“Are you going to shave your beard?”
“I'm going to pretend I didn't hear the relief in your voice.” Massimo mocked, making her blush “Now, could you make some space? I need to get my shaving kit and take it to my room to get a floor-length mirror where I can see myself.” His voice became more and more bitter, as it always did when he had to talk about some adaptation to his wheelchair.
“That’s going to make quite a mess, don’t you think?”
“What? Are you afraid that I won’t be able to do even that?”
“No, you grumpy fool. I'm saying there's no need to leave your bedroom floor covered in foam and fur when I can help you with that.” Before he could respond, she began steering his chair
“Thea, Thea! Can we put this necklace on mommy?” Millie squealed, running with the jewelry case in her hands, the necklace, which was certainly worth more than all the houses of all the clients Alice had ever worked for, swinging unsteadily.“Be careful with that, Millie...” Alice begged, but, as had happened that entire day, the two just ignored her."Oh, darling! How can you be so smart? This is just the one I had thought of choosing while finishing your mother's makeup!” Thea praised, taking a moment just to gently squeeze Millie's cheek, before turning her sharp gaze to Alice again “Very well. This is the last touch before perfection!”“I already told you that you don’t need to overdo it, Thea.” Alice tried to convince her again, her butt starting to hu
Did you see, Massimo? Doesn’t Mommy look like a princess?”Once again, Alice was forced to look up at him, surprised when she realized that he had approached without her noticing. Now, he was right in front of her face, his once emotionless expression now seemed focused on her, as if he was unable to tear his eyes away from her.“You...” he finally spoke, his lips emitting a low hiss, as if he were out of breath “You look beautiful. Millie is right.”“Uh… Thank you.” Alice cleared her throat, struggling to act like she wasn't totally out of her comfort zone at that moment, especially since Millie was looking at the two of them like she was watching a Disney movie “But... Shouldn't we go? I think I've already delayed you enough...”
Alice had forgotten how uncomfortable it was to arrive at parties like those. Even though the Bianchi's ancestral property was completely surrounded by walls as high as any low-story building, there were always paparazzi waiting on the road. They always desperate for some photos or scoops that never appeared on conventional gossip sites, but that the High Society ladies would eagerly browse in their favorite magazines, where only people with more than nine figures in their bank accounts would appear.“Just six months away from this kind of shit and I can forget how unbearable it is.” Massimo echoed her thought, resting his head against the back of the seat as the gates of the enormous mansion opened for them, revealing the entire brightly lit facade and with several other limos and sports cars leaving guests there “If there's one thing that old mummy was right about me, it's that I've nev
“Thank you for your kindness.” Alice smiled, making all the men look at her with disdainful surprise, almost as if they didn't imagine that she knew how to speak “I'm very happy that you were attentive enough to realize that my husband would need a good environment to continue his amazing job. If you need suggestions for architects, please don't hesitate to ask. It will be my pleasure to help so that my husband can return to his position as quickly as possible, as I know you all certainly want that too. I mean, how could you not be, after the news I saw earlier today that the shares of the food company, which is part of the Bianchi Group, fell?” she smiled sweetly, as all of their expressions turned cold, a far away from the confidence of seconds ago.“You didn’t want to close the contract with that Russian supplier, did you?” Massimo rolled his eyes “Well, a
“So you guys plan to focus on the future and let a Bianchi with natural talent get away?” Alice asked, again earning several sideways glances from those old men “That doesn't seem like a good strategy. Everyone at this party knows that the reason Dante Bianchi wasn't unanimously chosen from the start is because he may be a good CEO, but Massimo is excellent. Him not being Emma's son made many want to put obstacles in his path, but he was able to overcome them all.""Weren't those partners who you said were worried, the same ones who begged Massimo to take over as CEO after seeing his results as a manager?" Alice continued to confront them "It's funny, because I perfectly remember my grandfather saying that there was a decision by the shareholders to wait for Dante to turn 18 to decide between him and Massimo, but this was ignored when Massimo continued the work that his father assigned hi
From the snack table, Alice could still see, in the distance, Massimo, Emma and Dante talking. Or rather, Emma and Massimo having a low-key discussion while Dante seemed to try to mediate. God knew Massimo would be outraged if he knew how protective she felt towards him, but Alice couldn't help it. Just as she knew she couldn't meddle after he asked to face that woman alone, as he had done since he was a child.Head down and trying to convince herself that Emma wouldn't allow a real fight to break out to ruin her party, Alice looked ahead, searching across the huge table for Lucy to be at. Her husband had returned home after another business trip and so Lucy could never stay on her cell phone for long, but they had managed to talk long enough to know that they would both be there. Plus, there was a part of Alice that was genuinely curious to meet the woman named Ruby Bennett and find out if she really was
“What the...!” Massimo’s brother, or rather, her brother-in-law, cursed, pulling his lips away from the girl, but still keeping her protectively around his arms.With Dante away, Alice could see that the girl had dark blonde hair that fell in long curls down to her waist, light brown almost golden eyes hidden behind the thick lenses of her glasses and was dressed very differently from all the guests. Instead of a formal dress, she was wearing a half-open white blouse and a pencil skirt that had clearly been lifted up a bit.And, as she had clearly interrupted a special moment, Alice could only blush and put her hands in the air.“I... I’m sorry...” she stammered “I didn’t mean to come in like that. I was just looking for a bathroom...”
"Where were you?" Massimo’s voice reached her at the moment when Alice had just approached the drinks table, to drink something before being able to look for him “I was looking for you...”Chewing the inside of her cheek, Alice turned as the sound of his wheelchair's wheels came to a stop near her, expecting to find him angry that she had left him alone or suspicious as to why she had disappeared from the room to wandering around the Bianchi mansion... However, what she found on his face when their eyes met was just concern, which made her explanations evaporate for an instant.“I... I'm sorry. I needed to go to the bathroom.” She cleared her throat awkwardly.“Was that really all?” Massimo sighed, and only then could she see the annoyance behind his concern “While I w
“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…”