Chapter 204 Father?

Chapter 204 Father?
Serena's POV

The mask came off—

—and the world tilted.

Not metaphorically.

Not slightly.

It actually tilted beneath my feet like something had just knocked the balance out of reality itself.

For a second, I thought I was seeing it wrong. That the lighting was playing tricks on my mind.

That my mind which had already been stretched thin from everything had decided to finally snap. Cause there was no way.

No possible way—

My breath hitched, sharp and sudden, as my eyes locked onto his face. And it stayed there.

Every line. Every angle. Every detail I hadn’t seen in years but somehow still remembered with terrifying precision.

But they were older, rougher. Worn out in places that used to be smooth.

But it was him. It was—

My foot slid back. Then another.

My balance wavered violently with my body reacting before my mind could catch up, I lost my footing and felt my weight tipping over till it stopped.

I turned to find Dante's hand wrapped around my waist, lifting me back up.

His hand remained locked around my arm, steady, firm and grounding.

But as I saw his eyes, I stopped feeling anything. My entire world narrowed down to the man standing in front of me.

Alive. Breathing.

Looking at me like—

“Serena…”

My chest tightened so hard it hurt.

No. No, this wasn’t—

My head shook slowly, then harder.

“No…”

The word came out thin. Fragile and practically suffocating.

His expression shifted, like something breaking quietly beneath the surface.

“It’s me,” he whispered.

“No,” I countered, stronger this time, just as he spoke. “You’re not him.”

“I am,” he whispered.

“No!” My voice cracked, rising sharply into the night. “You’re not him!”

Silence dropped around us.

Heavy and suffocating.

“I’m your father,” he continued, like nothing I did mattered.

And just like that—

Everything inside me cracked open.

It shattered all at once—loud, violent, and impossible to hold together.

“No,” I muttered weakly with the word coming out hollow at first. Then something snapped. “You’re not him.”

My voice hardened as everything clawed its way up my chest raw and without my will.

“You’re not him!” I repeated, louder this time with my head shaking as I took another step back, pulling out of Dante’s hold like his touch burned.

“Serena—”

“No!” I snapped, shooting my hand up, stopping him from taking another step. “Don’t—don’t come any closer.”

He froze.

Good. Cause if he had taken one more step, I wouldn't have been responsible for what I'd do next.

“I am your father,” he tried again but a laugh slipped out of me instead.

Sharp. Broken. And empty.

“No, you’re not,” I said with my voice dropping dangerously low. “My father is gone.”

And they tasted like poison over my tongue as they rolled out.

“He left,” I continued, each word hitting harder than the last. “He disappeared. No explanation. No goodbye. Nothing.”

My chest rose and fell too fast now as anger flooded every inch of me, burning through the shock, through the disbelief—through everything.

“And now you just show up?” I demanded, my voice cracking as I stepped forward this time, pointing at him. “Like this? Like nothing happened?”

“I didn’t have a choice—”

“Oh, don’t,” I cut him off instantly, letting out a bitter, humorless laugh. “Don’t stand there and lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

“You are!” I shouted. “No one does that! No one leaves their family for years and calls it a fucking mistake!”

“I did it to protect you—”

“Protect me?” I repeated, taking a sharp breath in as the words exploded out of me. “You abandoned me for years and you’re calling that protection?”

My hand hit the small sign stuff beside me before I even realized what I was doing.

The glass on it crashed to the ground, shattering loudly against the floor.

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

“Do you know what that did to me?” My voice broke, but I pushed through it, refusing to let it weaken me. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to wait for someone who never comes back?”

“Serena—”

“Don’t say my name!” I snapped, my entire body shaking now. “You don’t get to say my name like that!”

I turned away from him, dragging my hands through my hair, pacing without direction as the anger kept building, spilling, consuming everything in me.

“You don’t get to come back and pretend you still belong here,” I said, my voice dropping into something colder, more dangerous. “You lost that right the moment you left.”

Silence followed heavily.

Then—

“I never stopped being your father,” he muttered and that did it.

“Fuck off!”

The words tore out of me, raw and vicious.

I grabbed the nearest thing—a small decorative piece—and hurled it across the space. It hit the ground with a sharp crack.

Dante moved then, stepping in front of me, his hand going around my wrist before I could grab something else.

“Serena,” he said, low and steady.

But I was already gone as I spun and tried to break free from his grip. But it was no use.

“I don’t want him here,” I said, trying to pull free as my breathing grew heavier. “I don’t want to see him—I don’t—”

“Serena, what’s going on—”

My mother’s voice cut through everything as she rushed out with a crowd, then she stopped as her eyes landed on him.

Silence followed. A different kind.

The kind that comes from years of frustration, years of dashed hope, years of pain, years of tears, years of waiting, years of self-denial, years of self blame, years of heartbreak.

Slowly, I turned towards her and her eyes were on him.

Wide and didn't blink a bit.

“No,” she whispered, and my stomach dropped.

And before I could say anything, she collapsed.

Everything exploded into chaos from there.

“Madam!”

“Catch her—!”

“Get water—now!”

Valentina rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside her as others followed, raising their voices urgently.

I stood there. Frozen and breathing too hard. Thinking too much. Feeling everything all at once.

And behind me—

He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t try to fix anything.

He just stood there, watching everything like he knew this was what he deserved.

I didn’t know how long it took. Maybe minutes. Maybe longer.

But it was long enough for the panic to settle down, long enough for my mother to be taken care of. Long enough for the noise to fade out.

Then I found myself sitting on the ground somewhere off to the side with my back against the wall and my legs drawn together and knees up.

I didn’t remember walking there but Dante stood nearby, watching me silently.

And after a couple of minutes, I felt him turn away, then—

“Bring him,” he said in a calm and quiet tone

Footsteps followed slowly, sounding measured.

I lifted my head towards the sound, and there he was, again.

Closer this time.

Real. Still real.

My throat tightened and one word forced its way out. “Why?”

He exhaled slowly by my side like he had been holding it in for years.

“I owed them,” he began. “A group, powerful enough to destroy everything I had… everything we had.”

I didn’t interrupt, let him continue.

“I thought I could handle it. Fix it quietly. But the debt kept growing, and I couldn’t keep up.” His jaw tightened. “And when I couldn’t… they made it clear what would happen next.”

My fingers curled slightly against the ground.

“They would come for my family.”

My chest tightened.

“A Russian group stepped in,” he continued. “They offered to clear everything. Every debt.”

“And the price?” I asked, my voice steady in a way I didn’t feel.

Then he looked straight at me. “Me.”

Silence followed before—

“I became theirs,” he said. “My work. My time. My life. I had to disappear. Completely.”

I swallowed hard. “So you left.”

“I had to.”

“You chose to,” I corrected quietly.

He didn’t argue.

“I spent years earning their trust,” he continued. “Doing what they asked. Proving I was worth the debt they paid.” A pause. “That’s the only reason I can stand here now.”

Something shifted in my chest, but I wasn't anywhere close to forgiving him.

“How did you find me?” I asked and a faint, almost sad smile touched his lips.

“I never lost you.” My breath went still as he continued. “I’m the one you’ve been talking to.”

Then everything went quiet again.

“What?” I broke the silence.

“The unknown number,” he said. “The messages. That was me.”

I pushed myself off the wall, sitting straighter now with my eyes wide at him.

“I couldn’t come to you,” he continued. “But I couldn’t leave you unprotected either.” His gaze softened slightly. “So I watched.”

My chest tightened.

“I found out Luca had you tracked through the necklace,” he added with his expression darkening. “I hacked into it. Planted my own access and I’ve been tracking you too, till you ditched the necklace of course.”

I stared at him.

So all this time…

“I’ve been watching you,” he said quietly. “Making sure you stayed alive.”

“I knew.”

Dante’s voice cut in and I turned to him sharply.

“You knew?”

“Not who,” he said. “But I knew about the unknown number.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”

“It kept you safe,” he replied and I couldn't say anything. I just looked between them.

Everything felt too big. Too much.

“I’m sorry,” I heard and looked back at him.

And this time, he wasn’t being defensive, wasn’t explaining himself.

It was just… there. Raw.

“I watched you grow up from a distance,” he said, his voice quieter now. “Watched you struggle. And I couldn’t come to you.” His jaw tightened. “Do you know what that does to a father?”

My vision blurred.

“I didn’t leave because I wanted to,” he continued. “I left because staying would have gotten you killed.”

Silence stretched between us.

Then—

“I missed you,” I whispered and his expression cracked completely.

And just like that—

Something inside me gave way.

I moved before I could stop myself, and when he caught me, it wasn’t careful.

It wasn’t controlled.

It was desperate.

Years of absence collapsing into one moment. One emotional moment.

When we stepped back out, everything felt… different, quieter now.

My mother was awake now, sitting weakly but conscious.

The moment she saw him, she didn’t speak, didn’t question.

She just moved straight into him.

And the way she held him said everything words couldn’t. He held her just the same way.

Like he was afraid she would disappear again.

Then headlights cut through the space and a car pulled up.

Everything shifted instantly as the car doors opened and two women stepped out.

Dante moved at once, positioning himself in front of me without any hesitation.

And the look on his face told me this wasn't just another wedding guest…