Chapter 5
520words
He tore the cloth from my mouth. The taste of blood and the pain nearly made me pass out, yet I still forced out the last bit of strength to call his nickname.
"Rizzo…"
That single word was like lighting a fuse.
Fabrizio's eyes instantly shifted from shock to something vicious and unhinged. He gently set me down on the floor, then turned and grabbed the still stunned Giovanna by the collar.
He clamped his hand around her throat with such force that her tongue stuck out and her face turned purple.
"Did you do this?" Fabrizio's voice was terrifyingly low, every word squeezed out through clenched teeth. "Who the hell gave you the nerve to touch my mother?"
"H-Honey, you've got it wrong," Giovanna gasped, clawing at his wrist and struggling desperately. "She's a liar. She was pretending to be your mother. I was helping you get rid of an undercover threat. I did it all for you!"
"A liar…?" Fabrizio let out a cold laugh.
His gaze swept over the blood on the floor, the broken chains, the shattered phone, and finally settled on my battered face.
The killing intent in his eyes deepened.
"Do you really think I can't recognize my own mother?"
Fabrizio suddenly straightened, his eyes red as he exploded into a roar.
"She is Liliana Medici. She's the mother I hid and protected under a false identity for ten years, the mother I spent eight years searching across thirteen countries to find doctors who could rebuild her body!"
He yanked the knife from his waist. The blade gleamed coldly under the lights as he pointed it straight at Giovanna's face, the tip almost touching her skin.
"You smashed her head with a candlestick. You burned her with a cigar. You stabbed her palm with a dagger. And you say you did it for me?"
Giovanna completely broke down. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor, tears and mucus streaming down her face as her whole body shook.
"N-No, please. I'm sorry! I really didn't know she was your mother. I thought she was a lover you kept hidden. I only lost my head because I love you too much. Please spare me. I'll do anything to make it up to you!"
"Love me too much?" Fabrizio scoffed, his eyes filled with disgust and contempt. "This is what you call love, hurting the person I treasure most? Do you know she blew up a car to save me back then? Because of that, her skin and her leg were burned and ruined. Do you know I spent eight years just to help her stand again? Do you know how much she suffered before she found the courage to come back here?"
His knife slowly lifted. The cold gleam of the blade reflected off Giovanna's face, which was pale as paper.
"You'll pay for every ounce of pain my mother endured. Do you think you're even worthy of asking for mercy?"
