As Henry drove Judy home from the hospital, the city lights blurred into streaks of color against the darkening sky. Judy stared out the window, her mind a whirlwind of emotions. The encounter with Marcus at the hospital had stirred up memories she thought she’d buried deep.As they turned a corner, Judy’s thoughts drifted back to the early days with Marcus. She remembered their first date, the nervous laughter over too much wine, and how Marcus had held her hand as they walked through the park under a starlit sky. They had been so in love, so hopeful about the future.But then the flashbacks turned darker. Judy recalled the fights, the misunderstandings that slowly chipped away at their trust. And then, that one bitter moment when Marcus had walked in on her with another man. The pain in his eyes was etched in her memory forever.She hadn’t meant to cheat. Judy knew deep down it was her fear of commitment that had driven her to seek solace elsewhere. Marcus had wanted more—a future t
Rosa stood outside the door, the heavy silence pressing in around her like a suffocating embrace. She knew Sunny was just beyond that door, frightened and alone because of her family’s vendetta.“How did it come to this?” she murmured to herself, her voice barely audible in the stillness. “How can I face Mom and convince her to stop?”Her hand rested on the cold wood of the door, feeling the faint vibrations of Sunny’s fear emanating from within. Guilt gnawed at her insides like a relentless predator.“Santo trusted me,” she whispered, her breath hitching with unshed tears. “I promised to protect Sunny, not to put her in danger.”The memory of Sunny’s tearful eyes when they met flashed before her, a stark reminder of the innocent life caught in the crossfire of her family’s vendetta. She had never wanted this for Sunny, yet here she stood, responsible for her captivity.“I have to make Mom see reason,” she resolved quietly, her determination rising amidst the overwhelming sense of gui
“Well, since I’m starting to like you more, I choose to take you instead of Mr negative over here,” avac said pointing to Rico as he walked towards them.Avac knelt beside Santo, his hands deftly working on the handcuffs that bound Santo’s wrists. Rico, Santo’s younger brother, sat nearby, his own wrists still tightly bound, his eyes blazing with anger and disbelief.“You’re betraying Dad for this girl, Santo? This is insane!” Rico’s voice cracked with emotion, his frustration palpable as he struggled against his restraints.Santo met Rico’s furious gaze with a mixture of determination and sorrow. “Rico, Sunny didn’t ask for any of this. Dad’s choices put her in danger. I have to do this.”Avac glanced up at the heated exchange, his expression unreadable in the low light. He worked swiftly, finally releasing Santo’s hands from the cuffs. Santo rubbed his wrists briefly, the metal cuffs clinking softly as they fell to the floor.Avac spoke quietly, his voice steady despite the tension
Rico and Santo hurried through the dimly lit streets, their footsteps echoing in the silence of the night. Avac’s unconscious body slung between them was a burden, but they pressed on, driven by their urgent need to find Sunny before it was too late. Finally, they reached the spot where Avac had parked his car, a sleek black sedan blending into the shadows.Santo gently lowered Avac to the ground, his patience wearing thin. “Wake up, Avac,” he growled, shaking him roughly, tapping his cheeks as he did Avac groaned and blinked his eyes open, disoriented for a moment before the reality of his predicament settled in. He tried to struggle against the brothers, but Rico’s firm grip on his collar prevented any escape.“Where is Sunny?” Santo demanded, his voice low and dangerous.Avac glared defiantly, a smirk playing on his lips despite the banging headache he felt. “You think I’ll just tell you?”Rico tightened his hold, his patience wearing thin. “You have two choices, Avac. You either
Avac swallowed softly as he approached the gate, the car wheeling to a halt in front of two armed men. Both glanced at each other before walking towards the car Meanwhile, in the back seat were Santo and Rico, both eyes closed but their ears and senses on attention. Santo hated this plan, the fact that avac could easily turn the situation against them bugged him more than he could express "You're supposed to be back with three men," one of the more beefy guards spoke "And you're supposed to be on diet" avac said, laughing dryly at his own joke, while the two guards stared at him with a dead-end expression, avac cleared his throat "there's been a change of plans, and I was asked to bring just the two of them" avac said pointing to the back seat.The guards circled the car to the back, thier eyes glancing to the windows as they surveyed the sleeping men. The beefy guard walked back to the front seat."We'll just have to check in with boss then," he said, pulling out a cellphone from
Rosa could hardly breathe, her hands wavered slightly from sunny’s head but she stood her ground. She glanced at her mother, then at Santo and Rico, both sending glares her way, but none of that affected her until she heard sunny whimpers. Rosa took a deep breath, forcing herself to grow a heart of stone. She hated this; she hated putting sunny in danger like this; she hated betraying the trust of the two people she learnt to love even when she was supposed to hate; she hated the way they looked at her right now, like she was the worst person in the entire world at the moment. She hated being the villain, especially to them.“Don’t hurt her Rosa, please” she heard santo plead. His eyes were already tearful. She can’t remember the last time she saw santo shed a tear. The last time was when his mother died.“You should have thought of that before coming empty-handed. Where’s enzo?” Silvio said, her eyes scanning Rico and Santo.“You’re supposed to be dead,” Santo said, his eyes flashing
Sunny hadn’t seen it. Crouched down in the centre of the firefight with her hands covering her head, she had no idea that she, in particular, was targeted. But Santo on the other hand quick to see, his eyes zeroed in on the man that had the gun pointed to her and without a moment to think he rushed to her and pulled her up momentarily using his body to block hers, without expecting the intrusion the bullet left the gun and pierced right through his shoulder instead emitting a groan from him, righting back the immense pain her felt her drew sunny to a corner where the walls ricocheted all the bullets meant for them.Meanwhile on the other end of the hall, Silvio maneuvers her way out the building leaving Rosa rooted still by a corner “When does the goddamn back up get here?!” Santo yelled through the noise Rico glanced at his watch. "About now!” He yelled backAnd like on cue the same door where Rico and Santo paused through and about twenty men coming through as well, all firing back
“What’s gonna happen to her?” With her fingers in-between her teeth, sunny asked, glancing at aldo as he stood patiently beside her. Both of them stared at the closed door “I don’t know, it’s really up to Santo and Rico,” Aldo said, folding his arm across his chest “Gosh, I can’t hear a thing,” sunny said, kissing her teeth in annoyance“Have you tried pushing your ears against the..” Aldo said “Yes, I have, still can’t hear shit..” she groaned, running her hand through her hair“I don’t know why you still care about her so much. She tried to kill you,” Aldo said, making sunny sigh.“She was under the impression that she was avenging her father, she was deceived, she was doing what she thought was right” sunny said her chest heaving as she remembered the condition she was put in, but also she tried to fit herself into Rosa’s shoe, if she was in Rosa’s position, wouldn’t she have done the same thing?And at that moment the door wheeled open revealing a not too pleased Santo who storm