“I am Nicolas Belleza, the heir of the Belleza family, the one your husband destroyed. I am the heir of the organization where your mother worked, and where you promised to serve.” He squatted down to my level, touched my hair, and gently pulled it to force me to look at him. “You should be serving me, Millie. Your loyalty should belong to me, not your husband. I am the master. Your mother gave and pledged your life to us.”
I gritted my teeth. My instincts were indeed right. Even though Gio had claimed they killed the entire Belleza family, there was one survivor, the heir, Nicolas.
I clenched my fist. If only I had insisted my thoughts to Gio that night, maybe he would have taken steps to ensure there were no survivors in the Belleza family.
My thoughts came to a halt as Nicolas slowly raised his hand towards the mask covering half of his face. He gently caressed it for a moment before slowly removing it.
My eyes widened as his disfigured and burned half of his face was revealed. I quickly averted my gaze as I couldn’t bear to look at it.
I glanced at Sienna, and I saw that she had closed her eyes to avoid seeing Nicolas’ face.
“This is the mark of what the Locatelli family did to me. They slaughtered and butchered each one of our members like pigs. And as for me? Gio Locatelli is the one who burned my face and half of my body. He burned me alive.”
Nicolas laughed, and his laughter echoed through the entire room.
“That’s right, he became too complacent, thinking I would die quickly. He overlooked it and underestimated me. I survived even though half of my body and my face were burned because of what he did to me.”
“You were ahead of us! If you hadn’t killed his grandparents-”
“Shh, Millie…” He touched my face, but I quickly turned away. “In our world, you have no reason to kill. You’ll do anything to rise to the top. We want power to survive, and to achieve that, we did the things we did before. We just didn’t expect their revenge to be this ruthless. Maybe that’s what my parents thought. Agatone Locatelli is still loyal to his father and his wife. We didn’t anticipate that he would still consider them family.”
I heard a disapproving sound as Nicolas once again covered half of his face with his mask.
“I am seeking revenge. I know I survived for a reason, and I’ll do everything to revive our family – my organization. I will use anyone who can bring down the Locatelli family, especially their current boss, Gio Locatelli. He approached me again.” He got closer to me. “That’s why I want you to join me, Millie. You’re a part of this organization. Don’t you want to continue your mother’s work, just as she originally planned?”
“If you think I’ll cooperate with you and betray my husband, you must be kidding yourself. I won’t work with you, I won’t listen to what you say, and above all, I won’t be like my mother.”
Nicolas fell silent after my response. I thought I could pretend to cooperate with them just to escape, but whenever I heard what Nicolas was thinking, I couldn’t bear it, and I wanted to confront him with the fact that he couldn’t bring down Gio.
He took a harsh breath, and I felt the stinging impact of his slap on my cheek.
My hair burst over my face due to his action. I could feel the warmth and the burning sensation on my cheek. Nevertheless, no amount of pain would change what I believed in. I refused to follow in my mother’s footsteps. I was different from her, and I wouldn’t replicate her actions.
“Sis!” Even Sienna must have been surprised by Nicolas’ slap.
“You, ungrateful b**ch! If I didn’t see any use in you, I might have killed you.” Nicolas turned to Sienna. “Maybe you’d like me to blow your sister’s head off right in front of you.”
“No,” I shouted. “Hurt me if you want. Just me! But don’t hurt my sister! She has nothing to do with this, Nicolas!”
I managed to stop Nicolas from getting closer to my sister. I endured the stinging pain in my cheek and gave Nicolas a defiant look. I didn’t want to provoke him further, but I also didn’t want to show him I was scared.
“I like your bravery. There might still be a way to win you over.” He turned back to me. My determination in my eyes didn’t waver. I wouldn’t back down. “If you think your husband can rescue you here, you’re mistaken, Millie. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and only my family knows this place. No matter how skilled Gio Locatelli is, he’ll never find this location.”
My breathing quickened at his words, but I didn’t let my gaze falter. Even if I couldn’t speak, I wanted him to know through my eyes that I wouldn’t give in. That would have to be enough.
“Do you know how to beat Gio Locatelli at his own game? Outsmart him. When your opponent is clever, you must be even smarter. You need to think outside the box and explore. If you don’t, you won’t have the ability to defeat someone like Gio. But do you think that in the years of my silence and pretending to be dead, with no surviving Belleza in the world, I did nothing? I studied and analyzed every move Gio made. Even the King can be defeated in a game of chess. Do you really think your husband is unbeatable?”
Nicolas looked up, as if pondering something.
“I kind of revived my organization, though. With the remaining wealth I saved and the underground businesses, I can hire many people to join me. But I choose to remain silent rather than boast about the return of the Belleza family. Why? Because moving in secret is more effective. Don’t let your enemies know your next move.” Nicolas stared at me intently. “So, Millie, it’s either you cooperate with me or you’ll be imprisoned here with your sister for life. When I get bored, I might just kill one of you.”
He laughed and then turned away, followed by his henchmen, leaving just Sienna and me behind.
With my hands chained, I managed to approach Sienna.
“Sienna…”
“I’m so sorry, sis. I never thought this would happen. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t called you…”
“If you hadn’t called me, it might have been Aunt who got into trouble. Don’t blame yourself, okay?”
“But… they said Gio wouldn’t be able to find us here. What if… what if we can’t get out of here?”
Tears welled up in Sienna’s eyes, and her entire body trembled with fear.
“We’ll find a way out of here. I will figure it out, okay? Don’t cry.”
Sienna nodded at me and forced a smile, even though I could still sense her intense fear. I wanted to hug her to make her feel that no harm would come to her as long as I was here, but my chained hands prevented me from doing so.