Her Protector

Zylia was born into the mafia, not as the cherished child of a loving couple, but as the accidental product of a fleeting encounter between a stripper and an intoxicated man embroiled in the wreckage of a failing relationship. The woman, left alone and embittered, would come to resent the child she bore, especially when the wealthy mafia king who fathered Zylia refused to provide what she deemed sufficient child support. Throughout the years, Apollo-the father-remained oblivious to the suffering his daughter endured at home. That reality only became clear when Zylia, desperate to escape, boarded a flight alone from America to Italy. His 17-year-old daughter arrived in the dead of winter, clad in nothing but shorts and a toddler-sized shirt, lacking a jacket or proper shoes, her small feet exposed in flimsy sandals, a silent testament to her neglect.