Chapter 22: The Assault

Maria's POV

"Aghhhh!" I screamed and smashed my phone on the wall. Damn Vincenzo! I thought to myself.

It wasn't just his words that made my toes curl in disgust, but also how he said them. He wanted to hurt me. Have they not hurt me enough? At what point does that family stop and say it's okay.

'Why do they keep hurting me!' I raged and began to smash everything in sight. Ursula must have heard from her room because she panicked into mine.

"What is going on, Maria?" She looked at me in fear.

"I am going to kill Vincenzo! I will do it with my bare hands," I replied.

"What is it again?" she stood before me, stopping me from damaging my mirror. "Wait, does this have something to do with social media's trending topic? Did you perhaps have something to do with that?" She asked.

I could hear the panic in her voice. I wondered if she was disappointed in me.

"Yes, I did," I announced proudly. Her face fell, and she shook her head as if it were a dream.

"Marie, I would slap some sense into you, literally. Your fucking brother's life is at stake here! What? Did you think Vincenzo would let it slide and allow you to have your way? Your quest for justice is undeniably justified, but when life throws curve balls like this, you adjust appropriately!" She screamed at me.

"He threatened to hurt him, Ursula. He said he would send me bits of his body until he ceased to exist. He swore to send me a video proof if I don't believe him," I began to laugh. Not because it was funny, but because in this situation, if I didn't laugh, I would cry and never stop crying.

"Shut it down. Tell the officers to drop the accusations," she spoke softly.

"Would that stop him from hurting my brother? Do you think he'll have a rethink and not hurt Marco?" I asked, defeated.

"I don't know anything about Vincenzo asides from the rumors I've heard and what you've told me yourself. Everyone says he is tough and ruthless. He may or may not hurt him, but this is all you can do for now," Ursula replied, levelheaded.

It was easy for her to think correctly because she wasn't the one going through this.

"I'll call Simeon and Priscilla to do the needful," Ursula raised her head, waiting for an explanation.

I didn't quite realize it until she asked, "what does Priscilla have to do with this?"

"She called to tell me that she was asked to stop the news from getting to the press and if it was what I wanted," I explained.

"And let me guess, you said no," Ursula finished on my behalf.

"Yes, I did, Ursula. I wasn't thinking, okay? I just wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt me."

"Fair enough. But do you think you can trust Priscilla? She is probably playing you."

"She is playing all sides. I think that makes her smart. Whoever she has the most to gain from gets her loyalty," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"And I understand you're okay with that?" Ursula pressed on.

"As long as I get what I need," we stared at each other for an eternity.

I knew exactly what was going through Ursula's mind. She had known the sides of me who only dreamt daily of the havoc I would cause on my road to finding justice. She was only now seeing it play out in action.

I'm sure it surprised her, maybe even made her think twice about her decision to come with me. If she ever wanted out, I would never hold it against her. Ursula, in her way, had grown during so much pain and Isolation. We were like opposites of the same misfortune.

Mine was trauma from parents that suffered a terrible fate, while hers was parents that dished her horrific fate. Our stare-down was interrupted by a commotion going on downstairs.

We heard Zia Benedetta's voice in a continuous hight pitched rise, which was very much unlike her. We quickly jumped in action and ran downstairs, only to come face to face with the reason for the commotion. Viola Santoro.

She immediately broke free from the maids and Zia Benedetta refusing her entrance to the house and launched toward me. My reflex took over. As I dodged the first slap, she swung my way. She didn't relent but pounced on me while simultaneously dragging my head.

There was a pause for a brief moment, with everyone in shock. Then as if a veil was lifted, they all rushed to pull the crazy woman away from me.

"You little bitch!" She screamed, held bound by my maids.

"You crazy bitch!" I retorted. I wanted to snuff the life out of her so bad.

I didn't think it was fair that she got to come to my house and assault me while my brother was probably being tortured right this moment by Vincenzo.

"Me a bitch? I'll show you what a bitch is," she said, struggling to break free from the grip. They all held their ground, though. I watched her veins pop out, obviously frustrated about not being free to unleash her anger.

"You need to calm down, madame. This classless display won't justify whatever reason you're here," Ursula hissed in irritation.

"And who the hell do you think you are to interfere in my affairs with this silly wench?" She spat back, and I was enraged.

How dare she talk to Ursula like that? Was the thought in my head when I rushed towards her. The element of surprise worked well in my favor because no one expected me to spaz out like that.

I landed a few slaps before being pulled away by both Ursula and Zia. Viola rained down insults on me as she tried and failed to break free. I, for my part, responded to all of her spite with the venom of my own. I was not ready to be the bigger person—especially not when Viola Santoro was involved.

"Shut it this instant, the both of you!" Zia Benedetta, having had enough of the back and forth, screamed.

Everywhere instantly grew silent. Even Viola stood still. Zia Benedetta turned gracefully to Viola, and even I trembled at the rage I saw in her eyes.

"I'll ask you one last time, madam, to state why you're here, or we'll have to throw you out," she said. You could tell it took every ounce of control in her to be able to speak so calmly.

"This bastard lied that my son trafficked hard drugs. I just came here to beat the truth out of her. And if I have to, I'll drag her myself to the station for her to retract that accusation," she spat in anger.

"Well, you could have just said that instead of this shameless display you put up," Ursula said, clearly still displeased.

"Did I or did I not tell you to mind your business?" Viola asked. "And what if I don't want to?" Ursula retorted, moving to her.

I quickly put my body between them to stop her, then turned to Viola.

"Maybe if your son had given me what rightfully belongs to me in the first place, I would have never done that,"

"You have some nerves to talk still like you're in any position to be making demands. But I'm not surprised; you are a Caruso, after all. All your family does is steal. First, your pathetic mother stole my husband's affection, and now her bastard offspring did not only steal my son's prototype but also lied about something he would never do!"

"It was not my mother's fault that your husband realized the monster you are. And maybe I may have done all you said to get justice, but I can beat my chest and say that I am not a murderer. Can you swear the same, Mrs. Viola Santoro?" I watched her face drop in shock slightly, but she quickly shook it off.

"You can make up whatever lies you want to, but I swear on my life to make you pay in ways worse than death if you don't fix every mess you've created for my son," she said, finally able to pull away from the grip and walk away without so much as a glance back. Everyone began to disperse from the scene at the order of Zia until it was just the three of us left.

"Don't take whatever she says to heart. Your mother was never any of those things," Zia comforted me.

"I know. And that's why I'll call everything off, cus neither am I." I said with a tired expression. Everything seems off for me, and I hate that Vince could make me feel like that because he holds my elder twin brother hostage. How dare he? I'll just let this slide for now, but when I get my brother off of him, I'll be made sure that sweat won't be the leader of the cause of heat

I needed to be by myself, so I walked away, leaving Zia Benedetta and the princess watching my retreating figure.