Page 25 of Heir of Corruption

Even though I prefer to take a taxi wherever I go tonight, I decide to use the car my grandfather bought me. At least very few people know that I have it, so it won’t be recognized. I don’t like to use it, because it is flashy and also, I find it inconvenient to find parking around the city. Never mind me not enjoying driving.

I slip into the driver’s seat, wearing dark jeans and a long-sleeved dark t-shirt. I feel stealthy enough. My hair braided down my back, out of the way, and I have a peaked cap on. Perhaps I took it too far with the hat, but I don’t want him to spot me.

I drive to the main road leading away from his mansion, knowing that he will have to pass me to leave his area. I park on the side, near someone else’s home, as though I might be a visitor there.

I sit with my eye on the street for about forty minutes before I spot his ridiculous car. He is driving himself, which is odd. I know he has a personal driver, but he chose not to make use of him tonight.

I pull up behind him, keeping my distance.

While I follow him, I'm careful to keep a car or two between us and change pace now and then. He pulls into a parking bay at a restaurant I can’t imagine him choosing.

I drive past, not wanting to be too obvious. Then I make a turn up the street and come around again, parking in the far corner of the parking lot. I climb out of the car and walk toward the restaurant. I can see him in the window. At least I know where he is sitting. He is alone. I find a spot at the bar, as far from him as I can be, with my body turned away from him. My heart is hammering in my chest.

If he notices me, there is no way that I'llexplain my way out of this. I guess I can claim to be some jealous lunatic, unhappy about him canceling, but either way, my plans of using him as a pathway for my revenge will be destroyed.

When the Italian lady walks in, I know right away that she is here to meet him. Of course she is. When she hugs him, my thoughts are confirmed. They look as though they have known each other forever. That means that he is still very much in contact with his New York family, despite the rumors stating otherwise.

I can't make out what they are saying; I'm too far away, and I don’t dare risk moving.

They are laughing and comfortable with each other.

Has he been planted as a spy here in Hong Kong since he was a baby? Was that the plan all along? I hold my breath with realizing what I have discovered. He is feeding information to his Italian family and has been for all of this time.

This information is massive. I have uncovered something so extreme tonight that I can contain myself. I think I should leave now. There is no point in taking any further risk of being spotted when I have the answers I came to find tonight.

I leave, staying close to the far wall, keeping my head low. When I glance back at the window, he is still deep discuss the woman. I wonder who she is. She is much older than him, perhaps just a contact, perhaps a family member. Either way, it doesn't matter. I know what I know now.

Anger settles in my stomach as I drive home.

He is a traitor.

He is a shallow excuse for a man, betraying the very people who took him in and cared for him. He deserves the worst kind of punishment.

I'm even more convinced now than I ever was before that he had some kind of involvement in my parents’ murder. He knows something. He might know everything.

Just yesterday, I had this moment right after we got off the phone where I actually felt guilty about my plans. But now, I don't feel a thing. He's exactly the heartless mafia boss everyone says he is, a real-life monster. Thinking anyone could show him kindness seems ridiculous now. I mean, there he was, out in broad daylight, having a chat with someone from a rival family. His own family, no less. It's like he's living two lives. How does someone just go about their day keeping such a huge secret, betraying the people who are supposed to be closest to them?

I park my car in the underground parking garage and head upstairs, locking myself inside my apartment. I feel alive and high on adrenalin. There are so many thoughts rushing through my mind from every different angle. My plan is forming and becoming more concrete as each second passes.

Now I know no matter how many times he cancels on me or how long I have to play this game, and no matter what I have to doto trick him into believing I'm interested in him, I'lldo it. I'll be patient, focused, and dedicated.

I'll have to be as ruthless as he is to play his own game against him.

This is what I have been waiting for my whole life, this chance. This opportunity is what I needed. I'm going to find out the truth, and I'm going to tear apart their lives from the inside out.

10

Antonio

Ever since talking withRebecca, my thoughts preoccupied with my parents, and when I think about family, Seraphina always comes to mind. She has not known family either, and she understands that pain better than anyone else I know.

It causes me grief, this intense guilt I have for the role I played in her losing both of her parents. My family name is associated with the murder, and now I'm asking her to spend time with me without even considering that my name, my blood, would likely cause her significant pain.

I can never let her find that out, though. If she doesn't know, then she can't hold it against me. I wince. I was never one totell lies. I might hide information from someone out of necessity, but outright lying to them is not in my nature.

I don’t want to lie to Seraphina. I'm going to have to take this one step at a time. Watch my words and where the conversation flows when I'maround her.

I don’t even know who she is to me yet. All I know is that I want her.

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