Derek’s POV
She was thinner than the last time I saw her, she had already been so frail, how the fuck could she possibly have lost more weight?
She was taller obviously but still nothing more than a child in front of me. Strands of her wavy, dark blood red hair were tied up in a messy bun which ached to be pulled open and cascade in waves down her shoulders.
Her delicate, lean arms were clad in a fitting red shirt and I caught a slight show of prominent collarbones sculpted so perfectly they were fit to be hangars for Gucci clothes and a waist so narrow it could fit in my one hand. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable but I couldn’t help but behold each and every part of her for as long as I could.
Then my mother decided that it was a good time for me to catch up with the gossip of the wives of the mafia and their “very” exciting life and then continued to engage me in some very boring conversation. I nodded at the right moments and mmhed and aahed along.
I couldn’t help but frown when I realised that Lia had been looking down at her shoes since I’d taken my seat. The least she could do was let me look at her face.
I didn’t think I could take any more of this. I’d returned after years and this was the welcome I got from her after saving her life?
But then she looks up and I know she does it unknowingly because she quickly freezes and looks away again.
This was getting ridiculous. This wasn’t the Lia I’d known. The Lia I’d known would’ve squealed in joy at the sight of me and thrown her arms around me, not caring if anyone thought it inappropriate of her to do so.
“My son and brother have single-handedly managed to accomplish what many of my men and associates couldn’t and now there is finally peace between us and the Denaros. This peace has brought us incredible trade and business opportunities. There is now easy passage for our products where there was once surveillance to stop our products from passing through, profits have doubled and tripled, business is booming and the Clifford’s name has been solidified even more as one of the most prominent mafia families in all of mainland USA. And it is all thanks to the heir of this family and my very own son, Derek.”
If I had to hear a word more of this bullshit speech, I was going to pummel my father into oblivion. The real work had been done by my uncle Edwin and he had hardly even mentioned his name.
There wasn’t even anything to numb my senses, this white wine tasted more like sweet water than alcohol to me.
******
Finally, the old man decided to shut up and the feast began which is when I realised that they’d given Lia the job of the taster. My father and I were going to have a long fucking talk after this dinner was over…. I’d asked one thing of him and he couldn’t even give me that.
As if I didn’t have enough things to be frustrated about, it seemed like it was a great struggle for Lia to walk toward me, like my mere presence was revolting. What the fuck was wrong with her?
When she leaned toward me to taste my food, I finally got a glimpse of her beautiful face, unfortunately, marred by a frown instead of the huge smile she used to give me every time I looked at her.
She still had the same small face, just her cheekbones were sharper now, and her skin under the light illuminants of the chandelier appeared to be smoother and fairer than porcelain.
Then there were her vibrant hazel eyes which pulled you in and made you want to never look away, and plump red lips which she bit down on every now and then. She was nervous. Hopefully because of me.
She was irrevocably beautiful, so much more than I’d imagined her to be.
There was just one problem, she seemed intent on ignoring my presence. It was like she didn’t even remember me. But she couldn’t possibly forget…. no, there was no way she could forget.
I gripped the glass of wine in my hand when I noticed that whilst leaning and bending downward to taste the food, she was simultaneously leaning away from me.
It took all the self-restraint I had in me to not wrap my arms around her and feel her warmth engulf me, the feel of her being so close to me had never ever failed to put a smile on my face. I couldn’t help but smirk when I noticed her hand shake a bit and spill a bit of soup from the spoon. Forgotten or not, I still affected her.
******
The feast had been going on for a while and I’d just received an alert concerning transportation involving our drug cartels. It could be a big issue if another gang was involved, it didn't matter if it was small time.
But after a few calls, I learned it was only a few local thugs trying to create a ruckus.
Astonished to find that it was already 8, I was about to dig into my food when my eyes started searching for red hair and I grew increasingly irritated when I realised there was none to be found.
Frowning, I was just about to gulp down more of the sweet water but the door to the banquet room suddenly burst open and a man in a blue suit followed by several other guards who were supposed to be on patrol outside entered.
Blue suit whisper-yells something at my father moving his hands around frantically, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
“Boss, we’ve got an anonymous tip that the food’s poisoned.” Blue suit whispers low enough for the guests not to hear but Uncle Edwin and I do hear and instantly drop our forks and motion to the rest of the family to do the same.
“Everyone! You’ll have to excuse me and my family for today. It seems that something important has come up,” Waylen got up from his seat, strict composure in place, making it seem like we had some callup for a meeting or something instead of an ambiguous tip about poisoning.
“Waiters! Please escort the guests to their respective quarters.”
The guests quickly filed out, all carrying bewildered expressions but none of them asked any questions, they knew better of course.
Once the banquet hall was empty except for me and my family and the new arrivals, father asked with not an ounce of emotion in his voice, ”Is anybody feeling faint or dizzy?”
Everyone shook their head in a vehement no.
The door burst open…. Again.
“We found her trying to escape from the mansion and sneak out past the guards.”
Roselia’s POV I had made it past the exit and found the truck I was supposed to escape in. I waved to the guy sitting in the driver’s seat. I half expected him to wave back and then the weirdest thing happened. He poked his head out the window and yelled for the patrolmen on guard. I was so confused for one second but then it clicked. It clicked quite quickly given the circumstances… but not quickly enough.It was a fucking setup.Horrified, I tried to make a run for it, my heart beating so loud, I couldn’t even hear my own pounding steps nor did I hear the shots that were fired until one hit me in the leg and I stumbled to the ground. I tried to get up as blood spurted from the wound in my shin. The bullet had passed through the flesh but still, there was so much blood. I could’ve still made it but the guards were too fast. I was on my feet and almost past the Clifford property’s boundary by the time they got a hold of me.I didn’t struggle as they dragged me back into the mansion
Roselia’s POVMy 5 feet tall body felt like it weighed a 1000 pounds. It felt like I was floating in the air and in place of my brain was a clump of cotton candy. I placed a hand on my forehead, rubbing lightly, trying to dull the ache as I sat up and let out a groan when my back felt like it was being sliced open by a 100 knives. “Put your back against the pillows. It will lessen the pain”, a nurse, who I only now noticed was also in the room kindly suggested. I listened, the fogginess in my brain clearing gradually.I let out a gasp when I realized that I was still in the mansion….. and alive.“No, you don’t have to….”, I resisted but the nurse straightened and fluffed the pillows behind my back anyway.I laid back and almost fell asleep again against the silky covers,” That’s actually a lot better, thanks.” The nurse frowned at me, placed a bunch of tablets on the nightstand, instructed me on how to take them and then left without another word.I rubbed a hand against my eyes and
Derek’s POVShe was curled up on the floor, hands tightened around her knees to make herself as small as possible. Her big brown eyes looked up at me. Her mouth scrunched up in annoyance as if I was the last person she wanted to see. She might have everyone in my family fooled but I knew she wasn’t the one who poisoned me.Anyone else would’ve missed it but I could see her eyes shine with relief when I walked in. Her face relaxed and she almost gave herself away but it was only for a mere fraction of a second before her blank, disappointed mask was on. It disappeared so quickly, I almost couldn’t even be sure if it had even been there in the first place.She might not have been the one to add poison to the food but she certainly was doing a good job of acting like she did.I needed to get to the bottom of this.She needed to tell me what the fuck was going on. What worried me most was how stiff her whole body was as she anxiously looked everywhere but at me. Her gaze flew to the wind
I felt a painful sting in my eyes. My body ached all over and when I was finally able to wake myself, I found myself to be lying in a pool of sweat. It was dark in the room except for one dim light. What?! My brain was frozen as I looked around the unfamiliar room which was more of a cell than a room. Just one dingy bed that I was lying on and couldn’t muster up the energy to get up from right now. I felt like I’d run a friggin marathon, the way I was aching all over, from head to toe. My head hurt so bad, it was hard to collect my thoughts and form one coherent mental picture or even collect myself to any extent. I suddenly sat up when a sharp pain shot up through my right arm. I could see a small barely there red mark like that of an injection. Did they inject me with something? Oh God?! Is that why….. well, that would explain the cell like room. But before that…. was that a dream? It had to be. But it had felt real. So friggin real. But drugs could make you dream up some cr
“If it had been anyone else in place of you, I wouldn’t even be half as hurt as I am right now”, he said,” I treated you like my own daughter, the daughter I never had.” His voice started breaking in the end. I again wanted so bad to comfort him in any way I possibly could but I simply couldn’t. “If it had been anyone except Master Derek that you’d killed, I could’ve at least given you a chance to explain yourself, tried to consider the fact that maybe you had a very good reason for doing so. Given this family’s track record, no one except Derek is completely clean. They’ve all done horrendous things, hurt people for their own gain. And maybe one of those people they’d hurt was you in some way. But killing honourable Master Derek?! There is simply nothing you can say for yourself”, Walter went on, his words laced with anger and betrayal and most of all, sadness.“K…killed?”, I stumbled over my words. “What?”“Y….you said killed. By mistake”, my mouth went dry as I struggled to get t
But then Roselia runs away from her home at the age of 12 for reasons that would haunt her forever. She gets on a train and travels to a different state which is when she is rescued by a man who finds her on the streets, rifling through garbage. Little does she know that the man, Derek Clifford, is the heir to the ‘Cliffords dynasty’, a billionaire family, known for masquerading their money source as a ‘family business’. But the biggest revelation awaits Roselia at the Clifford mansion… that the person responsible for her father’s ‘unexpected death’ might just be a very important member of the Clifford’s family. Just then, Derek leaves to go overseas.6 years laterWhat Roselia hadn’t expected was that her love for the man who saved her life 6 years ago might just get in the way of her exacting revenge as she stays in the Cliffords mansion in the guise of a chef.Derek Clifford had not ever dreamed that he would fall in love. Power was all he had ever desired. That is until his cold
“Please, Walter. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” It was hard to draw in air to my lungs, my mere existence becoming painful to bear.“Save your apologies for the funeral”, Walter coldly said, making my heart lurch up to my throat, almost stopping altogether.And before I knew it, he was out the door, closing it shut behind him before I could even react to his words. I made a dash for the door with the remaining energy left in me.“You’re lying, Walter. I know you’re lying. You have to be lying”, I banged my hands on the door, making them into fists and I kept banging until they turned from red to purple, hoping that he would hear me out and come back and tell me that what he said was a lie. That it was an utter lie. Derek was still alive.“He’s alive, he’s alive, he’s alive”, I kept chanting it in my head, my voice being reduced from ear-shattering screams to nothing more than a ghostly whisper. My throat ached as I slid down the cold door, sitting huddled against it on the floor. The si
“My apologies, Sire. I spoke out of line”, the waiter spoke, eyeing him, following his action as his young boss absentmindedly poked at the free end of the bandage on his right arm where the doctor had injected the antidote.He heaved out a heavy sigh,” I don’t want to do this, Walter. But I don’t see another way out. You know how severe the punishment for carrying out a hit on a future mafia overlord can be. Death would be the easy way out for her, according to the rest of the people. We both know that. She will be tortured endlessly, beaten and God knows what my father will have his men do to her if I don’t handle this my way. Unthinkable things, Walter, unthinkable. And you know just how ruthless he can be.” “Your actions show the opposite, sire”, Walter quietly rebutted, not wanting to get his boss cross with him but also wanting to drive his point home. “I saw her, Derek”, his voice went weak, catching the heir’s attention. “She broke. She fucking broke when I told her you were