Chapter 7 - The Reckoning
The basement beneath the east wing of the Duca estate smelled of old stone, damp earth, and steel. It was a place where light rarely entered—a place where the estate’s dark history was handled quietly, far away from polite society.
Renata was tied to a wooden chair in the center of the cold concrete room, illuminated by a single hanging bulb. Her clothes were disheveled, her makeup smeared, and her eyes wide with hysterical terror as she stared at the dark shadows surrounding her.
When the heavy iron door creaked open, I walked into the room, accompanied by Marco and Pino.
The moment Renata saw Pino’s lethal silhouette stepping out of the shadows, she began to scream, her body thrashing against the ropes.
“Mr. Duca! Please! Please, I’m sorry!” Renata shrieked, tears and mascara running down her face in ugly black tracks. “I didn't mean to! Moretti forced me! He threatened me!”
I pulled up a metal chair, turned it around, and sat down directly across from her, resting my arms over the backrest. Pino sat beside me, his dark eyes fixed on her face, letting out a low, rhythmic growl that vibrated through the floorboards.
“Don't lie to me, Renata,” I said softly. “Lying makes me impatient. And when I get impatient, Pino gets hungry.”
Renata gasped, her chest heaving as she sobbed uncontrollably. “I... I was jealous! I hated Maria! She came here with her polite manners and her sweet little girl, and everyone loved her! The staff paid more attention to her than to me! I spent five years building my authority in this house, and she was going to take it all away!”
“So you framed her,” I said flatly. “You tried to throw an innocent mother onto the street. And when that failed, you sold a four-year-old child to Silvio Moretti for fifty thousand dollars.”
“I needed the money!” Renata wailed. “I wanted to leave the state! I wanted to start over!”
I leaned forward, the shadows cast by the hanging bulb making my face look like carved granite.
“You didn't just break the rules of this house, Renata,” I whispered. “You threatened my niece. You threatened my brother’s child.”
Renata’s eyes widened in absolute, paralyzing horror. “Niece...? Maria’s girl... is your niece?”
“She is a Duca,” I said. “And in this family, we protect our blood with extreme violence.”
Renata collapsed into hysterical weeping, shaking her head frantically. “Please... please don't kill me, Mr. Duca! I have a family! Please!”
I stared at her for a long, agonizing minute, watching her squirm in the absolute terror she had inflicted on a helpless four-year-old girl earlier that afternoon.
Slowly, I stood up from the chair.
“I’m not going to kill you, Renata,” I said coldly. “Death is too easy. It’s an escape.”
I turned to Marco.
“Strip her of every asset she owns. Seize her bank accounts, foreclose on her house using our regional lending network, and ensure her name is blacklisted from every employment agency in the country. Let her spend the rest of her life working three minimum-wage jobs just to buy bread. Let her know what it feels like to have nothing.”
“Consider it done, boss,” Marco replied with a dark nod.
I turned on my heel and walked out of the basement room, leaving Renata screaming into the cold, empty darkness behind me.
May you like
As I walked back up the stone stairs toward the light of the main house, I felt the heavy weight of the past six years finally beginning to lift from my shoulders. The ghosts of my brother’s disappearance were finally lay to rest.
It was time to go back to my family.
