"Are you going to marry? With that guy?” Massimo was the first to react, making that bitterness inside Alice worsen, as she thought about the pain he must be feeling at that moment, after discovering that the woman who should have been his in the first place was about to get married.
Of course, she had heard him say that Amber was nothing more than a tool for him to get the Dawseys' unconditional support, but... After everything she had heard Amber tell about their relationship over the years...
However, instead of starting to scream or threaten to do something about it, as he always did when his temper reached the limit, Massimo just turned his eyes to her. Not with sadness or anger, but... With concern. In fact, it was only there that Alice realized that not only her husband, but also Kendra, Amber and even the cowboys were all looking at her expectant
“Massimo...?” Alice muttered, her voice still managing to fail because of the shock “What... What did you say...?”“I could ask if you want to marry me.” Those green eyes looked at her without hesitation or fear “But you are already mine. So, you want to wear a wedding dress, have Millie as a flower girl and have a preacher telling you that you're stuck with me for the rest of eternity?" Massimo questioned her, the firmness in his voice, as if there was not the slightest possibility of him regretting saying that, elicited a response from Alice before she realized what she was doing.“Of course I do.” She gasped, her tongue escaping to lick her lips when she realized Massimo’s eyes were fixed there.“Great. Say goodbye to your mother and sister. The next time they see us, you'll be at the altar, telling me yes again.
“Massimo…” Alice’s head spun, but Massimo kept her body exactly where it was, one of his hands still on her chin and the other on her hip.“I know perfectly well what that looks like.” A biting smile appeared on his face “A crazy man who became obsessed with a woman and does everything to get her. But, you know what? I don’t give a fuck.”“Massimo…” Alice tried again, all those discoveries making the words she had locked inside herself so long ago threaten to break free, although the fear and confusion were still too much for her to fight “I… I..."“You already gave me an answer. You said yes." He grunted, unyielding like a judge imposing a sentence, but his cheeks were a little puffed up just like Millie used to do when she
“And this is our hazelnut flavor with dark chocolate cream, imported directly from Belgium. It’s one of our best sellers.” The cheerful baker said proudly, opening another of the dozens of boxes she had brought to take out a tiny decorated cake and place it in front of where Massimo, Alice and Millicent were sitting.“That one looks great.” Alice smiled, although it was very clear to Massimo how tired she looked after a whole day choosing sweets, clothes and decorations for the wedding “Here, honey, what do you think?” She took a bite of the dessert, bringing it to the gaping mouth of Millie, who was sitting in Massimo’s lap.“So tasty!” Millie cheered, moving her face towards him as Massimo used a napkin to wipe the icing off her cheek “Can we choose this one, mommy, please?”“I thought you already chose the strawberry cream.” Alice laughed “We have to decide soon. We don’t want to cause even more problems for the bakers, who will already need to make such a big and beautiful cake in
“Okay, Alice, just let me tidy up that tail a little and... That's it!” Thea cheered, more cheerful than Alice had ever seen her “You look absolutely perfect! You're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen, and I attended all my sisters' weddings.”“Thanks, Thea.” Alice murmured, running her hands down the lacy bodice of the white dress around her "I..." for perhaps the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, she raised her eyes toward the reflection in the mirror, where that bride, who seemed to have left from a magazine, was looking at her. It was strange to say that about herself, but Thea was right that it was very close to perfection. Everything, from the dress with lace sleeves reaching to the elbows, the delicate fabric that hugged her skin like flower petals, the skirt that opened like a big A and the long veil that
“Will he ever stop talking?” a soft growl reached Alice, even where she was kneeling before the altar, next to Massimo.“Massimo!” she hissed, only getting Millicent to cover her mouth with her hands to hide a giggle “He's a priest. His job is to give a speech.”“For twenty minutes? Millicent will end up sleeping and so will I.” He rolled his eyes, impatiently.“Behave yourselves, you two...”“And, with that, I conclude my words.” The priest's loud voice cut through her whisper, causing Alice to quickly straighten up so she could look at him “You may rise, my dear. Or, of course, stay as you are, if you want...” the old man cleared his throat, avoiding Massimo's gaze “It's time for
“You look so, so beautiful…” Lucy murmured, for probably the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, which forced Alice to turn her attention away from where Massimo was chatting with the shareholders he had been forced to invite.“I'm sure you'll become even more beautiful.” Alice smiled at her best friend “When the time finally comes for you to marry a man who deserves you.”“I wish I could have that hope, but I know my parents will push me towards one of their dying friends to make sure they get something this time.” She sniffed.“What’s going on now?”“Christopher has been arriving later and later lately. He even canceled meetings and avoided leaving town for more than two weeks, something
“No one can question my respect for you and Dad. I even respected your wishes not to walk down the aisle with me.” She pointed out, making Kendra's frown deepen, probably because Judge Mitchell, one of the most influential political figures in High Society, was there to listen.“Uh... That...” Roger cleared his throat, finally looking up from his smartphone, the only one there with the decency to look embarrassed “Your mother ended up leaving home late and I just remembered this thing about accompanying the bride when we arrived at the moment the celebrant’s sermon had already begun...”“Maybe if she had been thoughtful enough to remind us of the correct time or what she would have liked us to do at this wedding, then maybe we would have been on time.” Kendra grumbled “But Alice made a point of excludi
“You were very wrong not to ask me to help you choose your dress, you know?” Amber didn't allow the silence between them to last even two seconds, a mocking smile lifting her lips “That way you wouldn't be looking like a girl dressing up to play get married. But I'm sure the brat must have been a lot of help, right?”“Millicent helped me a lot, it’s true. That's why I loved this dress so much. It's exactly how I wanted it. I thank Massimo for giving me the opportunity to make this whole party exactly how I wanted.” she smiled, looking over Amber's shoulder at all the party's impeccable decorations, the almost endless food and all the most important people in High Society looking around, everyone clearly impressed.“You are content with so little. I would be crying if I were you, if the man who bought me threw a party this big, just to try to get at the woman who was supposed to be his real bride.” Her sister tossed her hair back, but Alice didn't even bother to feel uncomfortable.“You
“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…”