Silver Lining

Chapter 43 - Deflower

Rico's POV

I opened the bottle to my medication with my trembling hand. The sound of the tablets knocking against the bottle together with the shortness of my breath has become a familiar sound. Every month of this year is when my heart grieves over the pain of losing Amelia. Today was her death anniversary, the day that constantly reminds me of the costly mistake that I've done. The overwhelming guilt to the sin I've committed never fails to hit me brutally after so many years. This unsettling feel continues to burn in me without a cure.

Being a new major shareholder of the Carlos Empire, Mr. Arnaldo Carlos contacted me for a meet up. I really didn't want to meet any people today, I just wanted to cave in my own isolation. But Carlos was his empire before Luciano succeeded his legacy. It's part of the business process and dealings that I've to meet the other party when requested.

*The Carlos's Mansion*

I was driven into Carlos's mansion by their chauffeured driver. I was greeted by a man at the doorstep and he ushered me to where Mr. Carlos was.

An aged man stood up upon seeing me and he shook my hand firmly as he greeted me, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Barnes."

Despite his age, his had this statuesque that still spokes of power and virility. In fact, he resembled very much of Luciano.

I shook his hand back and greeted him too, "Pleasure to be here too, Sir."

"Please, have a seat," He said.

I unbuttoned my blazer and sat down in front of him.

"I have heard about you, you're a very promising young man, Carlos is truly honoured to have you on board," He complimented.

"Thank you, I'm flattered but I'm definitely far from a successful businessman like you who has made Carlos grown this big," I said.

"You're too polite, I wouldn't say it was me who took Carlos to success, Luciano has been the one catapulting Carlos's growth ever since he succeeded the business. He is very different from me, he has the grit and gumption, some might say ruthless at times, but that's what makes Carlos a success story," He explained with that glow of pride in his eyes when he spoke of his son.

We spoke about business proper for a while until something on his table caught my eyes, it was a photo frame with a family portrait in it. My eyes widened and I froze when I saw the young lady in that photo, I will never ever forget nor would I be ever wrong, it was her, Amelia!

I directed Arnaldo's attention to the family portrait while trying to keep myself calm, "I'm sorry, but I hope you won't mind if I ask you who's that young lady in this photo?"

Arnaldo seemed to be taken aback by my question and then he said, "She's pretty isn't she? She is my daughter, Amelia, a very smart, sweet and humble girl. So humble that she didn't even want to use Carlos as her family name when she was schooling. She just didn't want that unwanted attention of being a Carlos, she even used Rossi as her fake family name when she introduced herself to others," Arnaldo shook his head and continued with a sigh, "It's a pity she isn't here anymore..."

Amelia Rossi is Amelia Carlos?! Amelia is Luciano's sister? My mind froze and my heart wrenched in pain at the thought of Amelia. So here it is, where her family is, where she was.

Arnaldo continued to explain, "She took her life for a man who didn't love her. Her sudden death took a toll on us, but even more on Luciano, they were really close. He still couldn't get over with her sister's death, all these years, he's still trying to find the man who broke Amelia's heart for another woman, he just couldn't forgive them. Please, don't bring up about her sister in front of Luciano, he gets temperamental about Amelia."