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Papa.

He's here.

Sitting in front of me.

Alive.

Not dead.

Without another minute of hesitation he runs over to me easily as he was untied to eat.

He pulls me into his arms and holds onto me as if I'll disappear at any moment.

My breath hitches at the warmth and safety I felt in his arms since I was a kid.

"P-Papa?" My voice cracks as I pull back and look at him clearly.

His face blossoms into a bright smile and he cups my cheeks. He kisses my forehead all the while laughing and nodding in disbelief.

"You're okay." He breathes out as he continues to take me in.

"H-how?" I croak out.

He holds my eyes for a minute longer before faltering and looking away.

"Tell me papa." I say sternly.

He look at me once, "Do you remember that night?"

I nod my head vigorously.

He grabs ahold of my hands, "The small gang that had been rebelling against my empire had eventually taken things into their own hands and formed the Millas. They had somehow found out about you and they wanted to immediately make you and Jaxon marry so that my empire could merge with the Millas. This will give them complete power of the chinese mafia along with their own smaller one.

They stormed into our home that night. As you know your mother..." He pauses as he looks away in pain.

I squeeze his hand, "I know."

He looks at me with guilt, "I shouldn't have left you. I should've just stayed by you two and ignored the door."

"Papa, stop. It's okay." I reassure him.

He sighs, "After you had ran they took me in as hostage. They were going to kill me but they realized that without you, there was no point in taking control of the Xingyun empire. So they kept me alive until they could find you and get their hands on you again. When Divante found out his son, Jaxon, was dating you.

He took it as his mission to find you again and make sure you would be Jaxon's wife. Even if my empire is destroyed now, they want to use you as leverage against the Barachi family."

"You mean, they are gonna do a trade off? Me or Enzo's mafia?" I ask as I piece everything together.

Papa nods, "I'm pretty sure they are doing this trade off as we speak. They have it all planned."

"I know Enzo and the Barachi family. I've been with them for the past few months. I trust them." I say to him.

He gives me a hesitant nod before pulling me into another tight hug.

"I can't believe you're really here."

I hug him back tighter.

"When we get out of here, I want you to come with me." I say, determined.

Papa smiles at me, "I knew you'll go on to achieve greatness even without me there. Now tell me about this Enzo dude. Is he treating you right?"

I laugh at his stern expression, "Yes papa, he's treating me like a queen."

He smiles at my statement, "As he should. If he does hurt you in any form I will not hesitate to give him a beating."

"Papa, he's the king of all mafias." I deadpan

"And?" He says as he raises an eyebrow at me.

I roll my eyes at his protectiveness.

☕︎︎

I quickly hide behind one of the pillars to conceal myself.

I glance around the field to see the Barachi cars lined up on one side.

They're here.

Before I can survey around I make sure to see where papa is.

Papa exits the other van and limps towards me with two guards holding him up. He comes out more bruised and injured than before.

I cringe at the sight of him. No doubt he was hit a few more times for not telling them where I was.

-

I look at the plate of food in front of us then glance at papa again.

"You thinking of what I'm thinking?" He asks.

I nod.

I then 'accidentally' push my elbow too far back and knock the plate of food onto the ground. The glass plate shatters causing guards to rush into the room.

I discreetly grab a piece of glass and stuff it into my sleeve.

"Sorry, my daughter is a little clumsy." My dad answers for me.

The guards scoff and clean up the food before exiting.

Once they are out I quickly throw the glass up at the camera completely shattering it.

I then take the glass and quickly untie the rope around my ankles.

I turn to untie papa's but he stops me, "Go. I'll take care of this."

I frown, "Papa, I'm not leaving-"

"Go, please. They just left and are getting you a new plate. You have enough time to run out." He pleads with me as he pushes me out towards the front door.

I give him a final glance of hesitation before running out the door.

-

I look back across the field to see Enzo, Nathalia, Damon, Lance, Zion, and the rest of the alliances all walk towards us.

I look behind me and see other alliances to the Millas walk towards us as well.

Things are about to down.

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