Chapter 21 (Part 2): Was I tricked?

“A young man asked me to tell you that Mr. Antonio has all the qualities of a godfather, so you can rest assured.” Miss Daniela smiled slyly and winked at Antonio.

“Why…” Antonio finally couldn’t help but speak up. When he saw his father’s expression, he finally understood: it wasn’t just that he had been tricked.

“In that case, I will announce tomorrow that you will officially succeed as the 12th head of the Francisco family.” The Godfather sat down, and for the first time, a gentle expression appeared on his weathered yet dignified face. He seemed to have suddenly become relaxed, and even his usually cold and hard voice became warm. “I can do some things that I want to do now.”

Antonio looked back and forth between the two people in front of him, finally finding his voice: "What do you want to do?" He swore he looked more stupid than ever before—but he didn't care anymore.

“She said she didn’t need a man who was too much of a burden,” the Godfather said in a low voice, though the content was somewhat inexplicable. “Now that I can finally unload my burden, shouldn’t I… be qualified to go to her?”

...A melodramatic, clichéd love story! Antonio immediately realized, his face turning ashen with anger. He had known all along that his father had a mysterious woman in his heart, but he had only assumed that woman was dead. Turns out she was still alive? And a powerful figure capable of suppressing the Sicilian Godfather? It seemed the old man had planned this all along! What had he been doing all this time? And that so-called Miss Daniela... Thinking of this, he was practically consumed by rage, his rage turning to madness—

Completely disregarding whether staring at a lady was impolite, Antonio glared at Ms. Daniela and asked, "What did Calvin say to you?"

Miss Daniela smiled and said, "He asked me to tell you: you have important business to attend to, so go ahead." The last sentence was spoken in Chinese, with clear pronunciation and intonation. What should have been a strange foreign language sounded perfectly natural coming from her mouth.

Antonio's lips twitched. He'd been staying abroad... but he was practically in China. This substitution tactic was brilliant; it had him completely fooled. Because the man who should have been here was the one already in New York.

“Mr. Francisco, I have accomplished my mission. I wonder if I may now retire gracefully?” Daniela elegantly lifted her skirt and gave her godfather a ladylike curtsy.

"Are you really not going to reconsider my proposal?" The godfather's expression was sincere, his eyes glancing at his son who was standing there dumbfounded. "Dino is going to have a headache."

"Who told him to be so long-winded? Consider this my little revenge." Miss Daniela pouted. "Well then, gentlemen Francisco, I'll take my leave." With that, she turned and left without looking back.

Antonio's mind was still racing with the events of the past few days. He considered the reactions of his father's trusted confidants, the Earl of Tulip's attitude, and Si Qiang's words and actions. Connecting the dots, he quickly pieced together the whole picture. No wonder… everyone knew except him!

He glanced sideways at his father and said weakly, "Since you both know what I'm doing, doesn't that just prove I completely lack the qualities a godfather should have? I think the person who should be doing what I want to do isn't you, but this idiot like me—I'm simply not suited for this!"

Now, he truly began to doubt his own abilities. Having been repeatedly fooled by the same person, losing his judgment, was he still qualified to be the godfather who would lead Sicily's future?

"No, no, quite the opposite. You haven't forgotten what the spirit of Sicily is, have you?" Old Mr. Francisco took out his pipe, took a puff, and leisurely exhaled a smoke ring. "Protecting loved ones and defending one's homeland—that was the original and only goal of the Italian Mafia."

Antonio stared at him blankly. He knew this, of course, but he thought it was just a slogan. And wasn't it even more despicable to be foolish for someone who could never love you…?

"Of course, you should know enough about the 'loving the wrong person' thing, right?" A hint of smugness flashed in the Godfather's eyes. "Consider my suggestion—I think Daniela is a good girl."

Antonio was startled. He finally realized that after discovering he had been tricked by Si Qiang again, his blind, burning emotions had been doused with a cooling agent, suddenly cooling down. The residual heat remained, but it simply couldn't reignite. Was this the old man's real purpose?

Having figured this out, he slumped to his forehead, saying, "Whatever. Sorry, I'm a little tired, I'll take my leave." He turned and quickly pushed open the door to leave. No matter how nicely he put it, he was nothing more than a foolish man blinded by love. So foolish... that he couldn't possibly confront him.

Watching his son's unsteady figure, the godfather's relaxed expression turned complicated. He said it that way, but this son was still rather green. However, he could never truly mature without giving him real burdens. Let him grow into the lion of Sicily amidst the hail of bullets.