Chapter 5

Antonio's POV

_Flash back_

“Please let me go.” The lady cried out as she tried to free herself of her husband's grip. Her husband held her tight not wanting to let her go. She looked tired and helpless.

My father stood on a spot with a gun in his right hand pointed at the couple. He turned to look at me. I searched his eyes for answers, but his look was cold as ice.

I desperately wanted to help the lady. She was in so much pain and anguish. I took a step further, and my father held my shoulders with a forceful grip. “Stay back, son, this is not your fight.”

“Let go of the woman, Ricardo,” My father said in a forceful tone. He was angry but was never the type to shout.

“Never!” The man yelled as he pulled the struggling woman forcefully to remain in front of him. “ If you pull that trigger, then you are going to kill her first, and you don't want to,” he concluded with a disgusting laugh.

“This woman doesn't deserve to be treated this way,” My father said again, with the gun still pointed toward them.

As ruthless as my father was, there was a hint of compassion in his eyes when he looked at the woman.

 I didn't understand what was going on between them, but as young as I was, I knew when there was something mutual between two people.

My father put his hands behind him. He let out a brief laughter mixed with bitterness and anger. I stood there and watched the helpless lady struggle; I couldn't do anything to help her without my father's approval. 

She looked at my father; from the look in her eyes, you could tell how much she needed help. They held eye contact for a while and he looked away.

“For the sake of our child Ricardo, please let me go” she cried out again.

“Shut up, you whore!” He spat in disgust.

I turned to look at my father. He had his eyes fixed on the couples, like a predator waiting to strike but his mind wasn't on their drama; it was somewhere else.

I turned to look back at the couples and the next thing I heard was a gunshot and a woman's scream.

“Ricardo!!!” My dad yelled in pain and let the gun drop from his hand. A tear fell from his left eye, and for the first time, I saw my father cry.

He had seen an opportunity to strike earlier; he pointed the gun towards Ricardo and pulled the trigger, but the wicked man was fast enough to position the lady in the direction of the gun, and the bullet went straight to her chest.

She lay on the ground, lifeless, soaked in her blood. Ricardo let out a dry laugh as he looked at the body with an expression mixed with pity and disgust.

“This is all your fault,” My father said in a trembling but firm tone.

“ It's all my fault but at least I didn't kill her.”

Those words struck me. I wanted to pick up the gun and blow the man into pieces, but I couldn't.

“You finally turned me into a widower and also left our child motherless,” Ricardo said in a sad voice. “I loved my wife with everything and yet you chose to take her away from me”

What in the world was he doing?

I looked at my dad with widened eyes but his blank expression didn't change. Ricardo was trying to act like the good guy.

A few minutes ago, when I joined my father in his study, I walked into an angry, ruthless man and his abused wife. She had marks all over her like she had been severely beaten, and he kept manhandling her like she was a child, and now, all of a sudden, he was acting all innocent.

"Your reckless father has killed my wife!” The man yelled at me, pointing his fingers at my dad.

My dad didn't say a word. He stood quietly with his hands crossed behind him. I expected him to ask the bodyguards to throw the noise maker out, but he didn't; he just watched quietly.

For every passing minute, he looked down at the body on the ground and back at Ricardo.

I so wanted to strangle the idiot to death. I took a step forward and my father held me back with a disapproving look on his face.

Ricardo walked towards us and stood right in front of my dad. The bodyguards quickly moved forward but my dad signaled them to pause.

I moved away carefully with my father's gun trapped in between my feet.

“Marino” Ricardo called, “You killed my wife”

“You’ve always wanted her dead,” My father answered blankly, but you could see the pain in his eyes.

“Who says I needed your help to do it?”

“Argh,” my father groaned in pain. Ricardo had stabbed him with a knife and pulled it out immediately.

“Cosmos!!!” I yelled out to the chief bodyguard. “My father has been stabbed.”

Ricardo threw the knife at me but I dodged. He already turned to run away when I quickly picked up the gun I was holding between my feet and pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit him from behind, right where his heart was. He groaned but kept going and I kept pulling the trigger until he was out of sight.

I turned to my father who was being carried away for medical attention. I looked at the dead woman drowning in her blood.

“Take her away and send for maids to clean up” I ordered and walked to where the knife was and then picked it up. I watched my father's blood drip slowly from it to the ground and tears filled my eyes.

I let the knife drop from my hands and marched angrily out of the study.

My father had better not die!