CHAPTER 306
The room was filled with tension as gunshots echoed from outside. Angelo Messina stared at Ellis Barker with seriousness, a silent question in his eyes. The question lingered in the air: “So, was all of this a big trap set by you and Vittorio because of that night?”
Ellis, resolute, denied the hypothesis. “No, Messina, this is only my trap. It's time for you to realize that everything was planned by me.”
“How could you do this alone?” Messina inquired.
With a calculating smile, Ellis revealed her trump card. “I know your weakness, Messina. A vulnerable woman, like your own son Matthew, guided me. In fact, it was he who told me about what happened on the night Jason died.”
---
MONTHS AGO...
Ellis Barker, after being discharged from the hospital, was packing her things, determined to move forward with Jake and her daughter Donna. She longed to leave everything behind. While organizing her clothes, a male voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Are you Ellis Barker?” the voice asked. Ellis turned to find a blond man with green eyes standing at the door of her room. Recognizing him as Matthew Jones, Angelo Messina's son, she was surprised, not understanding his presence.
“What are you doing here, Matthew?” Ellis asked, a mix of curiosity and caution in her tone.
Matthew smiled, seeing that Ellis recognized him. “I need to talk to you about my father and everything that has happened so far.”
Ellis hesitated, expressing her desire to move on without reliving the past. “I just want to move on, Matthew. I don't want to touch on this subject.”
“I thought exactly like you. I thought just moving forward would keep all of this from catching up with me again, but when it comes to Angelo Messina, you'll never be at peace. Even if you think you're moving on, my father will intervene in your life, just like he did years ago,” Matthew warned.
“What do you mean?” Ellis asked, intrigued by Matthew's insistence.
“Have you ever been curious to find out who tipped off Tommaso Grecco about Vittorio's whereabouts on the night your brother Jason died?” Matthew inquired.
“It could have been Tommaso Grecco's men,” she suggested.
“But it wasn't them. It was my father,” Matthew explained, his eyes conveying a mix of determination and sorrow. “That night, Mia and I were kidnapped during our engagement dinner... We were arguing, and some guys took us. My father had to choose between me and Vittorio. And he chose me.
Surprised, Ellis confessed, “I didn't know that, Matthew, but I'm sure he chose you because you're his son and because of Mia. I know he suffers a lot for her... he still blames himself.”
“He doesn't blame himself, Ellis. Especially when it comes to Mia. The truth is, Mia chose me, not my father. And then, Messina did what he did best: he didn't accept Mia's choice, just like he didn't accept Vittorio's decision to choose you over him as his Goomba,” Matthew explained. “My father didn't choose me because I'm his son, but because Vittorio preferred you over him. And I'm sure Vittorio was going to tell you that at some point.”
Surprised, Ellis nodded. “I didn't know that.”
“You don't know a lot of things,” Matthew replied gently. “I bet you didn't know that to become a disciple of my father, you can't have a relationship, with a woman. Because that's his weakness. A vulnerable and pregnant woman, as that's how my mother died. Or as he says, that's how my mother chose to die when she was pregnant with their second child. He told everyone that the statue he made of her pregnant was in my honor, but it wasn't. My mother was expecting a second child and found out she had breast cancer. She had two options, live and remove the baby, or have the baby but risk dying. She chose the latter, and it angered my father. He said she didn't have the power to decide that, he did. She said she didn't want to live without a child, and he said then she wouldn't live in any way...”
Ellis was stunned by these revelations. “I didn't know any of this,” she murmured, feeling submerged in an ocean of secrets.
“If you want, I can tell you everything you need to know about Angelo Messina,” Matthew said softly, offering to share more if she was willing.
“Then, Matthew, tell me everything,” said Ellis, ready to hear the truth that was about to be revealed.
The two sat on the bed, ready for a conversation that could change everything Ellis knew about her past and the connections between their lives.
---
NOW
“You deceived me,” Messina acknowledged, his expression dark.
“Yes, and it was satisfying to see how much you were used by me,” taunted Ellis. “By the way, I'm not pregnant, I just used that in memory of Margaret Jones, the woman you killed.”
Messina, enraged, approached her. “You will pay for this.”
Before the situation escalated, the door opened, revealing the imposing figure of Rang Bone. He asked, “Is everything okay, Ellis?”
Ellis nodded and then turned to Messina's blue eyes.
“You might think so,” Ellis replied coldly, “but you won't be there to see.”
Confused, Messina questioned, “Why are you doing all this against me? I always liked you...”
Ellis approached him, whispering, “There's only one way to live out my PLAN B, and you're the only one who can stop me. So, it's either you or me. The choice that causes the least harm to everyone is obvious.”
Messina tried to propose an alliance. “We can be partners. I can be your Goomba, and then neither of us will harm the other.”
Ellis smiled disdainfully. “I don't need a Goomba that I can defeat.”
With a gesture from Ellis, Rang approached Messina and knelt him before Ellis. She held Messina's face in her hands and said, “Goodbye, Diablo.”
In a single motion, Ellis Barker twisted Angelo Messina's neck until his head turned towards Rang. Rang then threw Messina's body to the ground, leaving him there, as they headed towards freedom.