[GIOSEFFO]
What I told Millie about the annulment was unexpected. I wasn’t in control of myself at that time, consumed by thoughts of how I could get her out of a situation where her life was constantly in danger. How could I give her a good life, one without fear and apprehension? In truth, it was I who was scared of what could happen to Millie, even though she had accepted this life with me, dangerous as it was. She chose this life with me, despite the risks, so why was I the one filled with fear and doubt? That’s one of my flaws that I haven’t yet resolved within myself.
“She got shot. We distracted the people who were almost assassinating her. I’ll explain it to you when we meet. Is Millie with you? I think they’ll lie low for a bit since they were caught. They know you’re looking for Marion. Millie’s safe until they get back into their game.”
“Millie is not with me,” I paused briefly. “I’ll call you later, Taddeo. Thanks.”
Safe? I have no idea where Millie is right now. Safe? I can’t find peace until I see her.
As the scorching sun blazed, I received another call. I answered it as soon as I saw Dario’s name.
“Sir,” he greeted. “Did you receive my message last night about Enrique Pearce escaping?”
I furrowed my brow. “I haven’t checked my emails. I’ve only been noticing calls. He escaped from prison?”
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, losing myself further upon learning this.
“Yes, Sir. But I don’t think we need to worry about him anymore,” Dario began. “His body was found inside a submerged car last night. I’ll tell you the exact location. We’re here already, Sir.”
A wave of unease quickly spread throughout my body. I got the precise location from Dario and rushed there. Once again, it was a remote place.
Upon arrival, many people were already present. I sought out Dario and approached them.
“What happened?” I inquired.
“Mr. Locatelli…” I glanced at an officer there and shook his hand in respect. “We received a report of an accident here, so we came immediately. We found the car and inside it was Mr. Pearce.”
We approached the forensics team, and there I saw Millie’s father’s lifeless body. My anger surged again upon seeing his face.
“I was informed by your staff that your wife is missing. If we consider that she was with her father, we didn’t find any other bodies inside the car. The door was left open, so she might have swum to safety or the sea might have carried her away.”
When I glared at him, he cleared his throat and took a deep breath before showing me something.
“We found this.”
He handed me a women’s shoe, and my hand trembled as I held it.
“This is… Millie’s.”
My blood turned cold as I realized they might have been together during the accident. I clutched my chest, and all the sorrow I had felt since last night came rushing back.
“We’ve begun the search for the body, Sir. If we receive any updates, we’ll inform you promptly,” he respectfully assured me before walking away to talk to his colleagues.
Dario and the others approached me, clearly awaiting my instructions. I stared at Millie’s shoe, desperately trying to process what might have happened.
“I need to find her. Call the others and send them my order. Find my wife!”
I didn’t know if I still had the right to call her that, considering I was the one who pushed her away, but she’s still my wife.
Even without any sleep, we immediately started searching for Millie. We scoured the nearby islands, the sea, and I even dove into the ocean to find her, but there was no sign of her. Despite the evidence that could lead me to her, there was nothing.
“Sir, please take a rest. We’ll continue searching for Ma’am,” Dario urged.
I didn’t like the idea. I didn’t listen to them and persisted in the search. We were on the coastline, and after two days, we were still unsuccessful in locating Millie.
I halted my steps when I noticed a figure standing on the shore, waiting for me. Taddeo was beside Dad, both of them looking straight at me. I approached them, and Taddeo nodded slightly in acknowledgment, but I couldn’t return the gesture. I gazed at Dad, who had some of his men with him. There were quite a few, and I didn’t know why they were here.
I hadn’t spoken to him yet, and I hadn’t told him what had happened. Maybe he knew now or someone had informed him, which was why he was here.
“Take a break,” he told my companions. “They will handle the search for Millie. Any leads you want to share?”
Elliott shook his head. To be honest, we hadn’t found any leads regarding Millie.
Dad looked at me. He knew, he knew now that I was the reason everything had turned out this way.
“Gio, go home for now. You need to rest.”
“I won’t rest until I find Millie,” I replied firmly. I had no right to rest when I knew something might have happened to my wife. It’s my fault, and if someone had to find her, it should be me.
“You’re killing yourself, Gio,” my father said, his voice not raised but filled with the sharpness of his words. “Even our company is being neglected. Let’s go home.”
I didn’t argue with my father. He took me home, and he also instructed Dario to go home. A few of his men stayed behind.
The trip was quiet, with neither of us saying a word during the entire journey. We arrived home in silence.
“Gio!” he called to me when he noticed I was walking straight ahead. I stopped but didn’t turn to look at him. “We need to talk.”
I closed my eyes and faced my dad. His cold eyes were fixed on me.
“What happened? Why is Millie missing?” he asked, clearly unaware of the entire situation.
I stared at Dad for a long moment before taking a deep breath and sharing everything. Mommy was also there, clearly worried about me.
“We had an argument. I was a coward, so I offered her an annulment. She got angry with me and ran away.”
I hadn’t finished my sentence before Dad slapped me. I saw anger in his eyes.
“What did you say?” I tried to remain calm, but I could feel the irritation building up inside me. For a moment, I thought I might cry.
“You offered her what?” Now Dad’s anger was palpable.
“An annulment-”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. Mommy screamed as Dad punched me. I fell to the floor, feeling a stinging sensation on my lip.
“Do you even know what you’ve done? Why would you say that to your wife, Gio?!” Dad shouted, unable to hide his anger.
Instead of answering him, something unexpected came out of my mouth.
“It’s not enough, Dad,” I said. I looked at him and forced a sad smile. “The pain I feel is not enough. Punch me some more. I need to hurt more because of the words I let go, because of what I did to my wife. What you just did to me is far from being sufficient for all of that.”
Dad was stunned and remained locked in a gaze, clearly surprised and disbelieving of my statement.
I wiped my hand across my face. I wasn’t wrong; that’s why they were so shocked. I felt a liquid forming at the corners of my eyes. It didn’t completely fall, as I quickly wiped it away.