Chapter 2

Seraphina Du Vanguard sat next to her mother, huddled in a corner of the room their father had told them to hide in. She hated her father. She had always hated him, but what was going on at the moment only solidified her hatred for him.

The bullets continued to rain, and she could hear the sounds of men falling and their wails and cries as they got struck by gunfire.

It was very bad.

Knowing that her father was a warlord, a criminal, and the boss who controlled a vast mafia and had more than a dozen men wasn't the life that she had envisioned for herself. But that was the life she had grown up to meet, and that was the life she was going to continue, no matter how she was going to try to run away from it.

It upset her that instead of her father to at least protect them, he was even putting them in danger. This was the first time that a war was being fought on their very own grounds, and it made her wonder what her father was thinking when he had chosen to battle Don Sebastian.

She had heard the news from various guards and some of her father's men. The war that was coming was her father's fault, and it was because he had angered Don Sebastian.

Only a stupid man went to war with such a freak like Don Sebastian. Only a crazy man went to war with a man who was known for winning most of the crime wars and territory wars that had been fought in the state.

No matter the gain and the benefits that came with defeating him, she knew that it wasn't worth risking the lives of your family members and your loved ones.

And that was what her father was doing. Allowing them to remain in the house while the shooting was going on. Allowing them to stay in the house and listen to the sounds of gunfire. It was crazy, it made her wonder if all her father seemed to think about was monetary gain and nothing else.

“My God, I wish I was out there! Can't stand to see these Sebastian bastards defeat us. If only Dad would let me be with them out there. I would've killed quite a dozen by now. Honestly, I can't wait for my first kill.”

Seraphina stared at her brother, irritated.

She hated the fact that her father had managed to make him a carbon copy of himself. All he was interested in nowadays was getting his first kill and taking over from where his father had stopped.

It irritated her that even at this moment, instead of her brother, Sampson, thinking about the danger his family and brother and sisters were in, he was thinking about fighting and also killing himself in the process. What was wrong with him?

Couldn't he see that there was no life after a life of crime?

Her mother frowned instantly, staring at her son as he peeked through the window at the fighting that was occurring a few feet away from him.

“Sampson, you will come and stay put with us this minute! What do you mean go out and fight? Fight when your family is in danger? You want to get yourself killed, huh?”

Seraphina stared at her brother who was only eighteen years old but was too deeply rooted in the Mafia and criminal lifestyle to care about anything else and shook her head. She was ashamed of the man her father was and what he had turned his son into.

She watched Sampson frown, look at his mother, and then shrug.

“Come on, mum, I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a grown man, and I deserve to be out there. I won't have to wait too long though, in a few years, I'll be the one to take over the household. Then, I'll be the one telling you what to do.”

Seraphina shook her head once again, offended and irritated all of a sudden by her brother.

“Sampson, you should listen to Mum, take cover as Dad ordered us. Do you want to get struck by a bullet? Is that what you want?”

“Oh come on, nobody wants your opinion, Miss Seraphina. Stick to singing drawing and writing. War is not for weaklings like you.”

Seraphina rolled her eyes, knowing that arguing with him was a waste of time. He was just like her father, never seeing other people's perspectives and their opinions, always caring about himself and his alone.

“Yes! They're chasing them. They're retreating! Sebastian's men were retreating! We've won the war, come on!”

She watched her brother run from the room, ignoring their cries for him to come back. Standing, Seraphina helped her mother up. Most times, she found herself wondering what had made her mother agree to settle down with such a rascal as her father, and she had no other option than to also blame and hate love.

If love could make a woman as sensible as her mother very stupid, then there was no way it wasn't going to make other sensible people even more stupid.

Just then, her father raced into the room, a smile on his lips. It was a smile of victory and triumph. His eyes scanned the room, and when he found them still huddled in a corner, he lifted his hands, urging them to stand.

In her father's beautiful biceps and the strong outline of his jaw, she could see why her mother had probably fallen in love with him. He was too good-looking to ignore, and at the same time, he was a daredevil, wishing to continue life as a mafia lord even though he knew how dangerous it was to him and his family.

It was simple, he didn't care.

“Is everyone alright? Come on out my people, for we have just defeated the great Sebastian army!”

Rolling her head and watching him saunter out of the room, Seraphina looked at her mother and saw disappointment and something else she couldn't identify in her eyes.