“Don't talk such nonsense. Of course you will. If your father hears you say anything like that, we'll both be in trouble.”

I know she's right, but if I don't have the right to speak out loud, I can at least think freely.

Nobody will force me to marry.

I'll do whatever it takes to make sure the sheik doesn't notice my presence.

Odin

CHAPTER FOUR

That same night

Finally.

After waiting for more than twenty years, the day has come for my revenge.

I should be anxious, but I feel empty as ever.

Unfortunately, the conversation with Theodoro before the party started went as I had expected.

Despite being sure that Leandros's youngest son was with Orien the last time he was seen, I never believed that Theodoro was at all to blame for my cousin's disappearance.

Now, I have confirmation of what I had already guessed.

There's only one person responsible for it all: the patriarch Argyros.

I knew, at a very young age, about his psychopathy and cruelty. What happened to my family is not unusual for the bastard, as I discovered many years ago. He will trample over anyone to get what he wants.

The world is full of sick people, but Leandros is on the top of the food chain when it comes to heinous crimes.

It took me quite a while to track and counter his actions. Apart from my own personal reasons, it gave me satisfaction to undo his evildeeds. It's like cleaning up the human waste he represents. After all, I've been waiting since I was twelve years old for my reckoning with him.

Nobody knows what I went through. Not even my savior could imagine how it still haunts me.

The smell of death that follows me wherever I go.

The screams of my family.

And mainly, the guilt for having survived.

Now, as if that isn’t enough, there's also Orien.

Given the information Theodoro provided me, I already have someone on the hunt for Ciro, Leandros's head of security. Theodoro said that on that day, by the cliff, it was Ciro who took Orien to the boathouse. It will be a matter of time before I get confirmation on what they did to my cousin.

Not that I need any. Orien would never have left his family like that, for sure, but most of all, he would never have given up Theodoro.

I saw them getting closer and closer, and I knew it wouldn't end well. However, I never imagined that Leandros would go so far as to hurt his son's best friend, nor that he would manage to get rid of the boy. I never thought that the bastard would be stupid enough to hurt someone on his own island, but apparently, his hatred for his son's sexuality overcame his reasoning.

Or perhaps, his certainty of impunity.

However, the time is coming when he'll have to answer for all his crimes.

Now, after what Theodoro has revealed, I know Orien didn't make it out of here alive. Although I still can't prove it, tonight I'll give Leandros a taste of what awaits him in the near future.

I want to watch him writhing in agony as he watches his world crumble. To look into his eyes when I take away everything he holds dear.

Something unexpected happened today, however, that caused my plans to change.