"Darling, please... don't hurt me. Kenzo will be home soon!" Maria cried out through stifled sobs. Her voice was hoarse, filled with pleas that fell on deaf ears.
Inside the room, Samuel was like a man possessed. His rage and dark lust merged, blinding him to the fact that their only son could appear at any moment. He struck Maria's shoulder violently, then buried his teeth into her neck like a bloodthirsty predator. To him, Maria's pain was the fuel for his satisfaction. The more she whimpered in agony, the more powerful he felt.
Behind the door, Kenzo could no longer contain the turmoil in his chest. His mother's screams were no longer just sounds; they were daggers twisting in his heart. With racing breath and darkened eyes, he ran to his father's study. He knew exactly what was kept in that desk drawer: a handgun equipped with a silencer.
The teenager's hands shook as he gripped the cold steel. Without hesitation, he returned to the bedroom and kicked the door open.
Sshhoot!
A single, precise shot. The bullet pierced Samuel's head instantly. The massive body collapsed, pinning the weak and helpless Maria beneath him. Thick, crimson blood poured out, soaking the sheets and drenching Maria's violently trembling body.
"Ken... help Mama..." Maria whispered faintly, her voice nearly swallowed by the sudden, haunting silence.
At that exact moment, Bramantya appeared in the doorway. He froze at the horrific scene before him: a lifeless Samuel and Kenzo, still clutching the weapon with trembling hands. Kenzo's heart hammered so hard he felt he might faint at any second.
Bramantya approached calmly—a cold, calculated calmness. Using a handkerchief, he took the pistol from Kenzo's hand, wiping away every trace of the boy's fingerprints.
"Go. Save your mother. I'll handle the rest," Bramantya said in a low, firm tone.
"Papa..." Kenzo sobbed. Tears fell as he looked at his father's stiffening body. Cruel as he was, the man was still his father.
"Ken, look at your mother! She needs help, she is dying!" Bramantya snapped to snap Kenzo back to reality.
With what strength they had left, they moved Samuel's body aside. Kenzo meticulously cleaned the blood from his mother's body, dressing her with hands that wouldn't stop shaking.
"Uncle, should we take Mama to the hospital now?" Kenzo asked hopefully.
"Yes, the hospital first. Focus on your mother's safety," Bram answered.
At the hospital, Maria was rushed into emergency care. However, her condition continued to plummet. When she regained consciousness for a brief moment, Kenzo and Bramantya were by her side.
"Mama, why are you being so quiet? What really happened that night?" Kenzo asked, clutching his mother's cold hand.
Maria struggled to draw breath. "We had just come home from the party... Bram knows. I was dragged by my hair, forced home just because a male guest spoke to me. Your father... he was so consumed by jealousy. He couldn't stand me talking to other men. He would fly into a rage if it happened."
"But Papa hurt you too much," Kenzo wept.
"I'm okay, Ken..." Maria winced in agony, her face turning ghostly pale. "Aakhh!"
Kenzo saw the bandages on his mother's abdomen begin to turn red. Samuel had evidently stabbed her before the shooting occurred.
"You have to hold on, Ma! We're going to Italy. Papa's family will come looking for whoever did this. We'll go there, meet Grandpa. You can be free now," Kenzo pleaded.
Maria smiled weakly, her eyes growing glazed. "Mama... can't—"
Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttt...
The long, steady drone of the monitor shattered Kenzo's hopes. The screen showed a static, flat line. Maria had surrendered to her pain.
"Mamaaaaa! Maaa! Don't leave me!" Kenzo screamed hysterically, shaking his mother's cooling body.
Bramantya placed a heavy hand on Kenzo's shoulder. "I will take care of your father first. You must be strong," he whispered.
Bramantya returned to the Argawinata residence. With slick precision, he staged a robbery. He erased all evidence of Kenzo's involvement and fabricated a story that Samuel was shot by burglars who had raided the house. He then contacted Samuel's extended family.
"How could this happen?!" Marco, Samuel's relative, roared with a flushed face.
"Kenzo and I had just picked him up from a school event. But when we arrived, the house was in shambles. Samuel was already dead, and Maria... she was stabbed in the stomach and didn't survive at the hospital," Bramantya said with a guiltless face.
"Dammit! Who did this?!" growled Bastian, Samuel's brother.
"We should focus on making the arrangements for their bodies first," Bramantya told the siblings.
That night, a heavy shroud of grief hung over the funeral home where Samuel and Maria were laid out. Kenzo sat in silence, destroyed by the loss of both parents in a single night.
The next morning, before the sun rose high, Bramantya stood ready beside Kenzo. "Ken, I want you to go to Italy now. Stay with your grandfather there. It's no longer safe for you here."
"But what about you, Uncle? Are you sure you'll be alright?" Kenzo asked worriedly.
Bramantya gave a thin smile. "I'll be fine. It is my duty to look after you."
That night at the airport, Kenzo stood before the departure gate for Rome.
"Take care of yourself, Ken. Grow up to be a good and successful man," Bramantya said for the last time.
"You stay healthy too, Uncle. One day, I will return to repay all your kindness," Kenzo said sincerely.
Kenzo stepped onto the plane, leaving his homeland with deep scars, heading toward a new future in Italy.