Chapter 7

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 worse version of what they already were, this was what he always wanted after all, a life far away and completely cut off from his origins, he just never imagined that it was going to turn out like this, but there was only one thing left for him to do now... survive

Angelo got into Winchester through a ferry ride then took a train to London, he took time to admire the city views and scenery from the train, knowing well that this would be his new life. He arrived in London by noon and decided to put a call through to Walter

"You made it bro, I honestly can't believe you were able to pull it off, hah" Walter laughed over over the phone as the two men joked about Angelo's unconventional method of transportation

"This isn't my first time actually, I was once stuck in a rainforest in Columbia and had to escape into Brazil by boat, there was this cartel mob that thought I was some undercover agent who knew where they hid all their cocaine." The two of them laughed again

"Take a bus to the ginger lady cafe, I've sent you the location, I'll meet you there so we can talk about this properly"

"Yeah, I'm on my way" Angelo responded, he hung up the phone and stepped into the road, he took deep breaths again then began searching for the nearest bus stop

*****

Angelo and Walter sat at a table in the Ginger lady cafe, they both had some donuts and smoothie in front of them, Walter had already eaten half of his meal while Angelo had barely taken a bite, he looked rough and sick, vastly different from the athletic young stud that he was back in Sydney, and that was barely two weeks ago

"This story of yours, it's some real mad tale I ain't gotta lie to ya" Walter stated with a muffled voice as his mouth was full with donuts

"I guess you can say that" Angelo gazed out through the transparent walls of the cafe to watch the passerbys on the street

"So let me get this straight, your Dad lied to you that he was sick to near death, hoping that it will make you feel bad and decide to come home eh?" Angelo nodded his head in agreement

"And then you got there, only to discover that the whole thing was an arranged marriage introduction ceremony for you, because he wants you as his heir to form diplomatic ties with some rival nepotic empire is that right?"

"True..."

"But then you disagreed, and so to punish you he somehow found a way to freeze every single account you own and all your assets as well, and now you have nothing left in your life to go on"

"Exactly, he hopes that if I'm frustrated enough that I'll come back to beg for his forgiveness, but he's wrong, he's very wrong"

Walter slurped down his meal with one huge gulp of his smoothie, then focused on Angelo

"I don't know man, but it seems like that's the best option right now, I mean think about it, you don't have a job, a degree, all the money you had before were proceeds of investments you made with initial capital from your families money, which you no longer have any access to, so what exactly is your plan Angelo, how exactly do you think you can get yourself out of this mess?"

Angelo was quiet, he and Walter just sat there silent, he bowed his head to the table and let out a long sigh of disappointment

"I...I don't know"

"You see what I'm saying Angelo, you can't win this fight, if you can call this a fight I mean, the fact that your father was able to cut off all of your finances in a few minutes means he must have had men monitor your every move for years, which would make a lot of sense when you realize that he didn't even bother to search for you all these years because he always knew exactly where you were and what you were doing!"

"Which means...he must have planned everything down from the beginning, to use this as a fail safe in case I disagreed with him" Angelo added, his eyes were lit up with ideas

"Exactly Angelo, someone who could stalk you like that and completely bankrupt you in minutes can probably do a lot more, you gotta go back home man, you can't win this, I'm telling ya"

"I know"

Walter's eyes widened in disbelief

"I know I can't win, but I can't let him win either, he has other sons, I don't care how long I have to wait, or how sick I have to become, all I know is that I won't die before that old man does, and once he's gone and I'm nowhere to be found, my brother will became the new patriarch and I'll finally be a free man, free from everything Walter, that's all I've ever dreamed of"

Walter placed his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hand, he was still looking at Angelo who seemed to be aging as the conversation went on. "Well, I hope you find your way around this, I'm just saying that if I was you, I'd definitely go back home, but maybe that's just because I've never been a billionaire's son before so I can't really put myself in your shoes, but still, whatever your family did for you to hate them this much, it must be really messed up"

"You bet" Angelo responded, then took his second bite of a donut this afternoon, meanwhile Walter had already almost finished his portion

"May I help you with that Sir" A young lady asked, Angelo looked up and saw a waitress wearing an apron with the cafe's logo standing next to their table, she had pale skin, her eyes just as green as the Lorenzo girl they wanted him to marry, and her red hair was packed into a bun, Angelo finally understood why this place was called "Ginger lady"

"Oh Sophia, nice to see you again" Walter greeted her and her beautiful smile got even wider, "It's been so many months since you came home Walter, I thought you'd never come back again"

"Oh no no I always come back, I just had to reduce the frequency you know, I have a lot more work these days"

"Believe me Walter, I understand", the both of them laughed briefly and she proceeded to clear his dish and cup

"Oh and by the way, this is my friend Angelo" he gestured towards Angelo so Sophia would look at him, "we met in Sydney a couple of weeks ago"

Sophia offered a handshake and he took it, "nice to meet you Angelo, I'm Sophie, and your friend right here is one of my favorite customers"

"Oh I see, that's great to know" Angelo responded excitedly

"Sophia, we would be having an Easter retreat at my family house tomorrow, would you be able to make it?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be there, it's not like I have anything better to do tomorrow, besides if really love to see your mom again"

"Well alright then, tomorrow it is"

"Yeah, I'll see you around, both of you" Sophia took one last glance at Angelo before she walked off, and he just stared at her go even when she had walked out of sight, Angelo felt something stir up in him, something which he hadn't felt for a very long time, he now had a brand new motivation to live.