Bonucci Salvador stood over the crowd which had filled up his mansion, he looked down to his two sons who had been engaged in a heated brawl just a few seconds earlier, body guards and bouncers quickly rushed into the scene only to see that the fight was already over. Gio and Angelo patiently waited for their father to speak
"Giovanni Andreas Salvador, so this is how you welcome your elder brother home, by disgracing our family in front of the whole world right?." Lucia held on to Marcel tightly, she was very frightened once she realized that Bonucci was vexed at Giovanni instead of Angelo, her plan had badly backfired "Honour, respect and loyalty, these are the three things our family pride ourselves in the most, but you've broken them all today by displaying such shameful behavior Giovanni, and I used to think that you were smart..." "Father I..." "Utter another word and today will be the last day you'd have a tongue, by challenging your elder brother you have proven to me that you have no regard for the essence of a hierarchy, and as such you are not fit to be a leader, and as for your punishment I will strip you off your position as manager of the Salvador business unit in America" The crowd all gasped after hearing the harsh punishment which was dished out by the family's patriarch, Lucia gritted her teeth and almost collapsed, she wanted to scream and beg for mercy but she knew it would only make things worse. Giovanni bowed his head to the ground and Angelo's eyes were widened with disbelief "...It will remain so until you can prove to me that you are responsible enough to be in the position you are given, but until then..." "Father please forgive him" Angelo pleaded and walked forward ahead of Giovanni, "it's my fault he did what he did, I'm the one who triggered him to act that way, so please father, forgive him and punish me instead" Angelo kept his gaze towards his father, who squinted his eyes as he pondered upon the situation, Giovanni's eyes seemed to light up a bit, he couldn't believe Angelo was actually standing up for him when this would have been the perfect opportunity to assert his dominance and make him completely irrelevant, but he just learned that Angelo wasn't the cruel elder brother that he had imagined " Don't tell me that crap, I saw it all happen Angelo, I was here the whole time" "Well then father, I wish to be punished for the crime my brother had committed, it is my fault for not being a proper role model to him Bonucci continued to stare at Angelo, grinding his teeth in his mouth, Lucia prayed to the gods that her husband would change his mind on his verdict, she could worry about Angelo later, Bonucci let out a sigh then continued "Taking the blame for your subordinate's wrong doing, I see, you are still the man I always knew you were Angelo, a true leader, my first son" Bonucci clapped his hands violently then raised one hand to the crowd "Everyone!!, Angelo Rocco Salvador, my own son, my own heir, has finally returned home!!" The crowd began to shout for joy, Bonucci's instant change of mood reflected on the entire room, except for Lucia and her sons by the way. Giovanni couldn't tell if his father was still keen on the punishment, but for now it seemed like Angelo's appeal had gotten to him, hopefully. Lucia rushed to check on her son, Marcel went to encourage his brother, Angelo watched as his father Bonucci walked down the stairs and stood right at his front, he was taller than the old man who had almost gone completely bald if not for the white and grey hair that grew around his head. Bonucci embraced Angelo, this was the first time Angelo actually received a gesture of true emotion from his father who was always absent or emotionless, the embrace lasted for quite a long time, it was obvious that Bonucci really missed his son, he patted Angelo's head while he kept the hug as tight as possible, feeling his child as much as he could now that he was still able to "Dad I...I heard the news, they said you're..." Angelo stuttered as he tried his best not to shed a tear, he hated this family, so why did he still feel so attached to it? "I'm not dying son, not now at least" Bonucci whispered to assure him before releasing him from the minute long embrace "I'm not too good at the moment, but I had to write it that way because I knew that was the only way to make you come home." Angelo was speechless, he didn't even know if he was supposed to be mad or not "I'm sorry if I made you feel bad son, I just wanted to see you so badly, I just wanted to talk to you" "No dad... don't apologize, I understand, I'm here now, I'm here" Bonucci smiled at him for a while, then patted him on the neck before turning him to face the crowd "Many of us here today may not know the reason I decided to host this party today, I've heard a lot of you express your speculations about the purpose of this event, but now I'm about to show them to you, because my son here, Angelo Rocco, my heir, is going to be a married man" "WHA--" Angelo's scream was muffled by a thunderous round of applause, Lucia and her sons were even more shocked to hear the news, this was totally out of nowhere and unheard of. Angelo was petrified, he couldn't even try to fake a smile this time "And let me introduce to you fellows, many of you may not have known, but the great and esteemed family of Lorenzo , are present in this gathering, and we have here, my lifelong friend and business associate, Herrera Lorenzo!!" The doors of the mansion opened up once again, Herrera Lorenzo, head of the Lorenzo family walked in with his daughter at his hand, other members of the family walked in behind them, each of them dressed up like they were attending a Victorian styled ball dance. Herrera Lorenzo had dark black hair and a mustache, he was young when compared to Bonucci Salvador, and his daughter whom he held by her hand to walk her in, Loretta Lorenzo, was his own first child, the twenty three years old girl was very beautiful, and literally every man in that room would have fought to the death if there was a chance they could have her, she gazed at Angelo, the man who was meant to be her husband with her deep green eyes, and while Angelo couldn't deny that she was beautiful, he couldn't get past the fact that his father had arranged an entire wedding and deceived him into showing up for the introduction, he felt even more betrayed than ever, his father by his side was smiling gleefully, Angelo's rage began to grow again, this was the one thing he hated about his family, their sick and archaic culture, and his own father had trapped him even harder within it's webs."What is this?, what is going on here?" That was all Angelo could think about as the beautiful young girl who was meant to be his bride stepped in front of him, along with her very dangerous looking father Herrera scanned Angelo from his head to his feet, he was still looking pretty rough due to the brief fight he had with his brother "What happened to you boy?, who shows up to a ceremony looking like this?" Angelo felt stiff after hearing Herrera's husky voice for the first time, but more so because he didn't know how to answer that question "Well...I..." "My son confronted some drunkard who tried to ruin this party and put him in his place, I apologize if you do not find his appearance pleasant, let us focus rather on the reason for this event my comrade" Bonucci stepped in for Angelo and pulled him gently so that he could be closer to Loretta, then he made both of them face the crowd "Mom, did you know about this?" Marcel asked Lucia, who still had disbelief all over
Angelo sat on the bed of a hotel that he'd booked last night after the whole drama, he looked out the window as he watched the sun rise, it was beautiful as it slowly lit up the sky, his head was flooded with thoughts, he began to feel like he might have made a mistake, he checked all of his bank accounts, they were frozen, his father acted very fast, and this was just phase one, he sighed in disappointment and bowed his head. Confusion, distress, pain, we was going through all sorts of emotions, and all he had left was some cash in his luggage, which wouldn't be enough for him to live on for a month. He had made up his mind to not go back to that house, but he badly needed to leave this city, this country all together, he didn't have enough money for that, and he definitely wasn't dumb enough to involve the police into this situation, because to be honest, he had every right to sue his family, but that would only make things even worse for him. Angelo was about to fall asleep when
A week had passed since Angelo's banishment was placed, he had no money and no identity, he was only able to receive the money that Walter sent to him through an old account he possessed that wasn't registered with his credentials, Angelo arrived at Newport, England on a fishing boat, he happened to know a popular smuggler in Sicily and paid him a few bucks to help him find his way into England as he had no money to process any documents or get a plane ticket, he had to pretend to be a fisherman and helped the men on board offload their catch once they got to the port, after which he washed himself and got headed for London, he couldn't believe that this was the life he was going to live now, being a mere migrant with no identity, all the money he had earned in his life were all lost in a single day, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it, he couldn't even go on a quest for vengeance and destroy the Salvador family one way or the other because he'd only become an even w
Easter Sunday, 6: 30 AM Sophia woke up from her bed in her apartment in Stamford street, the early morning sun rays pierced into her eyes through the glass windows, she could hear the church bells and voices of the citizens on the streets, everyone were getting ready to celebrate the Lord's resurrection, she took off the white blanket that covered herself revealing her blue-green pajamas, her bright red hair was messy and all over her face, she had to get ready for church and then head over to Walter's place, she lived alone ever since she left her family home at the age of nineteen. She walked past a table in her room to get to the bathroom, but took a few steps back to glance at it again, there was a family portrait sitting on the table, a man, his wife and a very young red haired daughter. Sophia gazed at the potrait, just like she did every morning, it had already been five years since she cut herself off from her family after she learned that they had betrothed her to an Iris
Angelo and Sophia spent the rest of the day talking and having meals with Walter's family, Sophia was already a member of the family at this point as she had known them for almost five years, Walter was her first ever customer when she opened the Ginger lady cafe and they had been friends since then. Angelo got a lot of questions asked about his family and background by Walter's parents and siblings, he made up a lot of stories and Walter covered the rest for him. Sophia found it a little awkward as Angelo's stories sounded a lot like the ones she made up about her own background when she first met Walter's family, it was probably just a coincidence, she thought. Once the day got dark, Angelo and Sophia decided to head for home and exchanged final pleasantries with their Easter hosts, it was a heartwarming event and they definitely looked forward to another holiday gathering. The both of them stood outside the house as they were the only ones who were leaving today. "What a love
Sicily, 6:00 PM Three black Roles Royce limousines arrived at a mansion that belonged to the Salvador family, this was just one of their many houses here in Sicily alone, it wasn't as big as the Paradiso which was their main family residence, but it was just as elegant. Several bodyguards stepped out of each car, all of them dressed in the customary black suits and dark sunglasses, they arranged themselves at both sides of the cars waiting for their master to step out. Bonucci Salvador rose from the second limousine which was in the middle, he looked around himself to see the environment while his guards shut the door of the car, he walked forward towards the entrance of the mansion and his guards marched behind him, two stayed behind for surveillance and two guards were already stationed at the large golden doors of the mansion before Bonucci even arrived, as he entered into the house, sixteen maids who were all of the same height and body size were arranged on both sides of the wa
'BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!!!' Angelo's alarm clock blared loudly and harshly, almost like it was yelling at him to stand up and do something with his life, Angelo sighed disappointedly, "It's morning already" he thought. Every day felt the same to him now, it had been almost a week since that lovely Easter gathering with Walter, his family and Sophia, he rose his back from the bed and took a sitting position, he had only shorts on, his hair was rough and untidy, his eyes were gloomy, he looked around his tiny apartment, asking himself the same question that he did every morning for the past several days; "Is this my life now?" 'BEEP!!, BEEP!!, BEE...!!!' Angelo slammed the digital clock and shut it off instantly, he sighed and rubbed his face, he heard a notification from his phone and picked it up, it was a text from Sophia "Hi, how are you doing?", Angelo read it in his head with her voice, he looked at the mirror across his bed, his reflection helped him to answer Sophia's quest
Angelo walked around town all afternoon searching for a good place to work for the meantime, the city was bustling with people and roadside businesses, the honks of cars and public vehicles as well, Angelo paid close attention to the vendors by the road side, Ice cream, hotdogs, jam, peanut butter and other kinds of groceries, they sold all kinds of stuff, he wondered if he could just do that, all he needed was a little capital to start and a good spot, he thought about the idea for a while until he came to a conclusion; "Nah..." He came across a restaurant that had a post of job vacancy, "Red Hot Wings?" he thought as he read the name of the restaurant which was brightly displayed by a large neon signboard above the entrance, "I guess we could start from here" he said to himself, he opened the glass doors of the establishment and observed the place, the place was filled with customers, which really surprised Angelo as there was a lot of competition in this area, which meant that