The room smelled of antiseptic and fear.
Rio lay stretched across the massive king-size bed, his body burning with fever as though flames had been lit beneath his skin. His lips moved in restless murmurs, words tumbling out without logic or rhythm.
"M… Mom… don't go… please…"
His breath hitched. His fingers twitched as though reaching for someone who was no longer there.
Richard Orlando sat beside him, gripping the edge of the mattress so tightly his knuckles had turned white. He had built empires, crushed rivals, and survived wars in boardrooms and battlefields alike—but none of that prepared him for the sight of his son lying helpless before him.
The doctor adjusted the IV drip while Eve, Rio's cousin, wiped his forehead with a damp cloth.
"His fever is psychological," the doctor said quietly. "The shock triggered buried trauma. Something he saw today dragged his mind back to the past."
Richard swallowed hard.
The past.
The word alone felt like a blade.
Rio grew up knowing only one parent—Richard, his single father. No matter how often he asked, every question about his mother was met with silence. By the age of eleven, he realized with unsettling clarity that there wasn't a single memory of her left in his mind.
she had been ripped away from him in a way no child should ever witness.
For years, Richard had done everything in his power to erase that nightmare from Rio's life.
Yet now… it had returned.
Rio suddenly gasped, his body arching.
"Blood… there's so much blood… Mom—"
"Hold him," Richard said sharply.
Eve pressed down gently as Rio thrashed, his voice breaking.
"They threw them… the water… crocodiles…"
The room froze.
Richard's heart slammed into his ribs.
What did you see, my son?
Downstairs – The Storm Breaks
The living room of the Orlando mansion looked like the command center of a war zone. Armed guards stood rigidly, fear written on their faces as Richard Orlando stormed back and forth like a lion ready to tear something apart.
"How could this happen?" he roared. "With all of you there?"
The head of security tried to speak.
Richard turned on him. "You were supposed to protect him! One job! One single job!"
Silence fell like a guillotine.
Finally, the lead bodyguard—the one with the scar over his eyebrow—stepped forward.
"Boss… the young master was fine until we reached that side street near the lake. He suddenly stopped walking. Just… froze."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"Like he saw something."
"Yes, sir. He was staring at something we couldn't see from our angle. Then we heard a loud splash—like something heavy hitting water."
"The lake," Richard muttered.
"Right after that, two black Mercedes started up and sped past us. We rushed forward… and found young master about to collapse."
Richard slammed his fist against the table.
"So you have no idea what he actually saw."
The bodyguard lowered his head.
"No, sir. But whatever it was… it wasn't normal. The look in his eyes… I've seen soldiers after war, sir. It was the same look."
Richard turned away, fury boiling inside him.
"Get me every CCTV feed from that area," he snapped. "Every street. Every camera. Now."
Elsewhere – Hell in a Mansion
A crystal glass shattered against marble.
Arthur Blake stood in the center of his grand hall, fury radiating off him like heat from fire.
"You incompetent bastards!" he shouted.
The men before him trembled.
"We had everything under control," one of them said quickly.
"The victims were tortured, then fed to the crocodiles. The cameras were hacked. No evidence—"
"Then how the hell did that boy see us?"
Silence.
"We didn't notice him at first," another man admitted.
"He was standing in the shadows. By the time we realized, he was already collapsing and being picked up by bodyguards."
Arthur's lips curved into a slow, terrifying smile.
"So… he saw."
"Yes, boss."
Arthur turned to the large screen on the wall.
"Show me the footage of him."
"But sir—"
A gunshot exploded through the hall.
One of the men dropped dead.
Arthur didn't even flinch.
"I said… show me."
The video played.
A young man stood frozen near the lake, eyes wide with horror.
Arthur studied his face.
"So you are the witness."
"Again... But finally I find you."
His mind drifted backward.
Fourteen years.
A little boy's laughter.
"My little candy…"
He clenched his jaw.
"Find him."
Back at the Orlando Mansion
A technician approached Richard nervously.
"Sir… all the CCTV feeds from that area… they were hacked. There's nothing."
Richard's face darkened.
"So someone powerful is involved."
"Yes, sir."
Richard looked up toward Rio's room.
"Then they will come for him."
He turned sharply.
"Double the security. Triple it if you have to. If anyone even breathes near my son without permission, I want them erased."
The guards nodded.
Richard's fists tightened.
Whatever you saw, Rio…
I swear on your mother's soul…
No one will ever touch you again.