Elara's POVThe halls are brightly decorated, large, and filled to the brim with what looks like a thousand people—or maybe more. Each of them is adorned in glittering dresses. Gold chandeliers line the ceiling, and the finest artistic paintings fill the walls.My eyes scan the crowd, looking for any familiar face to help ease my anxiety and stop the trembling in my legs. Soon, two towering figures—one in a crisp white suit and the other in blue—push through the crowd, walking forward to stand before me. I leap into my dad's arms, hugging him like my life depends on it."Happy birthday, princess," he whispers in my ear while ruffling my hair, which was perfectly done by the stylist. I hug him even tighter, never wanting to let this moment go.Someone clears their throat, making us pull away from each other."I understand you guys doing all this father-and-daughter bonding, but where's my own hug?" Uncle Damien opens his arms and narrows his eyes. I smile and lunge into his open arms.
Elara's POVOkay, I admit, Peter has a death wish, and he wants me to be included in his demise. I try to pull away from him, but he hugs me even tighter. Finally, with one shove, Lorenzo gets him off me.Peter staggers backward but maintains his balance, then smiles at me, his crooked teeth on full display.No, don’t get me wrong, Peter is not ugly. He just has crooked teeth. He’s quite cute, which is the stupid reason I am in this predicament.“Baby, who are these men, and why are they acting all protective of you?” he asks. Then, as if figuring out the missing piece of a puzzle, he smirks. “Oh, I understand.”Peter’s smile widens as his gaze flickers between them. “These are your brothers from the family that adopted you. Well, guys, you have nothing to worry about. Elara and I have come too far for me to ever hurt her.”My head snaps to Lorenzo, and I see his eyes darken before his jaw tightens. Dang it, Peter! Just leave already.“Lorenzo,” I plead, trying to hold his arm, but he
Lorenzo's POVAn important business meeting is going on.By important, I mean a meeting among the top people in the country.You can already guess who they are.Damien and Antonio Rossi sit at the curved edge of the expensive polished mahogany table, their faces set into hardened glares, exuding an aura of power.Just like the powerful men they are.On the other side of them sits Alexander Viali.I don’t know why the fool had to show up in my office, but his presence here is getting on my nerves.We are at the top floor of my building, in the boardroom designed specifically for meetings of the upper class and important investors.Since my building is taller than all the others around, we have a great view of the blue skyline, the city below, and the rooftops of the slightly lower but still elegant buildings surrounding us.But neither the presence of these men nor the beauty of the view can hold my attention.All I can focus on is Elara, seated across from me, scribbling down notes on
Elara's POV I weave my way through the crowded hall. A place this magnificent costs more than the life earnings of a hundred men. Yet, the rich and influential use it for display. The soft strains of jazz music float through the hall. I feel a little out of place, in my dazzling red dress which costs no more than a few dollars. Looking around, I try to see if anyone notices the difference between the cheap material and the thousand-dollar dresses adorning everyone else in the room. Nobody pays any attention to me, all focused on showing off their wealth. A deep baritone voice suddenly cuts through my self-judgment. “Ladies and gentlemen, you are welcome to my 28th birthday party. We are family, and I hope you all feel free." The crowd breaks out in cheers, applauding the man who steals the room's attention with his captivating silver eyes, his affluent accent, and his elegant attire. They have to. Of course, he just said they belong to one family. The wealthy as one and the
Elara's POVMy heart clenches with each thud as the footsteps draw closer to the door. Sprinting to my feet, I hide the wallet in my bag and rush towards the bed, lifting the covers and sprawling against Lorenzo.His broad body takes up much space as he's lying in the middle, so I have to lie on him. His body feels surprisingly cold, and if not for the warmth of his breath against my forehead, I would think he is a corpse.My eyebrows furrow as my mind erupts in thoughts: could it be the effect of the drug? But the packet says only headache and slight dizziness may occur as side effects, and that would only be when the person wakes up.A loud knock on the door breaks through my train of thought, my eyes widening while my heart feels like it's about to explode. "Lorenzo! Lorenzo, you in there? I know you're having fun and all, but it's just 15 minutes to cake cutting, so hurry your ass up."My breath hitches, and I feel sweat trickling down my skin. The man outside expects us to be...
Elara's POV The voice sounds again from the entrance to the alley, sharp and furious. "What the hell is going on here?" My heart rate quickens. I sink further into the wall, feeling the roughness pressing into my back. Whoever this guy is, he sounds furious. I would never want to be on his bad side. I sneak a peek over the edge of the chair shielding me and see the man from earlier—Lorenzo’s guard—staring at the stranger. "Answer me, damnit!" the stranger bellows, causing me to jump. The guard stumbles over his words, unsure. "I—I was just looking for a—" "Get out of my house," the stranger snaps. His tone causes me to shudder. How scary is this man? The guard mutters something and hurries away, leaving just me, the stranger, and the silence. My palms grow sweaty, my mind reeling with all the things that could happen to me. He must be the owner of this place. Of course, I should have known. "Are you planning on staying there forever? Or are you waiting for an invitation?"
Elara's POVMy brain screams at me to run, but my legs are frozen. I fist my little bag until my knuckles turn white. Lorenzo Russo is in my house, sitting as if he owns the place."Are you going to stand there the whole night?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "Come in and take care of your guests, Mia Cara."I don't move; my mind is running wild with thoughts of all the things he could do to me. "W-what a-are y-you doing in my house?" I stammer, silently cursing myself for appearing weak in front of this intimidating billionaire.Lorenzo gets up from the chair, his gaze locked on me as he starts striding over to where I'm standing. My eyes widen, and I can hear my own heart pumping hard, as if I'd been running for hours. Finally coming to my senses, I turn on my heel, bolting out the door.It doesn't take five seconds for me to bump into two huge men in black suits, arms crossed as they patiently wait to drag me back to their boss. Well, shit. But maybe I can still try to run. I can out
Elara's POVMy parents used to tell me to be cautious around wealthy people because they were frequently manipulative and could easily disrupt your life if they wanted to. As I stood now before Lorenzo Russo, hands trembling and my heart pounding against my chest, I realized that I should have listened. After using the money, I had discarded the wallet into a river while laughing like a maniac as I enjoyed the sweet taste of revenge. I hadn't bothered to check if there was anything else inside. And now here I was, regretting all my life choices as I tried to figure out what to do."Mr Russo," I stammer, gulping down a large amount of air. "You must be mistaken, sir. I am sure your picture must be in another one of your wallets. Surely you have more than one, right?"Lorenzo Russo's hardened face turns even colder, the expression strong enough to send a shiver coursing down my spine. "I believe you want to play with me, Walker. That picture is very important to me and is the only one
Lorenzo's POVAn important business meeting is going on.By important, I mean a meeting among the top people in the country.You can already guess who they are.Damien and Antonio Rossi sit at the curved edge of the expensive polished mahogany table, their faces set into hardened glares, exuding an aura of power.Just like the powerful men they are.On the other side of them sits Alexander Viali.I don’t know why the fool had to show up in my office, but his presence here is getting on my nerves.We are at the top floor of my building, in the boardroom designed specifically for meetings of the upper class and important investors.Since my building is taller than all the others around, we have a great view of the blue skyline, the city below, and the rooftops of the slightly lower but still elegant buildings surrounding us.But neither the presence of these men nor the beauty of the view can hold my attention.All I can focus on is Elara, seated across from me, scribbling down notes on
Elara's POVOkay, I admit, Peter has a death wish, and he wants me to be included in his demise. I try to pull away from him, but he hugs me even tighter. Finally, with one shove, Lorenzo gets him off me.Peter staggers backward but maintains his balance, then smiles at me, his crooked teeth on full display.No, don’t get me wrong, Peter is not ugly. He just has crooked teeth. He’s quite cute, which is the stupid reason I am in this predicament.“Baby, who are these men, and why are they acting all protective of you?” he asks. Then, as if figuring out the missing piece of a puzzle, he smirks. “Oh, I understand.”Peter’s smile widens as his gaze flickers between them. “These are your brothers from the family that adopted you. Well, guys, you have nothing to worry about. Elara and I have come too far for me to ever hurt her.”My head snaps to Lorenzo, and I see his eyes darken before his jaw tightens. Dang it, Peter! Just leave already.“Lorenzo,” I plead, trying to hold his arm, but he
Elara's POVThe halls are brightly decorated, large, and filled to the brim with what looks like a thousand people—or maybe more. Each of them is adorned in glittering dresses. Gold chandeliers line the ceiling, and the finest artistic paintings fill the walls.My eyes scan the crowd, looking for any familiar face to help ease my anxiety and stop the trembling in my legs. Soon, two towering figures—one in a crisp white suit and the other in blue—push through the crowd, walking forward to stand before me. I leap into my dad's arms, hugging him like my life depends on it."Happy birthday, princess," he whispers in my ear while ruffling my hair, which was perfectly done by the stylist. I hug him even tighter, never wanting to let this moment go.Someone clears their throat, making us pull away from each other."I understand you guys doing all this father-and-daughter bonding, but where's my own hug?" Uncle Damien opens his arms and narrows his eyes. I smile and lunge into his open arms.
Elara's POVIf anyone had told me that I would stand in front of my own grave, I would never have agreed. I would have looked at them as if they were the craziest humans to grace the Earth. But I had indeed stood there, looking at my name, Kiara Rossi. The name Uncle Damien and Dad had called me.That was supposed to be my name, but Mother Esther must have changed it to Elara—either to cover her tracks or protect me. Dad promised that he would have his men take her in for questioning after the party.He had given me space to connect with my mom and sister, but all I felt as I stared was emptiness.Maybe because I never knew they existed, or because I had long given up hope of ever being with them. Still, I spent almost three hours at the graveside, just staring into nothingness, until my dad had called me to inform me that we were to leave.Now, as I stand in front of the mirror, staring at myself in a royal blue floor-length gown that hugged my waist and flared at the bottom, my hair
Elara’s POVTalk about bad timing. Why is Dad here now? And why did Lorenzo have to come into my office this afternoon? I force a smile onto my face, though I know it looks awkward, and walk toward him."Dad, You didn’t tell me you were coming," I say, hugging him."Why? Is a father not allowed to visit his daughter at her place of work?" He emphasizes the word work, his eye lingering on my face, which I know is smudged from my make-out session with Lorenzo.I run a hand through my hair. "It’s not what you think…" Why did you have to say that, Elara? That is so cringe, my subconscious chimes in. It is exactly what it looks like. You’re lucky he didn’t walk in just as you two were…"Mr. Rossi," Lorenzo calls out, and I exhale in relief at his intervention. He extends a hand to shake my dad’s, who blatantly ignores him and turns to me with a broad smile."My baby girl, come. I have something I want to show you. Let’s go now."I narrow my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. "Dad!"He h
Lorenzo's POVIt has been a month since Elara stormed out of the orphanage and, without even a hint of a smile, told me we should leave. I didn’t want to leave, knowing that someone had hurt her in there, but I respected her decision.In the car, I had probed, trying to find out what the problem was, but she didn’t tell me. She just said it was nothing too important.Frustration washed over me like a plague, and every single day when I found her, for at least five minutes, staring off into the distance, or pulling out her hair, or pacing a room, I would groan and think about what I could do to find out who had hurt her and what they had done.I had also tried to get the mothers at the orphanage to tell me. All I had found out was that Mother Annabelle had been really rude and called her names. But that couldn’t have been what was causing her to be like this, could it?It is a day before her birthday, and I have been restless the whole time, pacing my office because I am still trying t
Elara’s POV“Mr. Russo,” Mother Esther calls out, her face breaking into a wide smile. “It is an honor to see you today, sir. Why didn’t you tell us you were going to come by? We would have prepared something special to welcome you.”Lorenzo smiles back at her. “There is no need for that, Mother. Elara and I won’t be staying long.”“Nonsense, sir. I insist that you join us for dinner at the orphanage,” Mother Annabelle urges.I beam at the thought of meeting the little children, but my heart is torn at the thought of being in the presence of these mothers. I still remember what they said to me last time.Lorenzo turns to face me. “I will do whatever Elara chooses to do.”All their eyes turn to me, and I lower my gaze to the ground. After thinking for a few seconds, I decide it’s best we stay for a while. “We can spend an hour with the children if it’s okay with you, Lorenzo,” I speak out, emphasizing the word children to make the mothers know that I am not staying here for them.Mothe
Elara's POVIn front of me is the entrance to the Eastside community. My childhood home. But it’s almost unrecognizable. Wasn’t I just here a few weeks ago? How is this possible? My stomach turns as I face Lorenzo, my eyes wide with disbelief."W-what? H-how is this possible?""It’s not impossible, Elara. This is what we actually had in mind for the Eastside," Lorenzo explains calmly, staring straight ahead.I keep staring at him, closing my mouth and opening it a couple of times. I’m at a loss for words. The Eastside has been completely renovated. Well, not all of it—there are still a lot of uncompleted buildings—but everything looks different, fancier, and much bigger. Like civilization just took a new turn in the community."But I thought you had plans for something like a mall, industry, maybe some businesses, hotels, or restaurants. Why are you...?"Lorenzo laughs, the sound echoing in the quiet night. "Are you kidding me? Why would we do that? I just wanted to give these people
Elara's POV"Lorenzo, you know you’re being too rude, right?" I huff. "When I said 2 hours 30 minutes, I didn’t mean you should come exactly at that time to get me."He raises an eyebrow. "Of course, I’m a man of my word, Elara. You really think I’d leave you for longer than that? Hell no. You said 2 hours 30 minutes, and I came at 2 hours 30 minutes. Now shh.""But you didn’t even let me say a proper goodbye to Victoria. Is that fair? How would she feel?""Elara," Lorenzo says, his tone firm, "I don’t care how Victoria feels. Okay? Let’s go.""And where exactly are we going?" I ask, crossing my arms."I don’t know," he says with a small smirk. "I told you it’s a surprise, didn’t I? But do prepare—it’s going to be a long, long journey.""Long?" I ask, my eyebrows knitting together. "What do you mean by long?""You’ll find out," he replies, his face unreadable.I frown. "Okay, give me a hint.""You can try to decode it yourself," he answers casually, walking one step ahead of me.I hur