Dante

26.5 | the day the blind fell

MARK POV

       I waited patiently for the man that had destroyed my life and my sanity. I hated Dante for putting me through this humiliation. I would have rather died than be here.

"Mark Astoria?" A deep voice asked.

I took a deep breathe before looking up. I looked up and found Stefan—the man who stole my previous wife from. It took all I had not to kill him.

       "It's been a while Stefan," I said in a cold manner.

       The man looked down with a guilty expression as he took the seat in front of me.

       "This must have something to do with Adrianna?" He mused.

       How dare he utter her name? He left her to die that night.

       "It actually has to do with your daughter." I folded my hands together as my lips tightened.

       "Daughter?" His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

       I let out a low scoff. I could not believe the audacity this man had. Then again, I could not judge him for I had turned to be just as bad as he was.

       "You got my wife pregnant and the day you two decided to run away together there was an accident. Adrianna died that night, but your daughter survived."

       Stefan gave me a blank expression. Then his lips curved up and he started laughing loudly. Those around us gave him weirded-out gazes. I frowned at him.

       How dare he laugh in front of my face?

       "Adrianna, Adrianna was not having an affair with me," Stefan stated. I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. "She was my sister."

       Sister?! No, no, no. That couldn't me.

       "I saw the photos of you two hugging and your secret rendezvous," I argued. "I had you followed to that hotel room."

       "Let me explain it to you. I had messed with the wrong people—some drug lords in Downtown Manhattan when I found out Adrianna was my sister. She was the only family I had left. I learned that we were separated when she got adopted by a wealthy family and I was left behind at the orphanage." Stefan explained. "I needed help so I took the last money I had to fly to Hollywood. I signed up to work as your body guard so that I could get closer to her. When I told her she did not believe me. She wanted a DNA test. That photo of us hugging was when she found out I was really her brother. She promised she would help me and get the money I needed to pay those men back. It would not be easy though since you had access to all your bank accounts, so it took a few months of planning."

       "Why didn't she tell me then?" I asked bitterly. "I would have helped her."

       "We both know how independent Adrianna was and how selfless. She did not want you to help me and risk ruining the image of your emerging company. If people found out that the brother of the rising Mark Astoria's wife was involved with drugs, you would have lost everything. I still carry the burden of being the cause of her death. That night, the night you think we met up to runaway together, was the worst of my life. I told her to not follow me, but she did. The men I had messed with were angry I ran and didn't pay them back on time. They murdered Adrianna and made it look like an accident. They told me to run or I would end up like her and like a coward I did. I left the only family I had left, my sister and her unborn child."

The man was now full on crying in front of me. I did not care about the stares we received. I placed a few dollars on the table as I walked out of the restaurant with a heavy heart.