The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 115

Jose gave his daughter an odd look. "Do you know what you’re talking about? What would I ever gain from kidnapping a little boy?"

She crossed her arms. "Who told you he was a little boy? He could be a teenager." She indirectly accused him. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he had done it, or he wouldn’t be revealing information that would prove him guilty. The Romanos couldn’t make such rookie mistakes. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Let’s talk about it over some wine, shall we?" He offered.

"No. Give the boy to me. Once he is back to his mother, safely and in one piece, and once you promise never to pull such a stunt again, we can finally talk."

"That’s boring." He turned to return to the mansion and leave her outside, and she had no choice but to follow him.

This seemed to stroke the man’s ego. He slotted himself on his favorite couch in the victorian living room and waved off his servants and right-hand man.

"What are you doing here?" Growled a man from the mezzanine. Mina clenched her fists when she saw him. Dominic Romano, her worst enemy. He was the scummiest asshole alive and somehow she was excepted to accept he was her half brother. She couldn’t stop wondering whether his existence was the reason why her mother abandoned her.

"That’s not how you say hi to your sister when she has been unwilling to come home for years." Jose berated his son with way too much leniency.

"I’m not his sister."

"She’s not my sister."

They had spoken at the same time, and that made them hate each other all the more.

"Need I remind you whose children both of you are?" Jose was getting tired of their unreasonable banters.

Mina crossed her arms. "Need I remind you that our family was ruined by your secret family? Which I don’t care about. All I want is my godson, safe and sound. Go along."

"Oh, Mina." Jose waved a hand to dismiss his son, who didn’t budge. He shot him a glare. "Do you need something?"

"She tried to kill you before. I’m not leaving with her here." He showed his plastic loyalty, making Mina roll her eyes.

"Get your dog out of here!" She barked at her father, who gave Dominic something to do so he would leave them alone.

"Now, my godson..." She pried.

"That’s not how it works, princess. You know what I want."

"Ha," she laughed bitterly. "Yet here I was, convinced you had turned over a new leaf. You are still a dirty scumbag."

He was not puzzled by her insult but at the same time, he had somewhat expected her to have given up. He studied her, not believing she was serious. "You know what this family is all about. You have known it for years. Why won’t you do something to help..."

"Help? That’s not what I want to do to the man who caused my mother’s death. I want to kill you." She vowed.

He laughed it off. "Like I’ve said before, Mina, your mother died out of her own carelessness. Am I to blame that she was too useless to defend herself against a bunch of robbers?"

"They were not robbers. They were your enemies." Her voice broke. All her life, she had believed her mother was indeed robbed late at night on her way out of Jose’s house. Despite hating the woman for abandoning her, she couldn’t help but wonder whether it was her choice to leave.

What if Jose was so abusive that she felt the only way out of it was to leave late at night? What if the only reason she didn’t take her along was because she knew it was dangerous and didn’t want to bring her eight-year-old daughter into the danger?

Alas, now she would never know. The last image she had of her mother was of leaving her, and then dying later that night.

"Now, if I didn’t know you, I would say your enemies were lying in waiting, looking for a chance to get back at you for whatever feud you had in between you. But now that I know what kind of man you are, I can’t put it past you to have signaled them that she was leaving."

"Are you so convinced I had something to do with her death that you would make anything up to match your theory?" He looked at her in amusement.

"Whether or not I’m making things up, I want nothing to do with your crimes." She dismissed him.

"Neither do I." He said, infuriating her all the more.

"I want to clean up my tracks and you know that. That’s why I wanted this deal with Vaillant Telecommunications, but that little brat ruined it all."

"You want to take Vaillant Telecommunications away from her. Do you know how hard she has worked?" She screeched.

"I, in fact, know how hard she has worked. Why else would I choose her company amid the hundreds of companies in Olphire?"

She ran a hand through her hair. "This is your chance to make things right. Let her son go. Maybe then, she can be more willing to listen to you when I tell her about your plans." She pleaded, even while knowing it wouldn’t work. Jose had wanted her to brainwash Avery into agreeing to work with the Romanos and she had adamantly refused to do so, which was the reason why this was happening.

"He’s autistic. If he can’t find his mother, he will have a meltdown and this might cause a blow to his mental health. Please let him go." She pleaded, and realized belatedly that she had given Jose more reason to hold Angel hostage.

"All the more reason why you should make her sign the contract as soon as possible." He shrugged.

"She’s my best friend! Are you such a monster?" She was desperate.

"What is worse, mi vida? Betraying your best friend or letting her son die?" He mocked her.

She rose from the couch. "If I have a chance, I will tear your head off your neck and hang it up the wall. So you better pray that I never have the chance." She threatened. On her way out, she caught sight of a woman who was all too familiar, who smiled at the sight of her.

She didn’t realize what she was doing until she had her hands wrapped around the woman’s neck, squeezing the life out of her.

"How dare you, Eloise?" She growled. "You could impersonate anyone. My friend was off limits and you knew that."

When she let go, Eloise coughed and heaved for her life.

"Speak!" Mina kicked her in the gut.

"I...didn’t." She stammered through a coughing fit.

"If anyone can impersonate anyone, it’s you. Do you think I’ve forgotten you made me believe you were..." she shook her head. It wasn’t worth remembering. "Where did you take the boy after kidnapping him?"

"I have no idea what you’re talking about." She insisted, earning another kick.

Mina then grabbed her by the hair, not believing how she had such an insane amount of strength either. "Your family would love to know where you are. Perhaps I should be the good samaritan and tell them, while informing them how the Romanos suddenly know so much about their faction."

She shook her head frantically and pointed towards the end of the hallway.

"The dungeon?" Mina asked.

Unable to speak, Eloise nodded and held up three of her fingers.

"Third cell." Mina mouthed for confirmation and made a beeline for the dungeon.

____

She had not expected Eloise to lie to her but seeing Angel in a cell, she was both shocked and heartbroken.

"Angel," she whispered.

Tricking the guards of the dungeon was not an easy feat and she knew they would know the truth if she stayed for too long, so she entered the nauseating cell and crouched to touch Angel’s forehead.

The boy pushed her hand away with a sudden glare.

"I deserve that, I guess." She hung her head. "They only took you because of me. But to my defense, I didn’t know they would go this far and I didn’t want to betray your mother either. And...that’s not the most important thing right now. Your mother is worried about you. Although you hate me, can you tolerate me for a bit? I need to get you out of here."

It felt strange explaining such matters to a little boy and when he didn’t respond, she didn’t know whether or not to pick him up.

A fire drill was the last thing she expected to hear and she panicked. "Baby, they might check the dungeons. We need to leave. I’m sorry." She scooped him into her arms despite his protest and found a way out of the dungeon. With everyone frantically running for their lives, they barely noticed her. The few guards who saw her raised an alarm but no one would pay heed to their words.

She ran in the opposite direction from them, aiming for the secret tunnel in the backyard.

"If it’s a real fire, I hope they all get trapped in it." She cursed as she pushed away huge rocks to reveal the tunnel. It must have remained unused for years. It had taken all her effort to move the rocks and when they got to the other side, the lid had been so stiff she’d been scared they were trapped.

She finally helped Angel climb out and followed him, slumping onto the pavement ground when she was out. "We’re free."