We did it! ^^ Thank you so much, everyone! This is now officially my first book to have visible stars for readers. It may not seem like much, but it means a lot to me that so many of you have good things to say about this story. Thank you so much for that! I hope you enjoy today's chapters, as my return for the gift you all gave me ^^
“The area is free and the last person to enter the room was the maid to change the sheets and bring your dinner, Mr. Bianchi.” the head of security said, as he followed Massimo’s wheelchair down the hallway “Would you like us to check anything else?”"No. You guys already did a good enough job today, preventing Emma and her henchmen from getting into the building and disrupting the signing of the papers.” Massimo sighed, feeling exhausted not because of how his meeting had gone, but simply because he had become too unaccustomed to returning to the cold businessman the role of CEO required of him “Now, I'm just going to get some rest. while we wait for the flight. Has the tower notified you if conditions have improved?”“They had improved earlier, but now they have gotten a little worse.” the man replie
“Oh, there you are, Mrs. Bianchi.” Henry Churchill, Massimo’s head of security smiled as he found Alice at the beginning of the hotel corridor, extending his hand to take the single small piece of luggage she had brought “Welcome. I fulfilled your request and kept your arrival in secret from Mr. Bianchi. I’m sure he’ll understand my reasons, right?” the poor man tried to hide his nervousness under a gentle smile.“Don’t worry, Henry.” Alice laughed “I promise I'll explain to him that it was all my idea. You are an excellent professional, the best my husband could have chosen to protect us, after the incident that happened to me and my daughter. You can be sure that Massimo will not be angry just because you accepted my request.” she calmed him, her eyes turning alone towards the door ahead, the only one at the end of that long corridor
“What the fuck did you say?” Massimo growled furiously, making Amber swallow hard “You and that bitch drugged me?!”“That…” Amber stuttered, dragging herself across the floor to get away from them “Of course not. Do you think I would be capable of something like that? I was just saying that you never gave in to your attraction to me, not even when you were drunk...”“You're the same woman who just admitted you used one of your boyfriends to get into a married man's room, Amber.” Alice reminded her, disgusted “So, just like you told the truth about Kendra's plan that brought you here today, you better open your mouth about that too. Or I will be sure to cause irreparable harm to the one you love most: your face.” She threatened, making her shiver.
Massimo had a faint memory that, when he didn't yet know Millie was his daughter, he thought it would have been nice to be able to go through all the stages of a child's birth and be a father from the moment his baby was in his wife's womb. But, after he chose to be Millicent's father and soon discovered that he actually was, Massimo pushed those thoughts away, until he forgot about them completely. What would he gain by whining in the corners about not being able to place another child in Alice? He was already the father of the most precious little girl in the world. His wife had already given him the best gift possible. Their family was already complete and he didn't need anything else.However, upon seeing the blue stick there in front of him and finally realizing that it was a positive pregnancy test, Massimo felt something burn inside him, although his di
“Are you enjoying the view?” Massimo’s question was the only thing capable of snatching Alice’s view from outside the huge window of the hotel restaurant, where they were.“Yes.” she smiled, feeling almost like a child in an fun fair, as she looked at the beautiful view of Milan again, feeling almost as if she had stepped into a painting “I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful place…”“Wait until I show you our house in Sicily. I’m sure you’ll spend hours just looking out from the rooftop balcony.” he laughed, moving closer so he could kiss her neck “You know, it's not too late for a quick tour before we go. Dante will be in the USA soon, anyway. We don’t need to waste precious time from our first trip together waiting for him here…”
“Mother!” Dante gasped, getting up from the table at the same moment to run to his mother, alarmed, while Heidi just cowered in her chair, clearly panicked.Still sitting where she was, Alice just held Massimo's hand protectively, frightened by the fact that Emma looked like she had just gotten up from a hospital bed. Her hair was messy, very out of character for someone who had once been the queen of High Society. She was wearing a gray sweater and sweatpants set, clearly a comfortable and unstylish outfit that any doctor would order an intern to wear to the hospital, during treatment. She looked pale, and in one of her hands, Alice saw a bandage peeking out from under the long sleeves of her sweater, probably where a vein access had been, not long ago.“Mom!” Dante’s voice was almost cracking with worry when the two finally approached, just a few inches away from the table where Massimo and Alice were still sitting “What are you doing here?! You couldn't have left the hospital so so
"No! No! Please, mother! Anything but that…!” Amber screamed and begged, but, as if she wasn't even there, those two heartless bastards continued to destroy everything she had worked to build in that tiny shitty room.“Stop whining, Amber!” Her father was the only one who acknowledged her presence there, although not in a good way, as his hands continued to run through all of her precious mink coats, roughly ripping almost all of them off the hangers “This must be worth something.”"No! This is an exclusive white model!” she gasped, feeling her heart stop as Kendra also approached the pile of her belongings they had created in the middle of her closet, throwing one of her bags in there “Mom! Don't you remember how difficult it was to get this Hermes?! How can I even dream of getting a burkin someday, if some salesman finds out you made me sell it…!”“Where are those damn diamond earrings?” Kendra ignored her once again, opening her jewelry drawer “I know they're around here. I still r
“Don’t you dare say even a single word!” the son of a bitch growled before Amber had a chance to speak, slamming his shoulder against hers to push her away “The only reason I forced myself to see your face again is because I wanted to make sure the three of you didn't found another excuse not to hand over my father’s money.”“Why, Casey…” Kendra gave a clearly forced smile “You know we would never…”“Is that all?” the lawyer interrupted her rudely, pointing to the pile of clothes, jewelry and purses on the sofa “I made it very clear the Campbells would only accept objects if their total value was exactly what was required…”“But you didn’t even let me show you the values.” Roger tried to defend
“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…”