the Mafia Bishop: protecting Lydia

Lydia's POV I looked up with eyes filled with tears and a heavy heart as I reminisced on the fun and loving memories of my dad when he was still with us. Today will make it 10 years since my dad left us I haven't been able to move on or get used to the feeling of not having a father. Although my mom Sofia Winchester, a very loving mother, tries her best to be strong. She has been taking good care of me since the cold and shocking demise of my dear Daddy. We were once a happy family. My Dad, my mom and me, their little princess. It was fun everyday. Although my Dad traveled a lot for business, he always returned home to us. Well, not until when he was found dead in his apartment on one of his business trips. I clenched my hands and bit my lips as I remembered how my mom cried when she received the heartbreaking news. It was as if I was reliving those painful moments. The quiet mornings and sad evenings when my mom would sit on the sofa opposite our family pictures and cry bitterly. I kept telling myself it would get better but who was I kidding? Everyone came to console us and they lied that it'll only get better. Actually, I believed them. At first I kept hoping it would get better but it didn't, then later I started praying and wishing it was all a long bad dream and I would wake up to my dad staring and smiling at me and everything would return back to normal or I would just come back from school and see my Dad having lunch with mum happily and I'll join them as usual. Well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Turned out I was just in self denial. Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months turned into years but nothing changed. There was no sign of daddy or me waking up from the nightmare. The news of my Dad's death broke my mom and nothing has ever been the same ever since then. My mom told me he died of a heart attack. There was no one in the apartment to help him while he was having an attack though I have never witnessed him having any attacks before unless maybe I was too small to remember. Ever since the death of my dear father it has just been me and my hard working Mom. I thought the death of my father was the final and hardest blow life could give but I was wrong. I guess life had a lot in store for me and my mom. My name is Lydia Winchester and this is just the beginning of my heartbreaking love story. After the untimely death of my dad which left my mom heartbroken, my mom decided to set up a fast food restaurant with the remaining money my dad had left us. This restaurant was what she would use to take care of me and pay for my tuition as the breadwinner of the family was no more. Things started looking up for us as her restaurant was getting enough sales a day. Although things didn't go back to normal, we got used to that life. After school, I would go to my mom's restaurant to assist her attend to customers. I was a bright spark. I always came top in my class. She was very proud of me and she made it abundantly clear that would do anything for me. I was her pride and only joy. The only thing that made sense to her in her life. Or so I thought. One afternoon I saw the assistant pastor in our church, Pastor Jerry, stop by my mom's restaurant. We were all surprised as he had never visited us at the restaurant before. He walked in with is big crucifix on his neck and his response to anyone who greeted him was “God bless you.” He walked directly to my mom's office where my mom and I were. I greeted him with a big smile and so much respect. I loved and pastor Jerry so much that whenever I see him in church I feel like he was the splitting image of Jesus Christ. He was all shades of holy. His smile was so bright it felt like a reflection of light. He was the definition of “his holiness in human form” “God bless you my child” he replied warmly. As I stood up and was about to leave, he stopped me and asked “why aren't you in the choir unit?” I was frozen. I looked at my mom whose face was now looking a bit worried. “Uh sir she's preparing for her final exams and time would not permit her to participate in church activities for now” my mom said in my defense. “Well I would love to hear her sing next Sunday,” Pastor Jerry replied. My mom looked at me with a worried and sad face. I was expecting her to be very happy and jump into that idea but I was wrong. As I walked right out of my mother's office, I kept wondering why on earth would my mother not be happy about me joining the choir in church. She was a devout Christian and she never missed a service but yet she would even prefer I stay at home than going to the church with her. Other parents would drag their children to church but mine was different. I went into the kitchen ro assist the cooks but the thought of joining the choir and my mom's objection to it was still playing in my mind. After some minutes I decided to go back to my mother's office to check if pastor Jerry had gone. I got to the door of her office and peeped through the small opening on the door. What I saw was alarming.