The tragedy

|Raven’s POV|

The black-drenched cocktail dress was almost the same colour and state of my heart. My heart reeled with only one question--Why did my father leave me now?

Just when I was going to tell him my darkest secret, I did not doubt that he would hate me for that, but most especially he would be pissed that I didn’t tell him when he was alive.

I had revealed the secret to his lifeless body instead.

My eyelids were heavy and my throat was hoarse from crying. I had buried my father a few hours ago and just found it in me to leave the burial ground. However, not seeing my father again made me want to return to the place again.

But I needed to comfort my mother, she couldn’t even bear to watch her beloved husband being lowered to the ground. She had left earlier, to protect the rest of her sanity.

I stared back at my reflection in the two-way full-length mirror at the entrance that served as a door to the mansion. My sunken yet puffy eyes looked lifeless, my long black hair had lost its sheen and the only shiny thing in my appearance was the black dress.

The guards tipped their heads lightly, bowing to their Mafia princess. Their faces were hollow at the loss of their don but their loyalty was undoubtedly unwavering. As I entered my father’s mansion, his scent and memories were everywhere.

‘Should I kill myself and be buried with my father?’

Nope. You have to be strong for her.

The heavy weight in my chest and void in my stomach was what I felt as I headed to my father’s room, where my mother would most likely be burying herself in my father’s clothes, something flickered in my chest. A sudden uneasy feeling, but I narrowed it down to it being that I would not see my father there.

My hands turned the doorknob, and walking inside, I felt my legs touching some fabric. But that wasn’t what made me stop. My eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, but my mind would never adjust to the scene unfolding.

Skin slapping each other and my mother bouncing on another person’s dick in my father’s room, barely twenty-four hours after his death.

I staggered backwards, pushing the flower pots in the process. They stopped and my mother looked at me with her jaw dropped. I didn’t want to hear her explanation, I just wanted to be out of my father’s room which had become tainted with my mother’s action.

I shoved the door apart and bolted out of the room, my chest heaving and my heart beating fast as I sprinted towards the staircase, taking three at a time after gripping the railings.

I ran past the living room and kicked the entrance door open, but before one of my feet could be out. I was snatched by the waist, and with blurry eyes, I kicked and screamed longs out.

“Ple--please, let me go.” I slumped, losing all the fight in me.

My throat felt patched and I could not scream anymore. However, I felt myself being carried in the direction I ran from. But this time, to my father’s office.

As we entered the office, it felt strange. There wasn’t an element in the office that looked like my father any more. 

Nope, the grey interiors have been upturned and changed to black. The pictures and his awards that used to be on his table were no longer there.

It was as if they erased my father’s existence from his office.

How could my mother do that? How could she?!

My father loved her so much that he would lay down his life for her.

“Put her down.” A command that made my mind crawl with disgust.

The voice was vaguely familiar. The deep gravelly voice belonged to my uncle who I hadn’t seen in six years till my dad was pronounced dead.

As I looked into his green slimy orbs, I felt disgusted and betrayed, especially with my mother sitting beside him, on my father’s table. The most painful thing was she looked like she belonged with him because my father shouldn’t have such a vile woman by his side.

Rubbing his temple, he started “Raven,”

"I never meant for things to turn out this way," he said, his voice laced with false regret.

"I wish I'd never laid eyes on you again," I spat, my voice filled with venom.

“Tsk Tsk. That’s not the way to talk to your uncle. Not especially the man that would take your role till you become of age to rule the Mafia.” His sly smirk made me realize that I was doomed.

"I'm old enough to run this place and I know the risks. I'd rather die than let you take over." I sneered, my voice dripping with contempt.

“I love your fierceness and determination. But it is too early to kill you. I have so many plans for you.” His wicked smile made my body recoil.

I closed my eyes briefly, my hands itching to pull a trigger. The familiar feeling of rage overtook me slowly and in the blink of an eye, I was up on my feet, my fingers thrust into the bodyguard’s eyes and his scream reverberated in the room.

But I was far gone, I jumped on his shoulders and flipped the both of us down, he groaned as his body met the cold hard ground. I was going to do more till I heard a distant command.

‘Shoot!’

I froze, the bloodthirst leaving as soon as they came, I turned robotically to my mother. A scream lodged in my throat as the screen displayed the butler’s face. I dropped to my knees and my eyes burned with tears all over again.

‘What have I done?’

“Lesson one; for every one of your actions, your loved ones would take the penalty.” Uncle Xavier informed as he paced around.

"You monster!" I choked out, my voice barely a whisper as I stared at the blood pooling around the butler’s head.

“Your father was one also.” he defended.

Shaking my head I whispered “That is where you are wrong. My father would never kill someone like this.”

“He has kids and grandchildren for fuck’s sake” I continued.

“Yes, I know. I expect you to act accordingly or they will be next.” He finished before taking long strides to my father’s seat as if he owned it.

Looking at the familiar woman who raised me, I pronounced “From today, I no longer see you as my mother.”

“That’s fine by me. I have never seen you as my daughter also because you are not mine.” She shrugged.

I choked on my tears, my eyes locking with hers and I saw nothing but the cold hard truth. Once again, I have been lied to all my life.

“I just happened to be so obsessed with your father. I knew being good towards you would make him like me more.” She confessed.

A choked sob left my lips after hearing her words. However, I should have known, there were times the mask slipped and I saw her true self but knew we were not perfect.

“Now that I am taking over your father, as a father and a Don to you. Here is my first instruction,” 

“You will never be my father. The Don position is temporary. I will take what belongs back to me.” I promised, with a clenched hand and a new-found determination.

“A position that belongs to you? I think your position is way better is way better in the bed of a man,” He sneered “From what I observed, Raphael Lau is interested in you, why don't I arrange a marriage for both of you?”