Chapter one

“She’s not getting any better,” Dario said, his voice trembling, “the hospital said if I don’t pay at least five hundred thousand dollars before tomorrow ends, they’ll stop the treatment,” lines of worries etched on his forehead as he spoke into the phone.

In Maria’s ward room, Dario stood next to his mother’s body that appeared lifeless. Her skin was pale and all Dario could see were different tubes and wires connecting her body parts to different machines.

The sight really terrified Dario because he couldn’t afford to lose his mother.

His father threw them out when he was months old, he and Maria barely survived on the streets of Washington DC. Asides his loving wife, his mother was his everything.

Delilah heaved a sigh, “Don't worry too much, you’ll figure it out.”

Dario has had to be independent even before he was a teenager. Maria tried her best to provide for them both, but her health was not helping at some point. Dario then had to do petty jobs and sometimes beg for alms.

So, he’s used to solving his problems all by himself since he’s had to do that since childhood and barely received help from anyone around.

“Dario, the family reunion is tonight, you’re still coming right?”

“Yes I’ll be there soon, bye” he replied, then hung up.

Speaking with his wife lifted his spirit a bit and gave him more hope. Now that he was a bit relieved, he kissed unconscious Maria on the forehead and left the hospital.

It was around 10pm at night and Dario was already making his way to the Williams family villa for the family reunion.

****

When Dario got to the villa, he was welcomed with the extravagant sight of expensive designer cars.

‘Wow, that’s the latest Ferrari model’

‘Who owns a Bugatti La Voiture Noire?? I guess they’ve all changed their cars since last year’

Dario was in daze as he surveyed the parking lot, gushing over the cars, wishing to be able to afford one before he died.

He knew the latest cars since he had worked in an automobile company before so he could recognize them so well.

His thoughts were then interrupted by a loud cheer emanating from inside the villa, capturing his attention.

So he scurried towards the villa eager to join in the happy moment. On getting inside, Dario saw his wife’s mouth all up in another man’s face.

“Delilah!” he shouted. His eyes widened in shock, “what are you doing??”. Dario couldn’t believe his eyes. That’s definitely not his wife kissing another man.

The entire room went silent and everyone’s attention was on Dario.

Dario scurried towards her and yanked her off the man. The man she was kissing was cooper, the heir of Drea kingdom which is ranked the 7th most powerful in the city. The Drea family was also one of the wealthiest in the city.

Cooper eyed him in disdain and retorted, “Are you blind? Didn’t you see that we’re busy having a moment here??”

Dario was boiling with rage that he immediately held Cooper by his shirt collar, “who the f**k are…”

Before he could complete his sentence, Delilah pushed him off Cooper and gave him a resounding slap on his face.

“Who do you think you are, to grab my future husband by the collar??”

Dario froze in place, as he struggled to comprehend the betrayal unfolding before his eyes. “What do you mean by your future husband?” He could hear his heart racing in his chest.

Now the rage that was surging through him earlier had turned to hurt, confusion, disappointment and shock all together. “Delilah, what do you mean by your future husband?” He yelled.

“And what is this riffraff doing here?” A voice from the end of the room sneered, it’s disdain dripping like venom from each word.

This is a voice that commanded authority in the William family and the voice belonged to grandma Lauren. Lauren was the oldest William and the only alive one in the third generation of the Williams. Nothing happened in the family without her approval and she was in control of all the family businesses.

Hearing Lauren’s words gave Dario confirmation that she was very much aware about this.

“Grandma he’s leaving already,” Delilah replied timidly, “Well, after he signs the divorce papers.” After saying that, she dipped her hands in her bag and threw the divorce papers at Dario.

“Delilah, you’re so incompetent. So you’ve not served him the divorce papers yet. You’re too slow for your own good.” Lauren scolded.

A wave of sadness immediately washed over Delilah as her lips pressed against each other tight. She never has a mind of her own so it was very easy for her to betray Dario.

Everyone in the family literally worshiped Lauren and lived for her approval. She was one scary fox.

Dario turned to face Delilah and said, “You can’t do this to me babe, please don’t do this to us.” He took her hands in his and continued, “Okay we can settle this later, could you help ask grandma to help me with Maria’s hospital bill?”

Everyone stared at Dario in disgust.

This man was really shameless! Did he really just talk about grandma lending him money!

Delilah abruptly yanked her from his hold, but before she could say anything, Tara yelled from where she was sitting, “Have you got no shame?! All you’ve done is bring shame to my daughter and this family. It’d be best for you to sign the divorce paper and get out of this family.”

When Tara spoke, she didn’t care if her words would even make Dario want to hang himself. In fact, she wouldn’t mind that.

“You’ve got nothing to offer Delilah, not to mention the Williams family as a whole. When my daughter marries Cooper, the Williams Group will become partners with Drea Group,” she grinned ear to ear as she spoke.

“Our net worth will increase by tenfold… we will no longer be looked down on in the city… the powerful, wealthy and influential will seek after us… Williams Group will become the talk of the town…”

Tara stated into the blank space imagining how glorious the partnership will be, that she got carried away listing an endless list before returning a cold gaze back at Dario.

“So, what benefit will your union with my daughter offer??”

At this moment, Amelia, Delilah’s cousin sneered in disdain, “Delilah, look at the piece of sh*t you got married to! Brian is just my fiancé yet, he single-handedly sponsored this reunion and even brought an expensive gift for grandma. Dario can’t even afford to pay his mother’s hospital bill? Shame on you.” She spat.

Behind these words, Amelia knew if Dario was wealthy, she’d have wanted him for herself instead because if looks could kill, everyone that atleast glanced at Dario would be dead.

She insulted him effortlessly in the presence of everyone like she didn’t try to seduce him two years ago.

Brian burst into laughter, “Dario Esterno, you’re such a disgrace, you should go hide your smelling self in a basement and rot there.”

Dario’s fists were clenched tightly as each of the members of the William family humiliated him one after the other.

It wasn’t the first time it happened but Dario never cared because Delilah was always there to stand up for him. What changed?

Dario thought about trying to convince Delilah one last time, maybe she might take back her words so they could go home together and cook tacos with their favorite love song blaring in their little house.

So, he pleaded again with his heavy heart, “I’ll forget about the kiss, please let’s go home. Let’s not get divorced, I still love you.”

All Delilah could do was look at down at him, shake her head and laugh sarcastically. To top it, she removed the ring from her finger and threw it at him. “When you’re done signing the papers, you can leave with your 50 cents ring.” She said, hissing through her teeth.

The hall echoed with laughter and side talks from different members of the family.

Delilah knew what she was doing when she decided and planned to serve him the divorce papers at the family reunion.

At this point, Dario knew it was done!

When he picked the divorce papers and as he signed, flashes of their happy moments crossed his mind and this made his heart hurt.

When he got married to Delilah, his life became better; he had a new reason to be happy and a reason to go on with life regardless of his hardship. All he wanted to do was protect her and make her the happiest wife.

But, what could he do now?

As Dario picked up the ring and started to leave the room, Alicia, who had been silently boiling with anger, finally spoke up, unable to bear her family's cruelty any longer. “You all are evil and you should cover your heads in shame!” she yelled then hurriedly walked out to catch up with Dario outside.

Alicia, Delilah’s younger sister has always been the fearless granddaughter. She didn’t care about what anyone thought of her nor was she scared of anyone. Including scary grandma Lauren.

They treated her like an outcast because she was never on the same page with them and mostly because her business was doing very poorly compared to her sister and cousins.

As expected, everyone hissed and continued whatever they were doing.

“Dario!” Alicia called out, running out the door.

After catching up with him, she offered her consolation because she felt really terrible on his behalf. “I’m sorry about what happened in there.”

Dario heaved a deep sigh and said, “I guess I’ll be fine. My priority right now is saving my mother and I have no idea how I can get the money.”

Alicia immediately dipped her hands in her bag and brought out an envelope, “here’s two hundred thousand dollars, you can try talking to the hospital to accept this for now. I’ll try sourcing more tomorrow.'' She took Dario’s hand and put the envelope in it.

Dario stood there speechless, unable to comprehend how Alicia, who shared the same William bloodline, could be a complete opposite of every one of them.

“Isn’t this for your business?”

“You’re right, but your mother’s life is more important. You can pay me back whenever you have the money or if you don’t, that’s fine too.” she replied, then left before Dario could reject the money.

He then continued walking since he didn’t even have money for a cab. He had given Delilah all his earnings to buy herself a pretty dress for the reunion.

He hated the thought of her family members embarrassing her because of her dressing. He’d rather be insulted in her place.

After a while, it started to rain heavily. Instead of looking for a shade, Dario walked under the rain like a soul defeated and drained of hope.

Suddenly, a man covered Dario’s head with a plastic bag from behind, while another pierced him with a syringe. All Dario could see was pint black and he could hear their words slur as he dozed off.