2. Wanting Revenge 

"Juan ...."

Orella, who had just woken up, screamed. She continued to scream hysterically, calling her brother's name. When she remembered the incident that night, she would go crazy and destroy everything near her.

She almost hurt herself. Some people came into her room, and they held her tightly.

"Let go of me! Don't block me! I want to find Juan!" Orella shouted as she tried to free herself from the grip of her father's guards.

She kept struggling and trying to free herself. However, the harder she tried, the tighter the guards held her.

"Miss Orella, calm down! Let Mr. Juan be at ease!" said a guard who could not bear to look at her.

"You're lying! Juan, he's alive! Hurry up and help me look for him!" said Orella, who still thought that her brother was alive.

"Orella Daria Maldini! Stop calling his names!" growled a middle-aged man who had just walked into the room.

"This is all your fault! If you'd just come looking for us none of this would have happened, Dad!" Orella said.

She took out all her resentment and anger on her father. Orella was sure that the people who attacked her that night were her father's enemies. She continued to blame her father.

"Don't come any closer!" shouted Orella when she saw her father stepping towards her.

However, the father kept walking and was finally in front of her. The father's piercing gaze made her fall silent and stop struggling.

"Juan, it's gone. Is your punishment for me not enough?" asked her father, changing the daughter's piercing gaze with a look of regret.

The father kept saying his apologies for not being able to protect his daughter. Even his daughter was almost killed by her enemy one year ago. This time, he showed his fragility as he had been showing his firmness and coldness.

"I'm sorry," the father apologized to his daughter again as he hugged her after the guards released Orella.

Orella ended up crying in her father's arms. She also said that she was a stupid woman who couldn't protect her brother. After calming down, she finally stopped crying.

"I'm sorry that I've caused you trouble in the past year," Orella said to her father.

"You are my only daughter. After Juan passed away I thought of making you the head of the Maldini family. However, if you don't want to be in the underworld then I will let you go."

Orella was silent as she heard everything her father said. She knew that Juan was her father's hope to take his place in the three great underground families.

She looked at her father. She felt even more guilty that she had caused so much trouble for her father over the past year.

"Orella, do you know who was behind the attack? If only that night I managed to catch the man who was about to finish you off. Maybe I would've ...."

"I don't know who that man is," Orella interrupted before her father could continue.

The father sighed and said, "Never mind. We don't need to talk about it anymore. Now get ready, you have to come with me to a party."

Orella couldn't resist her father's wishes, so she nodded. Then, she saw her father stand up and walk out of the room.

Not too long after her father's departure, some servants came into her room. They helped her to get ready. Her father had prepared a red dress.

After finishing getting ready, Orella came out of her room. She went down the stairs and saw her father, who kept looking at her.

"You look just like your mother," said the father as he continued to look at his daughter.

Orella smiled at her father's words, although she had only seen her mother's face through photos or paintings at home. Her mother had passed away when she was three years old.

"Let's go," The father said as he walked out and got into the car, followed by Orella.

***

Orella and her father arrive at the party venue, where tonight's party was held at Ludovic's residence. There are already many guests present there. Orella sees that the security is so tight that it is certain that if an intruder enters, only the body will come out.

"Ilario Maldini, can you come with me? We have something to talk about," said a middle-aged man in a stern tone.

"Go! There's no need to worry about me," said Orella, who saw her father looking at her as if seeking her approval.

Orella took a drink after her father left. She calmly enjoyed the drink until she saw someone who made her remember the incident a year ago.

Without thinking, she followed the man. Her steps stopped when someone pointed a gun at her from behind.

"No need to fight! Come with me!" the man said in a pressing tone.

Orella smiled at the man's threat. She followed him because she wanted to know what the man who had dared to threaten her wanted.

She went into a room, and the man closed the door tightly. In front of her, Orella saw a man sitting on a sofa with his face covered by a mask.

"What do you want? So you dare to threaten me? Aren't you afraid of death?" asked Orella as she approached the masked man.

The man grinned and said, "If I die then you won't know who was behind your brother's death."

Orella was surprised when she heard what the masked man said. She got closer to the man and looked at him intently. All the while, she finds out about the man in front of her.

"Who is that man?" Orella asked the masked man.

"The killer is at the party tonight. I'm sure you can recognize him."

The masked man continued to tell Orella about several things. So Orella became even more curious about the man in front of her because he knew a lot of things about the person who had killed her brother.

The man who threatened Orella just now handed her a photo. Orella took the photo and saw a man with a sharp, haughty gaze.

"This man is the same as that night," muttered Orella, who actually still remembered the face of the man who was about to finish her off.

"Apparently you still remember him. So all this time you were pretending to forget about it," the masked man continued after he heard what Orella muttered.

"Who exactly is he?" asked Orella.

Orella saw the man smiling and replied, "You'd better hurry back to the party room because he should already be there waiting for you."

"What?"

"You know what he wants? If you're scared, then you'd better avoid him and get out of here as soon as possible," the masked man replied. He got up and took a few steps forward so that he could be very close to Orella.

Orella reflexively backed away because the masked man was so close to her face. And the oppressive aura of the man slightly raised her level of alertness.

"Be careful! He's been waiting a year to meet you," the masked man whispered, and then he walked out of the room.

"Interesting... I'd like to see how far that guy can go," Orella muttered with a grin as she left the room and headed straight for the party room.