"Are you sure you want to do this, Hermano(Brother)?"Landon asked from the driver seat.

"Yes. I need to hear it from his mouth" I responded, hands tightened into fists.

Landon stared at me for a few seconds before finally starting the car. I stared ahead, deep in thoughts. Today I would confront father about his tip off to the serial killer. Landon being Landon chose to drive me there himself and for once I was grateful for the reprieve, I needed to think right now about what to say to him.

We were already Thursday and I waited enough for this meeting. Celine was safely in her company with Elysium at school too. I drove them both like I did since Monday and ensured they were doing alright. That soothed me.

Kyron was still hiding but Agnus was searching for him through every single data he could get his hands on. One way or another, we would get him. But I needed to know why my father did this. How could he have done it?

Sometimes I missed the father who read me bed time stories only to change out of the blue like this. He used to be tender, loving and warm. He still is with mom but with me... He changed after Landon arrived...He became guarded. Tense. Stern. I never understood why. Maybe it was his way of coping with the loss of Gustavo.

But as a child I still wondered at times what flipped the switch. What caused him to go from a loving father to a man that soon started teaching me, a mere child of nine years old, how to kill.. Maybe he thought he was going soft on me. Maybe he was scared I would end up dead like Gustavo too if he didn't train me early. I'm not sure and I never found out. The only time I saw a glimmer of humanity and light since then was when mom was with him. Other than that, he kept his distance. Even if he had a softer spot for Landon, he eventually raised him just like me too. Stern. Authoritative. Controlled.

More like a master than a father to us both.

But hurting Celine. That was a line he should not have crossed.

"We are here" Landon pulled the car to a stop in the yard of the mansion.

I nodded and opened the door but Landon's hand on my shoulder made me pause.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?"He asked, voice calm.

"No. I need to speak to him alone." I said earning a sigh from him as I left the car.

But it was for the best. I wanted the man whose hand I held as a child to say it in my face that he put my little Flame in danger. A father-son conversation. Our last conversation.

The moment I made it to his office, I didn't bother knocking but simply walked inside, watching as my father looked up from his files. Eyebrow raised, cigar tucked between his fingers. His cerulean eyes stern and calculated. His suit pristine, salt and pepper hair pulled back, his trimmed stubble making him look old, roughen by age, life and the mafia.

"What are you doing here?"My father, the infamous Fernando Castillo had the nerve to ask.

"You tell me, Father. Why am I here?"I asked calmly despite the fury in my veins urging me to strangle him.

"What is it, Eli? Mhm. First you bring this girl into your safe house, uses my men and resources to guard her and her son as if they are royalty and need protection. All because of a killer you couldn't get rid of. And now you barge into my office like you own this place. Have you forgotten who raised you?"His voice cold and harsh landed like a whiplash against my heart.

What did I ever see in this man that was worthy of holding on..

I stepped in front of his desk, the only thing keeping me from stabbing him in the neck. "Who raised me? Did you, now? No I don't think you did. You were perfecting your heir for your bloody legacy. Not raising your son. Those men and resources you're taking about, they are mine as much as they are yours."

His eyes narrowed but I didn't let him speak.

"How dare you even utter my woman's name with your filthy lips when you are the one who put that target on her back!"I said, voice filled with so much coldness and fury, it rivaled his.

"What nonsense are you talking about now?"Father snapped, extinguishing his cigar in the ash tray.

"I know it was you. Someone tipped off the Silver Strangler or he would never have gotten to Celine. Landon interrogated everyone, used truth serums and the lie detector and none of them seemed guilty. Everyone was interrogated except you. The killer's residence has been wiped clean as well. It was you, wasn't it? You helped him"I said, glaring at him.

A dark, bitter realization cracked his expression, his eyes widening the briefest with surprise which caught me off guard. Father never showed emotions but maybe this too was a pretense. A facade. He looked toward the window for a few seconds with a resigned look before saying "My son.. Landon interrogated them. And he was also the one who checked the residence, wasn't it? How incredibly... efficient of him."

"Don't turn this on him. He's my brother and would never cover you. Just admit you put the hit on Celine to get her out of my way."I responded, jaw tight.

"You think you understand the machinery of this family, Eli? You know nothing." Father replied. Eyes hard again, betraying nothing of his emotions.

My fury rose. "Then deny it. Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't try to choke the life out of her."

Father's jaw tightened. I watched as he leaned back into his chair with a terse, guarded posture. "I will deny nothing to a son who abandons his birthright for glass and canvas. If she is a casualty of this empire, then so be it. Get out of my sight."

"So you won't even try to deny it. You accept that you tried to harm her" I said, almost laughing at how much of a fool I have been.

For a brief instant, I wanted to believe that maybe there was a traitor. Maybe someone lied and managed to deceive Landon's perceptive observation. I called mom earlier before choosing to visit. Laying everything down to her feet so she knew how naive it was of both of us to think father could be a good man.

But she believed that maybe there was a misunderstanding. We were both foolish.

Utterly foolish.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't tear this entire foundation down."I asked when he continued to just stare at me in silence.

His gaze turned into a chilling, guarded glare. "Because you lack the stomach for it. You wouldn't dare crush your mother like this by going against me. Let Landon continue his research for you. Let him play his games. If you want to blame me for the ghost at her throat, Eli, go ahead. It is a heavier burden to live with a son that dares to accuse his own father than a dead enemy"

"Do you even see me as your son?"I asked, wanting.. No needing to understand him.

Father stilled. Shoulders tensing. "What makes you think otherwise?"

"You stopped being my father since I was a child. I was only eight years old when you stopped reading me bedtime stories and by nine years old, you were teaching me the art of killing and poisoning instead" I said quietly, my chest burning from the betrayal but If I was going to sever my ties with my father, might as well go all in.

For one second, I thought he would open up but then he stared at me with a harsh gaze. "I don't owe you an explanation for how I raised you."

I inclined my head. "Very well. You harmed the love of my life. My existence. And you don't even look remorseful for it. I'll never forgive you for this. From this day on, you are not my father. I don't care what the birth certificate says, what the legacy says. You're as good as dead to me."

Father's eyes flashed briefly with a hint of hurt before he masked it, concealing his emotions like he always did. "If she really was your life, maybe you should have guarded her better. I have nothing more to say to you anymore. Tell Landon to drive you home."

I think a part of my heart broke in that instant with his harsh words and stoic demeanour. Giving him one last glance, I left. Never once looking back at the mansion.

Mom already knew either way and I didn't have the heart to speak with her right now. On the phone she had already sounded heartbroken enough.. And yet a part of me knew if I looked up right now, I would see her looking at me with a shattered gaze through the window but I couldn't look. Not when I knew nothing will ever be the same again.

Our family was now broken. For good.