Poison and Passion

Chapter 27

~~Srishti's PoV~~

We reached home. Rebecca was already at the house with a few guests.

Her father was here too. That is a surprise.

He looked at me with contempt. God, why me?

I lowered my gaze.

Arthur held my hand firmly.

"Father, what a pleasant surprise," he said.

"I am preponing the wedding. It will take place in three days," his father announced the changed wedding date. Rebecca didn't look surprised. She must have already been aware.

"Fin," Arthur said, forwarding his hand. I immediately looked at the person in front of us.

He is the one Rebecca had a crush on. He is the same height as Arthur, but he looked more scary than him.

Is he a model or something?

I took a close look at Arthur.

If I compare, Arthur looks better than him.

"Arthur." His voice was frightening. I would have been scared to even talk to him, I wonder how Rebecca confessed.

They shook hands.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur asked nonchalantly. He definitely looked angry. But I could sense there was something more than just anger...Fear? I don't know.

"Father invited me," Fin said. I scanned the room and only found Arthur's father and another young man.

Father? He calls Arthur's father, father.

Hmm.

"Hello," Carolina entered the hall with another lady.

What is she doing here? We just met a few minutes ago.

Are we having a get-together?

"Father," Carolina said and kissed Arthur's father's hand. The lady who came with her did the same.

What is happening?

"Hello Arthur," the lady who came with Carolina greeted him.

"Hello, Sophie," Arthur greeted back.

"Sophie darling, why don't you all women go out and have a tea party," his father suggested.

"Yes, father," Sophie gladly agreed.

I looked at Arthur, and he nodded his head, approving me to go with them.

Rebecca, Carolina, I, and Sophie went to the garden outside.

Oh, man! My eyes hurt, looking at all these beautiful people.

~~Arthur's PoV~~

What the hell are they doing here?

Why is my father in Chicago all of a sudden? He had an important deal in Italy.

What are those both bastards doing here?

"Let's go somewhere private," Damien suggested.

"Yes, son," my father lovingly replied.

"Ask Marcus to join us," Fin said.

"Arthur, inform Marcus to meet us in the session chambers," my father ordered.

I immediately signalled Andrew to carry out his orders.

I am not getting a good feeling. Carolina told me, Fin and Damien were on good terms. Are they conspiring against me?

We have the Capo elections in a year. This is a crucial time. My reputation has already been tarnished because of Isabella's murder, another hit, and I am a dead man.

"Step down from the coming elections, Arthur." My father directly got to the point. I had a hunch it was going to be about this.

"If this is regarding Isabella's death, I will find the killer soon," I stated.

I can't win the election without my father's support. I need him on my side.

"No, son. This has nothing to do with that. I think Fin will be better at the job than you," he said.

Fin was smirking at me. That bastard. I will kill him.

I shouldn't be losing my cool at a time like this. I should convince my father to support me and not Fin.

If my father endorses Fin, my career is done. I will lose everything.

Marcus entered the room.

Fin and Damien stood up and shook their hands with him.

"We will give you privacy, Father," Fin said, and Father nodded.

Fin, Damien, and Marcus left the room.

"What is this about Father?" I questioned him. He doesn't have the right to do this to me.

"You are weak, son," he said. He believed I was weak since the day I was born. That is not news to me.

"I am not weak, father." I will defend my strength and power till the end.

"You are," he said.

I remained silent. I stared into his eyes for the first time in my life for longer than five seconds.

"I was thinking of giving everything to Isabella and retiring, but unfortunately, she died. Marcus was a better option than you, but he destroyed himself mourning the dead. I had Enzo on my mind. After all, he was Isabella's child, but the last I met him, I realised he was nothing like her, he wasn't eligible for any authority. You made him soft-hearted just like yourself," my father said with detest, without breaking eye contact.

I was never an option for him. He always had alternatives for me.

It hurts. I never sought validation from him, and I never will in the future. But it hurts a lot to hear him say I was never an option.

"What do I do?" I asked him. I am desperate to fulfil any condition if it meant I maintain my power.

All my life, all I have ever known was power. I can't and won't let him take it away from me.

"Prove me that you are greedy," he said.

"How?"

"Make her heart bleed," he said. Who is he referring to?

I looked at him in confusion.

"Make your wife's heart bleed," he said with hate.

There are very few instances where my father hates someone, but once if he does....

"Your mother," he said. My eyes widened at her mention. I never heard him speak of her, not a single time.

"On her deathbed, she said, you should have broken my neck before breaking my heart," he said void of any guilt. My eyes were burning with rage.

My mother's unjust death flashed in front of my eyes. Her broken cries, every time my father had another woman in his chamber. Every time she was made to feel invincible and inaudible, I saw life vanish from her eyes.

"Don't be your mother, son. Know what is important," he said.

No.

I am nothing like my mother.

"Make her bleed. I will retire, and give you every last penny I own," he said and stood up.

"I will do it," I said in the loudest voice I could.

I said as loud as I could so that even my mother's son inside me could hear it.

He left the room without looking back.

I am not weak. I will never be my mother. I will chase after power, not after love. I know what matters.

I can be greedy too. I will prove him wrong and make him stand defeated in front of the world. I am not naive like my mother.

I know what matters and what doesn't.

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To be continued...

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