JANE'S POV
Ferracco stared at the strange man in shock and anger. The strange man's grey eyes lit up when he glanced at Ferracco. The two of them seemed to know each other.
The older man put down his duffel bag and limped towards us. His eyes racked my face. His steel-grey eyes darkened with tears as he smiled at me. A gasp escaped me when he took my hands in his battered ones. I threw Ferracco a questioning glance but he ignored me.
The strange man reeked of sweat mingled with cheap soap. I shifted my posture feeling uncomfortable. His smile widened revealing stained teeth due to years of smoking. I felt goosebumps all over me. His smile was creepy too.
"It's nice to finally met you , Jane," he said in undisguised excitement.
"Have we met before?," l asked him in confusion.
I had this nagging feeling that l knew him from somewhere. A smile flickered on his rugged face.
"We are connected in so many ways you can't imagine," he said in that same creepy voice.
I swallowed suddenly feeling nervous. This strange man intimidated me. Ferracco must have sensed my nervousness because he said,
"Luis! Let's talk in the study room...."
The strange man glared at Ferracco and he clamped his mouth shut. Fear flashed in Ferracco's eyes. He cast his eyes to the floor. I have never seen him so intimidated.
"I sent you to protect her but you seduced her instead!," he growled at Ferracco.
What are they talking about?
"Excuse me? What are you talking about?," l asked the strange man.
He flashed me a warm smile again.
"Let's sit down first," he said as he hauled me to a nearest couch.
My heart was racing in fear. I had a feeling that this was not going to end well. He clasped my hands in his battered ones. Tears misted his eyes again.
"You are all grown up now," he muttered in a teary voice.
His thin arm shot out and removed a strand of hair on my face. I shuddered in fear.
"Who are you ?," l asked in a nervous voice.
"I was the one who hired Ferracco to stalk your parents."
I gasped in shock. My eyes trailed to Ferracco. He was standing across the room still and silent with a scowl on his face.
"Why would you do that?," l cried at him as l felt my anger mounting.
"I hated Augusto with everything in me," he replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Why?"
My father was a good man . I couldn't imagine anyone hating my father. His lips curled into a smirk.
"Let me tell you an interesting story then," he said.
~****~
" Twenty - nine years ago , there was a young rich man who owned a multimillion dollar company and a grand mansion. He had everything that money could buy except manners. He was a greedy and selfish man. He destroyed everything that stood in his way to success.
He was betrothed to a very beautiful woman who belonged to one of the most powerful and rich families in Brazil. The rich man was obsessed with this beautiful lady since his college days because she was the first and only woman to ever resist his charms and power.
It became his major objective to make her his. The rich man appealed to his powerful family to help him secure a marriage with the beautiful woman. The woman's family agreed to give their daughter's hand in marriage.
The beautiful woman was forced in matrimony with the rich man but she was unhappy. She was in love with her high school sweetheart but her family wouldn't allow it because he was not rich enough .
The two of them were stuck in a loveless marriage. Both of them continued to see their lovers in secret. The rich man was having an affair with one of the maids. The young maid was hopelessly in love with her master but it was not the same with him.
The only things he loved was power, money and fame. One day , the young maid told her boss lover that she was carrying the result of their love. The rich man was scared of his wife finding out because it meant no more money from his wife's family to boast his empire.
He kicked out his pregnant lover out of his mansion. On second thoughts he sent one of his goons after her with orders to kidnap her and force abortion on her. The rich man believed that she was going to use the child to blackmail him for money in the future.
The young maid begged the goon to save her unborn baby. The goon felt sympathy seeing the girl's tears. He send her away with strict orders of not stepping foot in the city again. The goon returned to his boss and lied that the mission was complete...."
"Why are you telling me this crazy story?," l interrupted him.
He gave me another creepy smile.
"I haven't finished the story yet."
I saw Ferracco descending the stairs. He was now fully dressed in khaki shorts and a tight blue tank top which showcased his well muscled arms. I didn't realise that he had left the room because l was too absorbed in the strange man's creepy story.
"The young maid went into hiding in a far away small town to protect her unborn child. Heavily pregnant , she struggled working two part-time jobs because she had no education nor family. The man who fathered her child was in the city leading a glamorous life.
He attended glamorous parties with his trophy wife dangling on his arm. He donated to charities pretending to help when all he wanted was fame and power.
The young maid gave birth to a bouncing baby boy and gave him a name his former lover wanted to give his son in future. Somewhere in her heart , she still had feelings for him. Sometimes she would hold his picture in her arms and cried herself to sleep.
Four years later, the wife of the rich man became pregnant only it was her lover's child. The rich man was very delighted because he already pictured a son who would lead his empire in the future.
The beautiful wife and her secret lover agreed to hide the truth to protect their unborn child. They knew how evil and cunning the rich man was. She gave birth to a baby girl. The rich man was disappointed at first but he later accepted his daughter.
He treated his daughter like a princess. He gave her everything that money could buy but the young princess secretly yearned for her father's warmth and love. He was always moving around the globe building his empire.
On the other hand , the young maid was raising her son with her little hard earned money. She didn't tell her son who his father was. Neither did the wife of the rich man. The two children grew up living a lie.
The son of the maid grew up seeing his mother struggling financially. She would smile and put on a brave face for him but he knew that deep inside she was struggling. He often wondered where his father was but he never asked her. The only time he did, his mother was very devastated and broke down in tears.
The young boy worked very hard at school because he made a promise to himself that he would succeed and take care of his mother. His mother got fired at the restaurant she worked because she refused to sleep with her boss.
Her boss furious that a simple maid had refused his advances spread rumours about her all over the small town. He said that she was a prostitute and he fired her because she tried to seduce him when she knew he was happily married.
Soon the small town was buzzing with false rumours of her. Married women harassed her pointing fingers at her
calling her a homewrecker. Businesses refused to offer her any jobs because of the stories surrounding her.
The young maid was devastated but she knew that she had to take care of her son. She ventured into the last thing she knew she should be doing. Prostitution !
She began to work as a call girl in one of the bars. Rumours about her increased but she didn't care anymore. She wanted to give her son a better education and future.
Her son was bullied and beaten by other kids because of his mother's profession. They called his mother a slut. The son endured their insults but deep inside he was hurting.
One day, he came home from school bleeding and his face was bruised and swollen. His mother rushed to him worried. He looked at his mother in anger for the first time.
"I never wanted a slut for a mother!" he cried at his mother in anger.
He told his mother that he wished he lived a normal life like other kids at his school. His mother feeling guilty , locked herself in her room and wept for her poor son.
She woke up early the next day and boarded a train to the city where her former lover resided. She went to the mansion of the father of her son. The former maid confronted her former lover and boss.
She blackmailed him for money . She threatened to tell his wife that he once had an affair with her while married and even got her pregnant and had her abort the child. The rich man was furious but he gave her the money. He didn't react well to threats.
The former maid went away happy. She was going to quit her job at the bar and set up her own business with the money. Half of the money , she was going to save for her son's university tuition. Her son wanted to be an engineer.
On her way home, she bought gifts for her son's birthday. Little did she know that her former lover had sent one of his goons after her. She was killed in a hit and run accident while her son was present.
She left her son alone and orphaned at fifteen years with no one to look after him," his voice trailed off.
By the time the strange man stopped narrating his story, tears were streaming down my cheeks. It was a sad story. The rich man was the devil himself.
"What happened to her son then? ," l asked him in a teary voice.