“He’s your father.”
It had been so long since Alice needed to say those words. Hearing them hang in the air was both a relief and a pain, because, after everything she had been through when she discovered the truth about her birth, she knew very well the kind of anger and revolt that Millie must be feeling, even as a child. However, even so, Alice forced herself to smile, ignoring the tears that were starting to flow.“I… I’m so sorry for not telling you this before… I shouldn’t have hidden you from each other. I’m so, so sorry that you didn’t have a father since you were born, like you and Massimo deserved…”“Don’t cry, mommy!” Millie begged, alarmed “I’m not mad with you!”“How can you not be?” Alice sniffed, desolate “I shouldn’t have lied about that. I should have always protected you, but I ended up hurting you…”“Daddy told me that he lost his memory and you were afraid that he wouldn’t love me, so you hid me. Just like Sleeping Beauty’“Mommy! I’m going to be late for class!” Millie complained, but Alice continued to straighten her coat, wanting to make sure her baby was wrapped up properly.“Are you sure it's hot enough? I brought another coat if you want.” Alice said, as she placed the back of her hand on Millicent's forehead “Are you feeling cold or dizzy? I think we should put the thermometer in you again…”“Mommy…” her daughter rolled over in her lap, looking like she wanted to jump through the open bedroom window “I'm not sick! I want to see my friends.”"She is fine." Massimo sighed, sitting on the other leather seat of the small limousine “I've already spoken to the director and the security guards will be patrolling the corridors at all times for the nex
Everything seemed to be a rollercoaster of emotions for Alice lately, even when she was sitting comfortably at one of the tables at her favorite coffee shop.Micah... Well, her father, he was only three minutes late after the time they had agreed upon, but even so, she still found herself staring nervously at the entrance of the coffee shop, hoping that he would walk through that door at any moment, before her mind made her give up on that meeting. God knew that Alice had started to question her choices from the moment she had sent a message to Massimo telling him what she was going to do that day.It wasn't like he was worried about what she was doing anyway, since they had barely spoken that last week unless Millie insisted on it happening. Probably his only requirement would be that she keep Millicent away from Micah as much as possible, until th
“You… You are the one who is ruining my grandfather’s business and buying them all at the lowest price possible, aren’t you?” Alice swallowed hard, unsure of how he would react to that accusation “I've been wondering for months who would have enough influence to make our partners break their contracts and make our commercial value plummet. And, of course, also enough money to buy all the projects, after that happened. For some time now, since Kendra took over from my grandfather as president of the company, our market value has decreased significantly. It would be much more worthwhile to put all this effort into the companies that dominate the pharmaceutical market today. So, if it wasn’t for profit… There would have to be another motivation.”“You are really very smart.” Micah smiled, head down “I’m sorry. I was going to tell
“And, that’s it.” Alice said, stopping for a moment to blow her nose on the tissue that the waiter had brought, after her long session of tears had caught the attention of even the cafeteria attendants “That's what happened between me and Massimo.”With his hands folded on the table, Micah didn't answer her right away. His eyebrows were furrowed and his expression very concentrated, making Alice anxious to think that he should have realized how serious she was about doing something unforgivable to Massimo. More than anyone else, Micah understood the pain of having his daughter's existence hidden. Probably, at that moment, he was feeling the same anger and hatred towards her that he felt towards Kendra. Knowing this, Alice tried to compose herself as quickly as possible and not break down in t
“Here dear. I asked my security guards to buy you another box.” Micah said, still stroking Alice's head gently as he placed a new box of tissues in her lap, probably the third that day.“I’m sorry…” Alice sniffed, grabbing some more tissues to wipe her eyes, which were tingling from being so swollen “I’m not usually a crybaby like that, I swear. It’s just there’s been a lot of things happening lately to mess with my head…”“There’s nothing to be sorry for, darling.” Micah just chuckled, straightening the blanket he'd forced his security guards to buy somewhere, just to make her more comfortable.It had been a while since they left the bakery, after she hugged him. It didn't seem like the right place for her to have the ugly c
Things weren't getting any better at home. Not that surprised Alice, but it was on lonely afternoons like those, when Millicent was doing some extracurricular activity and Micah was busy with some meeting, that she missed Massimo's company the most. Not as her sexual partner or as the owner of the house, but… As her husband. Like the man she had gotten used to hearing his voice all the time, talking to and tasting his kiss just for the simple pleasure of feeling him close to her.He was getting ready to go back to work and, because of that, Alice didn't see him at home as often as before. Dr. Lewis had not yet given Massimo complete carte blanche to return to work as he wanted, but it seemed to be a matter of time before that happened. Which meant that Massimo had gone back to scheduling some meetings with his partners and had a much larger pile of contracts for review in his office.
“You don’t seem like the type who would sleep with another man.” Ruby commented casually, making Alice gasp.“I would never…!”“Well, I understand. Not every breach of trust is marital betrayal, but this seems to be what weighs most heavily on men.” she commented, shrugging “And, believe me, I know men like Mr. Bianchi and I can tell you he seems genuinely fond of you. What exactly was this breach of trust, to make you think your marriage was beyond repair? I only see relationships like yours end so abruptly when the breach of trust begins in someone else's finances or bed, especially when it is the man who takes the first step towards infidelity…”“Can you stop talking about your vast experience with cheating men to my friend?” Lucy was
“Daddy! Is everything ready?” Millicent asked expectantly, darting through the door of his office with her notebook in hand.“It wasn’t that hard to get those things.” Massimo laughed, picking up his little girl on his lap as he looked at the old albums on the table next to them “They're just old photos, anyway. The only thing that amazes me is that Thea still remember where she put it, after I moved into this house all those years ago…”“And are your baby photos there?” she questioned, her eyes shining with excitement.“Well, I don’t know if you can say this in the plural or call my age a baby, but if it helps with your homework…”“Millie? Are you there?" That sweet voice made Massimo freeze, perhaps because of the deep longing he felt to hear it all day long, like in t