CHAPTER 119: RHEA

Dante arrived in a small estate. It was respectfully large with a building by the center.

Several security personnel were stationed everywhere, with guns in their arms, making it look like a prison.

Maybe it was, because someone was held captive in one of the rooms in that building against their will and they might never be able to leave if Dante didn’t do what needed to be done.

Dante closed the door to his car and marched inside. The armed security guards gave him a curt nod as a sign of respect but he ignored them all.

He marched directly towards the stairs, passing through several doors where he found more security guards with guns.

They look shocked to find him there because it’s been almost a year since he came to see his sister.

She must have been worried.

Dante reached a door that needed a passcode to enter. He entered the passcode and the clicking sound echoed.

He turned the doorknob and spread it open.

What greeted him was a large space big enough to be called a second living room, but it wasn’t. It was a bedroom with a queen-sized bed stationed right by the corner, and the rest was used as a playground with teddy bears flying around.

"Mr. De Rossi," the nurse greeted, giving a 45-degree bow while Dante cringed at that name. He still despised being addressed like that, but he didn’t say anything.

He walked past the nurse and glanced at Rhea, who was playing with dolls like a child, telling them stories as if they were living beings who could actually listen and express their thoughts about the story.

"Then the big bad wolf and the princess fell in love and lived happily ever after," Rhea narrated.

She heard footsteps coming towards her and turned to find her big brother.

"Dante!!" She screamed, rushing to wrap her arms around him in a hug.

Dante held her protectively. Out of everyone in his family, she was the only one he was willing to ruin himself for, and his father took over that opportunity to use him as a killing machine.

Then all of a sudden, Rhea pushed him away.

"I’m supposed to be mad at you. You didn’t come to see me for so long that I thought you’d abandoned me too. Hmph...go away. I don’t want to talk to you," she stated, taking a few steps back before settling back on the ground where her dolls were and started narrating another kind of story, completely ignoring his presence.

Dante couldn’t help but smile.

Rhea had always had this sickness since she was a child, she’s acted like a child all her life.

It made his father feel embarrassed because he didn’t want a disabled child whom the civilians could mock and use against him once he’d ascended to the presidential seat.

He’d even gone as far as pointing a gun at his own daughter’s forehead just to get rid of her by himself.

Dante stared at her two ponytail buns, each with a different color of purple and blue. She had crystal stones on her face with some colors as well like she’d just participated in a color painting competition.

Dante glanced around and saw several color palettes with a bowl filled with a strange color.

He frowned at this and immediately signaled the nurse who was in charge of taking care of Rhea to take the bowl away.

He squatted to Rhea’s level, and when he tried to pay her hair, she moved away.

"You left me here after so long. I won’t talk to you ever again," she said with a heavy pout.

"Are you that mad at me?" He asked but she didn’t give him a reply. "I’m sorry," he apologized but she continued to play with her toys like he didn’t exist.

Dante sighed. "You’re really not going to talk to me?" He asked, yet, he received nothing but silence from her.

Dante decided to reach for a bag he’d brought with him the entire time. He knew that if he needed to talk to her, he would need to bring gifts along.

Once Rhea saw the bag, her brown eyes instantly dilated. But she snorted again, feigning not to be happy about the toy figures that escaped the bag’s thickness.

"I brought you your favorite," he announced, reaching in and pulling out several Barbie figures with other action figures.

Rhea watched in awe. When he stretched it towards her, she took it from his hands faster than the flash as she admired it.

"You got me the Barbie dolls." She took out the dolls from their package and admired them so much that Dante couldn’t help but smile.

"Are you still angry at me?" He asked.

She regarded him for a second before shaking her head. "You’re safe."

Even though she spoke and acted like a child, he couldn’t help but think she behaved like an adult sometimes.

Dante gave her soft pats and she didn’t complain.

He glanced at the dining table where he saw a tray of food lying there, untouched.

"She hasn’t eaten yet?" He questioned the nurse who was back from getting rid of the bowl of color.

"A-actually," she stuttered. "The doctor came here last night..."

That was all Dante needed to hear to immediately understand the situation.

His father usually had a few doctors come to give Rhea some painful treatments as if those were going to make her recover. For years now, nothing had changed, yet Mr. De Rossi never told them to stop.

It was obvious their medication wasn’t working.

At this point, his father didn’t bring them for medication. He brought them to hurt Rhea because he could.

As for Rhea, on days that happened, she always lost her appetite. She’d lost so much weight, compared to the last time he’d seen her.

He patted her head one more time, gaining her attention. "Will you eat if I eat with you?" He asked.