Delusion

The house has been repainted. Only one sofa sat in the living room out of three, the large TV screen has been replaced with a smaller one. The house look eerily strange. She stepped in and glanced around, her eyes widened in shock. Their wedding portrait was gone. She made sure it was huge and overlooked the living room. Even the handprint of her and Miguel that she pasted in the living room was gone. 

Horror creeped up her spine, she swallowed.

“Miguel?”, she glanced around. “Miguel what's going on? I'm getting scared.”

The house was eerily quiet, before he would have been in the kitchen whenever he arrives earlier than her. She rushed to the kitchen, it was empty and as she feared, many things has been replaced. The kitchen looked smaller than usual. The pair of cups she always used specially for her and her husband was gone. Panic began to settle in, she grabbed her clothes, her chest rose and fell in panic. She ran to the bedroom, the bed. 

The bed has been replaced. It looked smaller than before, a smaller dressing table, changed curtains. She glanced at the closet, rushing to it. She yanked the door open. 

Only her clothes were there, she went through the drawers, none of her husband's belongings are in there. 

Panic crept under her skin. 

Her breath came out uneven, she rushed back to the living room, grabbing her bag with shaky hands she opened it. 

She swallowed, beads of sweat racing down her face. Her hands shook greatly. She sucked in a sharp breath and dialed his number. Inés paced up and down the living room, running a hand through her hair. 

It didn't ring at all this time, the announcer kept saying it's switched off. 

She collapsed to the couch. She shook her head slowly.

No. No. It must be prank. It's certainly a....

She stopped, a paper sat on the table in front of her, she must have missed it while being distracted in the house. 

She took it from the table with shaky hands, boldly written on the paper.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

She threw the paper back on the table abruptly. Wiping the tears that streamed down her face. 

“This is a prank. He will come soon, tonight or tomorrow and tell me it's just a joke”, she nodded, sniffing. “Yes, it's just a prank.”

She checked the time , it was already getting late. Most people would have gotten back to their house by now. 

What if his family is giving him problems again? 

She ohhed her mouth in deep thought.

“Ohhh...”, nodding meaningfully. 

Miguel kept their marriage secret because of the dangerous family. They have been married for five years but no one knew the second son of the Valente Family was married. 

She cuddled herself on the couch, she would wait for him. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours. Inés soon drifted into sleep on the couch. 

-----

Miguel stared at the computer in front of him. His unfinished cigarette sat on the ashtray beside it. 

He caught in the reflection in the computer, he still hadn't put on a shirt. He saw the scar from last year's shot. Few inches away from his heart, it was a fatal shot, aimed to struck his heart and unalive him within seconds of impact. The bullet was specially designed for that, it's long, sharp structure not to forget when it hit him, whatever technology they put there, the bullet released toxic chemicals in his body. 

Esmeralda. 

She disappeared a year ago. Why? 

Is it because she missed the shot or she's somewhere hiding, planning her next move with the X syndicate. 

The X syndicate, a perfectly hidden notorious criminal organization. They raise orphans and train them to be deadly human weapons. Esmeralda is the apple of their eye. She was sent specifically to eliminate the Miguel Valente. Miguel suspected it might be one of his brothers but no matter the enmity between them all, they wouldn't send assassins to destroy their own family because Esmeralda was not just after Miguel, she was after the entire Valente Family. But she came after the wrong person, he also caught her after she shot him, when he recovered, she was nowhere to be found. 

He leaned back into the chair, recalling the chilling visit from his father last week. He was in his office, typing away at his laptop when the old man walked in. He shot it his feet immediately. 

“Sit.” he commanded. Miguel blinked in confusion, he slowly sat down. 

The old man took slow, steady steps until he was standing behind him. He clasped Miguel's shoulder.

“Weakness. My son. Weaknesses should not be found with power. No power should have a weakness, if such thing exist then it's not power at all.”

Miguel's eyes turned sideways without moving his head. He tightened his jaw. 

“Power comes with a price. Only the ones brave enough can pay for it. And I know my son won't hesitate to pay, wouldn't he?”

“Of course Dad. I shall not disappoint you.”.

“You know you are my only hope Miguel, your brothers are a lost cause. Please don't disappoint me.”

The next morning, Inés woke up on the couch. She rubbed her eyes. For a second, she wondered why she was sleeping on the couch. 

“Honey where are...”, last nights memory hit her like a wave. She jumped to her feet. The papers were still lying on the table, the house had changed, Miguel was nowhere to be found. 

Wait. He didn't come home last night. 

Her heart began to thud, Inés scrambled on the couch, looking for her phone. She found it buried between the foam. Taking in a deep breath, she dialed Miguel's number again. It didn't go through as usual. She fell to the ground. 

“Miguel, where are you? What's going on?”, tears streamed down her face freely. She sobbed silently while hugging her knees. 

Grabbing her hair in her hands, she buried her face in her knees. An idea occurred to her. She snapped her head up. 

She ran into her room immediately, shutting down with urgency.