This cant be
After dropping her off, I drive straight back home with a huge grin on my face.
I pull up to the massive front driveway of our estate, mindlessly tossing my car keys to one of the employees before walking inside. The cool, crisp air-conditioning hits my face. I turn on my phone, sending Sophia a VIP ticket for the Gala.
As I cross the grand foyer, I see my little sister running toward me. I laugh out loud as I bend down, pulling her into a tight, protective hug.
"Why are you not in bed?" I ask, knowing full well it is way past her bedtime.
"Because Mami wanted to read me a bedtime story, but then I heard her and Daddy shouting at each other," she whispers, clutching her plush toy tighter.
My entire body goes completely rigid. The air in my lungs turns to ice. "What do you mean? Where are they?"
"Daddy's office," she says, her big, innocent eyes looking up at me. "Do you want to read me a story instead, Enzo?"
I stare into her bright eyes, a sudden wave of guilty apprehension washing over me. "I would love to, sweetie. But how about Greta reads you one tonight, and I go check on Mum and Dad?"
I quickly call over one of her nannies, forcing a fake smile until Mia disappears up the grand staircase.
The second she is out of sight, my expression drops into dead seriousness. I march upstairs, my boots clicking heavily against the marble. By the time I reach the heavy mahogany doors of my father's office, the sound of blood is roaring like a waterfall inside my ears.
"He is still just a boy!" I hear my mother's voice cry out from inside, making my hand freeze directly over the door handle.
"He is old enough to be held responsible!" my father bellows seconds later.
Before another word can be exchanged, I throw the door open and step inside.
My eyes instantly lock onto my mother, who is trembling and crying. Across the room, my father stands behind his desk, completely stripped of his usual calculation and chilling calmness. The exact second I meet my mother's tear-filled eyes, a terrible, suffocating feeling takes root in my chest.
"What is wrong?" I ask, my voice a lethal murmur.
I step between them, gently steadying my mother by her arms.
"Go to bed, Lorenzo," she whispers desperately, trying to shield me.
But my father's booming voice cuts through the air. "No. You stay right there."
A cold shiver ripples down my spine. Ignoring the crushing tightness in my chest, I gently guide my mother toward the exit.
I don't know what they were screaming about, but I know for a fact it concerns me.
And if it does, there is no way in hell I will let my mother bear witness to what her husband is capable of doing to his own son when he loses his mind.
"Don't worry," I whisper to her, forcing a small, reassuring smile. "Mia is waiting for her bedtime story."
My mother tries to form words, her lips trembling, but I simply shake my head, urging her to leave. The moment she steps out, I turn around and click the heavy door shut.
I face my father, my blood turning to pure fire.
Without uttering a single syllable, he opens a locked compartment in his desk, pulls out a sleek folder, and hurls it across the polished wood. It skids to a halt right in front of me. My heart hammers so violently against my ribs I am convinced it is about to break through.
I reach down, my fingers shaking as I pick up a single glossy photograph from the pile. In an instant, every ounce of blood drains from my face. My entire body goes completely numb.
It is a picture of me and Sophia.
Slowly, I raise my head, my eyes locking onto my father's, which are burning with pure malice.
"Padre, I..."
Before I can finish, his anger boils over. He lunges forward, the sheer intensity of his movement forcing me to stumble backward until I am pinned against the cold brick wall.
"This is it!" he roars, snatching the photograph back and shoving it directly in front of my eyes.
"And I thought I couldn't possibly be more disappointed in my own son!" he screams, violently ripping the picture to shreds, letting the pieces flutter down like ash.
I taste copper on my tongue. A small trail of blood leaks from my split lip.
I straighten my spine, towering back up to my full height as pure, unadulterated fury rolls through my veins.
The only reason I don't bury my fist in his jaw right now is because my mother and sister have to live under this roof with him.
Instead of striking him, I watch him march back to his desk, sinking into his leather chair like a king on a throne.
"From this exact second on, I forbid you from seeing that girl," he says, his voice lowering into a harsh, demanding command.
Something inside my chest snaps. The fear vanishes, replaced by a reckless, dangerous defiance.
"No," I say, my voice deadpan and entirely serious.
"Excuse me?"
"This is my life!" I shout back, the restraints finally breaking. "For once in my goddamn life, let me have this one thing .I am not one of your fucking employees!"
"You are ruining this family," he sneers, completely unfazed by my outburst.
"No, it's you!" I point a furious finger at him, taking a heavy step toward his desk. "It was you all along! This pathetic, perfect family you want to present to the world only exists inside your own sick head! This family is completely broken, and the sole reason for that is you!"
The words rush out past my clenched teeth, echoing off the high ceilings.
The room goes completely, deathly silent.
My father stares at me, his eyes narrowing as he calmly evaluates his next move.
Then, a slow, smirk spreads across his face. As he reaches into his desk once more and pulls out another folder. This one is thick with dust stained, and heavy. He places it deliberately in the center of the mahogany table, crossing his arms over his chest as he waits for me to take a look.
I step forward, my breathing ragged, and snatch the folder. I flip open the first page, scanning the text. My mind short circuits.
"Where the hell did you get this?" I demand, my voice cracking as I look up at him. "Why would you bring this up again? I told you I would take offer the Business "
"I know," he smiles coldly.
"Then why is this on your fucking desk?"
"You know, Lorenzo, it's completely normal for a father to worry about his kid," he explains, leaning back in his chair, visibly enjoying my panic. "So, when I received those photos of you looking so close, I wanted to know a little more about your sweet little girlfriend."
"What was her name again? Ah, right... Sophia Miller. Miller. You know... it just sounded so incredibly familiar." He pauses, tasting her name on his tongue like a sick joke.
My heart stops dead in my chest.
I frantically flip to the next page of the document.
"No," I whisper.
My voice dies. The entire room blurs as I violently rip the pages out, throwing them into the air. They rain down around us, scattering across the floor and the mahogany desk like white leaves.
"What is this game?" I demend , my hands violently trembling as my eyes catch the medical autopsies and the crash site data.
" Ma che cazzo?!"
"It's not a game, my son," he says softly.
And just like that, my entire world violently shatters into pieces.
Unable to move, unable to breathe, I stand there completely paralyzed as my father's voice cuts through the silence, weaponizing a memory.
"You know, I remember that night like it was yesterday," he says, a sickeningly fond look in his eyes. "My son, calling me in the absolute middle of the night, desperately begging me to help him out of another stupid, reckless mess he made."
He stands up, walking around the desk until he is right in front of me, staring into my dead eyes.
"Do you know what my very first thought was? Per lasciarti annegare. Sometimes parents should allow their kids to get a taste of their own punishment. But when I heard what actually happened... I thought I should help you out one last time."
My head spins violently.
He fucking helpt me becaus it would have effected him.
"No... because you told me they were alive!" I scream at the top of my lungs.
I lunge forward, aggressively grabbing the lapels of his expensive suit jacket.
"That night, when I left the hospital, you fucking told me they were fine! You swore to me they survived! So why the hell are you showing me this now?!"
My chest is impossibly heavy. Every muscle in my body feels bruised and entirely broken.
"That night, I told you the one and only thing I knew would keep you focused on the family business," he says, entirely emotionless. He forcefully removes my shaking hands from his jacket.
I stumble back, staring at him in absolute horror.
" Stai mentendo," I whisper, desperately shaking my head, begging the universe for it to be a lie. "You're fucking lying."
"No. This time, it is the truth. The couple that died in the car that night... they were her parents, Lorenzo."
The words hang in the silent room like a lethal execution.
I sink to my knees, blindly gathering the scattered papers from the floor, my vision completely blurred.
It's a lie
"So walk away from her before she finds out the truth," my father's voice echoes from somewhere far away. "And focus on the gala coming up."
Suddenly, everything hits me like a tidal wave.
Her paralyzing fear when I drove too fast. Her absolute trauma and terror of going near a hospital. The sick, twisted coincidence that we both ended up in the same city, at the exact same time.
"Besides ther won't be enough time in your life anyway so focus on the important stuff "he adds lighting up a cigar.
But I'm not listening I'm not talking in anything anymore.
Without another word, I stand up on unstable legs. I walk past my father, nearly tripping over my own feet. Completely numb, I stumble down the stairs and rush out into the darkness of the backyard, locking myself inside the pool house.
The second the door clicks shut, the suffocating agony explodes out of my chest.
I let out a raw, animalistic scream, losing total control.
I rip the television off the wall, sending it crashing onto the floor.
I kick the desk, shattering the wood, throwing everything I can reach across the room until the space is a disaster of shards and ruins.
Finally, I drop to my knees on the hardwood floor, sobs racking my chest as I gasp for air.
With a shaking, bloody hand, I pull open a drawer and grab a half-empty bottle of liquor.
I don't care anymore.
I tilt my head back, letting the burning liquid sink into my throat, desperately trying to drown the suffocating pain.
After consuming enough alcohol to feel completely numb, a blurry figure appears in the fractured doorway.
And for a terrifying, beautiful split second, my broken mind thinks it's her.
But then, my mother's soft, broken voice cuts through the dark.
She sinks down onto the messy floor right beside me, wrapping her warm arms around my trembling shoulders. For the first time in my entire life, I completely collapse against her chest, clutching her like a lifeline.
Letting my mask down.
"I'm a monster..." My voice breaking into a desperate whisper. "I'm a fucking monster."
"No... no," she wisperes, rocking me gently.
"I didn't know,"
"I know," she whispers back, her own tears soaking my hair. "I know, Lorenzo."
"How..." I gasp for air, my heart physically breaking into pieces inside my chest.
"How am I ever supposed to tell her?"
My mother doesn't answer. She just holds me tight against her heart,as the darkness of the alcohol and absolute exhaustion finally takes over.