“Okay, class, let's give a round of applause to thank Mr. and Mrs. Townsend for letting us know how a winery works and Jasmine for bringing them in today.” Mrs. Greenman, Alec's teacher, encouraged the class as the little red-haired girl's family took their seats again to the sound of class applause, although it was quite noticeable that most of the children were more concerned with talking to their parents than paying attention "Now...” the teacher held the roll call up to eye level for a moment, before smiling “How fast time has flown by. It's time for the last performance of the day. Alec and Mr. and Mrs. Vamcap, would you come over here, please?”
With a smile, Rose got up from the small chair she was sitting in next to Aaron and Alec, accepting the hand that the little boy extended to her, leading them to the square and the eyes of the class, who now seemed more focused on them than all the other parents. And Rose couldn't understand why, untilIn the hall where the principal's office was located, it was dead silent, and not just because the rest of the rooms around it were in the middle of classes, very different from Alec's. And, sitting there, watching as Rose cradled his sobbing younger brother in her arms, Aaron felt like he'd failed. The most frustrating kind of failure, where he had tried everything he could to make that little boy happy and not let Alphonse and Hazel ruin his life again, but in the end, he hadn't succeeded. Like it or not, those two bastards were still their parents. There was always a void in Alec's life that people would always make a point of reminding him of, like that day. And there was nothing Aaron could do to stop it, because it was beyond his control.So yes, in the end, he had failed his brother.“It's okay now, Alec. It’s over.” Rose murmured, patting his back until, finally, the sobs subsided a bit and, with an exchange of glances, she and Aaron seemed to sil
“What is bothering you?” Aaron's question drew out a torrent of thoughts so intense that she ended up shuddering in surprise, turning in a rush to see that he was now standing behind the armchair she was sitting in, holding a cup of coffee that was apparently meant for her."Uh... I... I think it's been a pretty intense day." Rose remarked hesitantly as she accepted the cup "I feel like I have a lot on my mind...""I'm sorry I ended up getting you into a sticky situation with Alec this afternoon." Aaron sighed, going to sit in the armchair next to hers, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt that was already without the tie and with the first buttons undone, even though they had just arrived “I should have made it clear to him that I wanted that you called me dad, but that the way you felt was very different. It wasn't fair to you or his feelings...""No, that's not why I'm like this." Rose interrupted him, agitated "Actually, I... I know I probab
"What you mean?" Aaron's question, spoken in the middle of an incredulous snarl, as if she'd just said something crazy, surprised Rose so much that it not only snapped her out of her confused thoughts, but also made her raise an eyebrow."I'm talking about our agreement." She answered slowly, though she knew there was no way he really didn't remember, “That our marriage would last a year, until you got the documents my father promised you. Do not remember? I even suggested we end it when you got them, but since you and Andy both said it would be nice to argue that you were married and likely to produce an heir when you had to go to court again, so I... .” she went on to admit, again full of hesitation, but Aaron didn't seem very interested in that particular subject.“That was a year ago!” he argued, as if the whole thing was nonsense, which only made her even more confused.“Uh… Yes.” Rose nodded, not understanding “Di
Rarely in her life had Rose been so confused. In fact, that was probably the worst of them all, as nothing seemed to make sense and she hadn't even managed to sleep a wink at night, wondering what could have happened to Aaron for him to have that kind of reaction to something. which they had mutually agreed upon long ago. Would he have problems in the legal battle with Alphonse if he decided to get divorced after just one year? But why had he suggested that deadline in the first place, if that's what it was? Or had he overreacted because he was still emotional after everything that had happened at Alec's school?With all those questions in mind, Rose found herself standing in front of Aaron's bedroom door even sooner than she intended, practically at the same moment that the sun had risen in the sky. It probably wasn't a good strategy to start a conversation like that at this time of the morning, especially knowing that it didn't take much for his mood to turn bad, but she just
“Did we get off on the wrong foot today?” Andy's voice rang out as soon as Aaron walked into his office, growling to see that his entire family was perched in the room, as if they were waiting for him “Oh, and before you ask, I already took Alec to school, so no you need to worry about scaring him with that face of yours.”“I'm not talking to you, Andrea. You know that very well.” he grunted, avoiding the eyes of all of them as he went to one of his files and pulled a folder from there, even though he knew he would hardly be able to work that day, after hearing Rose say that she wasn't his real wife so she could date how many men wanted “You should have let me know Rose was preparing those divorce papers, instead of talking about it like it was just a remote possibility.”“And what should I have done?” Andy shot back, angrily,“Having alerted you when Rose asked me to start divorce proceedings, then you could
"Miss Vamcap, you shouldn't..."“I don't care what you have to say!” Rose practically yelled at the maid, forcing her way through the front door of the Springs house, furious, “Just tell those two bastards you didn't see me come in here. Or call security for me, I don't care! Nothing will stop me from talking to them today!”“Then just wait so I can let them know you're here.” the woman tried again, nervously “Mr. Springs is still getting ready to go to work and your mother is sleeping, so if you can wait just a little while so they can get ready…”“The same way they waited for the perfect moment to stab my sister?!” Rose snarled, “No thanks. I have no intention of being considerate of them. Now, if you really want to keep your job, get out of here and just pretend you didn't see me..."“What is all this noise?” Elisabeth's irritable, sleep-hoarse voice rang out, causing Rose to
“I can't believe this is happening...” was all Rose could manage to growl as she struggled to fit her seat belt into the latch on the front seat of Aaron's car, her tremors getting in the way of her “They can't do this. with Grace! I won't let they do...!”"Rose, take it easy..." Aaron's voice rang out, but Rose's mind was so busy that she heard it almost as if he were a bee buzzing.“How can they do this to their own daughter?! She hasn't even faced them before like I did before. Grace always tried her best to go unnoticed so that they would forget about her existence and make sure nothing like this would ever happen and... And now..." she blinked away a tear, mad at herself for still crying over something the Springs had done.“Rose.” suddenly, the hands that were still clutching the seat belt were stopped by a gentle touch and, still flustered, she finally looked up to meet Aaron's worried and reassuring expression “T
“Would you like to get out of the car for a bit and go for a walk and try to ease that tension?” Aaron asked, when they were on the road again, interrupting the long moment of silence that had fallen over them after Grace had hung up "Or are you just mad at me for calling you stubborn?""Very funny..." Rose sighed, genuinely grateful that he was trying to lighten her mood, because God knew how much she needed it right then, "I know I shouldn't be so worried as Grace really does have a point in the plan. who said he formulated it, but...”"You can't help but think of all the possibilities for this situation to go wrong and the worst to happen." Aaron added, mournfully “I know how you feel. Andy has also had some pretty bad experiences in the past, and if she was forced to face a situation like this, I would certainly be wracked with worry.”"Right? I mean, it's my little sister alone in a restaurant with some bizarre man who God knows why
She could do this.The past was in the past and that scared, easily intimidated Andy was no more. She had been locked in that broom closet, with her hands bleeding and at the bottom of that lake, on that dark night, so many years ago. Now there was only Andrea Vamcap, a competent lawyer and part of a family she would never allow to fall apart, if only because she hadn't had the courage to face her memories and meet with the only person who could save the Vamcaps from Alphonse in that moment."Ms. Vamcap.” a female voice called and, as he turned around, Andy realized that she had been so deep in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that the smiling secretary had returned and was now standing beside her “Mr. Ferrars will see you now. Please, follow me.""Thanks." Andy groaned, his throat raw with nerves.Biting the inside of his cheek to force his body to hold steady, Andy followed the woman to a private elevator and then down a wide hallway that certainly could have held an ent
“And finally, I want to thank our lead developer, Grace Evans, for making this indie initiative the game of the year.” Timothy Collins, the owner of the game development company Grace had been working for for almost 6 years, pointed her out from the middle of the row of all the other people who had worked alongside her on that project “This award belongs to all of us, folks. Thank you again."At the sound of that last sentence, the audience rose to applaud them and, right in the front row, Grace saw Simon, sitting next to Timothy's husband, with that beautiful smile on his face, looking at her as if he were seeing a Goddess on top of that stage, instead of a human being. And as thrilled as she was that her most beloved work had won the award that was every developer's dream, Grace couldn't wait to step off that stage and give her husband a hug.Finally, after another round of applause, she and her co-workers were finally able to step down from the stage and, without even worry
"And this is where Simon's old room used to be." Mrs. Dickinson announced excitedly, opening the door for Simon and Grace to enter “I left him as he always was, at his request, but it breaks my heart to see how simple everything here is. Especially now that his help has made our children's rooms so beautiful and cozy...”"It's just as cute as he is..." Grace sighed, making Mrs. Dickinson laughs and Simon blushes.“Well, that was the last place I wanted to show your girlfriend. Oh, I'm always so happy to see you here again, my boy..." the old lady sighed, going to hold Simon's face by the cheeks as she had done since he was abandoned at the door of the orphanage, in a box, as a baby "And even happier to know that now you knew what love was. I've never seen you so happy before, not even when I was giving you extra time on my living room computer.”“It was great meeting you too, Mrs. Dickinson.” Grace smiled, looking genuinely thrilled to be there “It was so amazing to see the
“Stop swinging your legs like that! It looks like a tremendous duck!” Elisabeth scolded Grace for the millionth time that day, causing her to stop nervously shaking her legs as she sat in the waiting room of the restaurant where her parents had taken her to meet her mystery fiance “And stop biting your lip or you'll get lipstick on your teeth! God, I never met a girl more slovenly than you! How can you be my daughter?”“Shut up and stop causing an uproar!” Michael growled in a low tone, reaching over to grab his wife's arm after seeming to have finally finished confirming the reservation with the waiter who had accosted them the moment they set foot in that huge restaurant and who screamed exclusively "We have to make a good first impression on our son-in-law!"“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” Elisabeth spat, moving her arm away from his grip, but at least in a lower tone “Do you have any idea how long it took me and how much makeup I had to spend to make her even remote
It had been exactly 7 months, 2 weeks and 4 days since Grace had asked to see her best friend's dick, and even after the day Simon had gotten up from the table so fast as to break his own computer and end the conversation, she felt that he was still awkward around her, even though they had made a silent pact not to mention her request again.The funny thing was, Grace couldn't even feel embarrassed. Not that she didn't know that asking someone to be naked during a video call was weird, but… She honestly wanted to see that part of Simon. The only thing that made her feel bad was the fact that, from some of their conversations, Grace had the distinct impression that Simon thought she had asked this out of pure and simple curiosity. And unfortunately, whenever she tried to explain that she really was physically attracted to him, and even more so, Simon seemed to panic and end the call.Her parents had always said that she was very strange, and maybe Grace really was. Because she
“Please make yourself comfortable, Mr. Evans.” Mr. Conti touched Simon's shoulder in a friendly way as the waiter poured a glass of whiskey at the table he was sitting at "It's a pleasure to have you here again."“Thanks again for the invitation.” Simon forced himself to smile, since, of all the people he had met since he had started making a lot of money and being invited to that kind of high society club, Mr. Conti and his wife seemed to be one of the few people who were being genuinely kind to him.“Let me say hello to my other guests, but I'll be back here shortly so we can talk a little, yes?” the old man smiled, as if he knew perfectly well that Simon would not fit in easily here among all these men who were twice his age and never had to worry for once in their lives about what they were going to eat the next day “Why don't you try to take a walk and meet the other gentlemen? I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun.”Suppressing a sigh, Simon just smiled a little and nodde
“Grace...!” Rose called out to her, still inside the living room where Alec Vamcap, the nephew of the man she had married, was now happily playing with his adorable puppy; however, Grace pretended that she hadn't heard her and continued to walk quickly towards the room where she was staying in the Vamcap mansion, with the Christmas card, which she had questioned about, in her hands.It was still hard for her to believe that her sister actually looked so happy, in fact happier than she had ever been in the Springs, here with the family of the man she had forcibly married. Not that Grace was bothered by that. After all, Mr. Vamcap had turned out to be a better person than she realized, not only preventing Rose from being assaulted by Michael, but also bringing Grace into that mansion months ago, when she still had to wait until she could move into the dorm. Of course, she had been absolutely surprised when he had done this, as she had painted an image of him in her mi
Simon knew he was acting like he was 8 years old again, hiding in corners and just observing everything around him, letting shyness get the better of him, instead of doing what he really wanted to do. But dammit, whenever he glanced in Grace's direction, his heart raced, his palms turned cold, and he was more certain than ever that he still didn't have the courage to walk up to her and simply introduce himself. Not if it meant his looks might disappoint her and she wanted to stop being friends with him.Of course, he also knew he shouldn't have taken advantage of the fact that she had told him where her college was and given him the opportunity to go there and see her, on the day he knew Grace would be coming to apply, but... He wanted so much to see her up close. Or, at least, from a few meters away, as he was doing now, sitting at one of the tables in the college cafeteria, while he watched Grace standing in line near one of the rooms, hugging some documents and looking very
Most kids learned from their parents that strangers were not to be trusted, especially strangers you met on the internet and had never seen their faces before. In the case of Grace Springs, however, it was her older sister who had taught her that. So she knew very well how horrified and worried Rose would be to learn that she was doing exactly that right now."How's your day?" The message flashed in the in-game personal chat after the match ended, and with a smile, Grace clicked to open the message and reply from her friend Simon.Well, theoretically his nickname was still TallMole95, but they were long past that stage of knowing each other's real names. Seven months in all, in fact, since she'd managed to get hold of one of the notebooks in her father's study. Rose always said that she needed to avoid getting into trouble with Elisabeth and Michael as much as possible, especially while her sister wasn't back from college, but after those two had sold the portable game con