Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-Eight
Markus looked around the hall.
His eyes moved from Settimo to Ruth, then toward the
staircase.
"Where is Matilda?"
Ruth turned to him.
"She’s with Cole and Josephine. They needed some things from
the school."
Markus nodded slowly, but his expression remained troubled.
Ruth’s attention shifted back to him.
"What exactly do you mean by Matilda is Marco’s daughter?"
Her gaze moved to Asli.
"Asli, did you know about this too?"
Asli folded her arms.
"I found out not long ago."
Her jaw tightened at the memory.
"I came here the day after I found out... to ask what I found
out about mine. And got kidnapped," Asli finished bitterly.
Settimo’s expression immediately hardened.
"This was not a kidnapping."
Asli’s eyes snapped toward him.
"I was locked here against my will."
"I already told you why."
"To protect me?" She gave a humorless laugh. "You keep
saying that as though it gives you the right to lock me in a room."
"It was for your safety."
"You had no right."
The words landed heavily between them.
Settimo stared at her.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then something flickered across his face.
Amusement.
It was barely there.
But Asli saw it.
Her brows pulled together.
He looked almost...
Proud.
It was so strange that she didn’t know what to make of it.
She had never seen that look in Marco’s eyes.
Not when she had completed a difficult mission.
Not when she had returned from a dangerous assignment.
Not even when she had stood before him covered in someone
else’s blood.
Marco had looked at her as though he had created a weapon.
Settimo was looking at her as though he was watching someone
become herself. Like how she looked at Georgia when she blinked after years of being
numb. She was happy that the therapy was working and she was putting in effort.
She was proud of her and that was exactly what Settimo was looking at her with.
The realization struck somewhere deep.
He was trying.
Trying to be the father she wished she had... someone to
acknowledge her.
Asli’s throat tightened. She had never talked back at an
authority before. She always wished she could, but she couldn’t with Marco.
But here she was...
She immediately looked away before anyone could see what the
thought had done to her. Asli’s fingers slowly unclenched.
The warmth in her father’s eyes should have been enough to
distract her.
It wasn’t.
Because beneath everything else, another thought had begun
to take shape. Her stomach twisted.
For years, fear had been buried beneath something far stronger... Was it how
she worshiped him? Marco had been her father, her teacher, her god. She had
admired his power, trusted his judgment, and never questioned the way he
treated her. Whatever he did, whatever he demanded, she had accepted it because
she believed he knew better.
But now...
The chain was loosening.
She thought of everything he had actually done to her. To
her biological family. To Ahmet and his family. To Georgia.
The years he had stolen from her.
The way he had raised her to hate the very people who had
spent twenty-three years mourning her.
And then she thought of her baby.
Her palm moved instinctively toward her stomach.
Something hardened inside her.
She couldn’t let Marco anywhere near her child.
She couldn’t allow him to decide what happened to her life
again. Though she had escaped his Villa, she knew he was going to do everything
to bring her back.
Who was she kidding? Now she knew his intentions. He was
never going to let her live.
For the first time, the thought of facing him didn’t make
her want to run.
It made her want to hunt.
Her eyes lifted slowly.
The fear was still there.
But it was no longer in control.
’I will kill him.’ The thought came quietly.
Coldly.
And for once, it didn’t scare her.
She would finish this.
Marco had spent years turning her into a weapon.
He had simply forgotten one thing.
Weapons could choose their targets.
Settimo’s gaze settled on her face. "I know that look," he
whispered. "And it isn’t happening."
Asli turned to him. A slow, almost devilish smile curved her
lips. "Give me a year."
"No."
"Yes."
"Catalina, listen to your father." Rosalia’s voice trembled.
Tears gathered in her eyes again, panic spreading across her face.
Asli’s patience snapped. "Goodness, woman." She threw her
hands up. "Can you pull yourself together for one minute?"
Rosalia immediately lowered her gaze.
"I’m sorry."
Asli exhaled sharply. "I need a year. One year to have this
baby, recover, and make sure my child is safe." She spoke with such certainty
that she didn’t even realize she was trying to reassure them.
Rosalia’s lips trembled. "And what about mine?"
Asli blinked. "Ahmet will be fine. He’s been doing this
since he was little. So have I. I’m not forcing anyone to come with me. Daniel
already wants Marco dead. We know..."
"She means you, not Ahmet." Markus cut in, a faint scoff
escaping him.
Asli turned toward him.
"And like hell am I sitting back while you go after that
bastard alone," he added. "We’ll finish this before you even have the baby."
"No one is doing this without me!" Asli snapped.
"Nobody is going on that kind of mission." Settimo’s voice
thundered across the hall. "And that’s final!"
Markus stopped mid-breath.
Asli did too.
She stared at Settimo. She had heard him speak with
authority. But this was different. There was something in his eyes that made
even her instincts tell her not to push. This look was more terrifying than Marco’s.
However, she remembered she wasn’t a member of his Villa.
So she opened her mouth to speak again.
Settimo merely looked at her.
Her mouth closed.
For several seconds, she simply stared at him.
So this was power.
Marco had commanded fear.
Settimo didn’t need to ask for it.
It was already there. She thought she had already seen how
he commanded. She was wrong.
She had spent her entire life around powerful men, never had she seen a look quite like his. This
was different.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter