“So, you married Micah Griffin’s daughter.” Dante said and just hearing that sentence made Alice's head throb, even though it had been three days since that disastrous night when everything she thought she knew about her family had been turned upside down.
“That’s not a certainty yet.” Massimo grunted, dissatisfied “For all we know, this could all just have been his plan to try to destabilize me through my wife. He's not an idiot. Surely he has already realized what you and I are trying to do and wants to buy time to have something against our partnership.”
“Is there no one else who can confirm that his story is true?” Heidi asked, worried “I mean, he said your grandfather knew everything, right, Alice? Can't he say anything about it?”
&ld
After witnessing how much of a vixen Emma Bianchi could be, Alice understood why Heidi was afraid of her. But, she didn't imagine it would be that much.At the mere prospect of her mother-in-law being there, Heidi stood frozen like a deer in the headlights of a car, staring at the entrance to the Living Room as if a monster would emerge from there at any moment.“Love…” Dante held her hands, his voice faster than normal “Go. Find another room to hide in until I'm gone with her. We will still need you to continue communicating with Massimo and Alice to resolve this.”“But…” his girlfriend stuttered, hesitantly “I can’t leave you alone…”“But you also can't lose your job until you finish
“Alice!” Massimo gasped, worried, but Alice just held her own cheek, without looking at him.“I’m fine.” she tried to calm him down, without taking her eyes off Emma.“You are a disgraced bitch, even more than your mother and sister…” she growled “Everything was falling back into place, before you married that bastard and complicated everything again…”However, instead of completing the sentence, Emma bit her own tongue when Alice landed a slap on her cheek, hard enough to turn her face 180 degrees. And, while Dante ran to his mother to support her, Alice remained firm where she was, feeling her face hurt and her anger burn even more."How do you dare…?" Emma asked, seeming to finally recover from
“Mr. Bianchi…” a smiling attendant appeared in the waiting room, interrupting the silence between Alice and Massimo “Dr. Lewis is ready to welcome you. Please accompany me to his office when you are ready.”“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Alice asked, although Massimo's answer was already very clear, as he moved his chair away without even waiting for her.“You know I prefer privacy during these appointments.” her husband replied, his tone indecipherable “Your grandfather is hospitalized nearby, isn’t he? Go visit him. I’ll find you when I’m done.”“He's still not well enough to fully wake up and talk, but… I'll do it…” Alice got up, but couldn't help but stop in front of him “W
“Why can’t I wear my light-up shoes to school, mommy?” Millie grumbled, slamming her feet hard against the mall floor, making her shoes let out a small whistle as the blue and red lights flashed.“Because it’s in your class rules, sweetie. During the Family Day party or other commemorative date when there will be no classes, you can use them, but not every day.” Alice explained, stroking her hair “That's why we bought these new shoes. This way you can run a lot throughout the year with your friends.” She turned to see where Joshua was, accompanied by two more security guards from Massimo's team, who had insisted on carrying the seven shoe boxes that Alice had bought "Gosh, I think I should insist on carrying some of the packages too..."“Mommy, mommy! Can we have ice cream?” Millie tried to pull her to
“You guys better stay right where you are!” Josh growled, but it was too late.As if they had been waiting for that moment the whole time, the two men who were accompanying Agent Simmons threw themselves towards the bodyguards, starting a noisy physical fight that caught the attention of everyone else in the mall. However, Alice didn't have much time to pay attention to that, because soon Simmong was on top of her, holding Millie's waist and trying to lift her off her lap.“Mommy!” Millie screamed, terrified, clinging to her with all her strength.“Stop resisting, Mrs. Bianchi!” the woman growled, never stopping trying to pull Millie away “This will only make the accusations against you worse!”“Stop!” Ali
“Grandma! Please, Grandma! I want mommy!”The insufferable little thing continued to scream and scream as Kendra dragged her through the hallways of her house, the irritating crying making her want to kick that child instead of just digging her nails into the chubby arm, to keep her from running away.“What the fuck are you doing, Kendra?!” Roger growled, that shit having the audacity to sound like he had the morals to scold her “Are you crazy? And stop treating the girl like that! You will end up hurting her and that will only make things worse…!”“Shut up!” Kendra growled, finally reaching the door of the small room next to the laundry room, where that brat and her mother should never have left “If we had it up to you, we would have been in the mud a lon
“Here, darling. Drink some chamomile tea and try to breathe deeply. It's going to be okay…” Thea murmured, handing a cup of warm tea into Alice's shaking hands, who could barely get anything in front of herself because of the tears blurring her vision.“It's going to be okay, Alice…” sitting by her side, Lucy caressed her back and tried to wipe her face with a tissue “Oh, honey, I'm so sorry… But Millie will come back to you soon, I'm sure…"“Fuck. Have you guys gotten any calls from Josh yet?” Massimo asked, for the hundredth time, to one of the many cowboys who were there in the living room, waiting with them for news of Joshua or Millicent.“No, Mr. Bianchi.” one of them swallowed, worried.
The last time she had set foot in the Dawsey mansion, Alice had promised herself that she and Millicent would never return to that place again. However, there she was, stepping back onto that lawn and staring at those doors, while all the employees cowered around, scared but not surprised, which meant her daughter was really in that house and there was only one person to blame for everything she had been through in the last 24 hours.She had spent a lifetime hanging her head and holding her breath whenever she walked across that floor, always feeling trapped and oppressed by the two women who were supposed to be her family. So many things she had endured, so many tears she had shed in secret and so many horrible things she decided to forget, just to try to leave it all behind and move on, in search of some peace...But clearly, Kendra didn't want to forget her.
“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…”