"Mrs. Hong... Mrs. Hong... wake up! Mrs. Hong Cha Young!"
Cha Young gasped and widened her eyes. Mr. Cho's panicked face was close by. She found herself still lying in her bedroom in the mansion.
"Are you all right, ma'am?"
"What date is it?"
"December 25."
"Year?"
"2022."
"Vincenzo... the verdict hasn't been decided yet, has it?"
"Um... well, the trial hasn't even started yet."
Cha Young heaved a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing, Mrs. Hong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"Yes, I dreamed he was sentenced to death."
"Aigoo, it was a very scary dream. But people say, reality is the opposite of dreams."
"Hopefully so."
Cha Young got up slowly. Her head was spinning from a bad dream. She rubbed her belly which felt slightly tightened. She looked out the window, it was getting dark. It seems she overslept.
"I want to go back to Malta, Mr. Cho."
"Okay."
Cha Young staggered slightly as she was about to stand up.
"Do you need to be held, Mrs. Hong?"
"It seems so."
Cha Young borrows Mr. Cho's arm.
"If Mr. Vincenzo sees this, he'll be furious, won't he?"
Cha Young chuckled softly, "just let him. He chose to go himself, even told me to find another man."
"Ah, too bad, I already have a wife and child, Mrs. Hong."
Cha Young laughed, "Who said I want to be with you, sir!"
"Thank God, you can laugh again."
Cha Young smiled wryly, "My heart is still crying..."
~~~
A few days after the new year, Cha Young contacted Gustavo through Caterina. She paid that lawyer to be Vincenzo's defense. She also asked for a copy of the Vincenzo case file for her to study.
She still hasn't returned to Korea. At least she wanted to hear the verdict on her husband first.
~~~
Gustavo waved briefly to Vincenzo who had just entered the visitors' room.
"I'm here as your lawyer," said Gustavo, handing him his business card, though it wasn't really necessary since they'd known each other since college.
Vincenzo smiled faintly. From the start he had planned to defend himself and not use another lawyer. But having a lawyer isn't bad either, it will definitely help him more in court later.
"I'm not being kind, you know," claimed Gustavo, "your wife paid for me."
"Hasn't she returned to Korea yet?"
"You think she'll obey you?"
No, Vincenzo had already guessed it.
"From the first time I met her, I could already see the stubbornness of your wife."
"Indeed." Vincenzo missed her, her stubbornness, her spoiledness, and her kindness.
"Anyway," Gustavo began to open the case file, "for your cases during your time as consigliere, we can make an excuse that all of your actions were at the behest of Fabio and Paolo."
Vincenzo nodded in agreement. He has also stated the same thing during interrogation.
"Then for the murder case of these two Koreans, you can't deny it because your fingerprints and DNA were detected at the crime scene and their corpses. We will try to apply for leniency based on the motive for the murder. From what I heard from Mrs Cassano, you killed them because of your mother and your father-in-law was killed by them first, and they also injured your wife."
"Can we not include my wife's name? I don't want her to be called as a witness in court. I'm afraid she will also get punished for being involved in hiding me while I'm still fugitive."
"Okay," Gustavo crossed out Hong Cha Young's name he just wrote.
"Lastly, Luciano. Hm..." Gustavo rubbed his bearded chin, "no concrete evidence was found, no body. The allegation points to you because your families are at war. Are you sure you will dodge the charges in this case? Are you sure you're not leaving any traces they can find?"
"Yes."
Gustavo leaned forward, "how did you get rid of them?"
Vincenzo also leaned forward and whispered, "secret."
"Hey, I'm your lawyer! I have to know everything to be able to defend you!"
"Can I trust you?"
"You know, Vincenzo, the relationship between the defendant and the defense would not exist without trust between the two."
Vincenzo told Gustavo to get closer, "I cremated them and threw their ashes into the sea."
Gustavo suppressed his laughter, "how dare you throw waste into the sea. Oh, poor fish."
"So how long do you think I'll be in prison for?"
"In all cases... maybe... 50 years?"
"So I already have grandchildren when I go out?"
"That is if your child is not sterile."
"Cazzo di merda!" Vincenzo growled while glaring furiuously.
(F*cking sh*t!)
Gustavo just shrugged nonchalantly. He really is that annoying.
Gustavo cleared his files, "I'll do my best."
~~~
Cha Young sipping her matcha latte at a cafe. It was tastier than the one Vincenzo had bought in the hospital cafeteria, but she still didn't get the satisfaction she wanted. She also bought herself a matcha latte at the hospital cafeteria twice with different baristas, but it tasted different from what Vincenzo bought at that time.
She turned toward the entrance, where Gustavo came and approached her. Cha Young stands up and greets him.
"Here's the case file," Gustavo handed her a flashdisk.
"You should have sent it via e-mail instead of going all the way to Malta, sir," Cha Young plugged it into his tablet.
"It's better if we discuss face to face. After all Vincenzo asked me to see how you are."
"Tell him I'm not okay. Tell him I'm not healthy. I want him to keep worrying about me."
Cha Young glared at her tablet. The case file is written in Italian. She was already fluent in speaking, but still not fluent in writing and reading. Having just read a paragraph, her eyes are already watery.
Gustavo, who noticed Cha Young's difficulty since earlier, only gave a small smile.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, please..." Cha Young smirked desperately.
Gustavo also explained several important points.
"How long do you think Vincenzo will be imprisoned?"
Not joking like he did with Vincenzo, Gustavo said that it was likely that Vincenzo would be prosecuted by prosecutors with a maximum sentence of life in prison. But Gustavo will seek leniency and appeal. Vincenzo could probably be imprisoned for less than 20 years, maybe he could even get out sooner if he got into remission and behaved well.
"To get a not guilty verdict, that's impossible, huh?" Cha Young still hopes for the impossible.
"Yes, it's difficult. First, in the murder case of the two Koreans, Vincenzo's DNA was found, and some of his crimes during his time as a consigliere have strong irrefutable evidence. It's better for Vincenzo to confess earlier so that his sentence can be lighter."
Cha Young nodded in agreement, "well, killing people, even though they deserve to die, is still not justified in the eyes of the law."
~~~
2 months later, the third trial of Vincenzo Cassano.
After two trials, today the judge will give the verdict against Vincenzo.
Vincenzo was ushered into the courtroom. He could see Cha Young among the trial participants clearly, even though the woman was sitting in the back seat. His wife always comes to witness his trial, even though he has left a message to Gustavo so that Cha Young doesn't have to come, especially today, where the verdict will be read out. But Vincenzo certainly knew how stubborn his wife was.
The prosecutor read out the closing and his demands, that is 35 years in prison, or a maximum in prison of life. Then the judge asked the defendant to read the closing. Gustavo was about to stand up, but Vincenzo got up first. He turned to the congregation, where there were several families of the people he had tortured and killed while still carrying out his duties as a consigliere. He bowed in apology, though surely they couldn't possibly forgive him.
"I admit that all of my actions were not right. Even though at the previous trial I argued that the victims I tortured and killed deserved it because they were the ones who first looked for trouble with my family, but in fact there were no humans, anyone, which deserves their life snatched away, especially mercilessly. During the year on my run, I have reflected on all that and regretted it. Even though I have become a mafia boss, over the past year, I have not used torture as a method of negotiation like we used to done by my predecessors, and we don't touch any more illegal transactions. Even so, I still have to accept the punishment for my past actions and live it."
"Considering all the evidence, witness statements, confessions, the defendant's attitude and the defendant's remorse, then I as a judge decided, the Defendant Vincenzo Cassano was sentenced to 25 years in prison."
Knock... Knock... Knock...
The atmosphere of the courtroom was silent, starting to get bustling with the buzz of the trial participants. There are those who disagree with the judge's decision which is considered unfair, and they are the family of the people who once tortured and killed Vincenzo. But more people think it's fair enough, considering that the victims he killed were also criminals.
But everyone's opinion doesn't matter to Vincenzo. He only wanted to know the opinion of one person only.
Cha Young just sits without comment in the back seat. She lowered her head, staring at her bulging belly. She touched the former kick from the inside. It was the baby's first kick, right after the judge knocked the govel, as if he was responding to his father's verdict.
Cha Young exchanged glances with Vincenzo for a moment before the man was led away from the courtroom. She got up and left with the other trial participants.
"Mrs. Cassano," Gustavo approached her, "sorry, I did my best to minimize the sentence, but--"
"It does not matter."
"We can appeal."
Cha Young nodded slowly.
"Are you going back to Malta today?"
"Yeah, my plane is flying in 3 hours."
"Do you need me to take you to the airport?"
Cha Young turned towards the parking lot, where Luca was starting her car engine. He and some of Vincenzo's men were found not guilty, because they were not directly involved in the torture and murder that Vincenzo carried out while serving as consigliere. They were actually involved in killing the Luciano Family, but the case could not be brought to court because there was no evidence.
"I'm with Luca," Cha Young said as her car arrived in front of the court.
"Okay, be careful on the way. I'll try to appeal, if it accepted, I'll send you the schedule."
"Thank you, Mr Gustavo."
Gustavo opened the back door for Cha Young.
Luca drove the car slowly in the middle of an empty street. Every now and then he glanced in the rearview mirror, watching his madam. Cha Young just kept silent, looking at the buildings behind the car window.
"I tried so hard, but in the end it wasn't even matter. Should I go down that way?"
~~~
"Cha Young," Caterina sat beside Cha Young who was folding her clothes on the bed, "are you really sure?"
"Yes, 1000 percent."
"Aren't you going to regret it?"
"I'll regret it if I don't."
"But..."
Cha Young zips up her suitcase.
Caterina took a deep breath. She clenched her fists, "hwaiting..."
~~~
Gustavo meets Vincenzo again, this time not as his lawyer, but on behalf of Cha Young. He handed him an envelope containing a file.
Divorce papers
Vincenzo smiled faintly as he read the letterhead.
"Give me your pen," Vincenzo pleaded, holding out his hand.
"Read it slowly. She left a letter in there too."
Vincenzo put the letter back in the envelope. Before leaving the room, the warden checked the contents of the envelope. He opens a letter from Cha Young in Korean.
"What's in this letter?" Warden asked.
"Please use a translator application." Reply Vincenzo
Clucking lazily, the warden opened the application. What can he do, instead of being fooled if it turns out that the letter is a plan to escape from prison, he will be the one to blame later. After checking it, he put the letter back in the envelope and returned it to Vincenzo.
In the cell, Vincenzo read a few lines of sentences written on HVS size paper:
For my Darling,
While you were gone, I decided to stay.
I'm trying to be patient waiting for you.
But I guess 25 years is too long.
I can't stand to wait for you.
I won't be able to live alone without you for 25 years of uncertainty.
I'm not a patient person.
I'm selfish too, I admit that.
So...
I will go...
~~~
All the prisoners lined up to take their lunch. Vincenzo held out the tray he was holding for the officer to fill with food. As he turned to go to his seat, he accidentally collided with another inmate, causing his soup to spill a little on the prisoner's clothes. The fat prisoner cursed angrily, then slammed Vincenzo's tray of food.
Vincenzo raised his cold, scary eyes.
"What are you looking at, stupid Asian brat?"
Vincenzo stopped another prisoner who was carrying a tray of food, he grabbed it, then slapped the tray on the head of the prisoner who was looking for trouble with him earlier.
A fight ensued. Not only the two of them, the other prisoners also felt 'invited' to fight each other. The officers were unable to intervene, they even ended up getting hit.
By the time the chaos had calmed down, Vincenzo was already lying on the floor with his stomach pierced by a sharp iron bar.
~~~
Vincenzo was rushed to a nearby hospital and into the surgery room. Because Vincenzo was a special prisoner, the chief warden himself stepped in to wait for his surgery. Since Vincenzo Cassano is a mafia boss who has been on the run for 1 year, they're worried that he intentionally injures himself to escape, as did his brother, Paolo Cassano.
Almost an hour later, the doctor came out.
"The wound is quite deep, but it doesn't involve any sensitive organs. We've stitched it up and--"
"Doctor, arrest!!!" Screamed a nurse who came out of the operating room while running frantically.
The doctor ran back into the surgery room. The Chief Warden looked confused on the outside, until soon the doctor came out again, with the nurses pushing a gurney on which a person was lying with his whole body covered in a white sheet.
"The prisoner suddenly got heart failure and died at 13:44."
"WHAT???"
The Chief Warden opened the sheet. Vincenzo was lying motionless with his eyes closed. The Chief Warden checked his breath and pulse. His body still felt warm, but he was no longer breathing and his pulse had also stopped. He grabbed the doctor's small flashlight, examined Vincenzo's unresponsive eyeballs. He cursed in annoyance, letting the nurses take the body to the morgue.
~~~
The plane hovered in the darkening sky. Cha Young straightened the blanket that covered Rosé's sleeping body. She herself also took a comfortable position to sleep in the business class seat. While rubbing her belly that moved from the inside, she fell asleep too.
.
.
.
Tired...😥
Be patient please. It doesn't take long to continue.
Fyi, for legal issues and the judge's decision, I made it up. Italian law, I don't understand the law in Indonesia. As far as I know, in Indonesia, the punishment for premeditated murder is 20 years or a maximum of life.
If I search on google, there are news about a ruthless mafia who was arrested, but got a relatively light sentence even though he had killed many people. Some were only 25 years old even though they had killed 100 people, some were sentenced to life but were reduced to 35 years, but then released in their 11th year. Etc. I don't know. cmiiw...
Here the visual of Gustavo Antolini, I pick random Italian model and idk his name 😅