There was nothing that could be done to save Eudora. The woman died, she was strangled by a man sent by Bardales. Basilio was looking for revenge, he acted faster than expected.

Bernardo was kneeling over his beloved's grave when Narin approached him from behind. She had her hands in the pockets of her black jeans. The woman sighed softly, remembering Eudora's words.

"When I die... Remind him that I existed too... "

"Come." She said to the broken one. "Let's go home... Berni." She added, placing her hand on the elder's shoulder.

Torres, hearing her words, opened his eyes wider, then he couldn't hold back any more and started crying loudly. The man turned slightly towards Narin, leaned against her gently. Still kneeling, he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her mulatto, letting his emotions explode.

"If you ever cared about Berni, if you ever thought of him as... family... Please do this for me."

Vazquez didn't protest. She allowed him to hug her and stroked his head soothingly while Torres gave vent to his emotions. Arcenio stood two meters away, watching the scene in silence. A gentle smile crept onto his face at the sight of a tender but painful scene.

Narin perfectly remembered the words of Bernardo's late wife. But after all, what she did, she didn't just do for Eudora. She only did it for herself and for the fact that those words were true. She cared about the older Torres. Bernardo was family to Narin, of that she was sure. The same also applied to beloved Arcenio.

♦•♦•♦

The later time, however, was no better. It only got worse.

Basilio swore revenge and acted without regard to any consequences. He paid no attention to the massacres he caused. He did what he wanted, what he thought was right. He wanted revenge at all costs and did everything to get it.

He started by murdering Eudora, all because she was married to Bernardo, who was helping Rubio. Then, he attacked another place. Arcenio's house.

Bardales' men attacked and spared no one. They killed the bodyguards, servants, and when they got inside, they destroyed everything that stood in their way.

"You can't do that!" Aitana called, holding pans for defense in her trembling hand. "This is señor Rubio Jiménez's house! You have no right!"

"We have every right." The commander replied. He was the boss of the men sent by Basilio. "Your master messed with a very bad man." He laughed. "Now he'll pay for his actions." He slowly approached the terrified woman. "Where is he, huh?"

"Go to hell." She snorted and spat in his face. "I will never betray my master! Señor will get you, and then you will pay..." She didn't finish, because after a moment the attacker shot her a bullet in the head and the maid fell limply to the ground.

Seconds later, the loud cries of a child were heard.

"No! You killed Aitana!" The boy cried, but when he met the enemy's gaze, he slowly backed away, wanting to escape. "Artie, run!" He called to the four-legged pet.

The dog wanted to stop the attacker and began to pull him by the legs to pull him away from his master. But when Artie heard Calixto calling him, he rushed towards him and ran right next to him. He wanted to protect the boy, but he couldn't do anything else because the second bandit, standing in front of the property's exit, blocked their way. He shot the quadruped in front of the distraught child. The pet's blood splashed on the boy's face, but before he could do anything, the leader of the gang had already left the house, to the square where the last living inhabitant was. Ignoring the child's desperate cries for murdering his friend, the man took aim at Calixto and pulled the trigger, hitting the child in the back. The boy fell to the ground, then lifted his head with the last of his strength to look at the body of the dog lying in front of him.

"A-artie..." He stammered and started crawling towards his dead friend.

The enemy leader only laughed at the sight, but Calixto paid no attention to anything but his four-legged companion. Very slowly, he crawled over to his friend, leaving streaks of blood on the ground. As soon as he managed to reach the dog, the boy hugged him and, resting his head on Artie's belly, gave his last breath.

"Where's this Rubio guy?" The man who killed the dog asked.

"We'll find him." The leader replied, reloading his weapon.

"What with that?"

"Burn it." He said, pointing to the house, then headed for the car himself.

After the task was completed, the people left the site with a screech of tires, leaving Arcenio's family home in flames.

By the time Jiménez himself arrived, it was too late. The shocked man watched as his family home collapsed and was engulfed in flames. Seeing little Calixto lying right in front of him, Rubio limped over to him, hoping he was still alive.

"Cali... " The brunet looked at the boy and felt his heart break, realizing that the boy was already dead.

His breathing quickened, and tears appeared in his eyes, which stung incredibly from the surrounding smoke and fire. The fire department, which was called by neighbors, struggled to fight the spreading flames. It was literally a moment, one moment. Arcenio wanted to support a friend who had just lost his wife and was now looking at his family's possessions alone. He was only glad that Narin was with Bernardo, that at least they were safe at that moment. But for how long.

Rubio froze, he didn't know what to do. His hands were shaking, he felt his throat constrict, and all other emotions turned to anger, even fury. He knew Basilio was a terrible man, but he never would've thought he would do something like this. He killed the Bernardo family, and now he has killed the Arcenio family. What else was this man going to do? What was his plan?

Jiménez tried to calm down, he needed to collect his thoughts. He knew he had to act quickly. If something like this has happened, Bardales' men must be preparing for another attack. But what could their purpose be? What else did they want? They already gotten rid of all the people they care about.

All of them? Was is really truth?

After a short while, it dawned on Arcenio what, or rather who, was their target. He knew they had killed his family to break him, but he also guessed that they had another purpose. Him. Arcenio Rubio Jiménez. They'll come for him again. But when?

The brunet started to look around in panic and immediately got an answer. The two attackers stayed at the scene. They had hidden themselves in the crowd of onlookers and were now heading towards the young man. They had weapons in their hands. Arcenio snorted and started toward the car. He knew running away with his bad leg would be hard, but he knew he couldn't give up. Must try.

Rubio reached his car at the last moment, ducking from the bullets flying towards him. After a second, he drove off with a screech of tires, but the bandits followed him. Brunet tried to somehow clear his mind and focus on what he should do. At that moment, however, he ran out of ideas. Not even the police could protect him. The criminals for sure had already informed their bosses, so the man knew that he would be surrounded at any moment. Running away by car won't help either.

Arcenio sped up and glanced at the phone on the passenger seat beside him. The brunet thought for a moment, then reached for it and made the call. A moment later, he turned quickly to the right, trying to lose the pursuers.

"Hello?" He heard a voice in the receiver, which involuntarily smiled. "Arcenio? I'm just getting home so..."

"No." Man interrupted her, which surprised her. "Do not go there, stay with Bernardo." He said, trying to control his own voice.

"What's going on? What are those noises? Someone is shooting at you?!"

"Querida..." He interrupted her. "They killed everyone." He said, which surprised the mulatto even more. "Everyone. Aitana, Cali..." He had tears in his eyes. "But I am their target now. I am sure if they get me, they will go after Bernardo and you too."

"Arcenio."

"Listen." He didn't let her finish. "Stick together, do you understand? Whatever happens..." He said, making another quick turn of the car. "Stay with Bernardo." He glanced in the mirror, the attackers were still chasing him. "You two will be fine. Together you are stronger."

"Stop talking bullshit, Arcenio!" Woman called, her voice trembling. "Where are you now?! I'm going to you! Do you hear me?!"

Rubio smiled sadly and wiped a tear from his cheek.

"I promise you one thing, querida..." He said after a long moment. "I will do anything to survive this, but if they catch me."

"Stop."

"Narin..." He began but was unable to finish, because Basilio's men shot at the tire of the man's car, who lost control of the wheel.

The car spun around, and there was a loud screech of tires all around. The connection to Narin has been severed.

At the same time, Vazquez quickly reached Rubio's villa, and what she found there broke her heart. She saw the rescuers carry the bodies, there were many victims and no one survived. Bernardo arrived with her. Neither of them could utter a single word.

The moment the connection was cut, a distraught Narin feared the worst. She tried to call Arcenio again, but got voicemail, which was killing her even more. She called and called, begging not to be too late. She couldn't stand it and decided to get in the car to find Rubio.

"Where do you want to go? You don't even know where he is." Torres said, heartbroken. "It won't do you any good, you'll just expose yourself to..."

"I have to find him!" She said with tears in her eyes. "If Arcenio dies too, then I..." She trailed off, unable to say the words at all.

She slammed her hand against the steering wheel in frustration, cursing loudly. Bernardo tried to calm her down. Even though he was broken himself, he wanted to control the situation, but he felt that it was beyond him. Everything started to spin out of control. None of them could forgive themselves that they allowed such disasters to happen. They knew that Basilio would want revenge. They even began to devise a plan of action, collect reinforcements, weapons, and literally a moment of inattention was enough for everything to be completely destroyed. All material possessions were less important here, but their family... Their family members were slaughtered one by one. And what's more, it looked like it wasn't over at all.

"I can't stand here. I need to find him, Berni." She said with tears in her eyes, and before Torres could react in any way, Narin drove away with a squeal of tires in front of her.

The elder stamped his foot and cursed loudly. He frantically thought of any plan. He moved towards the other car to stop Narin but stopped just as he felt his phone vibrate. He got a message. A message from Arcenio.

"Take care of her"

Torres, seeing the text of the message, gripped the cell phone tightly and started screaming with anger at the top of his lungs, which made people around him start to look at him. Several paramedics approached him wanting to help him, but he pushed them away and even hit one of them.

"Pick up, you bastard." He cursed and started calling his friend. "How dare you send me such messages?!" He shouted as he heard a hoarse voice on the other end. "Where are you?!" Rubio replied with a soft laugh. "You're laughing?! How dare you?!" He called through tears.

"Forgive me, m-my f-friend..." Brunet said, coughing blood at the same time, but Bernardo couldn't see it then. "I tried..." He said sadly. "I got rid of a few of them, b-but...they had the upper hand." He coughed again. "I-I ran away... but I hear them coming towards me now."

"I'm coming to you."

"No, it does not make sense. You will not make in time. And by coming to me, you will only make things easier for them." He said weakly. "They will not let go, Bernardo..." He coughed. "You must stop him. I think I..." He hesitated, then continued. "I am afraid I will not have enough strength." He nodded. "B-bernardo... Thank you for everything you have done for me."

"Shut up. Don't thank me. Don't say goodbye!" He shouted, getting into the car and driving forward. "Tell me where you are! I just lost my wife! I won't lose a friend too!"

Arcenio smiled involuntarily at these words.

"It is nice to hear that..." He whispered with a smile. "T-take care of her..." He had tears in his eyes. "Do not let her stray." He said in a broken voice. "Bernardo...?" He coughed again, and for a moment his voice failed him. "Thank you... Berni." Rubio whispered and then ended the call, and the nervous Torres shouted again in anger, trying to reach his friend. The realization that the moment he might arrive too late was killing him. One misfortune after another happened! Why? What did they do wrong?

At the same time, Narin was also looking for her beloved Arcenio. She wiped the tears from her cheeks every now and then and tried to concentrate on the road as much as possible. Rubio still didn't answer her calls, and it annoyed her.

"You'll remember me if you specifically reject my calls." She cursed at him and turned quickly to the right.

"Well, well, well... Famous señor Rubio Jiménez." The leader laughed and looked at the barely alive brunet.

After a while, when the attackers hit the tire of the man's car, there was a big accident. Arcenio managed to get out of the car with difficulty through the shattered window, but the shock of the impact was so strong that the man had a cut on his head and probably broken ribs. As if that wasn't enough, his opponents were right behind him. Even though Rubio shot two of them with the pistol he always carried with him, the other three still had the upper hand. There was a shootout in which Arcenio was the most injured. They shot him in the leg and twice in the stomach.

Brunet, at the time of their inattention and the smoke screen resulting from the accident of the destroyed car, miraculously managed to hide from them in the bushes. Then he limped slowly and crawled to the edge of the street, and there to the bus stop. He hoped that a bus would come and that someone would miraculously save him, but nothing happened. Helpless, Rubio sank to the pavement, leaning against the bus stop, waiting for what lay ahead. He just wanted to say goodbye at least to his loved ones, but seeing that the head of the band that was working for Basilio was approaching him, he doubted that he would be able to do anything more.

"You're tougher than you look." The leader laughed at which the brunet smiled faintly.

"I'll finish him off, boss!" The man on the right called and aimed at the weakened man, but the boss forbade him to do so.

"Do you want to kill me personally?" Rubio looked at his attacker in surprise. "Let's get this over with." He coughed, spitting up blood.

"You're gonna die anyway." He said.

"I know..." He replied, leaning his head against the stop and looking at the enemy. "I am just sorry I do not have more time..."

"For what?"

Arcenio smiled faintly.

"I-I wish..." He said hoarsely. "I wish to hear her voice..." He coughed. "Last time..."

The leader looked at him thoughtfully, then waved his hand and ordered his man to leave, then crouched next to Rubio and looked at the wounded man who was slowly losing consciousness. A moment later, the man sighed and pulled the trigger, which made his men laugh loudly. They were happy to get another job done.

"Let's go, boss!" They called from the car.

Their leader sighed heavily and looked at Arcenio for the last time.

"W-why...?" Brunet whispered still alive. The boss didn't kill him, he shot next to him, only pretending to finish him off.

"I'm faithful to some of my principles."

"But innocent people... women, children... you have already killed them. Everyone." Rubio snorted. "Finish me and let's get this over with." He said in a weak voice.

"You don't have to understand me." He replied. "But when I was in the war... I was in a similar situation... I would like to have a chance to say goodbye to my beloved too." He nodded. "I wanted to hear it one last time, but I couldn't. Illness took her while I was away. We were going to get married soon..." He lowered his head. "I'm not asking you to understand... Work is work, but..." He put the phone in Arcenio's hand. "Take advantage of the last moment." He added, then got up, walked over to his men and drove off.

Rubio felt his time was running out. His breathing was quickened, he was coughing every now and then and he barely had the strength to even call his beloved. As soon as she picked up, he smiled at the sound of her voice, but he didn't have the strength to speak.

"Arcenio, is that you?!" She called in a broken voice. "Where are you?! Talk to me!" She begged, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to control them. "Please..."

"B-bus s-stop..." He whispered in a barely audible voice. "B-Behind the statue..."

Narin immediately went to that place. She drove as fast as she could and tried to keep up a conversation with the dying man.

"Say something." She begged. "Arcenio, talk to me!"

The brunet smiled involuntarily. He wanted to tell her more, but he knew he wouldn't have the strength to do so. All he wanted was to hear her voice again, to see her again, to hold her, to smell her perfume.

Rubio was sitting on the sidewalk, his head against the bus stop. His eyes were blank, and the hand in which he held the phone was shaking mercilessly. Every time he wanted to say something, his voice deceived him. Realizing that it was his end, he shed a few drops of tears that smeared the blood on his face even more.

"Why are you silent?" Woman cried. "Please, answer me!" She cried in a broken voice. "Please, Arcenio... "

The man wanted to say something. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her that it was okay, that everything would be fine. But he couldn't do that, he couldn't at that moment.

He felt his strength draining from him, his vision began to blur, and he slowly fell into darkness. He didn't even feel pain anymore. Not a bullet wound, not an accident, not even his leg, for which pain he always took medication, everything was gone. The pain was gone.

"Don't do this to me, do you hear me?" She begged. "You can't do this to me! First you save me and then you leave me?! How dare you!" She screamed through tears. "Arcenio, say something goddamn it!"

"I love you..." He whispered, which completely surprised her, and a second after these words, the brunet released the phone from his hand, and he fell limply to the ground.

Worst of all, Narin arrived at the same moment and the last thing she saw was how her beloved Arcenio, her first love... He fell limply to the ground, meeting the end of his time.

Vazquez ran out of the car and ran towards him. She fell to her knees next to his body and started shaking him, wanting to wake the man from his sleep. But he didn't answer her again. He was dirty in his own blood and his body was still warm, but even so, the life had drained from him and there was nothing left.

Mulatto's hands were shaking mercilessly, and when she looked at them and saw Rubio's blood, she felt even more panicked.

"N-no..." She shook her head and took her beloved in her arms again. She shook her head, repeating that this wasn't really happening.

She begged, first in a whisper and then a little louder, begging that this was just a dream. She called his name, gently touching his face. She waited until he woke up, deluding herself that he had really fallen asleep only for a moment.

She saw Arcenio's blood pool around her and the dead man's body. Narin stared at it in disbelief, pushing the thought that Rubio was dead from her mind. It couldn't be true. She had just spoken to him. It was Arcenio, he saved her. He couldn't die. Not him.

After a moment, something inside her snapped. Vazquez clenched her teeth tightly, and when she saw even more Arcenio's blood on her trembling hand,. She still held him in her arms, she couldn't stand it.

Her breathing quickened and her heart pounded like a hammer. She felt that she had a panic attack, lost complete control and, not knowing what to do with herself, started screaming loudly. It was a loud scream of pain, despair, all suffering. Everything inside her exploded in an instant, and a loud scream echoed around the area.

Bernardo arrived too late. He got out of the car and rushed towards his friends, but hearing Narin's desperate scream, he froze and couldn't take another step. He realized that they had lost this battle, it was too late.