Being Cheated On

Julian furiously furrowed his brows, his mind reeling as the sheer magnitude of Sasha's betrayal echoed through his head. He stared blindly into the decaying corners of his childhood home, struggling to comprehend the depths of it. Did the Rossis truly stoop that low? It felt completely impossible. The haunting memory of Sasha’s tear-stained face flashed behind his eyes. She had screamed and cried as the police dragged him away, swearing she would wait to marry him the very day he was released from prison. How could the woman who claimed to love him abandon his family to such a cruel, agonizing fate?

A volcanic urge surged in his chest. He needed to see her. He resolved to march straight over to the Rossi estate and confront her directly.

Before he could even pivot toward the doorway, a violent, booming pounding shattered the tense silence of the house.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sheer force of the blows threatened to rip the fragile, rotting front door right off its hinges. Dust sprinkled from the ceiling with every strike.

Anna instantly turned deathly pale. Pure terror etched itself across her weathered, blind features.

"Mom, who is it?" Julian asked, his voice hardening as he watched her panic.

"Don't get involved!" Anna gasped. Driven by pure maternal instinct, she grabbed his arm and forcefully shoved him backward into his cramped, empty bedroom. "Go to your room! Don't come out, no matter what!"

Without waiting for his reply, she slammed his door shut. Breathing heavily, Anna anxiously smoothed her tattered clothes. She swallowed her fear and opened the front door.

Salvatore stood on the threshold, casting a massive, menacing shadow. Behind him loomed a gang of heavily tattooed thugs, their faces twisted into cruel, impatient scowls. Down the street, from a safe distance, whispering neighbors cautiously peeked out from their windows and porches. They watched the scene unfold with nervous eyes. Everyone on the block knew this ruthless crew. The wealthy Morello Family dispatched these enforcers every single month to collect their scheduled, crippling extortion money.

"Have you prepared the money?" Salvatore demanded, his voice a guttural growl as he stared down at the trembling woman.

Mustering an obsequious, desperate smile, Anna nodded frantically. "Salvatore, I have. It's right here."

Her trembling fingers blindly felt for a small, worn pouch sitting on a nearby rickety table. She offered it up to the hulking enforcer, her voice shaking. "We have the payment."

Salvatore snatched the pouch with a rough yank. He callously tipped it upside down, dumping its contents directly onto the floor. A pathetic, scattered pile of torn notes, crumpled singles, and loose change clattered against the cracked linoleum.

Salvatore stared at the handful of coins and pathetic dollar bills. His face contorted with explosive rage.

"What the f*ck is this?" Salvatore thundered, kicking at a rolling quarter. "Does this meager pile of trash even amount to ten thousand?!"

"Salvatore, please," Anna begged, maintaining her desperate smile. "It's all there. We counted it piece by piece. If you don't believe me, you can count it yourself."

"Bullsh*t!" Infuriated that the payment wasn't presented in crisp hundred-dollar bills, Salvatore pulled back his heavy boot. Without a second thought, he violently kicked the frail, blind woman straight in the abdomen.

Anna gasped, the air leaving her lungs as the force sent her crashing hard onto the floor.

Hearing the sickening thud of the impact, Julian ripped his bedroom door open.

"Mom!" he cried out, dashing out of the room. He rushed to her side, sliding to his knees to gently prop her up.

Once he saw she was breathing, he slowly turned his head. His eyes swept over the tattooed thugs with an icy, spine-chilling gaze. The sheer hostility radiating from his body was so palpable it caused the room's temperature to physically plummet.

"Julian, you shouldn't be out here!" Anna pleaded, tears freely flowing from her sightless eyes. She desperately pushed against his chest with weak hands. "Go back into your room. Don't get involved in this!"

Completely ignoring her frantic, tearful pleas to stay out of the dangerous affair, Julian carefully lifted her and settled her into a nearby chair. "Since I'm home, let me deal with this," he murmured softly. "Just sit tight."

Julian stood up, turning his lethal focus entirely onto Salvatore.

The thug leader paused, scrutinizing Julian's lean, unassuming frame. A slow, cruel sneer stretched across Salvatore's face as recognition dawned.

"Aren't you the guy who hit Mr. Morello with a brick?" Salvatore barked a harsh laugh. "The fool who got locked up for three years! I'm surprised you're out."

The tattooed thugs behind him erupted into mocking, sadistic laughter.

"Your timing is impeccable, though," Salvatore sadistically mocked, dropping a devastating bombshell. "Today is the exact day your supposed girlfriend, Sasha, is marrying Lucca Morello. They're having a lavish ceremony over at The Grand Sterling. As her ex, aren't you going to go have a look?"

Julian froze. "What did you say?"

"I said the b*tch you went to prison for is marrying Mr. Morello today," Salvatore smirked. "It's a very luxurious wedding. Loser."

Julian's fists clenched at his sides. He squeezed so tightly his knuckles turned stark white, his fingernails biting deeply into his palms. His initial disbelief entirely gave way to a mounting, volcanic fury.

Behind him, Anna trembled violently at the crushing revelation. She sobbed quietly, devastated that Sasha was officially marrying the very enemy who had utterly ruined their lives.

Radiating a frosty, murderous aura, Julian took a slow step forward. "Kneel and apologize to my mother," he commanded, his voice deadly quiet. "Do it right now, and I will spare your lives."

The laughter abruptly died in the thugs' throats.

Salvatore's face flushed dark red, infuriated by what he perceived as a scrawny ex-convict's sheer audacity. "What the f*ck did you just say?" Salvatore roared. "You want me to kneel?"

Without another word, Salvatore lunged. He launched a vicious, full-force punch aimed directly at Julian's face, intending to knock the scrawny kid out cold with a single blow.

To the utter shock of everyone present, Julian didn't even flinch. He retaliated with blinding, lightning speed. Before Salvatore's fist could even cross half the distance, Julian drove his leg upward. He delivered a brutal, precise kick straight to Salvatore’s crotch.

A sickening crunch echoed in the small room.

Salvatore’s eyes bulged from his skull. He let out an ear-piercing howl of agonizing pain, clutching his groin as his massive frame instantly collapsed to the ground. He writhed in the scattered coins, drenched in a sudden cold sweat.

"Julian, you can't afford to get into a fight again!" Anna bellowed, hearing the thug's agonizing groans.

Enraged and profoundly humiliated, Salvatore forced his head up. "Beat him to death!" he roared at his men. "Kill him!"

The tattooed thugs pulled out their batons and charged forward in a violent rush.

Julian didn't even shift his stance. He suddenly flicked his hands. Multiple subtle flashes of light tore through the air, moving so fast they were completely invisible to the untrained eye. The raw internal energy pierced the thugs directly.

Instantly, the attackers' legs completely gave out beneath them. Their momentum vanished as they crashed heavily to their knees in perfect unison, skidding across the floor to halt right at Julian's feet.

Salvatore stared up from the floor in terrified disbelief. His men were kneeling, paralyzed from the waist down, their faces masked in panic. Outside, the observing neighbors widened their eyes in sheer amazement at the inexplicable display of power. No one could even comprehend what had just happened.

Maintaining his icy, authoritative tone, Julian looked down at the pile of trembling thugs. He repeated his absolute command.

"Apologize. To my mother."

Met with Julian's piercing, unyielding gaze, a deeply hesitant and utterly terrified Salvatore realized he had absolutely no other choice. If he resisted, this monstrous ex-con would slaughter them all.

Salvatore swallowed hard, fighting through the blinding pain in his groin. "We're sorry," he choked out.

His men quickly followed suit, bowing their heads. "We apologize," they mumbled pathetically to the blind woman shaking in the chair.

Julian glared at them with open disgust. He knew he could have effortlessly killed every single one of them with a mere flick of his finger. But he consciously chose to hold back, absolutely unwilling to commit murder right in front of his fragile mother and the watchful neighbors.

"Get lost," Julian snapped, waving a hand in dismissal.

The invisible pressure holding the thugs down vanished. Scrambling frantically, the men dragged themselves to their feet. They hauled a whimpering Salvatore up by his armpits.

Hobbling pathetically out of the ruined house with the desperate help of his crew, Salvatore paused at the broken doorway. He shot Julian an insidious, highly indignant glare, his eyes silently promising brutal vengeance for this humiliation.

Nevertheless, Julian remained standing tall amidst the scattered coins, his expression cold and entirely devoid of any fear regarding Salvatore's impending wrath.