"That was quick," Rosario said as he came down the staircase.

After leaving Farah and Teegan at Brookfield Place, I drove myself to the Potenza's mansion.

"Where's he?" I asked Rosario.

"His bedroom, upstairs," he said as he turned around to lead the way.

We walk to my father's bedroom in silence, giving me time to think about what could my father possibly want from me, if he's dying, can't he just do it peacefully?

Rosario knocks on my father's bedroom door, waiting for my father's approval to go in, he lets himself in and holds the door open for me to go in, once in, he announces my presence to my father and leaves the room, closing the door behind him and locking it.

I frown at his behavior, I can still see the shadow of his feet from underneath the door, illuminated by the hallway's lighting.

I decided to ignore him and instead I'm looking around my father's bedroom, it's the master suite and it's quite the large space, and it's just how my mom left it.

There's a sitting area right as you enter the master suite facing a fireplace and a large flat-screen TV, behind the sitting area there's a king-size bed with a padded velvet headboard, to the left of the bed there's a vanity, and an opening to the walk-in closet and the master bathroom, to the right side of the bed, up against the wall, there's a lounge sofa that my mother used to lay down and read at, hung above it, is a painting of my mom and dad, then in the center of the wall, there are two armchairs facing the open doors balcony, where my father is sitting right now.

"Come and join me, Elia, time is precious when you're dying," my father called coughing towards the end of his sentence.

I blink a few times, remembering why I'm supposed to be here, and sigh, it's no time for replaying childhood memories.

I walk around the sitting area and join my father by the balcony, "what is it this time?" I asked, taking his terrible condition in, during the past month and a half, he had lost a lot of weight, his face looked pale and streaks of my father's usually black-dyed hair, are now grey, showing his real age.

"Nothing important son..." he pauses, "just wanted you here," he breathes deeply in and out.

You wanted me here? I frowned, "what did you do?" I asked sitting at the edge of my chair.

"I took some pills," he coughs, finding it difficult to breathe, "I'm dying anyway, so I'd rather be in control of it," he says.

"You sick bastard" I muttered, Is this why he called me here? 

I was probably looking at him intensely because he chuckles, "I know you've grown up, but your hard face is still very innocent and child-like to me," he smiles amused, and sighs in relief, "I'm glad I didn't taint all of your mother's raising," he goes quiet for a while, focusing on his breathing, "I'm s-sorry," he stutters, then he says it again, but this time he whispers "I'm Sorry..." struggling to take his last breaths.

Rosario unlocks the door and walks in with a few of his men, he had his phone out while checking my father's pulse, a beeping sound was coming from it, I listen while I watch him fret over my father's still body, then the peeping on his phone goes flat, and Rosario orders his men to pick my father up and take him away.

I watch them take my father away, my eyes on their backs as they left the room with my father's lifeless body.

It's over? I asked no one in particular, my eyes travel between the bedroom door and my father's empty spot, I put my hand on the armrest of his armchair, he was just there.

I've probably sat there looking at his chair for a while before my eyes became dry, I blink my eyes bringing moisture to them, setting back in my chair, looking at the sunset from the balcony, going back to what happened over and over.

Why in gods name did he want me to see this?

"I'm sorry,"

"I'm sorry,"

"I'm sorry,"

His voice kept replaying in my mind, even in his last moments of life, he manages to mess me up one more time.

What are you apologizing for? Is it for making me watch you as you took your life away? Or for all the abuse you've inflicted upon me? Or is it for sending those men who hurt me? What's the point of apologizing after all this time?

"I'm sorry,"

"I'm sorry,"

"I'm sorry,"

The memory of his voice is haunting me now, if I close my eyes I can see his deathly pale face, I can see and hear his last chuckle, and I can also see him as the man who abused me after my mother's death, the man who starved me as punishment, the man who forced me to marry some heartless sick bastard, but I can also see the man who loved my mother dearly, the gentle husband, the absent father, I'd rather have an absent father than the man he became after he lost the only thing he cared about in this life.

"I'm sorry,"

Why? Is it because you were dying? you don't want to roll around on hell's floor? Can't get reunited with your lover in the afterlife, now you need forgiveness, now you need to atone for your sins?

"I'm sorry,"

Selfish bastard.

I stand up from the armchair and step into the balcony, the sun has set and the backyard is now lit up, I look to the left, the pool was also lit up, and the sight of the Jacuzzi's bubbling water flashes a dark memory in my mind, sending shivers down my spine, I cross my arms seeking warmth.

"I'm sorry,"

Cruel monster.

"I'm sorry,"

No, you're not.

"Elia," Rosario calls making me jump, he comes to stand beside me, "I've been calling you," he states.

I sigh, "I didn't hear it," I say, then I look around me, realizing that it's nighttime already and I don't have to be here anymore, "I should go," I mumble to myself.

I step away from the railings and turn to enter the master bedroom again, but Rosario stops me, putting his hand on my shoulder, "you're staying," he announces. 

"What for?" I ask, shrugging his hand off.

"The funeral." he deadpans.

I sigh, "..." I look around me and then back to Rosario, studying his face, he doesn't seem affected by my father's death, which makes me frown, but I let it go, it's not important, "that would be a waste of my time," I tell him honestly.

"It's your father, you need to be there," he argues.

"No, I really don't need to, and if it's to save my father's face, then all the more reason to not attend,"   I could care less about his reputation.

 "Your father was a good man, you should be there to honor him," Rosario defended.

I chuckle, "You have a crooked concept of good and evil," I pointed, seeing his loyalty and devotion to my father during the short time I spent here, I'm assuming he had a bad relationship with his father, my father replacing me with Rosario as his son, and possibly Rosario replacing his father with mine, so I asked, "tell me, Rosario, would you honor your own father?"

"If I find him, I'll kill him," Rosario answered honestly, his tone dead serious, eyes and face cold and furious, he's angry.

This makes me laugh and smile sadly, "I'm truly happy that you found in my father the parent I didn't have, I've mourned his loss along with my mother's, a very long time ago, I honestly don't have anything good to say about him, attending the funeral would be a mistake."

"You're gonna regret it," Rosario warns, but it's not like his other warnings like he's speaking from experience. 

"I'll survive". 

"Doesn't matter, you're staying," he says as he left me standing on the balcony and out of the master bedroom locking the door behind him, locking me alone with the ghost of my parents.