Broken Bonds

Chapter 7

Alexander Romano 

Signing the last piece of document that was lying on my desk, I closed the file up. The amount of work that I had to deal with this month was extremely heavy. Although I had took over the mafia at the age of 14, I could never be able to fully adapt to the cruel side of mafia. 

My eyes darted over to the calendar at the side. 20th July. 

The day that we had once loved celebrating. But now there was no meaning in celebrating the day. Ariana had left with mother. As for Avery, none of us knew how to look at her the same way as we did back when we were young. Everything changed after that night. Even us.

As I closed my eyes shut, I could still picture the image of the young Avery kneeling next to father's body, looking expressionless, just with tears silently streaming down her face. Mother was bawling her eyes out while Ariana cried for her papa to come back. 

We all did not know who to blame for causing our once happy family to fall apart like this. Should we blamed father for cheating behind mother's back? Should we blame mother for wanting to leave father? Or should we blame Avery for pulling the trigger in attempt to protect themselves from father's anger? Somehow, we all unanimously went for the last option. 

We could not bring ourselves to hate on father, who had cheated on mother and neither mother, who had made the decision to leave father with the girls. So we chose to throw the blame onto Avery, who ended all possible chances of our parents getting back together. 

After the incident, mother decided to take Ariana away and left Avery behind. As much as the younger ones begged her not to leave, she left anyways. Even during the moment when mother took Ariana and left, Avery simply stood there and watched everything happened. Despite the fact that I was the closest to her out of all brothers, I could not comprehend her nonchalance to the matter. 

Avery Romano

Pushing the candle downwards onto the small muffin which I had took from the pantry, I lit the candle with a lighter. I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes, hoping for whatever I wished for will be answered eventually. 

I hope that Bea is doing well and she will be back to us again. 

Slowly opening my eyes, I gently blew out the weak flame. I wished for the same thing in the past 14 years but it seemed as though they all went unanswered. Will I never get to see her again? Will she hate me for letting her leave with that woman? Will she hate me for choosing our brothers over her? Honestly, I don't know. 

Even till now, that woman's words still lingered in my head. 'Tell anyone about what happened and I will make sure to put bullets through all your brothers and sister just like what I did to your dad.'

Quoting her words, she took away Bea for extra precautions so as to make sure I won't tell a single soul about the murder that night. Be it alive or dead souls, as long as I keep my mouth shut. 

What I had not expected was that my brothers chose to believe in her lies and believed that I was the one who pulled the trigger on dad. To actually think that I used to admire them for being wise and logical, this proved me wrong and proved them to be otherwise. 

Suddenly, I heard a loud slamming of doors and I immediately knew who it was. Lorenzo. 

He would always come home dead drunk on this day. As if to remind me that Ariana was taken away from us because of me, this house ended up like this was also because of me. That I was the cause of all the misfortune in the family. 

Sighing softly, I placed aside the candle and muffin and headed downstairs. True enough, he was unable to stand properly and was on the verge of falling. The servants rushed up to hold him steady but was shoved away by Lorenzo. With the help of Missus Dai, they finally managed to take him up to his room. 

I then headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water with honey and painkillers to place it by his bedside. Walking up the stairs and turning straight into his room, I slowly pushed open his door. It's been a year since I have stepped into his room and everything remained the same. Placing both the glass and painkillers on the nightstand, I gently shook him awake as I tried to get him to drink the honey water. It would help to alleviate the amount of headache he will get in the next morning. 

It took me abut 5 tries before he started groaning and turned over. I tried to pull him up by his arm but was no feat as he was too heavy for me. 

"Lorenzo, get up and drink this." I said, hoping that he would be able to hear me and just get up already. Surprisingly, he opened his eyes groggily and looked at me. He sat up on his bed as I handed him the glass of honey water.

However, instead of taking it, he shoved my hand aside harshly. The glass in my hand slipped off and crashed into pieces the moment it came into contact with the cold hard floor. 

"I will get you a new one." Just as I was about to leave, he tugged on my wrist and pulled me back hard, causing my foot to step onto the broken glass pieces. I winced in pain as I felt the piercing sharp pain shoot up the sole of my foot. 

"Stop pretending everything's okay, Avery. You caused us to be like this and yet you're acting as though nothing happened?" His voice laced in anger and frustration. His eyes were bloodshot red and he was breathing heavily. It wasn't my fault, I wasn't the one who caused these. That was what I wanted to scream in his face. Instead, I remained silent. 

"Nothing would have happened if you weren't born."He spat out, no sign of guilt as he said those words. At this moment, I could no longer feel the sharp pain at the sole of my foot. Perhaps, he was right about this. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes but I blinked them away and kept on a solemn face. 

He was then knocked out again on the bed, snoring away. I stood there like a statue for the next five minutes. Many thoughts ran through my mind but I was unable to focus on any of them. It was as though my mind was in a fuzz, unable to comprehend anything. 

Tearing my gaze from the empty space ahead of me, I watched in silent as Lorenzo's body rose up and down slowly, signifying that he was in a deep slumber. I pulled up the blankets to cover him fully so that he wouldn't catch a cold through the night. 

Sitting on the edge of his bed, I looked at the back of his head and spoke softly,"You were right, Enzo. I shouldn't have been born. But it wasn't easy for me either, to choose between my twin or the brothers whom I've loved so dearly. I chose to protect you all so why can't you all choose to believe me? I was hurting too, more than any of you guys did. 

On some days, I would resent dad for telling me to always stay with you all no matter what. But I hated myself more for staying, for keeping hopes that you guys will still love me like before. There were so many times where I just want to end it all, so that I could be free from everything, to stop hurting. But every time I think of that, Bea will come into my mind, as though reminding me that she was still here for me. And now, I'm clinging onto my life for Bea. To see her again, that's my wish for the past 14 years. So Enzo, until then, can't you all just love me a little?"

updated! longest chapter that I've ever wrote IJWNSJWIN am proud of myself HEHEHE 

too tired for tonight so I shall turn in early, goodnights!

Happy reading! -29/8/2022