Vittorio felt that the root of all this was Alberto. If he hadn’t interfered, Paul hadn’t left Francisco any “direct troops”—or rather, the
Vittorio felt that the root of all this was Alberto.
If he hadn’t interfered, Paul hadn’t left Francisco any “direct troops”—or rather, the entire family was his “direct troops.”
The underworld isn’t a church, and even the church doesn’t resolve all disagreements through peaceful discussion.
They too would use means of discipline, physically silencing the weak.
Without Alberto, they could have continued to play the part of good grandfathers, good uncles, and good aunts.
They would have frequently brought him gifts, and would have done their best to support him through university, to become a scholar, an expert, even if it cost a lot of money.
But then this Alberto showed up, and everything turned into this terrible mess!
Vittorio looked at Francisco with disappointment. “You shouldn’t waste your talent for learning. It was Paul’s dream for you to go to university. He couldn’t realize it himself; it’s the same if you realize it.”
“You shouldn’t be here!”
There were only the three of them in the room. They sat on the sofa. Francisco was silent at this moment. Alberto, holding a coffee cup, walked towards the bar on the side.
“The spout of the kettle has a bit of a problem. Be careful not to spill water everywhere!”
Vittorio instructed. He didn’t think these people would harm him, because he was Paul’s grand-uncle, Francisco’s grandfather. They would hate him, dislike him, but he never thought they would kill him.
The sound of footsteps stopped at a distance behind him. Vittorio’s gaze was still focused on Francisco’s face. “The pain, the death, has already brought us indelible suffering. Our relatives and friends died in battle. All of this is already enough!”
“I’m not asking you to let go of hatred, to forget hatred. We just need to become stronger first, before we can pick up that hatred again and complete our revenge!”
“Look at those young people. Are they really as determined as you think?”
“They will be afraid of getting hurt, afraid of death. They are also tired of their exhausted bodies and tense nerves. Let everything slow down, just to let people rest and for us to replenish some manpower.”
“Sometimes, choosing to let go for a while is the smart decision!”
“You’re still young, you don’t understand family affairs at all. If you let your temper and your foolish trust in Alberto guide you, you will only make the family’s situation worse…”
Vittorio was getting into his stride. When people get old, they have this hobby: they like to impart their so-called experience to the younger generation and gain respect, pleasure, and a thrill from it.
But they also need a qualified student to get these things. First of all, the student must be focused, not doing other things, otherwise it’s hard for them to continue.
How to determine if the student is focused? Actually, just looking at his state is enough.
When he is looking at you, then he must be focused.
If he is looking elsewhere, or doing other things, then he must not be focused.
What was Francisco looking at now? He was looking at something a little above Vittorio’s back, staring intently. This made Vittorio a little puzzled. He turned slightly, but his gaze was still on Francisco’s face.
Until he had turned his body to be sitting slightly sideways, and then turned his head to look behind him.
Alberto, holding a hammer, smashed it down hard on his head. His whole body slumped down along the sofa.
He seemed to want to struggle. As he was about to collapse to the floor, he tried to get up. Alberto pressed down on his head and smashed down with the hammer again!
Blood splattered out, splashing onto Francisco’s face. He sat there calmly, watching Alberto smash Vittorio’s head into a pulp with one hammer blow after another, the expression on his face not changing at all!
Only after confirming that Vittorio was completely dead did he wipe the hammer on Vittorio’s clothes and put it back in his pocket.
Alberto picked up a towel from the coffee table to wipe the blood from his face and hands. He also looked down at the blood spots on his suit, cursed, and then looked at Francisco.
“Scared?” he asked.
Francisco shook his head. He took the towel and wiped the bloodstains from his face. “No, I just feel… he’s not as strong as I thought.”
“You know, he’s always put a lot of pressure on me. I always felt that I could hardly defeat him.”
“After all, he is my grandfather, and also the father figure of many people in the family, but…”
He looked at Alberto. “A fifteen-cent hammer took him away, took him to God’s side. To think I would be afraid of a guy who could be solved with fifteen cents!”
“I feel pitiful, terrible, and ridiculous for my past weakness!”
Alberto nodded. “You really are a good student. The things you say make me feel you have a deep understanding. So, Zaccaro is yours to handle?”
Francisco was in a daze for a moment. “I might not be able to control him.”
Alberto said with a smile, “When you land the first hammer blow, he won’t have a chance to resist anymore.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that!” Alberto walked to the window and made a pre-arranged gesture to the outside.
Fordis, who was smoking with Vittorio’s trusted followers, suddenly pointed to the side and asked, “What’s that?”
Vittorio’s trusted follower looked in the direction he was pointing. There was nothing.
While he was still observing to see if there was anything he had missed, a powerful arm suddenly wrapped around his neck. He almost instinctively reached for his gun, but the next second, his neck was broken.
He did not die immediately but lay on the ground, his body twitching slightly. Perhaps his body had also discovered that something was wrong; unable to receive messages from the central nervous system, it was constantly sending messages through convulsions.
He stared at Fordis. Now he understood. Vittorio had probably also met with a foul end.
It wasn’t just him. Vittorio’s bodyguards were quickly taken out. They had come prepared.
“Next, it’s Zaccaro.”
Like Vittorio, Zaccaro didn’t believe Francisco would kill him, so he had the butler invite the men in.
The process was almost the same, the difference being that Zaccaro was more direct, more naked.
“Cisco, you see, there are many, many people in the family who oppose you. You really don’t have the ability to continue to rule the family.”
“You have no prestige, you can’t make people believe in your abilities. Everyone doubts whether you can lead us further, whether you can do what Paul did.”
“This isn’t a school exam question, where you’ve studied them and there’s definitely a standard answer.”
“Even if you get it wrong, it’s just a matter of going from an A to a B.”
“If you make the wrong choice in these matters, people will die, many people, and among them will be your relatives.”
“This is not where you should be. I am more suitable to inherit the family than you. We have a very close blood relationship, and Paul and I were also brothers.”
“I know better than you how to handle family affairs. I am more experienced than you in every aspect!”
“Actually, I’ve been holding back. I don’t want to make things ugly. you should be able to understand and be considerate of me.”
“Your continued clinging to this position will only cause internal problems for us as well. So I think you should let me be in charge of all the family’s affairs, and you will go to your school.”
“Only in this way can we revitalize the Pasoretto family again, instead of watching it fall into darkness!”
In fact, he and Vittorio were not wrong.
Francisco had been in school all along, with excellent academic performance. Although Paul had not said that he would not let him inherit the family, up to now, he had not been involved in family affairs at all! Paul had high hopes for him, hoping he could get into university and become a university student.
At the same time, this was also a manifestation of his ambition. He hoped to have a highly educated person as the family head. That would definitely make the family business develop better and go further.
But he hadn’t considered the possibility of an accident, so strictly speaking, Francisco had no experience or ability in handling family affairs.
What he had mastered was the knowledge taught in schools. He had not learned how to arrange criminal activities, nor had he learned how to deal with those who were disobedient, let alone how to deal with the current complex situation.
They could acknowledge the legitimacy of Francisco’s acquisition of the position of family head, but they refused to accept his management.
At this time, to listen to the words of a sixteen-year-old boy was no different from hanging your own head on your belt! Francisco drank the juice in his cup. “I’d like some more.”
Zaccaro was about to get the glass. “I’ll pour it for you.”
Francisco, however, stood up on his own initiative. “No, I’ll get it myself. I know where it is.”
Zaccaro did not insist. He turned his gaze to Alberto. “If you really want to repay a debt of gratitude, you shouldn’t be meddling in our family’s internal problems.”
“I’ve always felt that your motives are not pure. You’re like a clown waiting to steal power, Alberto…”
“What happens here has nothing to do with you, yet you insist on getting involved…”
“What the fuck are you looking at?”
Zaccaro discovered that Alberto was ignoring him and was instead looking at something behind him. What could be behind him? Nothing but a bookshelf, or some oil painting? Seeing Alberto staring intently at something behind him, this also made Zaccaro hesitate a little, turn sideways, turn his head, and look behind him.
He saw Francisco standing very close to him, so close that he could only see Francisco’s waist and chest. Then he raised his head and saw a hammer coming down.
“Hallelujah!”
Thud!
(End of chapter)