Lia descended the stairs slowly, her eyes scanning the scene below. Nancy was in the kitchen, clattering pans as she prepared breakfast. Lia barely acknowledged her. After everything that woman and her so-called "owner," Jasmine, had done to her, she had learned not to waste energy on their antics. The sting of Jasmine locking her up, costing her grades and leaving her with injuries, still felt fresh.
At the dining area, Rose was seated, locked in what appeared to be a tense conversation with Nancy. The scowl on Nancy's face was unmistakable—whatever they were discussing was clearly a sore point. Lia took a deep breath, steeling herself as she approached the table, a practiced smile lighting up her face as soon as Rose noticed her.
To her utter shock, Rose stood up and pulled her into an embrace. The gesture was so unexpected that both Lia and Nancy froze in place.
"My dear, you must be tired from last night," Rose said warmly.
"Last night?" Lia blinked, confused. What was she talking about?
Nancy, too, seemed flabbergasted, her usual sharp tongue momentarily silenced. This had to be a dream. Nancy had always assumed Rose harbored disdain for Lia, likely due to Jasmine's manipulations. Could she have been wrong? Did Jasmine somehow fail to poison Rose against her?
Rose gently held Lia's hand, guiding her to the dining table with a surprising amount of care. "Nancy, dish some more food. Look at her—she needs to eat more," Rose instructed.
"Thank you, ma'am," Lia murmured, unsure how to process this sudden wave of kindness. Aside from Isla, she couldn't recall anyone showing her such consideration.
"Gammy," Rose corrected with a smile. "Call me Gammy. You're family now."
Family? Lia's stomach twisted uncomfortably. The drastic change in Rose's demeanor unsettled her. She had grown used to being treated like a pariah and didn't know how to respond to kindness, especially when it came so unexpectedly.
Nancy, on the other hand, was not hiding her displeasure. She practically slammed a plate of scrambled eggs and sausages in front of Lia, her face contorted in an ugly scowl, as though she were feeding her worst enemy. Lia ate cautiously, under the combined weight of Rose's doting gaze and Nancy's barely concealed hostility. She choked on her food more than she swallowed, her discomfort reaching its apex as Rose continued watching her with unrelenting affection.
She glanced at her watch and shot to her feet, faking urgency. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, still chewing.
Rose immediately stood, her concern transparent. "Is everything alright, dear?"
Lia hastily swallowed and grabbed her chair. "I just realized I have a morning shift at the shop! Time flew by so fast—I need to go get ready!"
"Then hurry and change," Rose encouraged, but Lia was already halfway up the stairs, skipping two at a time.
Once inside her room, Lia shut the door and exhaled shakily, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms. The entire encounter left her unnerved. She quickly got dressed, grabbed her bag, and made her way downstairs.
To her dismay, Rose was waiting at the bottom with a neatly packed lunch. "Here you go, sweetheart," she said, smiling sweetly.
Lia managed an awkward laugh and bolted out of the house as fast as she could, clutching the lunch pack like it might explode. She didn't stop until she reached the shop.
As she stepped inside, her phone rang. It was Ry, asking for a photo of a customer order. Lia placed her bag down and pulled up the order logs on the computer, scrolling until she found the one Ry needed. She snapped the photo and was about to hang up when something caught her eye.
"Hey, Ry," she said hesitantly, the mouse hovering over a name in the logs. "I see a huge order made over a week ago for a… Mr. Fado?"
"Yes," Ry replied without hesitation. "I remember it well—it was a huge order. I even told you about it, remember?"
As Ry continued speaking, Lia's mind raced. Of course, she recognized the name. It was the same one Jasmine had mentioned before. Her eyes darted to the address, and her stomach dropped.
Rhy's home address.
The realization hit her like a truck. The flowers weren't random. They were sent to someone specific—someone back at the house.
"Fado's back?" she whispered, the weight of the revelation sinking in.
***************************************************************************
"Padrino," Andy greeted grimly, stepping into Rhys's office. The look on his face said it all—this wasn't going to be good. Rhys looked up from his drink, his eyes narrowing at Andy's expression.
Wordlessly, Andy handed over a thick folder containing the information Rhys had requested. Rhys opened it and began skimming the pages. The further he read, the darker his expression became. His jaw tightened, and the glass in his hand trembled slightly before he set it down with intended care.
Andy shifted uncomfortably. He had also secured intel on Donna's movements in Camden City, information Rhys would find both useful and infuriating.
Rhys closed the folder with a snap, his icy gaze pinning Andy in place. "Is everything in here correct?" His voice was deathly calm, the kind of calm that sent chills down Andy's spine.
"Yes, Padrino," Andy replied, his throat dry.
A low, sarcastic chuckle escaped Rhys's lips. "Would you look at that," he muttered mockingly, tapping the folder with a finger. His smile twisted into something dark, predatory.
Andy stood stiffly, his pulse racing. He knew what was coming next, and so did everyone else in Rhys's orbit. The Padrino wasn't just angry—he was out for blood.
And when Rhys was in this mood, the world burned.
***************************************************************************
BACK TO THE PRESENT
"Padrino, the car's ready," Andy announced, his voice steady despite the tension hanging thick in the air.
Rhys said nothing. He stood, his shadow stretching across the room as he strode past Andy without so much as a glance. His silence spoke volumes, and Andy quickly followed.
The convoy of cars tore through the city streets, their engines growling like a pack of wolves on the hunt. After twenty minutes, they arrived at a decrepit warehouse on the outskirts of town. Even from the outside, the muffled sound of screams pierced the stillness of the night.
Inside, chaos reigned. The dim light from a single overhead bulb illuminated the grim scene: two men kneeling in the center of the room, their heads covered in black hoods. Around them stood Rhys's men, their expressions cold, their stances ready for violence.
"HOW DARE YOU!" one of the hooded figures roared, his voice laced with desperation and fury.
At that moment, Rhys walked in, his presence immediately silencing the room. The men turned to him and bowed in unison. "Padrino!" they greeted, their voices filled with reverence and fear.
Rhys moved to the chair placed deliberately in the center of the room, directly in front of the kneeling men. He sat down with a calm that was more terrifying than rage, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.
The hooded man who had spoken previously snarled, his bravado struggling to mask his fear. "Padrino? I'm the Padrino, you fools! Watch how I deal with every single one of you!"
Rhys tilted his head, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "Got a big mouth now that Donna's backing you, haven't you?"
"RHYS!" the man growled, his voice cracking with fury.
"Simmer down, Adesola," Rhys replied, his tone dripping with mockery.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, MY NAME IS SEYI!" the man bellowed.
Rhys chuckled darkly, flicking his wrist. At the signal, the hoods were ripped off, revealing Seyi's livid face and the pale, terrified expression of the man beside him.
"Well, well," Rhys drawled, leaning back in his chair. "Look at the man who thought he was in charge." His gaze swept the room, and his men bowed again, their loyalty unshakable.
"Welcome back, Padrino!" all of them declared.
Seyi's bravado faltered, his eyes widening as he truly took in Rhys's imposing figure.
"Did you honestly think you could take over as Padrino and win my men?" Rhys asked, his voice deceptively calm. He gestured toward the men surrounding them. "Look at them. Do you think they're here because of money? Loyalty like this can't be bought—it's forged in blood and fire."
Rhys's gaze shifted to the man kneeling beside Seyi. "Isn't that right, Nze?"
To Seyi's shock, Nze's face slowly changed from Fear to pure respect as he stood up, casually untying himself before bowing deeply. "Yes, Padrino," he said with conviction.
"You…" Seyi stammered, his voice shaking.
Nze turned to him with an icy glare. "No one betrays the Padrino. He knew all about your plans from the beginning. That night we met? He gave me permission to feed you whatever lies you needed to hear. You were never in charge, Seyi. The Padrino simply allowed you to play pretend to see what you were worth." Nze smirked. "Turns out, not much."
FLASHBACK
The moon cast long shadows as two figures met in the dead of night.
"How's it going?" Seyi asked, low and urgent.
Nze scoffed. "What do you think? Can't you see the brilliant job I'm doing?"
Seyi sighed, clearly unimpressed. "How many people can we count on to finish this?"
"Half the team is already in my pocket," Nze replied confidently. "Just keep your end of the deal, and this will all be wrapped up nicely."
"Don't underestimate him," Seyi warned.
"Relax. He's done for. No one's coming to save him." Nze grinned before the two parted ways, disappearing into the shadows.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
Seyi was trembling now, his arrogance shattered. He stared at Rhys, the weight of his mistake crushing him. "Please, Rhys," he begged, dropping all pretense as he crawled forward on his knees. "Spare me Rhys! I was only following Donna's orders. Please R—"
The sound of someone clearing their throat cut him off, reminding him of his place. "I mean… Padrino," he corrected, his voice shaking.
Rhys remained silent, his expression unreadable.
Andy stepped forward, his voice calm but firm. "First, we want every detail about the evidence you've been hiding—everything about the deaths of Mrs. Zirachi and Pearl Zirachi."
Seyi's face crumpled, tears streaming down his cheeks as he started to sob uncontrollably. "If I talk, Donna will kill me!" he wailed.
"And if you don't," Andy said coldly, "you'll wish for something as merciful as death."
Seyi knew there was no escape. Rhys wasn't bluffing—he never bluffed. Seyi had admired Rhys's ruthlessness once, even idolized it. Now, it was the very thing that would seal his fate.
"Choose," Andy said simply, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. "The Padrino's mercy… or his wrath."
Seyi swallowed hard, his mind racing. The devil he knew was better than the devil he didn't. And Rhys… Rhys was no angel.
"I'll talk," he whispered.
Rhys leaned forward slightly, his cold smile returning. "Good," he said. "Let's begin."
"I... I…" Seyi stammered, his voice barely above a whisper as he tried to steady his trembling hands. "After I finished law school, Eddie came to me with a case. He said I just needed to classify it and make sure it disappeared. But… I got curious. I made a copy before doing as instructed and buried it in my safe house."
Rhys's cold, unflinching stare bore into him, making Seyi's words falter. "Keep going," Rhys said, his tone low and icy, a promise of what would follow if he didn't.
Seyi swallowed hard and continued. "I didn't realize it was about your family—at least, not at first. The case was about a mother and daughter who were… murdered. It was staged as an accident, but Donna ordered it."
The air in the warehouse seemed to drop several degrees, and even Rhys's men shifted uneasily.
Seyi's voice cracked as he hurried to explain. "The mother was a mommy Nature blogger. She posted pictures, shared locations—a little too much information. She was looking for inspiration for her next blog and stumbled onto something she wasn't supposed to see. The cold-blooded murder of the city governor."
A sharp gasp echoed from one of Rhys's men, but no one dared speak.
"She took pictures," Seyi went on, his voice trembling. "She ran, but Donna's men tracked her down. Two days later, while picking her daughter up from daycare, they got her. The police—" He stopped, his voice failing him.
"What about the police?" Rhys asked, his voice cutting like a blade.
"They sold her out," Seyi blurted. "They tipped Donna off. Her death… her daughter's death… it was no accident. It was murder."
The silence that followed was deafening. Rhys sat cross-legged, his fingers lightly rubbing together as if calculating the weight of each word. His face was an unreadable mask, but the temperature in the warehouse felt as if it had plunged below freezing.
"This was all Donna's doing?" Rhys's voice was devoid of emotion, so cold that everyone in the room seemed to shudder in unison.
Seyi could barely nod, fear pinning him in place.
"Andy," Rhys said without looking away from Seyi.
Andy immediately nodded and sent a group of men to retrieve the evidence Seyi had buried in the garden of his safe house in City D.
Moments later, Andy's hand went to his earpiece. His face darkened as he received new information. Stepping forward, he leaned down to whisper into Rhys's ear.
"Padrino, we've got news. Victor is with Donna. It seems he used the Moretti clan's influence to cover up her crimes—including your mother's case."
Rhys's fingers stilled. His eyes narrowed, but his lips curved into a chilling smile. "So, Victor and Donna were working together back then?"
Andy nodded grimly.
For a moment, there was silence. Then, Rhys laughed—loud, maniacal, and unhinged. The sound echoed off the walls, sending chills down everyone's spine. He finally stopped, his gaze snapping back to Seyi, who was practically wilting under the weight of it.
"Did you know about this?" Rhys asked, his tone now deathly calm.
Seyi shook his head so violently it seemed his neck might snap. "No! I swear I didn't know!"
Andy stepped forward, his expression almost pitying. "Donna and Victor have Eddie's empire in their hands. You were nothing more than a pawn. If by some divine intervention, you'd succeeded in taking out the padrino, they would've pinned even more crimes on you—crimes Eddie committed, maybe even another family member's death. And then…" Andy gestured sharply with his hand. "You would've been next."
Seyi's face paled, the realization hitting him like a truck. Every carefully laid thread of Donna's plan unraveled before his eyes, and he now saw the trap for what it was—a perfect scheme to kill him, with or without Rhys. He was not stupid, he had worked around Donna to understand how these things worked.
"Anyone who's ever crossed Donna doesn't last long," Andy added, his voice laced with disgust.
Rhys stood abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the concrete floor. His laugh bubbled up again, dark and wild, as he began walking toward the warehouse exit.
"Well, then," he said, his voice carrying a dangerous edge. "Let's go see the Donna."
His men followed, their faces grim and ready for what was to come.
Seyi sat frozen on the floor, his mind racing. He had no illusions now—he was a man caught between devils. The only question that remained was which one would destroy him first.