THE BETRAYAL

I still want to make you love me,
make you love me again.

***

CHAPTER LI

*****

“FINALLY, YOU'VE COME to see me,” Lucien said once he had set eyes on Daniel who had made his way into his office like he owned the place. Which technically, he did. “The bitch finally decided to give you my message now?”

“I don't know of a bitch,” Daniel said, playing dumb because he didn't tolerate anyone talking bad about Araceli and he had never tolerated that from the beginning. Even if they weren't together — although, thank God, they were — the woman had a good heart. “I only have a wife and a sister but you couldn't possibly be referring to either of them because they're miles above you.”

“Settle,” Lucien said as he rolled his eyes at his son, not in the mood to exchange petty words with him. “She's not yet your wife. Calm down.”

Daniel decided to keep the news about his and Ara's secret union to himself. Nobody needed to know that yet. “You told me you could help me. That's the only reason I'm here,” Daniel said instead of responding to Lucien's words which greatly annoyed Lucien but the older man had decided that it was not a hill that he was willing to die on so he chose to let it go.

“Realistically, I could've helped you before this all started but you wanted to act like you know more than me,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he delayed in giving Daniel the information that he had used to lure him to his lair in the first place.

In that moment, Daniel couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy. It must have been like the feeling Araceli was having. The dread when it came to Lucien. The feeling like he would do something bad; something drastic. He finally understood what she was talking about but now that he had gone behind her back, it was much too late to back out now. Daniel was willing to risk everything for his family. His devotion to them wasn't to be underestimated.

“And how would you know this?” he asked, showing clear disinterest in the things Lucien had to say. By now, he knew his father was completely full of shit.

“I can sense things before they come. I've been in this business much longer than you have.”

“Settle,” Daniel mocked him as he rolled his eyes, making Lucien chuckle in amusement. How alike they really were as father and son, yet all Daniel did was deny it. “What do you want to tell me?”

“These people that are going after her are her people,” he said cryptically, making Daniel raise his eyebrow, as if to ask if he was joking.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, his tone now becoming serious. He didn't know if this was just another one of Lucien's dumb mind games or if he was being genuine this time. To his misfortune, he would quickly realise that his father was being as serious as ever.

“What do you think?” Lucien sneered, his voice full of condescension. “Her mother is a Costillo.”

Daniel remained silent for a few short seconds, his eyes trained intently on his father as if expecting him to take back his words and claim them as a joke, but when Lucien had only returned his blank stare, he realised that this was his reality.

“Fuck.”

What had he been expecting? For his life to not be the complicated mess it always seemed to be? For his wife to not be the exact people they had been running away from?

Lucien chuckled at his son's reaction and shook his head, clearly joyous of the fact that he seemed to have Daniel stuck. For once, Daniel was the one who knew the least. For the first time, Daniel finally relied on him. Daniel needed him and that pleased him.

“You don't have to worry though,” he said waving a dismissive hand as if that was going to quench his son's worry in anyway. “While you were out frolicking in the flower fields with your little mistress, I was making alliances with them.”

Daniel scowled at his father and scoffed. “Clearly not a very strong one if they still kidnapped my fucking son, is it?” he hissed, narrowing his eyes at his father's flippant attitude but Lucien remained calm.

“It is,” Lucien said with conviction. “They have nothing against us. It's her they want and I've made sure that they'll get her.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion, his brain working over time to try and understand the game that Lucien was trying to play with him. What did he mean by that? He was working with their enemies against his back?

“It's you?” he asked, his voice taking on an accusing tone. “You're the snitch?”

“Snitch?” Lucien repeated, looking genuinely offended that Daniel would consider that he'd snitch. He was bad, yes, but not that bad. What was the point of being an evil person just to hide it? “Everything I do, I do out in the open. I'm not so much of a lowlife as to be a snitch,” he said, sneering even at the mere sound of the word.

Daniel accepted his words as truth. As much as he hated his father, he also knew him and knew what Lucien was capable of doing. Lucien would never snitch only because he knew he would be able to do much worse. “So what, you want me to give them my wife?” he asked, deciding to move past the snitch topic.

“I would like for you to give them your mistress,” he corrected to which daniel only rolled his eyes at, “but I know you won't so I've made arrangements for her to naturally fall into their hands to save you,”

“What?”

“Take him away.”

Before Daniel could even comprehend what was happening, two men appeared seemingly out of nowhere and grabbed him by his arms, dragging him forcefully out of his father's office. As expected, he had put up a fight, beating up any man that had even dared to approach him yet just as he had reached for his gun, Lucien had called out his name.

“Daniel.”

“What?” he growled, turning around to glare at his father only to see that the only living parent he had was standing there with a gun aimed right at him. Daniel froze in shock, his eyes widening and his lips pulling into a frown as the deep feeling of betrayal had settled within his core and shattered his heart into pieces. “Your own son?” he asked, unable to control the way his voice wobbled as he struggled to believe that his father was really doing this to him. “Your own son.”

“No,” Lucien said calmly, keeping the gun cocked and aimed as his men took advantage of the situation to pull out a syringe and inject Daniel with the sedatives that would keep him calm for the journey they were about to take. “No, because you're not my son. You're not the boy I raised but I will do anything to get him back.”

“You'd even kill him?” Daniel asked, letting the vulnerability in him show as he felt the effects of the drug take over and weaken his body. His legs were starting to feel like they would give way beneath him and his arms remained limo by his side.

“I would,” Lucien said, further mocking daniel by hiding his emotions; by showing him again just how he was continuing to fail his father. “I'd rather kill you myself than let you fall at the hands of my enemies,” he hissed, his cold eyes narrowed almost in hatred at his own son. Daniel was only an asset to him. “Take him away.”

“Man, fuck you!” Daniel yelled, as he used the last of his strength to try and break free for his family but all his efforts were in vein. There were too many men holding him down now and every second that passed just made him succumb more and more to the drug, lulling him to a sleep he wished he would never wake up from. “Fuck you, son of a bitch.”

“You're grandmother?”

“Fuck you!”

Those were the last words he had been able to say to Lucien before he was promptly dragged away to somewhere he didn't know. All he did know was that the day he'd finally be released would be the day that his enemies would have succeeded in getting Araceli and then do God knows what to her. He hoped that Araceli wouldn't give in and that instead he would just rot there if that at least guaranteed that she would be safe, but who was he kidding? He knew his wife. He knew she wasn't letting this pass. He knew she would come for him even if that meant risking her life too. He just hoped no harm would come her way.

*****

Happy Halloween I guess!

I don't really have anything to say here iwl lol sorry for not updating ig college is hard.

Anyway, if yall want an update on me, I'm fine. I'm doing well. I'm definitely better than I was before. I'm trying to improve myself and life a little bit at a time :) I'm also reading atomic habits so there's that. Really interesting read, I'd recommend 100%

Um anyway thanks for showing up again. I love you all. Also thanks gor all he nice words in the last chapter. I'm not sure but I'm willing to bet that the next chapter is coming soon also. Okay byeeee

And I'm saying the next chapter is coming soon because it's already written so yeah.