Chapter 4

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.