The Masked Hero

Chapter 9

Valentina's POV

I couldn't believe my ears. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't bring myself to believe the words that had just slipped past my father's lips.

“I hereby disown you as my daughter.” His words echoed in my head, each syllable wrapping around my heart, like it wanted nothing but to choke out what was left of my already bleeding heart.

A wave of dizzy spells hit me square in the face, and I struggled to get a hold of myself.

What the hell was happening? Why did father just say that? I get that he was mad, but didn't he think he was going a little overboard with his decision?

If he could just let me explain to him what was really going on, maybe he would understand and see that his decision was nowhere near necessary.

“Dad?” I called out slowly. I was breathless and my voice was a throaty whisper, but I was lucky he heard me. “What, what do you mean?”

“You heard me, didn't you?” He hissed and I flinched. “I'm not joking.”

“But…” I mumbled. My eyes watered, but I tried my level best to keep the tears at bay. Dad was strict when it came to my upbringing, but that didn't mean we never had our fun moments. We did, and even though I annoyed him and pushed his buttons more times than I could count, he never joked about me not being his daughter anymore. So why now?

“No buts.” He was quick to call me off. Call me crazy or whatever, but I could swear that I caught a glance at uncle Oliver sneering at me, a malicious grin plastered wide on his face. “What else did you expect? You e disappointed me in more ways than one, Valentina, and I'm not sure I can take any more of your useless shenanigans.”

Father was on a roll today, because, sentence after sentence, he kept on stabbing me in the heart with his words, his angry tone pushing the wound and deepening it.

“First, you had the guts to flank my orders.” Apparently, dad wasn't done yet, and while I was dying inside, I made our a sly smirk on Felix’s lips.

That bastard!

“You ran away to hide in our ancestral Villa.” Dad's angry tone was enough to turn my attention back to him. “Like that wasn't enough, you went there with a man. A different man than the one you were supposed to get married to!”

“I didn't bring him there, dad.” I rushed out the words immediately. My voice croaked, and I was well aware of the lump lodged in my throat, but I ignored it. “I told you, I found him washed up and almost drowning and I rescued him. There was no way I could have left him in the water and…”

“Silence!” He huffed, and I pressed my mouth shut immediately. “Don't you dare make up excuses for your decisions. Instead of accepting your mistake when you were caught, you just stood there and watched him beat our guards up.”

Memories from that day rushed at me, and I pressed my eyes shut, but only for a second. Despite the fact that a couple of days had passed, it did nothing to change the fact that I had watched Mr Handsome fight for me. He had literally saved me from being slapped, and beaten a couple of able bodied men like it was nothing.

“Instead of you to do the right thing, what did you do?” Father yelled again. “You brought him here, to do what? Beat up Felix? Do you know what that has cost us?”

“Dad, please listen to me.” I pleaded. If I lay he would just relax and let me speak. “I just want to….”

“No, you listen to me.” He shook his head. “Because of you and your stupid decisions, Felix here has severed all ties with us.”

My gaze went to Felix at the sound of his name. As expected, I watched his shoulders lift up in pride. He was well aware how much my father held him on a pedestal, and he enjoyed the attention.

“You know the reason why our business is so successful, is all thanks to him.” Dad went on. “You knew, yet you decided to act so stupidly. Didn't you for once stop to think that your actions might affect others? Because of you, your mother is in the hospital.”

Wait, what?”

“What?” I muttered, not believing my ears. “What did you say?’

“Yes, Valentina.” I heard a crack in Dad's voice. “Your mother has been hospitalized, and it's all your fault.”

“How is she? What's wrong with her? When did this happen?” I rushed out all the questions at once, but the look on father's face was more than enough to let me know that he didn't want to answer. “Dad, say something, please.”

“If you really cared about me and your mother, then you would have done the right thing.” He hissed. “So don't you dare try to pretend.”

I let out a huge breath I had no idea I was holding. A wave of fatigue raced through my veins and I fought the urge to crumple to the ground. I wanted to cry, scream and yell that how I was being treated was unfair, but I was sure no one would listen.

No one had been listening to me since the beginning of the whole dilemma.

“And one more thing.” Whether dad were immune to the tears glistening in my eyes, I wasn't sure. But one thing was clear, he just didn't want to hear my side of the story. “If you so much as dare to continue whatever relationship you have with that stranger, then you can forget about coming home. Ever.”

My eyes widened in shock, and for a moment I felt my heart stop. Just when I thought I was going to pass out, it continued again.

“And if you think I've changed my mind about my decision.” He hissed again. “Then you're definitely mistaken. In clearer terms, I'm giving you an ultimatum; end whatever you have with him, or forget that I'm your father.”

Without so much as another glance in my direction, I watched father turn his back on me.

I had no idea which was worse; all of the words he had just hurled at me, or the fact like he was going to pretend like he hadn't just ripped my heart into a million pieces all at once.

I wanted to call out to him, but what was I going to say? What had I not tried to say?

Nature had a funny way of doing things because I never anticipated the next string of events that happened.

One minute I was yearning to reach out to my father, and the next, someone else was doing it for me.

“Excuse me, sir.” I had grown so accustomed to the voice that spoke so much that, even if I was in a coma, I would still be able to recognize him speaking. “A word?”

Anxiety swirled in the pit of my stomach as I watched with a small frown. At Mr Handsome’s voice, my father turned around, before allowing him walk up to him.

Father didn't say anything, but the disgust he wore on his face said everything his mouth didn't.

He didn't like the stranger. Not one bit.

“I don't mean to intrude.” Mr Handsome started off slowly. “But I highly think it isn't right to force Valentina to get married, especially to someone she doesn't want to get married to.”

The silence that settled in the air was eerie, and it had me shuddering deep in my bones. The air crackled with electricity, and when I said the tension was so thick you could cut it out with a knife, I wasn't joking.

With the way the duo stared at each other, a tiny part of me couldn't help but feel like a fight was going to break out soon.

If it did, I think it was already clear who our winner was going to be.

“Excuse me?” Dad's voice was an icy whisper. “What did you just say?”

“I only aired out my opinion, sir.” He held a straight face as he spoke. “I don't think it's right to force her to her married. She clearly doesn't want to, so….”

“So, shut your mouth!” Father snarled, cutting him off. “Who the hell do you think you are to question me like that?! In case you forget, Valentina is my daughter and you're nothing more than a measly stranger interfering in our family matter! You should be grateful Felix here hasn't had you thrown out yet.”

“I'm only…” he has only gotten a handful of words out before Dad interrupted again.

“I know what to do with you!” Father hissed. “Just wait and see.”

Father shot me a glare, before storming in my direction. I had no idea what he was up to, but the last thing I saw coming was father's hand latching onto my wrist.

“Dad?” He ignored me. “What are you doing?”

“You're coming with me.’ with an iron like grip, dad pulled me out of my spot, before pulling me towards his car.

Uncle Oliver didn't need a signal to trail after his brother, and he followed suit.

All of my pleas fell on deaf ears as Dad shoved me into his car. I couldn't even get out of the car, but I didn't miss the stoic expression that adorned Mr Handsome's face, and that was the last thing I saw, before dad and uncle drove out of my compound.