“Mama...I’m here,” Sebastian whispered as he laid flowers above his mother’s grave. Today was her death anniversary and it was one of the days in the year that he hated the most. She would not be dead if not for Stavros Demakis. This was all his fault.

“I will be away for a while. I’ve decided to move on, ma. I cannot stay this way. I want another kind of life. The one we deserve. If only you were here now, I would have bought you everything your heart desired...”

Tears stung his eyes but he dashed them back with his hand.

“But I will just settle for revenge on the people who did this to us. I will stop at nothing until we get what is our due. Because of that, I would have to leave. But I promise you, mama...I will never forget you. You’re forever in my heart.”

November 15, 2003 (A few hours earlier)

Antoniou Winery

The Island of Santorini, Greece

Nikos Demakis flung open the doors of his suite and stared out into the open ocean.

The breeze blew cold air towards his face and he closed his eyes in bliss. He arched his back and tilted his head towards the sun to feel the early morning warmth on his skin. Afterwards, he stretched and opened his eyes to watch the seagulls flying around and marvelled at the freedom they had.

They could go anywhere they wanted to be and more importantly, they could pair with whichever seagull they wanted to be with.

Unlike him.

Nikos closed his eyes once more and sighed.

This was a beautiful morning. The signs were all pointing to this being a beautiful day. But not for him.

Why?

Because it was his wedding day.

Nikos snorted at the irony. Weddings were supposed to be fun things. It was when grooms looked forward to seeing their brides in that white dress as they walked down the aisle. It was the time that men were supposed to be nervous about starting a new life together with the woman they loved.

But that was not the case for him.

He did not want this wedding and he would have given anything just to escape his current situation. But giving away everything so that he wouldn’t have to marry would really leave him with nothing. Not only would he lose all he had, he would also lose his grandfather’s beloved company.

And there was no other way but to get this marriage over with.

Nikos heaved a great sigh at his inescapable reality.

He entered his room once more and glanced at the wrapped parcels placed in his table. All of those were gifts from his friends and he knew that they all contained the finest, most expensive wines and alcoholic beverages in the world. Suddenly he was transported to a few days back when his friends held his bachelor party for him.

“For your wedding, my friend.”

One of his male friends laughed as he handed over a wrapped parcel.

“What is this?” he asked teasingly.

“The finest Ouzo in all of Greece. I give you this, my friend because I think you need some liquid courage to marry Cassia Andrade,” his friend said and the entire group laughed, including him.

“I think I do. Thanks for this,” he replied while he still chuckled.

The rest of the group whipped out their own presents which consisted of different bottles of the finest wines. He raised an eyebrow in inquiry which just made their group laugh harder.

“And this is to make it through every single day after the marriage. I suggest you use Dylan’s Ouzo for the wedding night,” another one jested with a wink, and that comment brought on another round of laughter.

But the one that laughed the hardest was him. And it was at the expense of his own bride-to-be.

Nikos walked over to the table and unwrapped said Ouzo. He wanted to have maybe just one shot to calm his nerves today. His friends warned him that the Ouzo was simply lethal but he was confident in his ability and his tolerance for alcohol since he had been drinking for years already. He even considered himself a connoisseur of the finest wines.

Nikos uncorked the bottle and read the label. He let it sit on the table for a few minutes to expose it to air as he tried to find a glass from the mini-bar in his suite. He sat on the stool in front of the marble countertop of the mini-bar and began to drink. The liquor was cool on his tongue and yet burned a path down his throat.

For the second time that day, Nikos found himself laughing at his current situation. Here he was, supposed to be wed a few hours from now and he was drinking just to be able to go through with it. He definitely did not want to be drunk but he just wanted the kind of buzz to make him not care about anything anymore.

With that, he poured himself another glass.

He even grabbed some lemon from the refrigerator to act as his chaser and wash away the bitter taste in his mouth. He downed another glass and then another before he found the will to stop himself.

Nikos knew his tolerance level and the amount he just consumed would definitely give him the buzz he wanted, yet was still far enough from being flat-out drunk. He stood up and then immediately felt that something was wrong.

His head was spinning and he had to brace his body on the side of the counter to avoid falling down. The room around him continued to spin and Nikos lost his balance. His hand immediately went to his head as he started feeling faint.

He frowned and then pulled himself up to a standing position. He reached for the bottle of Ouzo which was still about two thirds full. He sniffed it and his body became taut with rage as he realized what happened.

Damn those bastards for spiking my drink!

That was his last thought before the world did another spin and he crashed to the floor, taking the bottle of liquor with him as he lost consciousness.