“Grandma! Please, Grandma! I want mommy!”
The insufferable little thing continued to scream and scream as Kendra dragged her through the hallways of her house, the irritating crying making her want to kick that child instead of just digging her nails into the chubby arm, to keep her from running away.
“What the fuck are you doing, Kendra?!” Roger growled, that shit having the audacity to sound like he had the morals to scold her “Are you crazy? And stop treating the girl like that! You will end up hurting her and that will only make things worse…!”
“Shut up!” Kendra growled, finally reaching the door of the small room next to the laundry room, where that brat and her mother should never have left “If we had it up to you, we would have been in the mud a lon
“Here, darling. Drink some chamomile tea and try to breathe deeply. It's going to be okay…” Thea murmured, handing a cup of warm tea into Alice's shaking hands, who could barely get anything in front of herself because of the tears blurring her vision.“It's going to be okay, Alice…” sitting by her side, Lucy caressed her back and tried to wipe her face with a tissue “Oh, honey, I'm so sorry… But Millie will come back to you soon, I'm sure…"“Fuck. Have you guys gotten any calls from Josh yet?” Massimo asked, for the hundredth time, to one of the many cowboys who were there in the living room, waiting with them for news of Joshua or Millicent.“No, Mr. Bianchi.” one of them swallowed, worried.
The last time she had set foot in the Dawsey mansion, Alice had promised herself that she and Millicent would never return to that place again. However, there she was, stepping back onto that lawn and staring at those doors, while all the employees cowered around, scared but not surprised, which meant her daughter was really in that house and there was only one person to blame for everything she had been through in the last 24 hours.She had spent a lifetime hanging her head and holding her breath whenever she walked across that floor, always feeling trapped and oppressed by the two women who were supposed to be her family. So many things she had endured, so many tears she had shed in secret and so many horrible things she decided to forget, just to try to leave it all behind and move on, in search of some peace...But clearly, Kendra didn't want to forget her.
Alice had spent five whole years walking through hospital corridors and smelling that antiseptic smell in the air, taking care of her grandfather and then her clients. However, she had never felt so suffocated by that environment as she did at that moment, as she walked back and forth through the waiting room of the hospital's pediatric ward. With every step, she could feel Massimo's eyes following her, standing nearby, closer to the emergency room than the doctors had allowed.“Alice…” Lucy called, before appearing before her with a cup in her hands, stopping Alice from starting another lap “One of the nurses gave me this. It's some black tea, your favorite. It might help you calm down a little…”“I… I don't think I can take anything, Lucy…” Alice sniffled, that tightness in her chest stealing her
“What…?” Massimo blinked, staring at her as if she were delirious “I’m mean… Of course I’m her father, Alice, but this is not the time to discuss this kind of thing. That won’t make me compatible with her…”"You do not understand." Alice swallowed hard, managing to keep her voice steady even as the tears ran down her face again “You're not just her stepfather! She... She's your daughter!”“But… What are you saying?” he muttered, in complete disbelief “This… This is impossible. We never…"“I promise I'll explain everything to you, but, please…” she held his hands, her sobs making her body shake “I beg you, do it now. Millie needs you… Your daughter needs you…”
“What the fuck…” Massimo grunted, holding his head tightly, as if it was about to explode “Why… Why I don’t remember any of this, but, at the same time… You… You were wearing a white sweater… ” he murmured, in shock “I remember thinking the whole time how beautiful you looked wearing that, while we were alone in the kitchen. Then I dreamed I took it from you, but…” his gaze fell on his own hands “No. It wasn't a dream… When I woke up the next day… In that room… I could smell your perfume, but… I thought…” he gritted his teeth, staring at her with pure resentment “Why did you run away? Why did you let me wake up alone and think nothing had happened?!”“I didn’t know what to do anymore. It seemed like all I had left was to run away and pretend that I had j
“Very well… Everything is in place now.” Dr. Weston murmured, turning a tiny tap that caused the red liquid in the bag above them to begin to flow “She's going to be okay, now. This will help her more than you can imagine.” the woman tried to give a gentle smile, but, of course, it was no use.In total silence, Massimo just stared at his blood running through the tube and onto Millicent's arm, completely ignoring the fact that he could feel Alice's gaze on him. He didn't know if she wanted to say something or wanted him to start a conversation, but the last thing Massimo would do at that moment was address her again. Fuck, had he ever believed that she was the only person who would never disappoint him? What a fucking illusion.Anger wasn't enough to define what he was feeling a
Alice felt as if every part of her had been ripped out and then sewn back together in the wrong places.Her eyes were still swollen after so many tears have rolled and, even now, after so many hours had passed since the worst moment of her life, Alice still felt embarrassed and dejected after she had confessed her biggest secret to Massimo. God, she knew it would be terrible when he found out that Millicent was his biological daughter, but… Somehow, her heart had still been able to break again, and again, and again.“Are you sure you don’t want dinner?” Lucy asked, at the same time a cup of tea appeared in front of where Alice was sitting."No. I'm not hungry." Alice struggled to smile, even though her eyes were still fixed in the di
“And this is Bethsy. My friend Cassie gave she to me for my birthday. I liked leaving her hair down, but a idiot boy called Dominic got gum in it and Mom had to cut it short.” Millie explained, intently focused as she arranged her dolls on the hospital bed, not even seeming to realize that Dr. Weston was listening to her heart.“Really? Oh, boys can be so silly sometimes…” the pediatrician laughed “You know, I also have several dolls at home. They were from my mother’s collection.”“Can you bring it for us to play with? Mom said that my Grandpa Lucas was sleeping for a while like me, but now he's fine. She said I can visit him later and play…” Millie continued counting, so excited that Alice managed to undo the bandage on her hand with ease, before removing the long needle that until then had b