CHAPTER 6
1057 Words
CHAPTER SIX
ADRIAN’S POV
Rain. That was the first thing I remembered whenever I thought about that night. Cold, heavy rain pouring endlessly against the windows of the hotel while my mother sat across from me trying to smile through her fear.
I was twenty-two then. Young and angry.
Desperate to escape the Romano name.
My mother reached across the small table inside the hotel suite and held my hand tightly.
“Once we leave tonight, your father will never find us again.”
I wanted to believe her. God, I wanted to. For the first time in years, she looked hopeful instead of terrified. The suite smelled like coffee and anxiety. Two passports sat on the table beside a black envelope. Inside that envelope were documents, cash, and information powerful enough to destroy my father if he ever came after us. Our freedom. Our future.
Mother glanced nervously toward the clock again.
“She should be here soon.”
I frowned slightly.
“She?”
“The courier.”
I immediately stiffened.
“You involved another person?”
“She doesn’t know anything, Adrian,” Mother reassured softly. “She’s just delivering the final documents from the bank.”
I hated it already. Too risky and careless.
But Mother was desperate. And desperate people made mistakes. A soft knock suddenly echoed through the suite.
My mother stood immediately.
“That must be her.”
I moved toward the window instinctively while Mother approached the door cautiously.
When the door opened, iI looked up briefly. And saw her. A girl. Young and pretty. Completely ordinary.
She wore an oversized hoodie soaked from the rain and held a sealed package tightly against her chest. University student. Probably broke. Probably doing delivery jobs for extra money.
Nothing about her looked dangerous.
But her eyes…Her eyes met mine for one brief second. And somehow…she smiled awkwardly.
Like she was nervous standing inside an expensive hotel suite.
“Delivery for Miss Sofia,” she said softly.
Mother smiled warmly at her.
“Thank you, dear.”
The girl handed over the package carefully. Then suddenly, she slipped slightly because of the wet floor. Mother caught her arm immediately before she fell.
“Oh goodness,” Mother laughed softly. “Careful.”
The girl laughed too. A light laugh. Warm and human. I remember thinking how strange it sounded inside a room full of fear.
“Sorry,” she said shyly.
“It’s alright.”
Mother reached for her purse afterward.
“Wait, let me pay you.”
But the girl shook her head quickly.
“It’s been paid already.”
Something about that sentence made my instincts sharpen instantly. Already paid? Mother noticed my expression immediately.
The girl waved awkwardly again before turning to leave. And for reasons I still don’t understand, I watched her longer than necessary.
She disappeared beyond the hotel hallway moments later. And that should have been the end of it. It wasn’t.
Three minutes later, everything collapsed. Gunshots exploded downstairs. Mother froze. I was already reaching for my weapon when hotel alarms suddenly started blaring. Then came the shouting. Father’s enemy. My blood ran cold instantly.
“No…” Mother whispered shakily.
Impossible. Nobody knew where we were.
Nobody except…the package.
I grabbed the envelope Mother collected from the girl and ripped it open immediately. Inside wasn’t bank paperwork. It was photographs. Our hotel location. Our passports, copies of escape plans. Every single detail. A setup. A trap.
Mother’s face lost all color.
“No…”
The suite door burst open violently before she could speak again.
And after that, all I remembered was blood. Screaming. Gunfire.
My mother pushing me behind her.
Then, her body hitting the floor. I killed three men that night. Father still called me weak afterward. Funny.
The newspapers called it a hotel robbery gone wrong. Nobody questioned it. Nobody cared.
But I spent years searching for answers.
Years trying to understand how Father discovered our location.
Until eventually, I found her again. The delivery girl. Lara Finn.
It took months to trace her. A university student struggling financially. No criminal record. No mafia connections. Nothing.
Just a random girl who accepted anonymous courier jobs online for money.
Those men used her because she looked harmless. Untraceable and forgettable.
And unfortunately for her, I never forgot her face.bEspecially those eyes.
Those damned soft eyes that smiled at me moments before my life ended. At first, I wanted revenge immediately.
I truly did. But the moment I investigated Lara deeper, something complicated happened. She was innocent. Completely innocent.
She had no idea what she delivered that night. No idea my mother died afterward. No idea she became the final piece in my father’s trap. And somehow…that made my hatred worse.
Because I had nobody left to blame properly. My father was a monster. The men were obeying orders.bMother was desperate. And Lara? Lara was simply unlucky.
But every time I remembered my mother bleeding on that hotel floor— I remembered Lara too.
So eventually…I decided innocent or not…
someone would suffer the way I suffered. And Lara Finn became that person.
The first job opportunity I destroyed was almost accidental. Lara had applied for an internship at one of Blackstone’s smaller branches years ago.
I saw her name during final approval.
And suddenly, rage consumed me again. So I rejected it. Simple, petty and pointless.
But afterward…I felt strangely satisfied.
Then another opportunity appeared months later. I destroyed that one too. Then another. And another.nYears passed before I realized what I had become.Obsessed. Not with loving her. No.bWith controlling her fate.nEvery rejection letter.nEvery failed interview.nEvery missed opportunity.
Me. Always me.
I told myself it was justice. That I was punishing her slowly.
But deep down— I knew the terrifying truth. Hurting Lara never brought my mother back. It just became the only thing connecting me to the worst night of my life.
Then came the club.
And fate decided to laugh at me again.
The moment I saw Alfonso pinning Lara down, something violent exploded inside me.
Not revenge. Not hatred. Something worse. Protectiveness. I hated it instantly.
Yet when Lara looked at me through tears and drunken fear…and whispered:
“Are you an angel?”
For the first time in years…I almost forgot why I hated her at all.
- Writer
