WARNING: Before you proceed, I would like to inform you that this chapter will contain dark themes such as sexual, verbal, and physical abuse that will be uncomfortable to read.  Know that these themes are a significant part of the story and are not a way to promote them in any shape or form.

Please read at your own risk. Thank you.

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THERE ARE AT LEAST a hundred people at the town square who are there to celebrate Capo di Monte's annual anniversary. You can find stalls everywhere, kids running around in the mud, and even men drinking beer on the side. In the middle, you can even find a stage where the beloved mayor will make his speech.

     Everyone was in a good mood, but a particular name was being uttered from people's mouths. A name that was starting to get the recognition of the townspeople.

     "I heard Dr. Francesco will be opening up his own clinic, and it's going to be cheaper than Dr. Romano's," an older man says.

     "He has been making regular rounds too. He visits the old folks and gives them free medicine. Dr. Francesco has really helped our town. Maybe he should run for mayor next year," a woman replies, and everyone can't help but agree.

     Chief of Police Alfredo Ricci, who overheard the conversation, rushes to a covered stall where Dr. William Romano, mayor Camillio Winchester, and businessman Finn Vanderbilt can be found.

     "We have a problem," Alfredo announces as soon as he joins the group. But when he entered, a camera flash suddenly welcomes him, making the police officer flinch and close his eyes. "Finn! You asshole!" He shouted, and Finn only laughed and put the camera down.

     Camillio, who was smoking a cigar, exhales the smoke from his mouth and looks at his friend. "What is it now? Did you catch a group of teens with drugs again?"

     "No, it's about Francesco. People are already talking about the clinic he's planning to open, and there are talks that he might even run for mayor," Alfredo explains. 

     William—who looked obviously annoyed by this—takes a sip of his alcoholic drink first before slamming it back down on the table. "That Francesco...I was only trying to help him because he seemed useful, but now he's trying to take over. Who does he think he is? Just because he's from the city, it doesn't mean he can take over this town," William explains with a bitter tone.

     Camillio finishes his cigar and puts it on the ashtray before looking out at the crowd outside. "The people of Capo di Monte are gullible. We can manipulate their thinking and turn things around."

     "But the townspeople love him," Finn Vanderbilt says, irritating the others.

     Finn, like Francesco, just moved to the town three years ago. He bought land in Capo di Monte for his tobacco business. But unlike Francesco, he doesn't care about the people in the town, which is something that William and the others like.

     "When you denied giving him that building permit for his clinic, the people practically rioted. But then our kind Francesco didn't want to argue, so he decided just to open a clinic inside his own house," Finn explains further, and all William could do was take another sip of his alcohol.

     "We have to teach him a lesson. If we put our guards down, he'll ruin everything we've built for this town," William explains, and the others can't help but agree.

     William Romano couldn't help but be extra annoyed by how Francesco was getting recognized by their townspeople. He grew up in this small town and didn't precisely finish his studies in the big city like Francesco did because he was afraid of the ongoing war. Other than that, Francesco had a beautiful wife like Adele. His own wife was infertile, so she got depressed and let herself go, which was something that William hated. He blamed her for a thing she couldn't even control.

     Francesco had the life that William desperately craved. He would do anything to destroy that perfect life of his.

     "Those rumors about his wife didn't help either. We tried getting him drunk and would even introduce him to different women, but nothing worked. He's sickeningly faithful to her," Alfredo says.

    "Well, who would even cheat when you have such a woman beside you? My wife looks like a hag, but Adele is fucking sexy. Looking at her slim fingers already makes me horny," Camillio then comments, making the others laugh.

     "But have you all ever wondered why they never had a child yet? Is Francesco actually infertile?" Finn then asked, and the others couldn't help but laugh again.

     "What a shame. If I were him, I'd plant my seed on Adele every year," Camillio comments.

     "Anyway, what should we do about him? We have to put him in his place. Capo di Monte belongs to us. A de Vincenzo shouldn't ruin that for us," William says, and the four men look at each other and start coming up with a plan.

     "When we were patrolling, I saw light coming from their window. It seems like they're still at home," Alfredo Ricci shares, and a smile instantly appears on William's face.

     "Maybe we can pay a visit," William says, finishing his alcoholic drink and standing from his seat. "He's been pissing me off, and I'd want to let out some steam. We already have the police and the mayor on our side, so this won't be much of a hassle. We'll just scare him a little and remind him who we are."

     "You sick bastard," Camillio replies. He honestly didn't want to join William in his plan, but whenever he had the chance to exercise his power, he always wanted to take it. So Camillio stands from his seat and decides to come with them.

     William, Alfredo, and Camillio look back at Finn, who is still smoking his cigar. They were expecting him to join them, but Finn was a businessman. He wasn't the type to play around as they did. He only cared about money, so Francesco was the least of his concerns.

     "You gentlemen can go ahead and enjoy the night. I'll stay here," Finn stated, which was a quick decision that would, later on, save him from the calamity that would soon fall upon them.

     "Then let me borrow this," Alfredo then says, grabbing Finn's camera so he can take it with them.

     The three powerful men of Capo di Monte left the town square and drove to Francesco's home. There weren't any other people around because everyone was in the town square, so the streets were very quiet, which was much more likely in their favor.

     "Francesco! The anniversary celebration has started. Where are you?!" William shouts, aggressively knocking on the door. Since he had a few drinks, William was intoxicated and acted a little off. But this wasn't enough for Alfredo and Camillio to stop him.

    "Francesco, my dear friend! Open the door!" William continues to shout, making the two men behind him laugh.

    Alfredo uses the camera to take a picture of their drunk friend, but as soon as the camera flashes, the front door to Francesco's house suddenly opens, revealing a beautiful woman who is wearing a long white dress.

    "W-William...and mayor Camillio and Alfredo. What are you doing here?" Adele—Francesco's wife—asked, surprised to see the three figures.

    "Oh, my lovely beautiful Adele. I didn't know you were home," William says, leaning his hand against the doorframe and moving closer to Adele.

    Adele could instantly smell the alcohol in his mouth, so she quickly moved away from him. "I apologize, but Francesco isn't here at the moment. He left just a couple of minutes ago. We'll join you all at the town square when he returns," Adele explains, which wasn't entirely a lie.

     Francesco was back at the manor. After receiving the message from his father that his son Giovanni wanted to attend the town's anniversary celebration, Francesco went to the manor to get Giovanni so the three of them could go together.

     Adele tries to close the door on them, but then William stops her and forcefully opens the door, startling the poor woman.

    "Aren't you even going to invite us in? We'll wait for Francesco together," William suddenly asks. Adele wants to decline him, but then he sees officer Alfredo. Alfredo touches the buckles of his belt, making Adele notice the gun. The sight of the deadly weapon made Adele gulp in terror, so with no other choice, she nodded her head and let them in.

    William smirks and walks inside the house, Alfredo and Camillio following behind him.

    "P-Please have a seat," Adele says with a nervous tone.

     William looks around the house but ignores Adele's request. "Adele, your husband will be opening a clinic here. Is that correct?"

     Adele turns to face William and glances at Camillio before answering, "We weren't given a building permit, so he decided just to open it here."

    "Are you perhaps blaming me for that?" Camillio then asks, making Adele flinch.

    "N-No...no...of course not."

     "Well, can we see the clinic? Maybe I can donate some equipment that Francesco might have yet," William then says.

     Adele glances at Alberto this time and looks at his gun before looking back at William. "Why yes, it's right this way." Adele leads the three men to a spare room that is made to look like a clinic. It was small but had the equipment needed, even for major surgery. The fact that Francesco was able to put all this together only angered William even more.

     "This is the clinic. Now please, if you have no other purpose here, I want you to leave," Adele continues to request.

     William grins and approaches Adele, reaching out to touch her cheek. "Why? Do you not want us to be here?" William whispers close to Adele's ear. "Aren't the rumors true? You're a prostitute, right? So why don't you help us out here?" William continues to ask, gently sliding his finger down her cheek. Adele couldn't move, so she could only let a tear fall from her eyes.

     "Please, I don't know what you want, but Francesco isn't here," Adele tries to say, her lips quivering in fear.

   William grins when he sees the look on Adele's face. He moves closer to her and tries to kiss her, but Adele finally gets enough strength to push him away so she can escape. The action was something that William wasn't very pleased with, so he quickly chased after her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and slamming her on the metal bed, pinning her down so she wouldn't be able to escape.

    "Let go! Please...let go!" Adele starts shouting.

    "You two! Help me out here, for god's sake!" William struggles to say.

    "Shit!" Alfredo then curses, but he runs to where William is, helping him put straps on Adele's arms and legs. While Camillio, who was just watching on the side, takes a seat and pulls out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket to start smoking.

     "Stop, Please! Francesco! Help me! Francesco!" Adele continued to shout while the two men strapped her to the metal bed. She tries to struggle, but Alberto punches her and shoves a handkerchief inside her mouth, finally making her stop.

     When Adele is now tied down, William stares at her and starts stripping her, making Adele cry even more. But William didn't care as he removed every cloth in her body until she was fully naked.

     Adele trembled as the men gazed down at her body like they were starving animals. William leans close and presses his lips on her skin while Camillio approaches her to stare down at her too.

    "Such a beautiful woman. Francesco is wasting you for hiding you here," Camillio says, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. He stares at Adele, but then, out of nowhere, he presses the cigarette on her skin, making Adele scream. Her reaction made Camillio sickeningly turned on, which made him repeatedly burn Adele with the cigarette.

     "Hey! Stop it, you're ruining her," William complains, pushing Camillio away. He tried to act like a savior to her, but a shiver ran down his spine when William saw her eyes. Adele looked back at him with so much anger that it only irritated William even more.

     "Why the fuck are you looking at me like that, huh bitch?! You think I'm pathetic, don't you? You think so, don't you?!" William shouted, looking around the room and spotting a container that had medical equipment.

     "You. Hand that over to me," William instructed. Alfredo wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to do it, but Camillio was intrigued, so he did it himself. He hands the container to William, and then William takes a large needle and some surgical sutures. As soon as Adele saw what it was, her eyes immediately widened in shock, and she instantly started pulling her hand off the straps. But despite her efforts and her muffled screams, she could not escape.

     William was now blinded to realize what he was willing to do. He was blinded by rage and jealousy, so with no hint of doubt, he asked Alfredo to hold Adele's head down while he mercilessly started stitching her eyes shut.

    Adele screamed and screamed as blood oozed out of her eyes. Camillio, on the other hand, started laughing. He takes the camera from Alfredo and starts taking pictures of her.

    When Adele finally had no strength left in her, the three men decided to r-ape the helpless Adele. William even removed the handkerchief inside her mouth, letting her scream in pain and agony. But that still wasn't enough to stop them. Her hopeful cries drove them to further insanity.

    "Francesco! Francesco!" She continued to shout as the men defiled her body and every being.

     They took turns on her like she was some kind of object, and Camillio would even take pictures. But after an hour or so, Adele finally stopped screaming, and her body became lifeless. Their adrenaline finally disappeared, and when William checked on her, he immediately moved away from her.

     "W-what's the problem now?" Alfredo asks while still thrusting his hips, sweat streaming down his forehead as he does so.

     "S-shit..." William says in a panic. "She's fucking dead. She's dead!"

     Camillio, who didn't even flinch—almost as if this was an everyday activity for him—continued to defile Adele's body despite hearing what William had to say. "Isn't that better? She's quiet now," Camillio answers, but William doesn't want to continue anymore.

     "I'm heading out. We have to escape now," William insists, quickly putting his clothes on.

     Camillio didn't want to leave, but when they heard a car approaching, Camillio finally stopped. He looked at Adele's body for one last time and gave out a satisfied look. With no ounce of guilt, the three went to the back and ran off, leaving Adele and the camera behind.

...

"Why did you have to make such a mess at your grandfather's office, Giovanni? We had to clean it all up, and now your mother is probably worried about us," Francesco scolds while he and his son got off the car.

    When he got out of the car, he noticed a vehicle driving away in such a rush, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

    "I apologize, father. I wanted to give mama a card because it's her birthday today," Giovanni answers with a sad expression, making Francesco sigh.

     Francesco goes to Giovanni and kneels in front of him so he can give him a warm smile. "Listen, I'm not mad. But next time, ask for permission when you want to go to your grandfather's office. There are a lot of important files in that room. Do you understand me, Giovanni?"

     Giovanni looks at his father and slowly nods, making Francesco pat his head while the young boy tightly holds onto the birthday card that he made.

     "Well, I think you did an excellent job with that birthday card. Let's give it to your mother, okay? I'm sure she'll be thrilled," Francesco says, and Giovanni smiles, excited by the mere thought of it.

     "Let's get your mother, and then let's head to the town square together. I think the fireworks will start soon, so we have to hurry. And remember, Giovanni, we have to keep a low profile. We can't let anyone see you, okay? So stand close to me and don't run off again," Francesco then instructs, and Giovanni nods his head in understanding.

     Francesco takes Giovanni's hand, and the two of them walk towards the front door together. He takes the keys from his pocket and tries to open the door, but then he notices that the door isn't locked. As soon as he realizes it, he drops Giovanni's hand and runs inside the house.

     "Adele!" He calls out, trying not to panic. "Amore Mio! Where are you!?" Francesco continued to shout, but no one answered him.

     Francesco starts looking around the house, but his heart drops instantly when he opens the door to his clinic.

     "M-My love?" Francesco calls out, taking careful steps to see better. But as soon as he got closer, Francesco's eyes widened. He quickly rushed to the metal bed and finally saw his wife there. At first, he didn't want to believe what he was seeing, but as he continued to catch a glimpse of the blood that was all over his wife's body, Francesco's heart started to beat faster and faster until he could no longer breathe properly.

    "Adele...n-no...hang in there, o-okay? Let me remove this first. I'll get you out of this, so p-please, stay with me."

    Francesco couldn't even look at the state of his wife as he tried to remove the straps off her hands and feet. When she broke free from the straps, he touched her face with his trembling hand, staining it from the blood that was on her cheek. But when Francesco finally saw the stitches in her eyes, he completely lost it.

     Everything around him had now sunk in.

     "Adele..." he calls out, tears pouring out of his eyes as he gently embraces her lifeless body in his arms. "My love, please...please don't do this. P-Please...dear god, no! You can't do this to me! Adele!"

    Francesco's cries echo as he embraces his wife close to him. But when Adele can no longer respond to him, the pain inside Francesco slowly turns into anger.

     "Take me instead! Not her....please, not her."

     As Francesco cries for his wife, young Giovanni enters the room. Francesco didn't notice him, and Giovanni couldn't really understand what was happening either. But he spots the camera on the floor when he enters the room. Giovanni approached it, and then he looked at the pictures. As soon as he sees the images, the boy drops the camera in shock, and Francesco immediately turns his head and spots him.

     "Giovanni!" Francesco shouted, startling him. "H-Head out for a second, son. Can you do that?" He then asked him, but Giovanni was too scared by what he saw that he couldn't even move.

     "I said get out! You can't be here!" Francesco shouted, finally making Giovanni run out.

     Francesco didn't shout at Giovanni because he was mad at him. He shouted at him because he didn't want his son to see the state of his mother. He was afraid that Giovanni would see, but sadly for Francesco, he already saw it all through the camera.

     Francesco tried his best to calm himself down because he knew they had to leave this place as fast as possible. With a heavy heart, he cleaned his wife, carefully removed the stitches in her eyes, and then put her dress back on before covering her face with a clean white sheet.

    "Adele...we're going home," Francesco says, but then he also spots the camera that Giovanni found earlier. He doesn't have the strength to look at the pictures just yet, but he takes them with him.

     Francesco carries his wife and heads out of the room. Giovanni sees them, but he doesn't say anything. His father lies and tells him she's just sleeping, but Giovanni already knows. Despite his young age, he was smart. He might not fully understand what he saw in those pictures, but he knew enough to know that his mother had died. So without saying anything else, Francesco drove his family back to the manor, tears pouring out as he did so. 

     When they arrived, Francesco carried his dead wife inside, alerting everyone.

     "Son! What are you doing—" Fortunato, Francesco's father, sees Adele in his arms. And with one look, he instantly knew that something evil had fallen upon them. All Fortunato could do was let a tear fall from his eyes as he watched his son carry the lifeless body of his wife.

     The maids, butlers, cooks, and even gardeners gathered at the manor's entrance, surprised to see the state of the mistress of the manor, Adele.

     "You are right...father," Francesco says, his eyes practically dark because of the anger and pain that was slowly consuming him. "The world is cruel. You were right. I always tried to see the goodness in others, but I was a fool. There is no goodness in those who are blind."

     Fortunato watched his son, but he could no longer say a thing. He knew that he could no longer stop the fire that was starting to burn inside Francesco's eyes. He knew he could no longer stop the plague that would soon fall upon them.

     "They made a fool out of our family long enough. They want hell? Then let me show them what hell really is. Let me show them what a real de Vincenzo is capable of."

to be continued...