Isabella 177As I sat across from Ava, the weight of our shared experiences hung heavy in the air. I watched as the early afternoon sunlight danced through the leaves, casting dappled shadows across the porch. Ava's eyes held a sadness that mirrored my own, a silent testament to the burdens we both carried."Tell me about those early days, Ava," I urged gently, breaking the somber silence that had settled between us.Ava sighed, her gaze drifting into the distance as memories from the past flooded her mind. "Those were dark times, Isabella," she began, her voice tinged with regret. "After Vito was arrested by the army, I was left alone to fend for myself and Damien.""Rose was the only one who stood by me back then," Ava relayed to me. "But she took advantage of my helplessness," She added bitterly.I knew what she was talking about. Rose had an affair with a young Damien and it ruined the relationship between Ava and the whole of St. Dumas."I knew about
Damien 178.I walked back to my car and thought of my options of where to go. Going after Emilio was out of the question as I could not promise myself that I was not going to kick his ass. I was still keeping Jackson on standby and also telling him to lay low.This was due to the fact that Jackson was a former employee of Renaissance and I was damn sure that he was already on the company hit list. I was certain that Isabella would give me more drama and demands for answers.Answers that I was not willing to share with anyone, not even with her. There were dangerous informations stored in my head and letting her have just as little as a glimpse into them could spell danger for her. I decided to head for the office. It was the only place that I had ironically did the best of my thinking.I drove with haste to the office and gave out a few curt nods to my employees. I dreadfully realized that they could all be potentially killed just for choosing to work here.Camilla Valdez was sitting
**Damien 179.There were no words. I could not even describe the carnage and agony the place oozed. People in straitjackets, naked from the waist down, all behaving in a grotesque and disgusting, animalistic nature. I watched in awe as and pity as a woman threw up and shat herself at the same time.There were very plenty. This was the company that I was in charge of taking to a greater height. A company built on pain and misery. I saw big muscular orderlies in white scrub push patients strapped down to the bed. The patients would thrash widely and strain at their bonds while yelling at the top of the their lungs."Those are failed experiments," Camilla said in a bland tone."They are people, Camilla," I told her pointedly."They are useless," Camilla replied with an arrogant shrug. "And before you keep on going about morals and ethics, they were aware of the dangers before they signed the contract," She coldly added."It does not make this right," I insisted."If you are like this bec
**Damien 180.I decided to head home since I was not winning this battle of mine. Camilla had the upper hand and also a highly connected backing. This meant that I had to thread carefully. Despite the fact that I was the CEO, I was surrounded by enemies who had their own selfish genders.I was still in my office when I recalled a mysterious email on my computer. It had been from Michael Stryker, my old buddy from the army, he had once been the head of the police precinct before he was unlawfully transferred. I had no idea what he was up to but I knew that he was a valuable ally.I was not going to lie to myself. What Camilla had showed me had rattled me to the core of my entire being and I currently did not have a plan on what to do.I put a call through, Emilio and waited for him to pick up."And just how did you get this number, Moretti," Emilio said as she answered the call."You have your ways and I have mine, Emilio," I said to him on the phone."What can I do for you, Damien?" E
Isabella 181It was blissful at Ava's as the day went by. Damien still had no idea that I was absent from the house. I entered into the house with Ava as a pleasant tour guide. It was fascinating seeing all the abstract art she hung around the house. It was enlightening.She showed me the family portrait which was very old and I could make out just how young Damien had been when he just a little boy."Here, he was just four," Ava said proudly."He looks so serious," I noticed as I told Ava."Yes, he had always been rather solemn for his age," Ava replied fondly.I followed her to the huge library she had installed in the house. I gasped at the collections of rare books she had in her possession."Some where stolen from museums," Ava whispered proudly. It was as if she was a child again.I looked at her, appalled."What? They were just collecting dust from where they were kept, here, I get to show it off," She replied.My eyes caught a glimpse of something
Damien 182I sat alone in my office, the weight of Emilio's revelation bearing down on me like a leaden cloak. My mind raced with a million questions, each more terrifying than the last. How could Emilio, the man I had trusted as my father-in-law, be connected to something as sinister as the Puppeteer? And what did his involvement mean for Isabella, the woman I loved more than life itself?I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of my stomach, a gnawing sense of dread that threatened to consume me whole. The thought of Isabella caught in the crosshairs of Emilio's dark past sent a shiver down my spine, filling me with a bone-deep fear unlike anything I had ever known.I had always prided myself on being able to protect those I cared about, to shield them from the dangers of the world. But now, faced with the realization that I may have unwittingly led Isabella into harm's way, I felt utterly powerless, a mere pawn in a game I could scarcely comprehend.As I sat
Growing up in the shadows of a broken home, Monroe's childhood was anything but idyllic. Trauma and turmoil were constant companions, shaping him into the man he would become - a man driven by hatred and fueled by a thirst for revenge.I could not blame him for his obsession with me because he had not believed that someone like me could be his downfall. It was great to know that he was still alive and there was only one reason he could be calling me. I had something he wanted.From a young age, he learned to fend for himself, navigating the treacherous streets with the cunning of a survivor. His parents were absent, consumed by their own demons, leaving him to fend for himself in a world that showed him no mercy.But he had refused to be a victim of circumstance, refused to let hispast dictate his future. So, when the opportunity arose to escape the cycle of poverty and despair, he seized it with both hands, enlisting in the army in search of a better life.At first, it seemed like he
Isabella 184.I was anxious to get home not because I wanted answers this time, but I could not stop being afraid for my husband. I knew that there was no way to dissuade him from his pursuit of the truth but it did not mean that I did not have to try. There was something disturbing about the puppet I had seen at Ava's place. The image of the ragged wooden stringed up puppet with an almost life like imagery of Ava's fade made me suddenly unsettled.This was because I had seen something like this before and it was way bloodier and very sick. I used to be unfairly picked on by a sister in the covenant that had taken me in. Sister Monica.She would deliberately starve me and called me a child of sin. I had no idea what I did to her to get such treatment. One day, she had beaten my knuckles red and swollen because I failed to recite a part of the book she was teaching about.I was just twelve and I had cried myself to sleep. The next morning, sister Monica was f