Chapter 97: Blood Legacy
Agatha’s footsteps felt incredibly heavy as she entered the courtyard of a luxury villa hidden behind a dense pine forest. Her clothes were still stained with dried blood from Julio and Silvio. The sharp, metallic scent of iron seemed to cling permanently to her skin. Several guards in black uniforms stood stiffly at the entrance. They did not try to block her path. Instead, they bowed respectfully as Agatha walked past.
Agatha pushed the large oak door open roughly. Her eyes swept over the vast room lit by crystal chandeliers. She froze at the sight in the middle of the living area. There, on a comfortable velvet sofa, she saw Pierre examining her mother. Melynda looked clean and calm, though a hint of anxiety still lingered on her face.
"Let them go, Cardios!" Agatha shouted. Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming she had done earlier.
An old man appeared from behind the second floor balcony. Don Cardios walked down the stairs with a very refined gait. He wore a gray suit without a tie. His wrinkled face looked more relaxed than when they were in the middle of the war zone.
"Calm down, Agatha. No one needs to be let go because they were never held captive," Cardios said in a low, authoritative voice.
Agatha approached the sofa. She made sure her mother was not hurt. "You brought them here without my permission. You took advantage of the chaos to kidnap them and make them prisoners."
Cardios reached the ground floor. He signaled a servant to bring a warm drink. "You were the one who asked me to save them. I sent a special team to evacuate them right after you released Julio. I brought them here because my place is the safest location in this entire region. I did not want the remains of Marco’s guards to find them."
Melynda stood up. She touched Agatha’s trembling arm. "He is right, honey. They picked us up very politely. They even brought all of Pierre’s medical equipment so Xavier could still receive maximum care."
Agatha went silent. She steadied her racing breath. Her anger slowly subsided, but her suspicion remained. She looked at Cardios, who was now sitting in a single chair in front of the fireplace.
"Sit down, Agatha. You look very exhausted. You have been through a very long night," Cardios said while pointing to the chair across from him.
Agatha sat stiffly. She refused the tea offered by the servant. She wanted a clear answer right now. The room became quiet. Only the sound of firewood crackling in the fireplace broke the silence. Pierre and Agatha’s other family members seemed to slowly drift away, giving the two of them private space.
"You killed Julio?" Cardios opened the conversation.
"I did what had to be done. He was out of control," Agatha answered briefly.
Cardios nodded slowly. "That was a good decision. However, it shows that you have a very strong survival instinct. You did not let emotion hinder your steps."
"What is your real goal, Cardios? Why are you so obsessed with protecting me and my family?" Agatha asked directly.
Cardios was silent for a long time. He reached for a dark brown folder lying on a small table beside him. He opened it slowly and took out a sheet of paper with an official laboratory letterhead. He pushed the paper toward Agatha.
Agatha frowned. She took the paper. Her eyes traced the lines of numbers and complex medical terms. She reached the conclusion section at the bottom of the document.
"DNA test results?" Agatha muttered.
"Read the names listed there," Cardios ordered.
Agatha read the name Leonard Cardios and her own name. The genetic match percentage written there was ninety nine percent. She dropped the paper onto the table. Her head suddenly felt dizzy.
"Ugh," Agatha massaged her temples.
"Leonard was my first son. He was your biological father," Cardios spoke with a very emotional tone. "He died years ago because of a car accident arranged by Luigi. Your parents knew they were being targeted, so they hid you until even I found it difficult to find you."
Agatha looked at her mother in law who stood in the distance.
"Luigi, my second son, is also dead at the hands of Julio. I no longer have any sons. All my lineage ends with the two of them," Cardios took a deep breath. "Except for you, Agatha. You are the only grandchild left of my own flesh and blood."
Agatha leaned back against the chair. This information felt more painful than the physical wounds she had received. She was the granddaughter of a kingpin she had been wary of all this time. The blood flowing in her veins actually came from a lineage full of violence and power.
"Is that why you saved me? Because I am your heir?" Agatha asked with a bitter tone.
"Because you are my family. In the underworld, blood is everything," Cardios answered firmly.
Agatha felt her stomach suddenly churn. A very sharp nausea hit her solar plexus abruptly. The scent of jasmine tea on the table, which had smelled fragrant before, now turned very disgusting to her nose.
"Huek," Agatha covered her mouth with her palm.
She immediately stood up and ran to the nearest bathroom in the corner of the room. She threw up a yellow liquid that tasted bitter in her throat. Her body shook violently. She washed her face with cold water at the sink. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was very pale. Her eyes looked hollow.
Pierre stood in the doorway of the bathroom. He held a clean towel and a bottle of mineral water. Pierre’s face looked very calm, as if he had already expected this to happen.
"You need rest, ma'am," Pierre said softly.
Agatha took the towel and wiped her face. "I am just exhausted, Pierre. The pressure of tonight was too much for my body."
Pierre did not answer immediately. He gave the bottle of mineral water to Agatha. "It is not just because of the pressure, ma'am. There is another reason why your body is giving such a strong reaction."
Agatha walked out of the bathroom. She saw Cardios and her family looking at her with a very strange gaze. There was no surprise on their faces. Instead, they looked at her with a gaze full of protection, even tending toward an unusual sense of affection.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Agatha asked suspiciously.
Pierre glanced at Melynda for a moment. Melynda gave a small nod as permission to speak. Pierre then looked at Agatha seriously.
"I found out your medical results when you were in a coma earlier. We intentionally kept them until you woke up and the situation was completely calm," Pierre explained.
Agatha frowned. "What do you mean? Is there some other disease I suffer from because of Marco’s drugs?"
Pierre shook his head. He took another medical document from his pocket. He gave the document to Agatha.
"You are pregnant, ma'am. The age of the pregnancy," Pierre said in a very clear voice.
Bugh.
Agatha felt her heart stop beating for a moment. She looked at the document in her hand. The letters there seemed to dance in front of her eyes. She touched her stomach, which still felt flat. That nausea reappeared, but this time it was accompanied by a coldness that spread through her whole body.
"Pregnant?" Agatha whispered.
She remembered the nights she had spent with Xavier before all this chaos happened. She remembered how Xavier always held her warmly under the blankets. Now, in the middle of a war that had not yet truly ended, she was carrying a new life inside her womb.
Agatha looked at Cardios. The old man now smiled thinly. A smile that looked very satisfied. Agatha just realized something. Cardios, Pierre, and even her mother had known this from the start. Only she was finding out now.
"This is the main reason why we had to bring you here immediately," Cardios said. "You are carrying the future of this family inside you."
Agatha stood silent in the middle of the luxury room. She felt her world had just been shaken by an explosion more powerful than any bomb. She turned toward the door of the room where Xavier was being treated. Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. She did not know if this child would be born into a safe world or instead become a new target for her enemies.
Agatha squeezed the test result document until it was crumpled in her hand. She had to make a big decision now. The strength she had was no longer just for herself or Xavier.
"Pierre, tell me the truth," Agatha's voice trembled. "Is my baby okay after all those brainwashing drugs Marco injected?"
Pierre stepped forward. He held Agatha’s shoulder to calm her. "We need to do a deeper examination, ma'am."