CHAPTER 109: – A MAN? –

"Let me ask you a question, girl."

Amadeo narrowed his eyes on her.

"If I had a son, do you think I’d choose him over you?"

"What?" Viviana blinked at him.

"I wouldn’t. None of those things matter to me, because your talent is what makes you valuable. And you, you were made for this. You are just like me. I saw myself in you and that is why you were worthy to be nurtured to perfection by me. A gem that needed a bit of polish. And look where you are. While your emotions are everywhere these days, I can say it’s not expected. You’ve done well these past years, being obedient, doing as I’ve said, and working twice as hard as anyone else for my approval. You were spectacular. You are still and I will not let you destroy yourself, not after I’ve put so much work into you. You have no clue how hard it was to fix up a stubborn child like you."

He laughed. His tone of mockery was pressuring. And she stood, gazing up at him. Slowly, gradually, her pupils grew wide before shrinking. "What did you mean by that?"

Amadeo’s lips stretched in a grin.

"No..."

She shook her head.

"You wouldn’t do that. Y-you couldn’t be that heartless."

"Heartless?" He lifted a brow. "I wasn’t heartless. Your mother was simply the only way I could hold you still. All that affection you had for her, she’s your mother after all, and making use of her was the only way. And it seems I was right."

"You bastard!" Viviana shoved him roughly. He staggered back, but grasped her wrist, yanking her harshly as he glared.

"You behave yourself! I am your father!"

"You call yourself a father?" Her face twisted with anger and hatred. "I hate you. I hate you so much!"

He smiled father. "Good. Good. The more you hate me, the better. Hatred makes one push farther in life. And if you want to get revenge on me, you’ll need to be better than me. Right now, you can’t do a thing, but cry and scream and be angry. You are WEAK!"

"So, what will it be?" He gripped her wrist tighter. "Will you do better, climb higher, farther and ahead of me? Will you make it so that with a snap of a finger of yours, you could make me regret all I’ve done?"

Viviana rapidly flickered her eyes, sniffling with chest rising and falling in heavy breath. She lifted her head and stared him in the eyes. "I will make sure that I crush you. Just you wait, pa."

"I hope you’ll make it interesting enough." He smirked at her.

She snatched her hand back, glaring with hate-filled eyes. "I’ll handle the event." She turned and stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut.

The smirk he held fell, his face replaced by a conflicted expression. He didn’t say a word, but instead, adjusted his suit and walked over to the floor length window where he stood, hands shoved back into the pocket of his pants.

His gaze was solemn as he stared down at the streets with people walking back and forth, immersed in their own life.

"Hm. Love."

Cocking a brow, he fished out his phone, and dialled a number.

[Sir!]

"Have you been doing as I asked you?"

[Yes, sir! I have been checking in and out with your wife]

"Oh?"

[It is just as you thought, sir. Lady Viviana had made it clear that no family member except her could visit her mother. So, you wouldn’t be allowed in if you came]

"Hm?" This girl... He felt amused. "Not bad. Not bad at all. But she’s my wife. And no one’s going to keep me from my wife. Not even if it’s my own daughter."

’Divorce’ "What a load of bullshit."

[Sir?]

"I wasn’t talking to you."

[Ah] Silence fell on the other side of the phone, and Amadeo was about to hang up, when the person suddenly spoke again. [Oh, yes, sir, there has been something really these past few weeks]

Amadeo lifted a brow.

[There is this man who visits your wife a lot]

"A man?" His face fell, his reflection on the glass window before him.

[Yes. I haven’t seen him talk to her. But he seems to bring her books whenever he comes. And for a short while, he would stand at the window and watch her with a smile? Then he leaves. He hasn’t missed a day. He even came today too, and he didn’t just bring her books, he brought flowers too]

"And what kind of flowers."

[Daises]

Amadeo’s face turned ugly.

There was only one other man who would know that.

"And what does he look like?"

[He’s blond. Ah, with gray eyes, yes. Quite your height, sir]

Turning around suddenly, he threw his phone to the floor, his jaw ticking. He dragged his fingers through his hair, annoyance crawling up his skin. "Still won’t leave my wife alone, huh? Your motherfu***ng bastard."

—--

It was late into the night, almost ten p.m.

Viviana stared at the bar before her. She’d never really been to one before. She couldn’t, her father would have killed had she ever did.

This is how you walk.

This is how you talk.

This is what you eat.

This is how you eat.

This is what you wear.

This is how you smile.

’Blah, blah, blah’ She was angry.

Lowering her head, she laughed bitterly at herself, swallowing down the frustration she felt. How was she supposed to feel, finding out now that she’d been the major reason her father abused her mother.

It all made sense now why he always threatened her with hurting her mother if she didn’t do as he said. She gotten used to it, being obedient to him and dancing to every tune of his, and overtime, she’d naturally adapted the act of obeying him that when she didn’t, it felt like she was trying to jump over a fence much higher than her.