Chapter 11

Marvin

I opened the door to the living room, but no one seemed to have noticed me. The room was heavily decorated with balloons, and I could not understand why my dad decided to go full out.

I had expected it to be much worse, but it was just my mom, Tiago, and Anya. The devil, my dad, was not even here, but I was not surprised. This was what he did.

He liked to pretend as if he cared, while we all knew he didn’t. If it didn’t revolve around the business, he did not care.

My eyes fell onto my mom, who was having a conversation with Tiago and Anya, before I stared at the ceiling, which was full of pink and blue balloons. “Is this your gender reveal or your baby shower?” Panther laughed at his own joke.

It had already been a minute, but they still hadn’t noticed me. “Seems like I’m not that important, Panther,”

I connected my fist with the door and knocked a few times to grab their attention.

“Guess who’s back?” I spoke as they had finally noticed my presence.

Tiago and Anya stared at me with big eyes while my mom held her hand against her heart and closed her eyes. “M-m...what?” Tiago stuttered.

He took baby steps forward. “I-It’s really you is it?” Tiago spoke, confused. My mom released a loud squeal and pushed Tiago aside so she could pull me into a hug. She pulled me in closer and sobbed into my arms while I frowned at Tiago.

I felt guilty towards him. I wasn’t even here for a minute, and she had already replaced him. Clara Castillo was the complete opposite of my dad. My mom was soft, kind-hearted, and determined to take care of me.

It wasn’t as if she didn’t see me at all because she often came to visit, so perhaps it was because she could finally touch me.

“Please...don’t ever leave me again.” She smiled as she pulled away. I gave her a nod and wiped the tears from her eyes. If there was one thing I hated, it had to be tears. “I’m home, mom.”

“What are you doing here?” Tiago stepped forward. I shrugged my shoulders and opened my arms to pull him into a hug. “Marvin...” Tiago whispered.

“I-I-I thought you were supposed to get out in six weeks!”

I didn’t know whether my eyes were deceiving me, but he didn’t seem that happy to see me. Out of everyone, I was probably the most excited to see Tiago, only for him to react that way.

“So, you’re not happy to see me?”

“Don’t be crazy. Of course, I am!”

I side-eyed the maids who had all gathered around and were whispering amongst each other. “Yes!” I shouted. “The rumors are true, the decorations were for me, and the Lord has returned!”

They all stopped talking and lowered their heads in embarrassment. Despite being good at gossiping, they seemed like lost little chickens and could not take it whenever I addressed them. “So, are you guys going to keep staring at me, or are you going to offer me a drink?”

I laughed out loud as they all hurried away and looked at Panther, who also couldn’t hold back his laughter. “And make sure to bring enough glasses. We’re all drinking today!”

My mom gave me a warm smile and placed her hand on my cheek while my eyes moved to the girl who stood beside Tiago. My future sister-in-law.

“Anya,” I spoke calmly. She was a nice girl, and I did not want to scare her. I reached for her hands and pulled her closer so I could take a better look at her. I wrapped my finger around a strand of her auburn-colored hair and smiled at her. “You’re getting prettier by the day.”

Tiago let out a scoff and wrapped his arm around Anya’s waist to pull her away. “You haven’t even been here for an hour, and you’re already trying to take away what’s mine.” He commented right before he forced a smile on his face.

I didn’t mean any harm and just wanted to show Anya that I accepted her, but Tiago seemed threatened. I could see it in his eyes, and I could tell that it wasn’t my words but my presence as a whole.

“I missed you, guys,” I spoke to clear the awkwardness. My mom leaned her head against my shoulder. “I missed you too.” She sobbed.

“Mom, you can stop crying now.”

The sound of clapping hands grabbed everyone’s attention, and we all looked at the top of the stairs as our eyes met with my dad. Mario Castillo.

“My wife is allowed to cry whenever she wants to cry.” He spoke. Just as always, Victor stood by his side. It was still a mystery how a beast like Victor, had managed to work alongside another beast.

He took his time to get down the stairs while all the maids rushed back in and handed everyone glasses of champagne. “It appears the man of the hour has arrived!” My dad called out.

He grabbed two glasses of champagne and handed one to Victor while everyone created a path for him to walk through.

“My best creation and my firstborn who no one can replace.” He announced as he stopped in front of me. I made eye contact with him and stared into his eyes.

He took the unexpected first step and pulled me into his embrace. “I haven’t been this happy since the day you were born, and neither has your mother.”

I couldn’t even laugh at his words as my mind went to Tiago. If Mario Castillo had expected a pat on the shoulder, he was wrong. Those words made me feel uncomfortable and disgusted. They were disrespectful towards not only Tiago but also Karina.

“Where’s Karina?”

Victor let out a sigh and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Karina, Karina—what about me?”

“What about you?” I grinned. Victor was only eleven years older than me and someone who got offended rather quickly. Despite his beast-like behavior, my dad had found him after his family got executed and had adopted him into the family ever since.

My dad’s harsh training was enough for him to become one of his best soldiers and his best friend. His other son.

“Victor,” I nodded politely. Even though we had grown up together, it had always felt as if there was some kind of wall between us. I had always been extra cautious of him.

“How about a speech, boss?” Panther suggested. “My mouth is getting dry, and I won’t wait any longer to drink this champagne.”

My dad laughed out loud and raised his glass in the air. “That’s a good idea, Panther.” He agreed. Just as ordered, the maids also had a glass of champagne in their hands, and all I could hope for was that this man would not embarrass me.

“My son,” My dad began his speech. “Marvin Romero Castillo, his first name came from my wife’s late father, and his middle name came from my great-grandfather.”

I rolled my eyes and had the urge to pull him out of the room. Where was this even going?

“He risked his life, he gave up his freedom, for something he had nothing to do with.” He raised his voice. “He gave up his freedom to protect a coward—“

“Mario!” My mom stopped him from finishing that sentence. My eyes shifted to Tiago, who squeezed the life out of his glass and seemed like he was going to lose it any second. I could not begin to imagine how embarrassed he must’ve felt and could not believe my dad had the nerve to come at him like that while Anya was in the room.

He had trusted her enough to open up about his mistake, and she remained by his side, only for my dad to embarrass him like that. “No, mom.” Santiago chuckled. “Let him speak. I’d love to hear what he has to say.”

My dad looked across the room with a confident smirk which made it obvious that no one was about to ruin this for him. “You heard him. He’s a big boy now.” My dad spoke to my mom. “You haven’t changed his diapers in what now? Two weeks?”

My mom scoffed and rolled her eyes while Tiago had an uncomfortable look on his face, and so did everyone else in the room. “I think it’s time for me to continue my speech.”

“Marvin has such a big heart that he has agreed to work with the DEA and trap them into going after the Hernandez to safe this useless life-sized infant who is among us.”

“Dad...” I spoke, startled. We had discussed that this issue would not get out to the others, but yet here we were. My own dad had exposed me as a rat in front of the family and the maids. “Is that true, Marvin?” Tiago asked.

“Of course it is!” My dad nodded. “Don’t make such a strange habit out of Marvin saving your ass. It isn’t as if he’s doing it for the first time.”

“The toast!” My mom yelled out. My dad let out a chuckle and gave her a daring look as she slowly recovered herself. “Honey, please.” She lowered her voice. “The toast.”

“I told him to sit out his six weeks, but no.” He continued. “Marvin wanted to be here for his younger brother’s big day, so here he is.”

“The last hope of this family has returned, Marvin...my only son with a pair of balls...cheers!” He ended as all eyes, including mine, turned to Tiago.

“I’m done here, Anya—let’s go!” Tiago had finally reached his limit. He snatched Anya’s glass from her hand and pushed it into some girl’s hand before he pulled her out of the room. “Tiago, wait!” I called out, but Panther wrapped his hand around my wrist and shook his head.

“I don’t think he wants to talk to you, man.”

“But—“

“Not now!” Panther whispered so no one could hear us. “It’s time for you to stop running behind your brother’s ass.”

“He’s not even happy to see you, and neither are the maids.”

I looked at all the uncomfortable faces of the maids and gave them a reassuring smile while they all lowered their heads and held their glasses with trembling hands. How did I turn out to be the monster in this situation?

“Cheers!” I repeated.

“This is our first toast because everyone else will be here in a few hours.” My dad spoke proudly. He really thought he was doing me a favor, while I was not in the mood for a party.

“Marvin, is that really you?”

My eyes followed the all too familiar loud voice to the top of the stairs. It was my sister Karina and her eight-year-old son, Cisco. This family was so complicated that no one even bothered calling her.

Karina grabbed Cisco’s hand and ran down the stairs. “What the hell? Why did no one tell me about this!” She squealed loudly. She flew into my arms and touched my face with her hands. “I’m confused, and I don’t understand!”

I didn’t know it was possible, but Karina had tears in her eyes. The last time I saw her cry was when she told us she was pregnant, and we demanded the father's name. That was about eight years ago.

Speaking of the baby daddy, me being back home gave me the perfect opportunity to hunt that asshole for once and for all.

“There’s nothing to be confused about.” I smiled at my younger sister. She was 23-years old and had more than enough brains, so what was there not to understand?

“I’m back home, Karina.”

“For good?”

“Yes, for good.”

Karina gasped and turned around to look at her son. “Cisco, come and greet your uncle!”

The poor kid flinched at her loud voice and hid behind her back. She never brought him to visit, and I only witnessed his last four years of growth through pictures, so he was probably shy.

I knelt to Cisco’s level and shot him a grin. “Hi, buddy.” I greeted him. “You probably don’t recognize me anymore, but I’m your uncle Marvin—“

“Mom said you were in prison.” Cisco suddenly spoke. “I don’t like bad guys.”

I laughed at his bold comment and was unsure of what to say. This was the reason why I hated kids.

“Cisco!” Karina scolded him. “I told you your uncle was on vacation, but it looks like he came back earlier than expected.”

“Can I come next time?” Cisco asked. I furrowed my brows as I tried to understand the brain of an eight-year-old. “Maybe,”

“Maybe you and Cisco can spend some quality time this Saturday!” Karina suggested. The only thing she was looking for was a babysitter so she could go out and party, but that was not going to happen.

“I have plans this Saturday.” I squashed Karina’s dreams. “What plans?” She spoke with a sad pout on her lips.

“Personal plans.”

I smiled at Cisco and gave him a fist bump. “Maybe some other time.”

“Some other time?” Karina scoffed. “What could possibly be more important than spending some quality time with your nephew?”

Good question.

There was one thing, and that thing was very simple.

Meeting Elena Torres.