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Chapter 28 

Nico’s POV 

“Aria’s different,” he replied “She isn’t who you take her to be ” 

Traised an eyebrow. “And how are you so sure about this?” 

Dominic smirked, but it wasn’t his usual arrogant, amused smirk. It was softer in a way, as if he was thinking of something from the past, which was weird, it felt like he knew something I didn’t. 

I am his trusted aide. His best friend. Even though sometimes we feel like enemies. We are close friends. I know most of the things he does 

So what could you be hiding from me that gives you such confidence. 

“She doesn’t want power” he said simply 

I let out a drychuckle, shaking my head. “Everyone wants power, Dom. They just don’t always know it yet 

“She wants freedom, he corrected 

I studied him for a moment, curious now. “And what do you want?” 

His smirk faded slightly, replaced by something unreadable. “To keep what’s mine” 

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “You really don’t see it, do you?” 

He arched a brow, “See what?” 

“You’re setting yourself up for the same thing again.” I swirled my whiskey in my glass, watching the amber liquid catch the light “First, you get obsessed. Then, you convince yourself she’s different, that she’s not like the others “I chuckled. “And then, one day, she’s going to betray you. Just like Victoria did.” 

Dominic’s jaw Licked. “Aria isn’t Victoria.” 

I smirked. “No, she isn’t. She’s worse.” 

His expression darkened. “Careful, Nico.” 

I leaned back, resting my arm along the edge of the bar cart. “You really think she’s not planning an escape?” I let my smirk widen. “That she’s not waiting for the right moment?” 

His silence told me he had already thought about it. 

He knew. 

But Dominic didn’t like being told the truth. 

I shrugged. “You’re obsessed with keeping her locked in this world, Dom. But what happens when she stops fighting and pretends to surrender? What happens when she finally makes you trust her?” I took a slow sip of my drink. “What happens when she slips through your fingers?” 

Dominic’s lips pressed into a thin line. 

Then, after a long pause, he smirked. “Then I’ll find her.” 

I sighed, shaking my head. “You’re a fucking lunatic.” 

He chuckled, standing straight. “And you’re a fucking snake.” 

I grinned. “At least we know what we are. Oh and I think you got 

the characters m 

mixed up. You are the snake.” 

Dominic exhaled, running a hand down his face. “This conversation is over.” 

I tited my glass toward him in a mock toast. “For now. We would talk about it again when she betrays you.” 

He shot me a warning look before turning toward the door. 

But before he left he hesitated. 

Then, without looking back, he said, “Stay away from her, Nico.” 

I smirked “You’re afraid, aren’t you?” 

He didn’t answer. 

He just walked out, shutting the door behind him. 

Later That Night 

I sat in the dimly lit office, the room eerily silent except for the faint licking of the antique clock on the wall. The conversation with Dominic still lingered in my head, replaying over and over 

1/4 

Chapter 211. 

But that wasn’t what bothered me the most 

It was the gnawing feeling in my quit 

The feeling that things were shifting, changing in a way I couldn’t quite predict 

exhaled sharply and reached for my phone, 

After a moment’s hesitation, I dialed the number. 

It rang Twice 

Then a deep, familiar voice answered. 

“Nico,” 

Iclenched my jaw Tather.” 

Silence 

Then 

“Come home” 

I let out a dry laugh. “Come home?” I repeated. “Why? So you can beat up me again?” 

A sharp growl came through the line, low and warning. “Don’t test me, boy” 

I swallowed, gripping the phone tighter. 

I should have hung up. 

I should have ignored him. 

But I couldn’t. 

I could still feel the ghost of his fists, the way he had knocked me to the ground over and over again as a kid, the cold indifference in his eyes as he told me I wasn’t good enough. 

I had escaped him. 

Thad built something outside of him 

And yet, here he was. 

Pulling me back in.. 

“What do you want?” I muttered. 

His voice was eerily calm. 1 said, come home.” 

“I clenched my jaw, I’m not your fucking dog.” 

“Nico Joseph Renaldi,” he said, low and threatening 

The way he spoke my full name made me shiver. 

And just like that, I was a child again. 

I was that scared little boy who had learned how to fight because the world had never given him another option. My fingers curled into a fist. 

His voice turned ice–cold. “Come home this instant.” 

I swallowed hard. 

And for the first time in years- 

Thesitated. 

I was a man now. Not a child. 

“Either you tell me what it is, or you go fuck yourself. This is no longer fifteen years ago.” 

Silence crackled through the phone, the tension thick 

Then, my father’s voice came through, sharp and ragged. 

“I’m dying, you idiot.” 

I froze. 

His words echoed in my head, but I felt… nothing. 

Not shock. Not grief. Not even anger 

Just emptiness 

But he wasn’t done. 

Chapter 26 

“Why can’t you be like Dominic?” His voice was full of disdain, that same venom he had always reserved for me “Why can’t you even have any proper success? A wife, a grandchild–anything to make your pathetic life useful?! 

I gritted my teeth, my grip on the phone tightening 

“You’re just like your dead mother.” He spat the words like they were poison. “Useless. All useless 

A sharp paintwisted in my chest, old wounds reopening. 

And then I laughed. 

A slow, humorless chuckle. 

“Then call your other ten kids,” I said coldly. “I’m sure one of your mistresses popped out another bastard somewhere.” 

“Nico-” 

I hung up. 

Blocked the number 

Then exhaled, running a hand down my face. 

The Renaldi Family And the Man I Hated 

My father, Marco Renaldi, wasn’t a mafia boss like Dominic’s father. He wasn’t a kingpin, a mastermind, or even someone feared in the underworld. 

He was a groveler. 

A leech. 

A man who spent his life clinging to the wealthiest, licking the boots of every rich man in Beldova, selling himself for scraps from their tables. 

And yet, he had the audacity to call me pathetic 

He had money, but none of it was his own. He had power, but only the kind borrowed from men stronger than him. 

The Renaldi family was once something. Not as powerful as the De Lucas, but respected. That all changed when my father gambled away his fortune, begging the Bratva for loans, kissing the rings of men he once called beneath him. 

And when he wasn’t busy destroying what little dignity he had left? 

He was keeping mistresses. 

Dozens of them. 

I had half–brothers I had never met. Bastards bom from women he paid off, children he never cared about unless they could benefit him. 

And the worst part? 

He only ever called me when he wanted something 

I scoffed, shaking my head 

So he could leave a lavish life until his last breath? 

Stupid man. 

The Past That Made Me 

I grew up watching him cheat, lie, fail. 

I grew up with his handprint on my skin, his words drilling into my skull–you’re nothing, you’ll never be anything. 

I learned how to fight not because I wanted to, but because I had to 

Because coming home meant dodging flying bottles 

Because if I didn’t toughen up, I wouldn’t survive him. 

He hated me for being her son 

My mother. 

A woman he never wanted, a woman who died before I even got a chance to know her 

And yet, he never let me forget her. 

“You have her eyes,” he would sneer. “Her weakness. Her stupidity.” 

So I hardened. 

I became everything he said I couldn’t be. 

And I walked away from him 

Chapter 28 

I made my 

own name, my own wealth, my own power. 

I never looked back. 

Until now. 

“Nico?” 

I turned sharply, my fists still clenched 

Julian stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets, watching me with a raised brow 

“Why are you standing here in your office all alone?” 

I forced a smirk. “Well, I was reasoning about my bride who left me.” 

Julian chuckled. “Ah. You mean Dominic’s girl?” 

“You heard?” 

1 am his brother, Nico.” 

I rolled my eyes. “She’s not his yet anyways.” 

Julian smirked. “You like causing trouble, don’t you?” 

I sighed, rubbing my temples. “Something like that ” 

Then my phone pinged 

I frowned. 

I hesitated before opening the message. 

Unknown Number: It’s your father’s lawyer, Diego. 

I exhaled sharply. Of course 

Unknown Number. If you want to have your father’s wealth, find a bride. 

My stomach twisted. 

Unknown Number: Because his clause was, whoever of his useless sons gets a wife and a child first, gets his millions. 

I scoffed, 

Typical 

Even dying, the old bastard was trying to manipulate us 

Then the final message came. 

Unknown Number: You know where to find me, Nico. I have your best interest at heart. 

Liar. But oh well.. 

I stared at the screen, my jaw tightening 

Julian leaned in, glancing at my phone 

He raised an eyebrow. “Something interesting?” 

I let out a low chuckle. 

“Oh, you have no idea.” 

A 

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Chapter 29