CHAPTER 121: THEIR SELFISH DEMANDS

"Will that day even come?" Michael retorted in a disappointed tone, the words laced with exhaustion from their constant friction. "Fine. I will wait for you to answer me one day for everything you have done all these years. I’ll be a father who wants to trust you this time."

Luca looked genuinely surprised, as his father didn’t immediately launch into a full-scale argument against his choices.

"As we discussed before, let’s have a proper welcoming ceremony for Sara in this family," Michael suggested, seizing the opportunity to mend things.

"Also, you may not like it, but I don’t want to keep the grudges with your aunts and uncles anymore. I will invite them along with a few others to this party. Sara’s family will also be invited. The rest, you can invite a few of your friends as well." With all the negativity going around, he wanted a break for his son and daughter-in-law, and he felt this was a chance to rebuild what was broken long ago within the family relationships.

"My both aunts’ husbands are mafias. Yet, you never complained about them, Dad. Why?" Luca curiously asked, his tone skeptical. "You want to involve yourself with mafias by building these family ties. That’s strange!"

"Your grandfather arranged their marriages with them. What could I have done?" Michael sighed, his jaw clenching slightly. "I asked Dad to marry them into a better household, but he never listened to me."

"Did you forget what happened seven years ago here? The war for inheritance," Luca reminded him, his voice rising. "They sent legit goons to kill me, Dad, you, and Mom!"

"You were suspicious of them without any evidence," Michael dismissed. "And you were merely 21 at that time. I know your aunts were fighting for a better share from Dad’s will, but keep in mind that—" he couldn’t finish as Luca fiercely interrupted him.

"Dad, don’t be ridiculous! You know very well what Grandpa underwent. Maybe for you, he never mattered, but I always respected him. What my aunts did to him always hurt him. All they cared about were their selfish demands. Don’t invite them to this celebration. I beg you," Luca said, his plea laced with genuine fear for his family’s safety. He then rose to his feet and prepared to leave, but paused.

"What if I tell you that I did have evidence? That attack was orchestrated by my aunts and uncles. And I still have that evidence. If you want to see it, I’ll definitely show it to you."

With that, he pivoted on his heels and went upstairs, leaving his father stunned.

Michael frowned, reeling, as if his head had been shoved into cold water. "That attack was planned by them?" he muttered to himself, feeling worried suddenly. All these years, he never got around to asking Luca, nor did Luca share this definitive information, but now hearing about it, he finally understood why Luca resented them so deeply.

"Michael, your phone is buzzing. Where are you lost?" Vinni’s voice brought him sharply out of his thoughts.

Michael shook his head and tilted it, still trying to process the news. Grabbing the phone, he saw his elder sister’s name flashing on the screen. He answered the call and brought it to his ear.

"Just finalize it," Michael ordered curtly, likely instructing someone about a business matter, and hung up the call.

Vinni, who had already sat down beside him, saw him lower the phone.

"What happened? Are you still upset that Luca hasn’t talked to you yet?" Vinni questioned, concerned by his pale expression.

"Luca talked to me earlier... Just a few minutes ago," Michael replied slowly. "I was discussing with him about the celebratory party to welcome Sara into our family when he told me something which absolutely shook my heart."

"What?" Vinni furrowed her brows in concern.

"Luca holds evidence against his aunts. Their husbands were behind the attack from seven years ago," Michael stated, the words sounding unbelievable even as he said them. "I always thought they were framed, that others wanted to weaken our family. Luca said it was a war of inheritance and they wanted to kill us."

Vinni’s eyes widened in profound shock as she heard that statement.

"Seriously?" She asked, her breath hitching.

"Yes. Luca wasn’t lying. But this brings one thing into my head, Vinni, why Luca acts in such a manner. He’s protecting us, Vinni. I mean, he acts like he doesn’t care, but deep down, he does. A lot," Michael explained, a wave of painful realization hitting him.

"When he was merely 21, he brought most of them down. I always considered his mafia presence in this family as a nuisance, but it turns out he had to become one to fight our enemies."

Vinni’s expression softened to as she agreed with his words. Then, taking a deep breath, she asked, "But why did Luca never reveal it to the police?"

"I don’t know. Nobody knows what’s in the mind of our boy," Michael said with worry.

~~~~

The screen went black as Sara’s thumb instinctively pressed the power button the moment Luca walked into the room. She slid the tablet onto the polished wooden table before her.

"I’ll be back in the office starting tomorrow," she informed him. "You, however, need to continue resting for at least one more day," she opined, her gaze steady on his face.

"Shall we just go back to my house?" Luca asked. He didn’t wait for an answer, already crossing the room with a weary drag to his step. He didn’t simply slump; he collapsed with a sigh onto the edge of the mattress.

"Why?" Sara frowned, her brow furrowing with confusion. She stared, genuinely perplexed. "Did something happen with your father?"

"Nothing," he insisted, though his eyes wouldn’t quite meet hers. He pulled a pillow to his lap, absently kneading the corner of the case. "We had a perfectly nice conversation. I’m just... missing my own four walls. My space," he explained, a subtle plea in his tone.

"We are staying here until you fully recover," Sara reiterated, a note of finality entering her voice. She leaned back slightly. "Starting tomorrow, I’ll be at my desk. There won’t be anyone to look after you."

Luca tilted his head back, letting out a short, scoffing breath. "Sara, I only sprained my arm. The rest of me is perfectly fine. And I’m certainly not a child who needs to be confined to his parents’ house," he countered, emphasizing the last words with a pointed stare.

"Well, you were acting like a child in the morning. Don’t forget that," Sara said pointedly.

"So, we aren’t going home, then?" Luca asked again, his chin lifting in challenge.

"No, we are not," Sara pronounced. "Not until you tell me, truthfully, what exactly transpired between you and my father."

Luca let out a chuckle. "He wants to throw us a reception. A celebration for our wedding. And guess who he insists on inviting? My entire family. I haven’t seen them for years; I have absolutely zero interest in celebrating anything with them," he explained with a bitter tone. He shifted on the bed.

"I highly doubt your father would force a guest list on you if you expressed that you didn’t want it," Sara asserted, folding her arms across her chest in skepticism.

"That’s naive, Sara. You know him better than that," Luca retorted.

The flow of their escalating conversation was abruptly shattered by the vibrating ring of a phone on the coffee table beside the armchair.

Before Sara could even reach for the device, Luca had snatched it up, his gaze dropping to the screen. "It’s Marco," he murmured, his voice softening instantly.

"He must be wanting to check on you," Sara replied, already moving to give him space.

Luca brought the phone to his ear. "Hey! Yeah, I’m much better now, thanks. I know you’re tied up at the hospital," he said easily, then paused, listening. "No. At the moment, I’m staying at my parents’ house. I’ll definitely catch up with you once Sara and I return to our own place."

He nodded, a brief smile touching his lips. "Okay. Thanks, Marco. Don’t worry about a thing; Sara is taking spectacular care of me." He held Sara’s eyes, flashing a subtle, slightly triumphant smirk as he spoke the last sentence, just as she fully straightened up from the table.

As the call ended and the line went dead, Luca tossed the phone casually onto the bed. "Marco wanted to drop by and see me." He ran his uninjured, left hand roughly through his hair, his earlier casual demeanor vanishing. "Isn’t it strange that the person who actually planned this attack is still nowhere on my radar," he muttered.

"They will come into the police radar’s soon," Sara stated. "Don’t trouble yourself with it. Believe in the legal way."

Before Luca could negate that statement, a voice from the door interrupted them.

"Young master, a certain woman is claiming herself to be Madam Sara’s mother," the butler announced after the knock.