“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
For a moment, Massimo thought Millicent was just showing a photo of herself as a baby, adorable as always, lying in a different crib and chewing on her little hand, with other toys and a rather old-fashioned blanket by her side. However, as he looked better at that baby's round face and even at the slightly faded colors in the photo, Massimo finally noticed that the color of the eyes was darker, without any shade of green, while the halo of hair around her head It looked a little lighter than Millicent's pitch black. What did it mean…“Isn’t Mommy cute?” she asked, full of expectation as he pulled out Alice’s childhood album for himself, instinctively “Grandpa Lucas always said that his friends wanted to model her for his brands, like the babies in the diaper packages at the market! And I want to tell this to my friends. Can I put this photo in my work, mommy?”
“What are the two of them doing here together? Could it be that the rumors that Mrs. Bianchi had mistreated her own daughter were not true…? But, Kendra said….”“I told you it probably wasn’t! You saw how Judge Mitchell was thrown out of his office! It's certainly not just a rumor that he made the mistake of trying to frame Ms. Bianchi or something. Only a Bianchi could have enough influence to make a distribution happen so quickly!”“And what about Mr. Griffin actually having a hand in this, too? Isn't he close to the governor, since his company was hired to integrate the virtual security system? My son is an intern at Andrea Vamcap's law firm and he told me that Mr. Griffin also moved heaven and earth to have Mitchell removed from his position and indicted for corruption. He might even be arrested soon.”
For a few moments, Alice and the rest of the guests seemed to share the same shock, while the camera footage continued to show everyone Amber and Christopher kissing in a way that was clearly not their first time. The straps of her dress were down and his hands were on her almost bare breasts, while Christopher lowered his lips down her neck.“What the fuck…?!” Casey gasped from the other side of the room, loud enough for Alice to hear, almost at the same time as a stereo began to play the sound of what was happening in that other room.“That’s what you came looking for, isn’t it?” Christopher growled, moving on Amber like a gangly dog “Don’t worry, doll, I’ll give it to you…”“You're so tireless… I thought you were satisfied afte
The sound of the slap reverberated through the silent hall and Alice wondered how anyone could still be in shock that Lucy had done that, after the way that idiot had treated her for the last four years of their marriage. Even so, it was with an immensity of wide-open gasps and astonished looks that scoundrel took a step back, holding his own face as if a knife had been stuck in his cheek.“What the…!” Christopher cursed, with a mixture of fury and disbelief “How dare you…!”“I always knew you were a pig, but today you went too far!” Lucy growled, and, although Alice could see trembling fists clenched behind her back, her voice came through with every word “I want a divorce!”“What the fuck are you talking about?!” he snapped, clearly not expe
"Someone call the police right now!” Kendra shouted, louder than ever, seeming hopeful that the desperation in her words might rub off on others “This man was trying to force himself on my daughter and needs to be stopped right now!”“Shut the fuck up!” Christopher barked, approaching Kendra and Amber as if he wanted to kill them “You think you're going to make me look like i'm the only one in the wrong in this story, just to save your precious daughter's skin?!”“She won't, because no one here is stupid enough to believe in something like that!” Lucy spoke again and, as much embarrassment as there was in her voice, there was also some relief “Christopher and Amber can make up whatever lies they want, but everyone here saw what they were doing and the things they said! The fact that you two are t
“Look! Here comes our lovely bride!”At the sound of her aunt's cheerful and even slightly emotional voice, Millicent forced a smile, trying to look as light and happy as possible as she walked towards them, as any bride should be. Around her, the engagement party continued exactly as she had left it, flawless with drinks being served to smiling guests and the decor without a single flower petal out of place. Everything was perfect and she could see that everyone there, especially her family, also thought the same.And knowing that almost made her regret what they were about to witness.“You look so beautiful, Millie…” her Aunt Heidi was the first to come over, wrapping her in a warm hug “God, I can hardly believe that soon we will actually see you in a wedding dress and walking into a church...”“You look like you were a little girl just a few hours ago…” Thea, who had been her nanny throughout her childhood, took another tissue from the almost empty box on her lap “And now you are go
Today is officially the last day of publications and, for that, I have a lot to thank all of you for!This was my first story to get an official rating and also my first story to get over 30k (I hope it can reach 50k over time) and I owe it all to you. Thank you so much for commenting, sending gifts, gems and leaving reviews! A part of this story was written by you too, because I wouldn't have been able to get this far without all of your encouragement. I really hope to see you all in my next stories S2 S2 S2Thank you to Shelyn, Lhyn, Sabrina Philemon, Guille C, Rachel, Shantel Osgood and Penny Zagrafidis for always leaving comments. It was always wonderful to wait to read what you thought of the story, as well as all the other amazing people who left a comment.Many thanks to Abc Xyz, Lhyn, Irene Kibanya, Shanna-deen Knight, fizztae45, Arabella, Sarah, Lin Que, Kathrin Kähler, Moonlit tales, Shelyn, tina, Sabrina Philemon, Gabrielle, Blue_Hisbiscus, KayJay, Rachel, essstj, Guille C,
“You look so beautiful, Debbie... Isn't it amazing how that dress makes your hair color pop?” Evangeline hummed, and, even though she struggled, Deborah had her chin held and was forced to look at her own reflection in the mirror before them. “You… You really think so?” she swallowed nervously. “Of course! This will be perfect to shut up all those mean girls who are always talking about how this beautiful red is a mark of the God of Discord. Oh, I would give anything to have hair like that too...” Evangeline sighed, running her fingers through her perfectly straight, snow-white hair. "Do not say that. Your hair is perfect. How could it not be? It is a symbol of the Moon Goddess.” Deborah turned to face her cousin, intertwining their hands “And, don’t worry. I know that before I was always wetting your shoulder with my tears because of this, but... Iron is always saying that my hair is beautiful, so... I have no reason to cry anymore. Whenever he tells me I'm completely perfect...
“Okay, honey. Now… Open your eyes.” Alice asked and, when Millicent opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the mirror, the smile that appeared on her face made her mother's heart more than happy. “That’s amazing, Mom!” Millie smiled to herself, moving closer to the reflection to observe in more detail the way Alice had painted her eyelids “I’m… I’m pretty, right?” she asked with a shy smile, as her hands nervously twisted the hem of the dark green dress, the same color as her eyes, that she was wearing. “You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, honey.” Alice sniffled, holding her daughter's face, unable to stop the tears from flowing. “Mom, please… Don’t cry again.” her daughter asked, hugging her. "Sorry. It’s just… One day you were my little girl, running around the house wanting to play with your dolls and now… You’re a 16 year old girl, almost as tall as me and getting ready for your first date.” she had to stop once again to stop herself from bursting int
“And this is the role of fibroblasts in the healing process.” Alice spoke on the phone, as she took her pie out of the oven, happy to see that the dough had turned golden and crispy, exactly how her husband liked it “You can read more about this in the Cell Biology book. Any other questions, Lindsey?”“No, Alice.” the freshman sighed on the other end of the line, clearly relieved “You saved my life. And thank you for letting me record our conversation, it will help me a lot to review all of this for the next test. I just hope it’s not as killer as the last one.” she lamented “Mrs. Doherty was right. You are the best monitor we could ask for.” “It’s just my job.” Alice laughed, opening the cabinet doors where the dishes were “Now, if you don't have any more questions, I'll hang up now, okay? And, if any of your friends comment they tried to contact me this weekend and couldn't, can you let them know that I'm busy? And also remind them that my work as a monitor can only take place dur
“I… I’m sorry if your father isn’t a good father.” Millicent said, feeling like it wasn't right to leave him alone there, even though he clearly wanted that "My mother also had very bad parents and they hurt her a lot, until she found out they had lied and were not her real parents…”“I don’t think I’ll be that lucky.” he grumbled, not looking at her.“Well, that's bad, but that's not what I was going to suggest. When I was very little, mommy… I mean, my Mom told me that bad parents make their children wonder what they did wrong to be treated badly. But the real question should be: how can a father or mother be so mean to their own child? Never let the bad words of your family get to you. Just because a person is your family, doesn't mean he or she is right about yoy.” Millicent recited, although the memories of her mother's words were a little blurry, coming from the time when they still lived in that small room in the Dawsey mansion and she didn't even know her father existed.“That
“Okay, class. We are already accommodating your parents in the main auditorium.” Mrs. Keeley, one of the 3rd grade teachers, clapped her hands as she entered the classroom full of children, quickly grabbing the basket full of cookies that was on the table "Everything is ready, so Miss Shepherd will be calling you any moment, okay? Don't forget the chorus of the song and much less the part reserved just for your father. I’m counting on you!” she said, her voice so fast it was almost difficult to understand, as she left the room once again, practically running towards the auditorium where the Father's Day performance would take place. “You shouldn’t have left putting those bows on the brownies at the last possible moment, Poppy!” Cassie grumbled, but still didn't stop applying the glue stick to the glittery paper bows. “It’s not my fault!” Poppy whimpered, desperately trying to glue the bows onto the cellophane of the brownies she was giving her father as a gift “Mom told me she would
“And, as a last question, Mrs. Bianchi, how do you feel, as the creator, seeing your social project come so far and reach so many people positively?” the reporter asked, turning the microphone towards her as the cameras were turned towards them. “It’s a wonderful feeling. Every day, we receive several families who are unable to even obtain a loan to pay their medical expenses and, here, we are able to serve them in the best possible way, often restoring the quality of life that they had lost a long time ago. It's teamwork from a fantastic team of not only nurses, but also doctors and other healthcare professionals, who I was very lucky to be able to bring together here to support this initiative. My expectations for the future are that we can further expand our capabilities and be able to serve oncology and kidney patients soon.” “That’s great to hear.” the reporter said, his excessively white teeth gleaming against the sun as he smiled at the camera. “And that was our interview with
“Elise?” His voice cracked, sounding almost as if all the air had been stolen from his lungs."Are you okay?" she murmured, moving even closer to him to caress his face, her hands feeling as soft as he remembered “Did you have a nightmare? You were talking in your sleep, but I couldn’t understand…”“Elise?! Is it really you?” Micah sat up with a start, but only managed to feel even more confused when he realized he was lying on a bed, in Elise's youthful room, with the same lilac wallpaper and one of the walls covered in sheet music, next to her grand piano. A few meters away from the bed was the balcony, with the glass doors ajar, where he used to sneak into her room after climbing the large empress tree that was right next to it.“Of course it's me…” her eyebrows furrowed more and more “Are you sure you're okay, Micah? I know you spent the whole day helping your father prune the trees in the garden. If you want to go home and get some rest, I don't mind. We can do it another night…”