Prison

Chapter Seven

Christiana’s POV

The prison smelled like metal, bleach, and regret.

The kind of place where hope didn’t just die, it decayed, slowly and loud. I hadn’t been here since the sentencing. I hadn’t wanted to be. I told myself I’d never look him in the eye again. But here I was.

The prison guards led me through two checkpoints before nodding toward the visitation window.

It was very cold with a metal chair on either side of thick, fingerprint-smudged glass. The phone hanging on my side looked heavier than a normal telephone should be.

I wonder what they added to this one that makes it more heavier?

These petty kinds of things baffles me a lot and leaves me restless until my curiosity is satisfied with an appropriate answer.

He was already seated there, waiting. I paused at the sight of him, rethinking my motive for visiting him.

Tony really has a way of making me do things I do not want to do, I wonder how he was able to guilt talk me into this because left for me, I do not think I would ever visit this man in jail until he rots, because honestly I hope he rots in jail.

I have considered myself an orphan. I do not want to attach myself to someone like him for any reason.

He had nothing to offer me afterall, the Salazar empire had fallen down like the walls of Jericho and honestly, I am truly embarrassed about it. It's like transitioning from grace to grass.

From a moment when I had it all, to a moment I have to plan and strategize properly before I make very necessary purchases just to minimise the cost of my existence.

Giveon Salazar, my father, was no longer the man I used to fear and admire in equal measure.

His once powerful frame had thinned beneath the drab orange uniform. His hair had grayed at the temples, and the lines around his eyes had deepened into something that looked like permanent defeat. But his eyes… his eyes still searched for control. Still tried to read mine.

I sat slowly, picking up the receiver with steady fingers. His voice crackled through the line.

“My daughter, Christiana,” he breathed. “You came.”

I stared at him for a long moment before speaking. “Don’t make it sound like a reunion, Dad. how have you been faring?”

He flinched, just slightly. “I...I'm good, Christiana"he said as he looked was already welling up. "I’ve been hoping and praying eveery week. You never took the chance to write, or called, or...”

“You killed my mother,” I said, flatly. “Forgive me if I’ve been a little too busy grieving the woman you buried.”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “It was an accident, Christy. I didn’t mean to...”

“Stop calling me that, Christiana would do.” I snapped, the phone cold against my cheek. “You don’t get to say Christy anymore.”

Silence stretched between us. Outside the glass, a guard shuffled past with a lazy glance in our direction. Inside, my blood felt like it was boiling.

“I’m not here to reconnect,” I said quietly. “I’m here to remind you of what you threw away.”

He leaned forward, desperate. “I didn’t throw you away, I... I was confused. I was used by the devil... I truly love my family Christy, you know that.”

“"Which of the family are you talking about because it seems to me you did not regard that family as your family three months ago"

A silence fell and I continued.

She begged you,” I whispered, cutting him off. “She begged you to cut Bella out of your life and the lives of your family, and your company also. She warned you and at the end of the day, you picked her over us.”

His face twisted. “I didn’t pick her...”

“Didn’t you?” I laughed, bitter and sharp. “You picked a twenty-nine-year-old opportunist who climbed into your bed and used your weakness as a ladder. She didn’t love you, Dad. How could you have thought she saw a future with you? She was never going to love you.”

“She did,” he muttered. “God, I know she loved me, Christiana.... you don't understand. ”

I let out a wry laugh. It was unbelievable that he thinks she still loves him, what did Bella do to my father? Did she use some kind of talisman on him? Was she a witch? What the f*ck!!!!!!

"She loves you huh? Have she visited you since you ended up here?" I asked coldly.

The look in his eyes said it all, he stuttered, "Uh... I... She hasn't but... I think she has her reasons. Maybe she was being threatened or she just felt guilty or..."

I looked at him, he was so pathetic to me, as he continued talking.

"...Christiana, did you threaten her?" He asked me, expecting an answer.

I was dumfounded.

“She was seeing someone else while she was screwing you,” I said, and this time, I didn’t even try to hide the venom in my voice.

There was a beat, a change in his countenance.

“She was engaged, Dad. While you were buying her jewelry and wiring her money through shell accounts, she was laughing behind your back, mocking you and using you to get to the man she actually wanted.”

His eyes widened. “What? That's not true.”

“You funded her new life,” I hissed. “Your mistress, the woman who helped destroy your family, is now Bella Calamida-Adams. Wife of Bryan Adams, the Billionaire and heir to Adams Petroleum.” I said as I brought out one of the newspapers from my bag and showed it to him.

He sat there like I had just slapped him across the face. “She’s… married to Adams?”

“Three months, Dad” I said coldly. “Three months after Mom’s death. She vanished, then reappeared in a wedding gown. You think she just met him? She was dating him while she was using you.”

Tears filled his eyes. “No. No, it’s not possible. I introduced her to Bryan myself, there’s no way she would have done that to me....”

“She was using you” I snapped. “You were just a stepping stone to get to Bryan Adams, you think she would want to marry a 56 years old man?”

He lowered his head into his hands. His shoulders shook. “I didn’t know. I swear to God, I didn’t know…”

“You killed your wife for nothing,” I whispered. “You broke us for a woman who never gave a damn about you.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” he said, voice cracking. “It happened so fast, Christiana. I was angry, but I never meant to push her. I didn’t want her to die. I loved her ....”

“Liar,” I said through gritted teeth. “You loved control. You loved being worshipped. And when Mom finally stood up for herself, you let that girl turn you into something monstrous.”

His fingers clawed into his hair. “I don’t sleep, Christiana. I see her every time I close my eyes. I hear her scream. I dream of blood. I’d trade places with her if I could. I’d do anything to take it back.”

“But you can’t,” I said, ice dripping from every word. “She’s gone. You killed her and Bella walked away untouched and with a better life. Salazar empire is down, no one would want to partner with us or even help with loan to start all over.”

He raised his head, eyes red and swollen. “What are you going to do?”

I stared at him, unblinking. “What do you think?”

His lips parted. “Christiana, please... forgive me”

“She destroyed my family,” I said, my voice like steel under velvet. “I’m going to destroy hers.”

“No.” His hand hit the glass. “Don’t do that. Don’t let this turn you into me.”

“I’m not you,” I whispered. “I’d never kill someone by mistake.”

He choked on a sob.

“This is how I can avenge mother’s death”

“Christiana, please. This won’t fix anything. It won’t bring your mother back.”

“So even after what she did, you’re still taking sides with her” I said, rising from my seat, “I will make sure Bella never forgets what she did.”

He looked broken. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so… sorry.”

“I didn’t come here for your apology,” I said as I dropped the phone back on its hook.

Through the glass, he watched me walk away, his hands trembling against the surface, his lips still moving with words I refused to hear.

Let him sit in that cage of grief and regret. Let him rot in the legacy he ruined.

I have my own legacy to rewrite.

Bella Calamida was going to help me do it, whether she knew it or not.