Nathalia was momentarily lost, but quickly recovered and raised her gaze. She began firing at the snipers repeatedly until they fell from the tree. Harold and Albert quickly approached to make sure the sniper was no longer a threat.
Her hands began to tremble, causing her to release the grip on the gun. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she slowly crawled towards Belen.
“No! No! Open your eyes, Belen!” She tapped the old woman’s cheek desperately, hoping she would wake up. She rested the old woman’s head on her thigh, finally allowing herself to sob.
This is not happening!
Belen gradually opened her eyes and tightly held Nathalia’s hand. Her lips moved, so Nathalia leaned in closer.
“Remember who you truly are. Remember the people who are important to you. I’m happy to see you again before I completely leave this world.”
She managed a weak smile before closing her eyes, and her hand slipped away.
Nathalia’s chest tightened, and it felt like she couldn’t breathe. She felt like she lost a parent all over again.
“No! No! Wake up, Belen! We still have meals to share, right? We have so much more to talk about! You were going to teach me how to cook!”
Mads looked at her sadly, gently tapping her shoulder. Damon clenched his fist and kicked a stone aside. Cole bowed his head and sighed deeply.
They had all lost someone they considered a second parent. Since they were young, they had been together with the elder person. This was the one who took care of almost all of them.
“That bastard will surely pay for this!” Damon’s eyes flashed with anger.
But even in mourning, they had to continue. More enemies were arriving, blocked, and swiftly taken down by the remaining mafia guards.
“I’ll go get the car,” Cole informed them, heading straight to where the car was parked.
Mads and Damon gently lifted Nathalia up and away from the old woman. With only a few mafia guards remaining, they were at a disadvantage. They needed to get Nathalia out of there as soon as possible.
Tears were streaming down Nathalia’s face. She was struggling against her friends’ grip.
This is my fault! This is my fault! She blamed herself.
Harold and Albert returned, doing their best to calm her down.
“Did you inform Sarmiento?” Damon asked Harold.
“Yes. They’re coming soon.”
That’s when Nathalia stopped. She suddenly remembered Liam and her foster parents coming to the mansion.
“Let me go! Why did you let them come here? They’ll be in danger!” She couldn’t hold back the rise in her voice.
“We need backup, Thalia. Right now, we can only rely on the Sarmiento Mafia,” Damon said straightforwardly. Mads shot him a disapproving look because of what he revealed her in.
Nathalia stared at Damon. “W-What? Don’t tell me...”
“Yes. The Sarmientos are one of Anderson’s allies.” He confirmed what had formed in her mind.
Just then, the car that Cole had fetched came to a stop in front of them. She had no choice as her friends quickly ushered her inside before the car turned back to face the enemies.
But the enemies at the front gate were wiped out when Liam and Nathalia’s foster parents finally arrived. Without mercy, they rammed into the enemies before quickly driving away.
Nathalia slowly lifted her gaze, hardly believing what she was seeing. She followed Liam’s gaze and watched as he and her foster father ruthlessly shot the incoming enemies in the head. Her foster mother expertly threw small knives straight into the hearts of the foes, then approached them to retrieve and re-use the knives.
Before she knew it, the car they were in was speeding away. She also noticed a few other cars parked outside, following them.
“Don’t worry, Madame. They were the Sarmiento’s guards.”
That calmed Nathalia down a bit. But she still couldn’t help but worry about her friends and family left behind in the mansion.
She looked back. She was taken aback when she noticed that the pursuing enemies were systematically disabling the vehicles of her parents’ men one by one. Meanwhile, some of the enemies had completely stopped to block their way, preventing them from continuing to follow.
“Hold on tight, Madame!”
Before she could respond, Cole stepped on the gas and accelerated the car.
They took various turns, and Nathalia could hardly remember the route. The area they were traversing now was becoming more congested.
She glanced back again. None of the enemy cars were following them anymore. It seemed Cole had successfully thrown them off track.
She adjusted herself in the seat as Cole gradually slowed down the vehicle. She reached for her phone in her pocket but slapped her forehead as she remembered leaving it on the table in their room.
“Can I borrow your phone, Cole? Stephen needs to know what’s happening! I thought he was dealing with his enemies right now. But why did they attack us?”
“Boss has too many enemies, Madame. We don’t know which of them is attacking us.”
Nathalia sighed, rubbing her temples. She felt dizzy from all that had happened and everything she had learned today.
She still couldn’t believe that her family was connected to the mafia. How naive she had been! No wonder Liam warned her so strongly when she investigated Stephen.
Now she finally understood the meaning behind Stephen’s question that night.
“Are you really asking me that? Don’t you know the truth about your family now, Nathalia?”
Lost in deep thought, she noticed a line of cars blocking their path.
“Cole, we need to get back!” she exclaimed in panic.
But it seemed that Cole didn’t hear her. Startled, she turned to look at him. He appeared remarkably composed, as if he didn’t care about the enemies in front of them.
“Cole!” she exclaimed loudly and shook his shoulder.
Her heart raced as Cole gradually brought the car to a halt. She looked ahead, and her heart skipped a beat as one of the vans there opened.
Nathalia let out a breath when a man she despised stepped out. She continued to gaze at him as he stopped in front of their car and smiled at her.
“Aries Baltazar,” she whispered under her breath, clenching her fist.
STEPHEN and his friends were speeding, trying to get to the mansion as quickly as possible. He was about to call Liam to update him when he noticed a text message from him.
Liam
“The mansion is under attack! Have you captured Aries?”
I am trying to call you, man. Call me back asap!
He slammed the steering wheel hard. “Fuck!”
He quickly dialed Liam’s number and put it on speakerphone. Before Liam could even speak on the other end, Stephen immediately asked him.
“Where’s Nathalia?”
“Man! Don’t worry. She’s with Cole right now, and our men managed to intercept that bastard’s men who were pursuing them.”
He slammed the steering wheel again in frustration. “Fucking fuck! You need to go after them, damn it!”
“What’s going on?
“Cole is the traitor! He is Aries’ older brother, and that bastard was not fucking here!”
Liam quickly disappeared from the other end of the line.
“Damn!” Stephen accelerated the car even more.
Please make her safe.
He was about to turn right when suddenly a van came out of nowhere with rifles pointing at them from the car window.
“Shit! We’re under attack!” he heard Rhyz shout through the earpiece he was wearing.
Stephen tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
Damn you, Aries! I’ll make sure that you rot in hell together with your traitor brother!