Mistakenly Yours: Contract Marriage With The Billionaire-Chapter 81: This family has fallen apart

Chapter 81: This family has fallen apart
"Where were you the entire night?"
Adam questioned as soon as he saw Diego walked into the living room. His eyes were puffy and swollen while his hair look disheveled. The redness in his eyes was a clear sign that he had been drinking a lot.
"I—I was at a friend’s place," Diego stammered, unable to lift his gaze above the floor.
"Why did you do it this time?" Adam asked, his voice remaining exceptionally calm. It was a calm that terrified Marcella more than any shout.
Marcella swallowed hard, her eyes flying to her husband. "Adam, please, let him freshen up first. Then—" She stopped abruptly when Adam cut her off with nothing more than a simple glare.
"Answer me! Why did you do it again? Instead of helping the company, instead of being the man I raised you to be, you were filling your account again with money!?" Adam’s voice thundered in the room, causing Diego to flinch.
"I’m sorry, Dad," Diego mumbled, his head still bowed in shame.
Adam stood slowly. "You have seen what I did to my own daughter, haven’t you? You know the consequences of betraying me. I can do the same to you, Diego. I can make you beg on the roads when you finally learn how to work hard."
Marcella’s gaze shot up, worry twisting her features. Every instinct screamed at her to speak, to fall to her knees and plead with Adam to forgive Diego just one more time.
But she knew the stakes were too high now. If she opened her mouth, if she interfered again, things might take a far worse turn for all of them. She bit back her desperate plea and gazed at her son, hoping he would calm his father.
"When did I not give you money that you’ve to find such ways to commit the frauds in the company? As the son of the Falcone Family, shouldn’t you be more responsible to your duties?" Adam barked, his voice filled with scathing demand, seeking not an excuse, but a justification for such a betrayal.
Diego remained tight-lipped, his refusal to speak only fueling the inferno in his father’s eyes. Without warning, Adam raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face.
"Speak!" Adam roared, his voice raised again.
"Honey!" Marcella screamed, rushing forward in a panicked dash. She grasped his arm, trying to physically pull him back from their son. "Please don’t do this!"
From the bottom of the grand staircase, Frida watched her father’s uncontrolled anger unleash fully on her elder brother.
"Don’t stop me, Marcella. I was going to make him the heir of this family," Adam ground out with anguish. "And he dared to fool me all this time with his lies. Am I raising a traitor in this house?"
Just as the emotional climax peaked, Sara walked into the living room. She took in the scene immediately.
She cleared her throat once that drew all eyes toward her.
"Because you called me, I have come," Sara said, dropping any pretense of a greeting.
Diego’s jaw clenched in a spasm of humiliation. He stood beaten and exposed, biting back any protest as he waited for the final judgment his father would surely deliver now that his most judgmental daughter was present.
"If you’ve called me here to show mercy to Diego, then I am not doing it," Sara stated. "Instead, I’ll tell Luca to put him behind bars."
Adam’s face, already etched with fury, went rigid with defiance. "You won’t do that," he said.
Diego had a quick, furtive glance at his father, utterly confused by the contradiction. Adam had just promised to break him; now he was defending him from Sara? What convoluted plan did his father have in mind?
"Why? Because you’re my father!?" she challenged. "Are you going to apologize to me after throwing me out of the house? Or are you going to say you will forgive what I have done because the reputation of this family has gotten into ruins? Your daughter sold off your company while your son was again committing the frauds. You didn’t believe me or hop in to save me, but to save your son, you are ready to forget what happened a few weeks ago."
"Have your name get cleared from the allegations that were put against you?" Adam asked. "Luca dismissed the committee that day just because you became his wife. Don’t lecture me for my treatment toward you. I did give you a chance. I asked you to step down as the CEO."
"So that you could have put Diego as the CEO?" Sara confronted. "Why were you always so biased to me? I told you to trust me. If getting married with Luca could have saved the Falcone Industries, then that was the best solution. You still believe that I-I did wrong to your company, Dad. You never trusted your own kids. That’s why Diego always found a way to sideline the funds. You never considered the three of us equal. And that’s the reason this family has fallen apart."
Adam furrowed his brows, but Diego just stared at Sara with a confused gaze.
"What did you say?" Adam demanded.
"Sara is right," Diego cut in, his admission surprising everyone.
Frida snickered to herself, watching her brother so quickly side with their stepsister.
Diego met his father’s gaze. "Sara is absolutely right. I always felt beneath her. In my eyes, every damn opportunity went straight to her. For you, Dad, it was always Sara."
"Diego!" Marcella gestured frantically, urging him to stop.
Sara ignored them all. "While in my eyes, Dad always looked after Diego and Frida. Everything I’ve done, all the acts in the past, were just to hold your attention, Dad. I didn’t want to be abandoned. But you still didn’t allow me to step back inside those gates that day. In the end, you chose to leave me behind. But today, you’re unable to do the same to Diego."