Chapter 319

Marvin Elena:I miss you Marvin:I miss me too.

Elena: -_-

I couldn’t help but laugh at my screen. Ever since making things official, Elena made it a habit to text me every second-but I didn’t mind.

“I’m leaving San Diego.” Tiago cleared his throat. I locked my phone and looked at my brother, but for some reason, he didn’t seem to be joking.

“What do you mean, you’re leaving?”

“I just…” Tiago lowered his head, regret written all over his face. “I can’t believe I almost hurt Elena-

and it made me realize that I do need help.”

He needed help, there was absolutely no question about that, and I was glad he could realize it. At first, I was against it, but what he had done to Elena was unacceptable.

I needed him to get better, and the only way for that to happen was to get help. The only downside was that it had turned out dad and Victor had won this battle.

“Mom agreed to send me to the Armando’s.”

“Mom did that?” I spoke, shocked. The woman who did not want to get him any help ended up sending him to one of the most disciplined families in the business.

The Armando’s were longtime friends and a well-respected family. They had one of the best products on the markets and lived in a mansion on their big farm. I hadn’t seen them in a long time and had no desire 1.

Even as an adult, the strict ways of Ana Sofia and Dante Armando had the power to scare many.

Discipline was exactly what Tiago needed.

“Good luck.” I chuckled, thinking about the Armando’s and their stone-hard children.

“I know they’re hard, but they’re just what I need.” Tiago closed his eyes. “I think I’ve lost my mind, Marvin.”

At least he’s self-aware.

“I think you have every right to.” I comforted him. Even though there were absolutely no excuses for his behavior, I could not ignore that losing Anya was not easy for him.

It made me think of Elena, and it made me realize how strong my brother had been. Just the thought of something happening to Elena made me crumble.

“For how long will you be gone for?”

Tiago sighed. “Hopefully long enough so that I don’t have to face our new brother.”

I could sense that Lucas played a huge part in Tiago’s decision. He was running away from his problems, and given the opportunity, I would’ve followed him.

“Don’t remind me.” I rolled my eyes. Lucas staying here was not a good idea, and I had yet to determine whether I felt worse for my dad or my new brother.

“Marvin, can you promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“Can you please promise me that you’ll not let anyone touch what’s yours?” Tiago pleaded.”Can you promise me that you’ll not let anyone touch the family business?”

He was starting to sound a whole lot like my mom. Yes, there were people who we could not trust—

but not everyone was out to kill us.

“Since when did you become so ambitious?”

Tiago looked at me with a paled expression. That’s because….” He muttered. “I…..”

“Tiago, you can tell me anything.”

Tiago shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

I gave him a suspicious look, but before I could ask him another question, he slammed his fist against my shoulder. “So…you and Elena?”

As expected, word traveled fast around her. I didn’t want to keep Elena a secret, but I felt the need to protect her. The fewer people that knew, the better. “How do you know?”

“The maids.”

“Makes sense.”

Those maids did not know how to keep their mouths shut.

It would be a lie to deny that I didn’t want this news to reach Tiago. It did not feel right that I got to have my happy ending while he was still in the process of mourning-but he seemed to handle it pretty well.

“Did you tell her about what she’s getting herself into?” Tiago asked. “Yes, I did.”

“Oh…” His lips curled into a bittersweet smile. “And she doesn’t mind?”

“No.”

“That’s surprising.” Tiago raised his brows. “Even… Anya took her distance for a while.”

“Well, people react differently.”

If I had to be honest, Elena’s reaction was indeed surprising. I had prepared myself for her to run away, but unlike my expectations, her reaction was understanding and calm. Learning that she had already sensed it made me feel more at ease.

“I know.”

“Hey, boys!” My mom walked in with several shopping bags. “What are we talking about?”

I carefully observed the look on her face but could not find any hint of sadness. It had appeared the news about Lucas didn’t seem to bother her anymore, and I didn’t know whether to be worried or not.

“We’re talking about Marvin and Elena making things official,” Tiago answered. I shot him a side-

eye, earning an apologetic look in return.

My mom gasped. “Is that true, Marvin?”

I gave her a simple nod. “That’s good. I like her.” She stated. “She knows how to stay in the background.”

Perhaps that was the reason what had intrigued me even more. Instead of attacking me with the thousandth questions about the family, she took in the news and dealt with it like a pro. I was sure she had many questions, but Elena was so cautious of others.She was perfect.

“How are you feeling, mom?” I shifted my attention to her. Her cheerful presence seemed so over the top. It had almost made me feel uncomfortable. She had always been good at hiding her feelings, but this time was different.

If she wanted to scream, yell, swear, cry-she should just go ahead and do it. Yes, she wasn’t perfect-but after all the stunts my dad had pulled, she had the right to do it.

“I’m doing fine.” My mom’s lips trembled. Her fists tightened around the shopping bags.

“Really? Even after hearing about Lu—”

“I am!” She nearly lost her temper. “I’m doing fine…”

“Okay, I got it.”

“Tiago, say goodbye to your brother, and let’s go pack your bags.” My mom’s eyes shot daggers at Tiago, forcing him to get up. “Yes, mom.” He followed after her without giving me a second glance.

“I’ll catch you later, Marvin.”

With a raised eyebrow, I watched as my mom pulled Tiago out of the room. Hopefully, staying with the Armando’s would make him a bit more self-dependent as well.

Reluctantly, I forced myself from the chair and headed to my dad’s office. The faster I could report back to him, the faster I could go home and spend time with Elena.

I felt comfortable enough to enter without knocking. Mario sat behind his desk while Victor stood behind him as usual.

“Dad, did you agree to send Tiago to the Armando’s?” I stepped closer. “Because we all know that family is cra-

“Marvin, sit down.”

Confused, I followed his instructions as I observed the smug smirk on Victor’s lips. What was it this time?

“Marvin, I think there’s something you’ve failed to mention….something big.”

“No? I don’t think so.” I answered.

My dad tightened his grip around the cup in his hands. “Then tell me why Victor is telling me that one of the girls stole from us-and that the same girl is in your house…as a maid!”

So that was it.

“It was almost nothing, and I already took care of it.” I glared at Victor, who had a giant grin on his lips. What was he up to now?

My dad got up from his chair and paced back and forth, clearly not in the mood. “I know you’ve been gone for a while, but I hope you haven’t forgotten the rules around here.”

“No, I haven’t-”

“Victor, tell him the rules!” He yelled, interrupting me. Victor cleared his throat, “Anyone who steals or betrays the Castillo’s has to pay with their lives.” He spoke. “And there will be no exceptions.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, determined not to do something stupid as beating up Victor. “Did you do anything about the report I gave you?” I wondered. “About how Victor mistreats the workers and lets our employees harass women?”

“This is not about him. This is about you.”

I glared into my dad’s eyes while he did the same. I did the right thing, and no one could tell me otherwise. I saved an innocent girl’s life.

“You’ll bring the girl here, and I’ll deal with her.” He broke the silence.

“No.”

“Yes.”“”

“No,” I spoke firmly.

“Marvin!”

“No,” I repeated. “She will stay with me, and I’ll make sure she won’t cause any problems again.”

“I hope you know what happens to those who betray the Castillo’s.” Mario Castillo squeezed his firm hand on my shoulder. “And I hope you know your place. One order from me is enough to get rid of her.”

“Yes.”

He was using his power for the wrong things, and it was all because of Victor. All of this was nothing new, but it would not happen under my watch.

“So you’re prepared to die for this girl?”

“If that means keeping her away from you, yes,” I spoke. The majority of the Castillo’s were pigs, including my dad. “God knows what you’ll do to her.”

“What?” He spoke, startled.

“You heard me.”

Mario released his belt in one movement and smacked it across my face. It took a second before the pain finally hit me, but I quickly covered my cheek with my hand and took a few breaths.

The voice in my head encouraged me to hit him back. A lot had changed. I was older, wiser, and stronger./ could take him if I wanted to.

I balled my fist in anger as I thought about the reason why I could not touch him. Mario Castillo was the type of monster to get his revenge through the people 1 loved the most. My priority was to keep them safe -mom, Karina, Tiago, Panther, and mostly Elena.

I only had to endure this for a while longer. I only had to take this until he would finally step down, and leave the business to me.

“You can’t walk in here and make decisions like you own the place!” My dad yelled in my face. He caressed his hand over my aching cheek before holding my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

“You’re smart. You have a great future ahead of you-I’ve got big plans for you, and one day you’ll sit in that chair.” He pointed out. “Don’t let some irrelevant thief ruin it for you, and use your head for once.”

Irrelevant thief?

“So you want me to lose my humanity?” I asked for confirmation. Taking Amelia’s life was not an option, not after knowing what kind of person she was.

“Humanity?” My dad laughed in my face as Victor joined him. “After all you’ve done, after all the lives you took, you’ve suddenly woke up one day and decided to think about humanity?”

Mario Castillo squeezed my chin. “I trained you to be a leader, a warrior, a monster.” His breath of coffee and cigarettes found its way through my nostrils. “You need to remember that in this business, there’s no place for kindness, and there’s no place for mercy.”

Stay calm, Marvin.

“You’re not the boss of the Castillo’s, this is not prison anymore, and I call the shots-do you get me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re not Tiago, and I didn’t raise my best son to be a pussy-and you will not embarrass this family or me. You will respect me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dad, please give Marvin a break.” Victor chuckled. “You need to understand that he’s gone soft because of Elena, so perhaps it’s not the girl we should be going after, but Ele—”

“Keep her name out of this.” I stopped him. The way her name left his mouth made my blood boil.

This was the one thing that I didn’t want to happen, but somehow she became part of the conversation.

“Elena?” My dad asked. “Is this true, Marvin?”

“Has she been whispering things in your ears?”

All I could stare at was Victor and the evil smile on his lips. He felt too comfortable and had yet to learn his place.

“Well?”

“No. Victor doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” I stated. “I made bad decisions without thinking it through, and that’s all on me, so if you feel the need to blame someone, or punish someone-punish me.”

My dad sighed. “It’s good you’re taking responsibility-but you need to get your shit together.” He spoke calmly. “And now you’ve stressed me out, and I have to go for a fucking smoke again.” He blamed me. “Do you see what you’ve done?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Victor, are you joining me, son?” My dad shrugged me off. Victor shook his head. “I’ll stay here and wait for Lucas.

Lucas? Didn’t he have a job or something?

My dad walked off, giving me enough reason to leave the office, but before I could, Victor cleared his throat. I turned around to face him.One wrong word would be enough for me to end this man’s life.

“What?” I growled.

Victor rolled his eyes. “Are you putting together the spice girls?”

Confused, I waited for his explanation. “Hear me out,” Victor began. “One girl is supposed to be locking zip locks and is now cleaning your shit instead-and the other one is clearly after your money.” He spoke. “If you were really that smart, you would’ve left her in Amsterdam when you had the chance-so we could at least make good use out of her.”

Stay calm, Marvin. Breathe.

“Elena, she’s not good for you-she talks too much.” He chuckled. “But she has a pretty face, banging body -I know a few men who would be willing to pay a good price for your girl.”

That was it.

My mind went blank as I lunged at Victor and connected my fist with his jaw. “What the fuck are you doing?” He exclaimed, falling to the floor. “Marvin, stop!”

I ignored his cries to show him mercy and punched him repeatedly. No one would talk about my Elena like that, not on my watch.

I should just kill him. I would be doing everyone a huge favor “Hey, stop!” I turned my head for a split second as Lucas entered the room before turning around to continue what I was doing. I could probably get in a few more punches before mister good cop would interfere to break us up.

As expected, Lucas used all his strength to pull me off. “That’s enough!” He shouted. Not wanting to cause a scene, I listened to Lucas’ advice and stepped back.

Victor, who was all bark and no bite, was on the floor with a bloody face. He bent over, trying to catch his breath as I enjoyed the view in front of me. If my new brother hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve continued until his last breath.

Lucas looked from a distance, with no intention to help Victor and put his hands in his pockets.Good decision.

“And I promised myself not to get any blood on my suit today.” I sighed, frustrated. If I knew this was