Later that day, Eden and Grace got lunch from a restaurant, and then went to a street market nearby. They stayed out talking and wandering around the city for a few hours until it was time to get ready for dinner. Naturally, Grace did Eden's make-up and then went back to her own room to change. Eden picked out a straight, full-sleeved, and boat-necked black dress that reached her knee. It was a plain dress for formal wear but it hugged her body very well. She paired it with a platinum pendant and black stilettos and straightened her wavy hair. Feeling confident, she walked out of her room and knocked on Grace's door to see if she was ready. Grace opened the door while trying to put on an earring, and asked Eden to come in. She was wearing a dark purple silk dress with thin straps and baby pink gems forming small flowers all over the dress. It wasn't too tight but still made her curves look very prominent. Eden let out a low whistle as she saw her. Grace turned around and looked at h
Eden stopped in her path and stood there staring at the man who was busy talking to his wife. It was the man she had kicked at the club in Pisa. He is their important business associate? A fucking pervert? Eden thought to herself.Bennett turned around to see that Eden was not moving with him. He looked at her with confusion and asked her, "What happened?"Eden broke out of her reverie and managed to give him a fake weary smile. "Nothing, let's go." She entangled her arm with Bennett's and walked with him to the table. Her mind was too occupied to think of anything other than the man. Grace and Theo had already seated themselves. It was a big round table with 6 chairs around it. Theo sat next to the man's wife, with Grace to his right. Eden quickly took her place next to Grace so she didn't have to sit next to the pervert, apparently Mr. Rogers. Bennett made a confused face at Eden's erratic behavior but took his place between Eden and Mr. Rogers anyway. "Hey, you must be Eden," Mr.
Grace and Eden walked back out to the dinner table and sat with everyone to finish their dinner. They had decided to stay on their best behavior until the Rogers had left. Claire seemed like a wonderful woman to Eden, and it broke her heart that she was with a human trashbag. The rest of the evening went nicely and she tried her best to not give any reaction or a hint to anyone to make it look like she was uncomfortable. She was friendly and jolly with everyone. They finished their dinner and were on their desserts when all of a sudden Claire got excited and pointed out something. “Look, they’re dancing.” Everyone turned their gaze to see that there was a small dance floor in the restaurant and a few couples were dancing to slow music. “Allen, come on let’s dance.” She urged.“Oh, honey, you know I haven’t danced in so long,” Allen complained. Pretty sure you were asking me to come and grind on you in the club, Eden thought.“Allen, please,” Claire said with a pouty mouth and stood
"You bitch, you listen to me. I'm sure Bennett had told you how important I am. If you say a word to him, I'll make sure I destroy the Masons. And I'll make sure I destroy you," Allen said to Eden, threateningly stepping towards her. "I have tried to get reasonable with you but you can't understand shit. If I so much as feel him acting differently toward me, you'll see what I can do."Eden stepped backward and she bumped into someone. She turned around to see Bennett standing right behind her. "Mind if I steal my wife back?" he asked with an amused smile. Allen smiled charmingly and said, "This one's a keeper." He turned and looked at Eden "So happy to get acquainted with you, Eden."Eden smiled and said, "It's my pleasure." Allen smiled at both of them and left to go back to Claire. Bennett took Eden's hand and started dancing with her again. Eden looked at Bennett and said with a tired and weary voice, "Can we leave now?"Benett had a stern look on his face. He looked enraged when
Eden asked Grace if she needed some time alone, and went to her room to get changed into comfortable clothes. She felt like every interaction she had with Bennett was gradually becoming a bigger headache later. She told him that she would handle Allen but in truth, she had nothing planned. She was going to do nothing about it and hoped that Allen would forget all about it and she would too. Allen was a vile man and he deserved to suffer the consequences of his actions, but Eden decided she would not be the one to take revenge on him. She wanted nothing more than to finish her studies as soon as possible and leave this life of lies and deception behind. Eden heard a soft knock on her door, and she opened it to see Grace looking at her with concern. Eden gestured to her to come in. She wasn't in the mood to talk but realized she needed some company to think about something else. Grace asked her what happened and Eden told her in detail what Bennett and Allen said to her. Grace hugged
Eden spent the day exploring the city on her own. She did a lavish breakfast and lunch at the best diners in Florence. She visited some historical figures and walked around parks and monuments. This was the perfect day for her. No complications, no dilemmas. Just her and some peace. It was already 7 PM by the time she got back to the hotel. She wanted to ask Grace if she wanted to have dinner so she went to her room first before going to her own.Eden knocked on Grace's door and waited for her to open. When she didn't get a response for a while, she knocked again thinking she must be in the bathroom. After not getting any response, she went back to her room thinking that she must be out on a date with Theo. Eden went back to her room and lay on the bed. After a while, she found herself thinking about Leo. Things didn't end between them the way she had hoped. She took a deep breath and decided to text him. 'Hey, are you free tonight?'It didn't take Leo long to respond. He sent Eden o
Charlotte gave in and practically hurled herself at Eden to hug her. She said something in Italian while hugging her. Georgia translated for her. "We appreciate you a lot too, Lily. I'll miss you."All of them hugged Eden one by one, saying their goodbyes. When it was Georgia's turn she hugged her and said, "I wasn't really angry, I was pretending to be because Leo would be mad at me if I didn't. I know you didn't break his heart, he's just too emotional sometimes. All of us know it and none of us were angry about it. We just thought you were ghosting all of us because of him."Eden smiled and hugged Georgia back hard. "I'm going to miss you so much."Alex came to say goodbye and he just shook hands with her and said, "I hope everything gets sorted out for you back home." She noticed that Alex and Marina were once again in the off phase of their relationship. She smiled and said goodbye to him.Finally, it was Leo's turn. Eden turned to him to see he was standing at a distance, still
Eden was drunkenly singing along to the song Sparkle of the movie. She was dancing around the room mumbling whatever words she could remember.Aishikata saemo kimi no nioi ga shitaArukikata saemo sono waraigoe ga shitaItsuka kiete nakunaru kimi no subete woKono me ni yakitsuketeoku koto haMou kenri nanka jyanaiGimu da to omounda(Even the way I loved the smell of youEven the way I walked carried the sound of your laughterFaced with the fact that you'll eventually disappearI have no choice but to burn your existence into my memory, with these two eyesIt is not a right that I'm dueI feel that it's my duty)Eden started crying as she sang those words. She didn't know what she was directing it towards. Was it Bennett? Her mother? Was it Italy? Leo? Her freedom? She was not sure if it even made sense or not, all she knew was that her life didn't have any meaning. She had always been materialistic and wasted money on useless things and parties. She had been nothing but selfish, al