“What’s going on…?” Jasmine seemed to feel that several eyes turned to her, as she approached Austin in the next instant, practically struggling to look at the photos in his hands “What is this…?! Oh… Oh, my God…”“I would love to be able to celebrate love today. But, as you can see, this is impossible.” Millicent turned her eyes to her ex-fiance's still stunned and horrified expression “The wedding is off… As is any relationship between me and Austin Carnby. Thank you all for your attention. That's all I had to say today.”Dropping the microphone into the hands of some waiter, she turned, walking fast towards where the flower beds were highest in the garden. However, seeing her walk away seemed to snap Austin out of his shock, as he tried to reach out to grab her arm, his voice sounding with a mixture of desperation and outrage.“Wait, Millie! This… You… This is not what you think…!” he almost reached her, but a new scream made him freeze once more.“You son of a bitch!” Her father's
“I can't believe that kid have the nerve to do something like that! After we welcomed him into the family and even into your father’s company…! I should known nothing good would come from his parents. I knew they were bad news from the first time I saw them in person! You know I have a good eye for these things…”“Yes, Thea. I know." Millicent still managed to laugh a little, even though her entire body felt completely drained of strength, as she brushed her hair at the dressing table.It seemed like that pandemonium would last forever, but eventually the engagement party was over and the guests had left with enough fodder for a year's worth of gossip. It was almost surreal that, after all that, after doing something she never thought she would have the courage to do, Millicent was back in her room. All the mess had made it seem like she would never know what peace was again, but there she was. Surrounded by peace and quiet, with every possible number by which Austin could reach her pr
“I think we should let your father and your sister talk alone.” Alice murmured after a moment, stroking Matteo’s hair “Come on. We all need a good night’s sleep after a day like that.”"But…!" Alessandro started to complain, but it only took a single look from his mother for him to shut up “Fine. But don't think I'm going to let this go so easily. If that son of a bitch appears in front of me again, I will not hesitate to try to break his nose again!”“Come on now…” Alice placed her hand on her son’s shoulder, giving one last gentle smile in Millicent’s direction, before leading Matteo and Alessandro out of the room with her.“That money doesn’t mean much, Millie…” Massimo sighed, dismayed “I don&rsqu
It certainly wasn't the right thing to do if she really wanted to leave her old and stupid self behind. She knew it. But, still, as soon as she got to her room, Millicent opened her closet, looking for the old, dingy box hidden at the very back.She had promised she would no longer cry for someone like Austin, but Millie still found herself with the tears stuck in her throat when she opened the box. There were several half-open envelopes and folded notebook paper. Time had not been kind to those letters, but the words that had been written there were still perfectly legible.If only time had been kind to her feelings as well...She and Austin were very young when they started exchanging those letters, but in an inexplicable way, those memories still meant a lot to
“Mr. Carnby will see you now, Miss. Bianchi. Please, follow me.”At the sound of the secretary's call, Millicent stood up from the armchair she was sitting in, trying to bury her nervousness deep within her mind. Around her, almost everything was dark in the middle of that huge office on the top floor of that building. It wasn't a very privileged area of the city, but even Millicent had heard about some revitalizations making property values increase. She just never would have imagined that the person responsible for constructing a building of that magnitude was the Carnbys' missing son.Over and over again, she had heard Austin cover his disdain with soft words as he talked about the only Carnby company that had been handed over to Isaac before he left the country when he was eighteen. It was an old, broke steelworker, but it had once bee
“The area has already been thoroughly checked, Mr. Bianchi. Should I give the order, so the car can follow?”“Yes, Henry.” Massimo answered his security chief on the phone and, although they were facing each other in the back of the car, Millicent did not turn to him.She was too busy watching the movement on the other side of the window. The tinted glass didn't allow anyone to see anything inside the car, but it was pretty obvious everyone knew she was there. Even the security staff, usually always professional and silent, seemed unusually tense that day, glancing in her direction whenever they thought she wasn't paying attention.Not that she could blame them. She had turned it all into a big spectacle, after all. Which didn't make any of it any less... Uncomfortable.“You know you don’t need to be here today.” her father sighed that same phrase, probably for the hundredth time just that morning “I am the CEO of the Bianchi Group. Just my presence is enough to solve all of this.”“I
Millicent could literally feel Austin's gaze burning into her skin, but she just sat next to her father, keeping as far away from the Carnbys as possible while the other executives settled into the seats, ready to begin the meeting. Well, with the exception of one Carnby.Isaac was sitting in the chair right in front of hers, on the other side of the huge conference table, still silent and his expression impossible to read, even with all the murderous looks his father was throwing in his direction. And, in a way, Millicent could almost understand how he must have been feeling at that moment, since the attention of all the other men there was on her.“I don’t think I need to tell you why we are gathered here today.” Massimo started to speak and the tension in the room seemed to get even worse, if that was possible “Our partnership with the Carnbys involves
“Are you ready to leave?” At the sound of Sage's question, Millicent looked away from where her father was, still in the meeting room and surrounded by executives, even though the meeting was already over. All those old men, if questioned, would give the excuse that they were still there just to clarify any doubts about the details of the investment in the Isaac company. But the truth is that they all just wanted to watch from the sidelines Evan's desperate attempts to make Massimo go back on his decision. She had imagined that her plan would make the Carnbys angry, but Millicent had never imagined Austin's father would seem so... Desperate.Although the Carnbys were the kind of family for whom there was never too much money, it wasn't like the loss of that investment was going to starve them or anything.“I think Dad is going to be busy for a long time, in fact.” she sighed, following her bodyguard out of the meeting room “But even if he can't come back with us now, I'm not leaving.
Hello everyone. I'm sorry for the last two days without chapters :(As I said before, my father's health has been my priority lately and, unfortunately, he had to go to the hospital this weekend. Because of that, I've had even less time to write, but I promise that I'll use any free time I have to write and I hope that tomorrow or the next day at the latest we can have a new chapter up.Again, I'm really sorry for not being able to write many chapters and have them ready for you in advance. As soon as things calm down, I'll do my best to change that. Thank you to everyone who is still reading this story, despite all the problems I've been having lately. I hope I can continue and finish this story for you in the best way possible and soon!See you all as soon as I can!
“Hello, Miss Bianchi.” the young woman smiled and Millicent’s heart suddenly felt heavy as she realized that this was, in fact, Mrs. Greco “It is a pleasure that you agreed to come to my meeting. Please, sit down. Tea is always better when it is warm and biscuits from Mrs. Crawford, our housekeeper, are the best accompaniment.” Her smile was still gentle and motherly, although now Millie noticed that even half of her mouth had small burn keloids.Millicent had seen worse burn scars, of course. Isaac’s legs had been licked by fire and there wasn’t an inch of his skin below his knees that wasn’t marked in that way. However, Evangeline Greco’s burns were something different. The area around her eyes was completely covered in scars, but the rest of her face had irregular marks, as if the cause had not been fire, but rather something that had splashed onto her skin, like some type of liquid.“Millie, honey. It's so good to see you here. It feels like ages since we last saw each other.” Som
The last few days had been… Quite chaotic for Millicent, to say the least. And, of all the ways she thought this week could end, the last one was at a Greco party, hidden in the middle of their garden, while talking to Cassidy on the phone.“Are you sure you don’t want to talk?” she asked her best friend, for probably the hundredth time in the last three days “I know you're still mad at me for leaving you alone with Dominic after he asked you to, but… I really think you guys needed to talk. There were many years where you were hiding things from each other.” “I’m not mad at you.” Cassie snorted, her voice too surly for anyone who wasn't irritated “And stop talking to me like I'm a child incapable of accepting reality.” She hesitated for a long moment, leaving the line silent. “Now I realize that, perhaps, we both really needed to hear what the other had to say. Like… Two adults. Not two hurt children who were pretending to be adults.”“So… Did the conversation go well?” Millicent trie
“You son of a bitch!” Cassie hissed, but remained on the floor, fidgeting between cardboard boxes as if straightening her clothes, before finally standing up. “You did that on purpose!”“I told you, love. Neither of them are blind… At least not in the way you’re thinking.” Dominic snorted and, in the next instant, he too crawled out of the destroyed boxes, although he seemed far less concerned than Cassidy with looking decent, still shirtless and with the top button on his pants undone. he glared at his cousin mockingly. “So, how's your game going, Mr. Heartless? For someone who always takes whatever he wants, you seem to be acting like a shy 15 year old, don't you think? ‘It’s not a waste when it comes to you.’ Really? Have you ever thought about writing a book of poems, Shakespeare?”“Well, I'd rather be sensible and act like a shy teenager, as you say, than be treated like someone's shameful secret.” Isaac shot back, “Or do you think your sweet girlfriend brought you here because sh
“Now we just need to strap this to your wrist and… It’s done.” Millicent smiled in relief when she saw Isaac's hands now completely clean and covered in bandages “You have to change these bandages every 6 hours, okay? The skin on your wrist is kinda torn apart. It will take a few days to heal completely. Are you sure you are not feeling pain in any bones? You may have displaced something…”“I’m fine, really. I know how to identify when something in my body is out of place and, believe me, I feel great.” There was a smile on his face, but Isaac purposely seemed to be avoiding her gaze, staying focused only on his bandage “How many times have you been forced to bandage me since we met? You could be as good a nurse as your mother, you know?” “You say that because you've never seen Matteo in action. He is the true future nurse among us. Mother usually only finds out that he hurt himself by falling from somewhere when his injuries are almost healed.” She tried to keep the mood as mild as
“Unhand me, you bitch!” Jasmine screamed, but could do nothing but walk crookedly as Sage held her arms firmly behind her back.“She’s not scratching you, is she?” Millicent sighed, feeling the small scratches Jasmine had made on her wrists burn. “I can hold her for a bit, if you want.”“And let that crazy bitch try to get her claws into you again? No thanks." Sage huffed, pretending not to notice everyone's attention on them as the three of them walked down the halls towards Mr. Davis's office. “Are you sure we shouldn't throw her out a window? There's a trash can right under the waiting room on the sixth floor. It’s the quickest way to get her where she belongs…”“You think you’re going to get away with this, you whore?!” Jasmine screamed, still flailing like a fish in Sage’s arms, even though it clearly wasn’t having any effect. “I’m going to get you fired for this! I will sue you for assault and take every penny you have…!”“Good luck firing my bodyguard when she doesn’t even work
“Does Massimo’s security team know you’re here?” Isaac snorted, only turning to go back to his desk as that bastard stormed into his office. “Or were they stupid enough to let you stop by their office and grab some personal belongings, before being banned from this building forever? I should make a complaint about this, frankly. They seem to be letting any idiot walk around these days, just because Evan’s tantrum is worth the hair of 10 men…”“Do you have any idea what you did?!” Austin growled, his hands slamming against the table, as if he truly believed that his lack of control would be able to intimidate Isaac. “You ruined everything, you piece of shit! And you still think this will give you any advantage?! All our shareholders will want your head on a platter when they find out it was you who made them lose a billion-dollar contract! You shot yourself in the foot, you idiot…!”“I think you’re wrong about something, little brother.” Isaac snorted “I’m not you. I don't need help fro
The Bianchi Group's offices were in chaos that day. Not that Isaac had the right to complain about that, when he was the one who had caused such chaos.Even now, sitting at his desk in that building as he signed the last documents that would completely end the connection between the Bianchis and the Carnbys, he couldn't bring himself to feel regret. From the moment he had made his decision, a part of Isaac had hoped that regret would hit him at some point. But now that Evan and Austin were out there, making a fuss with Massimo's security team to avoid being kicked out of the building, everything seemed... right.And Isaac wasn't blind enough not to admit to himself that everything felt right because of the smile of relief he'd seen on Millicent's face after it was all over.The fucking CEO position could go to hell. That was Vincent's only goal that he had forced into Isaac's mind since his childhood, anyway. After everything he had done to get here, Isaac couldn't care less if Evan's
“Answer the fucking question, Evan!” Massimo growled again, his anger reverberating throughout the silent meeting room. “Why are your dealership's cars in a junkyard?!”Millicent's shock was so great that she was unable to do more than just look around. Most of the executives were clearly confused, certainly having no idea what that document Isaac sent meant for the contract between the Bianchis and the Carnbys. However, a few, like Miles and Mr. Davis, they seemed not only aware of what was about to happen, but also ready to do damage containment.However, when Millicent looked for Isaac, still not understanding why he had done something like that, she found him with his attention focused only on Evan and the expression of pure panic on his face.“This…” Evan’s voice shook, as he nervously slid his finger across the screen of his cell phone, as if his desperation was increasing with each new glimpse of the detailed dossier Isaac had made. “I don’t know what this kid is trying to do,