Chapter one : Anton's Pov

“Didn't I tell you before that you should never do anything stupid in your school? What about this, I heard from Mr. Cruz that you got into a fight with your classmates again? You still don't learn from what I preached to you, huh?” My father said to me angrily and horrified as he hit me with his long and thick belt from behind my legs.

I was only seventeen years old then when my father tortured me from four in the afternoon until sunset. I was almost lying on the floor at that moment when I couldn't stand or even get up because of the scars and bruises that I got on different parts of my body.

“I wouldn't have adopted you if I only knew you were trouble in my life.” That was the last thing he said to me before he walked out the door and left. After that, his secretary, Mr. Cruz, opened the door and walk closer to me not to help me but to watch me with a dark smile on his lips.

“Next time, don't take my every word for granted, so it doesn't happen to you, do you understand?” He said, and instead of helping me stand, he turned his back on me and walked away.

I have no one to ask for help, no one to cling to and no one to lean on because they are all afraid of my cruel father. Even though I screamed repeatedly and asked for help from the police, everything just turned into nothing when the money was placed in front of them. This was not the first time I experienced cruelty from my father, but many times since I was nine years old.

I come from an orphanage where I grew up with no recognized parents or even relatives. I don't even know who my mother and father are, so no one knows where I come from. The nuns who took care of me there told me that my mother just left me outside when I was a baby, and then they never saw her again. An old nun saw my mother, and only she knew what she looked like. She often described her appearance to me, and through her, I had a little idea from my imagination of my mother's appearance. However, I never held a grudge against her, even though I learned the truth from them. Instead, I waited for her return and hoped that she would come one day to take me to that place. But unexpectedly, a mysterious man suddenly appeared in my life. I thought that he would take me as my mother was, but I just found out that he adopted me as his son.

“You are now Antonio Jose Placido, that's your new name, do you understand?” The first thing he said to me was while he was handing me a chocolate bar. I will never forget the first meeting between the two of us where I had no idea that behind his fake smile on his lips, his true color was hiding.

“Anton, that's all we're going to call you. Starting today, you're Anton. You will call me mommy, and he's your daddy, okay?” A beautiful woman sat in front of me with a dazzling flash of a camera from a photographer who was with them.

I didn't hesitate to join them and hold their hands. I was so deceived by the masks they were wearing, and I had no idea that my whole childhood would be a nightmare in their family.

“Anton, come here.” My father called. I was only seven years old at the time and I hadn't quite adjusted to my new life, but it felt like I had been living in that big mansion for a long time. I immediately approached him while wearing my school uniform.

“What happened to your uniform and why do you look like that?” He said to me with a frown. I didn't respond to him right away because he immediately turned his gaze to my nanny where he blamed everything on her and let out hurtful words that I had never heard before inside the orphanage. In my fear I just cried, but he got even more angry with me, and then he sat down in front of me while holding me tightly in my arms.

“Anton, listen to me. Look into my eyes.” He said while my tears kept falling. “Anton, men shouldn't cry, do you understand? A brave man doesn't know how to cry and one more thing, you're a Placido now. You are my son, so you'll obey everything I command you. I don't want you wearing a dirty the clothes and I don't want you playing with people who aren't on our level, do you understand what I'm saying? I always want your clothes to be presentable, I want you to look clean and smell good. Furthermore, I want all the people around you to be looking up at you. After all, you're still young, so you don't understand me yet, but it's better that while you're still young, you've already learned how to act and dress like a Placido heir, right?” He added, and then he stood up where he called his secretary who also immediately came to him.

“Anton is grounded for a month and don't let him out of his room without my permission, do you understand?” He ordered that they immediately nodded their heads. “Anton, remember this I'm going to tell you. As long as you don't learn all the things I teach you, everything you want will gradually disappear from you. Toys, friends, even your favorite food you won't get if you disobey all my words, do you understand? What are you waiting for? Take him to his room as well, don't let him out until he learns from his mistakes.” He said and after that, he turned his back, and then he walked away with his secretary while I kept crying and calling him, but he just ignored me.

He locked me inside my room for a month when I'm only reading books. I also didn't go to my school for a month, but I have a private tutor who comes to our house every seven in the morning until five in the afternoon.

One night I thought of going out of my room. I slowly opened the door and peeked outside to see if bodyguards were watching over me there, but I noticed that there was no one else there, so I dared to step out of my room. I looked around my entire surroundings, and it was surprising because it was so quiet besides that I didn't see anyone else around me. Until I heard whispers that seemed to come from my father's office. I carefully stepped towards it and I noticed that his door was slightly open, so I thought to peek, but my eyes widened in shock when I saw my father and my private tutor hugging each other as they whispered to each other. I covered my mouth with both of my hands and stepped back. Furthermore, I couldn't fully understand what I witnessed that night, but the question stuck in my mind, what was my private tutor doing inside my father's office, and why were they hugging each other?

I was stunned and remained standing there outside when I suddenly turned behind me when I heard the engine of the car. I know whose car it is, and it seems that they also heard that noise, so they both immediately stood up and left the office where their eyes widened in shock when they saw me standing there.

“What are you doing here?” Dad was curious about me while I was staring at the two of them holding hands, but he immediately gave up on that woman.

“Let's meet tomorrow afternoon.” He said to her, and she nodded her head while leaving with a smile on her lips. After that, he turned to look at me again, and then he sat down in front of me.

“Anton, whatever you saw today, don't ever tell your mommy, do you understand? You don't want us to separate and go back to where you came from, don't you?” he whispered to me, while I just silently looked at him. Fearing that I might return to my old life where I was alone, I chose to keep my mouth shut and hide everything I knew from my mother. “Very good, Anton.” He added to me while placing one of his hands on my head and ruffling my hair. After a few moments, my mother came inside, and he immediately came to her and hugged her tightly. Then she came to me with a smile on her lips, and then she hugged me while I just focused on my father who was staring at me intently.