deciding things about my girl and nobody

thought to call me?

Mom, Lily was supposed to be mine.

Give Lily back to me!

Vittoria said nothing.

Declan's bluster died as if a hand had closed around his throat, and he dropped

to his knees in front of the fireplace.

Mom, I'm begging you. I've never asked you for anything. Just this once, give

her back.

I'll treat her right. I'll marry her tomorrow.

His voice sank, as if he were talking to himself.

She said, when I grew up, she'd marry me.

I felt nothing.

That was ten-year-old Lily's promise.

Now, I belong to Madrina Moretti. How could a maid with a debt contract ever

be the lawful wife of the O'Connell heir? When he brought up that old

promise, it felt as distant as something from another life. You've had countless

chances to speak up over the years.

You chose not to. So why are you making a scene now?

That's not it. It's not that I didn't want to. I just didn't know how to say

yes.

I was afraid people would laugh.

That I'd fallen for a pretty face.

I clenched the box.

Back then, he probably did like me. A little. But that little bit couldn't

hold up against the pride of an O'Connell heir. To him, Liking a maid

was something to be ashamed of, so the more he liked me, the harder he tried to

tear me down.

Victoria rose slowly. For the first time, the woman who was always so

composed and in control was truly angry.

Enough.

Declan, your father died young. We're not blood, but I've looked after you for

years. You call me your mother, so I have every right to discipline you.

You say you'll marry her?

With my money?

Why don't you have the nerve to ask her whether she'd even want to marry you?

Declan's lips went white.

He couldn't argue. He staggered toward me, but Marco held him three steps away.

Lily, would you really rather warm my mother's bed than marry me? I looked at

him and was suddenly overcome with sadness.

I turned to Vittoria, my eyes shining with unshed tears, a docile smile on my

lip. Madrina Moretti gave me my freedom. It's my duty, and a debt I owe her.

Vittoria raised a hand.

Marco and Enzo hauled Declan off and locked him in the boathouse by the lake.

After that, Victoria treated me well. She kept me at her side and had me learn

how to run the estate day to day. Everyone on the estate began to treat me

with growing respect.

But I didn't dare get carried away.

Someone like Victoria hides her thoughts deeper than the Atlantic.

Kindness from her doesn't necessarily mean affection.

The second week after Declan's scene, she came back from the Port Authority in

a sour mood.

Declan kicked over three banquet tables that night.

A guest filmed it, and it landed on page six of the Post this morning.

Councilman Reeves at the Port Authority used the opening to propose a governance

compliance review of O'Connell shipping.

His reasoning? Why should a man who can't control his own son... My hand

shook as I poured her tea.

Reeves is Barona's man.

They've had their eyes on the O'Connell docks for a long time, and now they

finally have something to use.

Did I cause you trouble?

She looked up at me with a surprising trace of gentleness.

No. Although, that temper of Declan's, it's about time it got ground down a

bit. And if Declan can't be counted on in the future of the O'Connell and

Morelli empires, never mind.

Not now. That night, Declan was put on a flight to Rotterdam to work as the

lowest clerk on the docks. His phone confiscated. A one-way ticket, the only

thing left to him. I didn't press her. But I couldn't forget that unfinished

sentence. The following March, men from the Barone family opened fire on the

Moretti convoy at the New Jersey docks.

Enzo took a bullet meant for Vittoria and didn't live to see the ambulance

arrive. His wife had died of illness two years earlier, leaving only a nine-month

-old daughter. At the funeral, Vittoria didn't shed a single tear.

When she came back, she was holding a tiny baby wrapped in a yellow blanket.

I want to adopt her.

She needs someone to take care of her. I didn't smile.

The baby looked up at me with big brown eyes, caught hold of one of my fingers,

and wouldn't let go.

Vittoria named her Felicia. It means lucky. Of everyone in that car, she's

the only one who made it out alive.

She's going to be lucky.

We all called her Fi. The lawyers finalized the adoption, and she

officially became a Moretti.

Victoria's name was on the guardian line, but when Fi slept, it was always

my finger she held.

Victoria doted on the child.

No matter how late she got home, she went to look in on her first.

When Fi cried in the middle of the night and Victoria took her at once and paced

the room humming some Sicilian lullaby she'd picked up God knows where,

horribly off-keen, it always got the baby back to sleep.

In those moments, I felt dazed. But every night, when I looked at the sharp

-figured face sleeping beside me, a voice in my head said, Lily, don't get

your hopes up.

Salvador, the aging Don of the Barono family, used the ceasefire talks to

extend an olive branch.

If she would marry his son Dante, the two families would end the Dock War,

which had already cost more than a dozen lives, with a new marriage alliance.

The condition? She had to hand me over.

her lover, as a bargaining chip. The summit was set for seven the next

morning in New Jersey.

That evening, I saw the invitation on her desk in the study, along with a long

list of gifts attached.

A few days earlier, she told me herself that her marriage into the O'Connell

family had only ever been about business, and that I was the only one

she truly loved. But I couldn't bring myself to believe it. If she said yes,

that meant peace, and no more funerals on the Northern Docks.

If she said no, The war would go on and even more people would die.

She treasured her family and her men so much.

Could she really stand by and let that happen?

People change.

Hearts change.

Victoria could stop wanting me, but I couldn't stand by and watch her be with

someone else.

That night, I poured her a glass of whiskey with my own hands. I managed the

estate's medicine cabinet, so getting sleeping pills was easy. My hands shook

the entire time I tipped the powder into the glass.

I handed her the glass.

My hand so steady, it surprised even me.

Your nightcap? She took it. The rim was nearly at her lips when she suddenly

stopped. In that moment, I even thought, if she's figured it out, let her throw

me out. Or shoot me.

She's been good to me all these years.

If I lose this bet, I'll take it.

But her lashes dipped, and she smiled.

Lily, you've worked so hard all these years.

She had never said my name so gently. My tears fell hard. She knew.

She had to know.

Instinctively, I reached to snatch the glass back.

Don't drink it! But Vittoria lifted her wrist and downed it in one go. I closed

my eyes, my shoulders heaving. She wiped the tears from my face.

What are you crying for?

Nobody makes me drink what I don't want to drink.

At seven tomorrow morning, the Barinones will be waiting for me in New Jersey.

I was going to get you out safely first, and then go to war with them one last

time. I went completely rigid.

But you poured me this drink.

Looks like this war will have to be fought slowly.

I'll find another way to protect you and everyone else. I will never trade you

for peace.

She pulled me into her arms, her chin resting on top of my head.

Lily, next time you want something, just ask me.

And believe me, I truly love you.

The war between the two mafia families ended under Vittoria's relentless

offensive. She won. The day Declan came home was Thanksgiving.

After more than two years apart, the boyishness had worn off him. He was

tanned, and he stood taller than before. I was chasing Fi around the yard with a

spoonful of pumpkin puree when she crashed headfirst into Declan's legs.

Big brother!

You're finally home!

Declan crouched down and scooped her up.

Good thing she grew up with you.

She grew up with Medina Moretti, too.

That's good for her.

It's given her guts.

He went stiff and didn't say another word. After dinner, I stood on the

terrace holding Fi.

Footsteps sounded behind me, and a black coat, still warm from her body, settled

over my shoulders.

Cold? Not anymore. Because my life is already complete.