There was an elephant in the room at Millicent’s house.And she was fully aware it was herself.“Give her some space, Massimo.” her mother murmured outside her room, but, as no one among the Bianchis was exactly silent, Millie could hear every word "She'll tell us what happened when she's ready. She's no longer a child who needs our help dealing with her own feelings.""And what do you expect me to do? For me to stand here, pretending like I didn't notice that she was hurt again?!" her father growled "Did you see how she acted after she came back from the office? She couldn't even look us in the eye without looking like she wanted to cry. And now this news that Sage Carpenter asked to step down as her bodyguard?! Something happened! And I'm sure it has something to do with Evan's oldest son! I knew I shouldn't have let him so close to her after we found out what his brother did! Now my daughter is heartbroken again and it's all the Carnby's fault…!”“Don’t make a hasty decision, love.”
“So… Are we just going to leave him like that?” Isaac was still lying on the couch in the middle of his living room when that question, coming from Dominic, reached his ears. Not that it would have encouraged him to move, anyway. There didn't seem to be any strength within him to do that.“He brought this on himself.” Vincent snorted, dismissive "I warned him a long time ago what it mean involving the Bianchi girl in our plans. And, most importantly, I warned him about developing feelings for her. If he's now paying the price for not listening to me, then that's entirely his problem. Leave him there pretending to be a corpse, if that's what he wants."“You’re always a great help, old man.” Dominic snorted "I've told you this several times, but I'll say it again: just because you want to risk your life all the time in the mafia's sights doesn't mean we both have to do this too. Isaac has the right to want to have a wife, get married, have a family and all that. In case you don't rememb
"And I think this will be enough for us to close the contract with the actors. What do you think, Ms. Bianchi...? Ms. Bianchi?"“Uh… Yes.” The sound of her name being called by one of Laura's friends forced Millicent to snap out of her thoughts and at least pretend she was paying attention to what they were saying "That's great. Please keep me posted."“Uh…Of course.” The woman exchanged a quick glance with Laura, as if she was doubting whether Millicent was the one they should be discussing these matters with "The casting coordinator is here somewhere. If you give me a moment, I can find him and bring him here. They have a lot more details on the matter than I do. If you'll excuse me."“Thank you.” Millicent smiled, trying to sound as focused and interested as possible, but obviously not enough to fool anyone. Not even that woman whose name Millie hadn't memorized, much less Laura.“If you can’t pay attention to what’s being said, then why did you come here today?” Laura questioned h
"What...? What did you just say?" Millicent gasped, but instead of answering her or at least appearing aware of the shocking words that had just come out of her mouth, Laura simply sighed and turned her back to her, beginning to walk away.“I knew I should have waited longer to talk about this with you…”"Mrs. Poulin! Wait!" Millie stuttered, starting to follow her around the room, needing to control herself to keep her voice low "Mrs. Poulin...! Laura! You can't just say something like that and leave...!""Stop making a fuss. I'm not leaving." Laura suddenly grabbed her wrist and only then did Millicent realize that they were now on a small balcony at one end of the party room, hidden from all the other guests. “I just don't want to talk about it in an environment where anyone could overhear and tell Emma.”“So… You… You really are…” Millicent had to hold her own head for a moment, feeling dizzy “But… How is it possible that Emma has a daughter and no one ever knew about it…?”“Becau
If anyone in high society were asked who Millicent Bianchi was, there would be only one answer: She was the eldest daughter of Massimo Bianchi. And, because of that, she had everything.Even though she doesn't deserve it. She had a loving family, loyal friends, a job she had achieved without any effort and a surname that carried a legacy too great for someone as mediocre as her... And now, she also had a flawless engagement party. Courtesy of a perfect groom to a not-so-perfect bride. This was very clear to everyone, as her future husband was happily greeting all the High Society bigwigs who were scattered around the Bianchi’s garden, while Millicent was there, hidden in the shadows, observing everything from afar.Like always. “You know you don’t have to force yourself to do this.” Her mother’s gentle voice whispered in her ear “It’s a big step. If you don’t want to go through with all of this, your father and I will be here to protect you and sort things out.”“I know you will be
“You can do this, Millie. Just… Breathe.”Millicent muttered to herself, hoping her frantic thoughts might drown out the murmurs and sharp looks that followed her the instant she crossed the hallway. “Oh, it looks like daddy’s little princess insisted on coming to yet another meeting… What do you think?” a female voice asked, mischievously “Is she finally going to present something today? Or just lean on Mr. Carnby’s work, as always…?”“Are you crazy?!” another woman gasped “Lower your voice! Mr. Bianchi may not be here today, but he will definitely know if any of us are caught talking shit about his daughter!” It would have been very easy for Millicent to simply turn around and confront them. However, since the last thing she wanted was to see someone on their knees, begging her to save their jobs, she just continued on her way, silently. Presenting her project was the only thing she should worry about and the only reason she was fighting her heavy eyes and her tired body. It had t
“And that is my proposal, gentlemen.” Still motionless, Millicent watched her fiancé sit down, not even looking in her direction as the executives began to chat among themselves, clearly satisfied. Austin just remained smiling, almost as if he hadn't realized he had just introduced her project as his own, repeating every single word she had rehearsed exhaustively over the past few days. “An excellent presentation as always, Mr. Carnby.” one of the executives praised “Now, to complete our list, we have… Oh. Miss. Bianchi.” the old man snorted, causing all the eyes at the table to turn to her, but not in a friendly way.For a moment, Millicent managed to part her lips, but no words dared to come out. What could she say to convince these men that the project they were praising had been entirely hers? Should she just embarrass herself like that, even though she knew they would just laugh and mock her? “Millicent decided to take a break from her own project to help me with mine.” Austin
For a moment, the hallway was so silent that, in the midst of her shock and horror, Millicent even wondered if she was hallucinating, after such a terrible day.But Jasmine didn't let that doubt last more than a second. “Yes, Austin, baby! Harder!”“What the fuck…!” Sage growled under his breath “Those bastards! I can't believe it…! Millie? Millie, wait…!”Ignoring that low request, Millicent just let her feet guide her numb body to Jasmine's bedroom door, where not only did the suggestive growls become clearer, but she could also hear a second voice. The voice of someone who was obviously there with Jasmine, but who was still like a knife in Millicent's chest.“I already told you to shut up!” Austin grunted, but there was a clear smile in his voice.“Why?” Jasmine proved, her voice distorted with a malice that Millie would never have imagined her sweet and joyful friend was capable of “Are you afraid that some guard will hear us again…? Or, maybe, that your precious baby girl may be
"What...? What did you just say?" Millicent gasped, but instead of answering her or at least appearing aware of the shocking words that had just come out of her mouth, Laura simply sighed and turned her back to her, beginning to walk away.“I knew I should have waited longer to talk about this with you…”"Mrs. Poulin! Wait!" Millie stuttered, starting to follow her around the room, needing to control herself to keep her voice low "Mrs. Poulin...! Laura! You can't just say something like that and leave...!""Stop making a fuss. I'm not leaving." Laura suddenly grabbed her wrist and only then did Millicent realize that they were now on a small balcony at one end of the party room, hidden from all the other guests. “I just don't want to talk about it in an environment where anyone could overhear and tell Emma.”“So… You… You really are…” Millicent had to hold her own head for a moment, feeling dizzy “But… How is it possible that Emma has a daughter and no one ever knew about it…?”“Becau
"And I think this will be enough for us to close the contract with the actors. What do you think, Ms. Bianchi...? Ms. Bianchi?"“Uh… Yes.” The sound of her name being called by one of Laura's friends forced Millicent to snap out of her thoughts and at least pretend she was paying attention to what they were saying "That's great. Please keep me posted."“Uh…Of course.” The woman exchanged a quick glance with Laura, as if she was doubting whether Millicent was the one they should be discussing these matters with "The casting coordinator is here somewhere. If you give me a moment, I can find him and bring him here. They have a lot more details on the matter than I do. If you'll excuse me."“Thank you.” Millicent smiled, trying to sound as focused and interested as possible, but obviously not enough to fool anyone. Not even that woman whose name Millie hadn't memorized, much less Laura.“If you can’t pay attention to what’s being said, then why did you come here today?” Laura questioned h
“So… Are we just going to leave him like that?” Isaac was still lying on the couch in the middle of his living room when that question, coming from Dominic, reached his ears. Not that it would have encouraged him to move, anyway. There didn't seem to be any strength within him to do that.“He brought this on himself.” Vincent snorted, dismissive "I warned him a long time ago what it mean involving the Bianchi girl in our plans. And, most importantly, I warned him about developing feelings for her. If he's now paying the price for not listening to me, then that's entirely his problem. Leave him there pretending to be a corpse, if that's what he wants."“You’re always a great help, old man.” Dominic snorted "I've told you this several times, but I'll say it again: just because you want to risk your life all the time in the mafia's sights doesn't mean we both have to do this too. Isaac has the right to want to have a wife, get married, have a family and all that. In case you don't rememb
There was an elephant in the room at Millicent’s house.And she was fully aware it was herself.“Give her some space, Massimo.” her mother murmured outside her room, but, as no one among the Bianchis was exactly silent, Millie could hear every word "She'll tell us what happened when she's ready. She's no longer a child who needs our help dealing with her own feelings.""And what do you expect me to do? For me to stand here, pretending like I didn't notice that she was hurt again?!" her father growled "Did you see how she acted after she came back from the office? She couldn't even look us in the eye without looking like she wanted to cry. And now this news that Sage Carpenter asked to step down as her bodyguard?! Something happened! And I'm sure it has something to do with Evan's oldest son! I knew I shouldn't have let him so close to her after we found out what his brother did! Now my daughter is heartbroken again and it's all the Carnby's fault…!”“Don’t make a hasty decision, love.”
“You’re not even going to try to answer me?” Millicent asked, when the silence in the room began to last too long. "Or are you buying time to think of a way to turn this situation around and convince me that everything is fine? After all, I'm very easy to fool, apparently." Her hands balled into fists, but she couldn't even recognize if what she was feeling at that moment was anger.“Millie…” he murmured and hearing him say her nickname like that, as if he really cared about her, as if somehow he was also suffering, only revolted her more."I asked..." she growled, her voice firm, even though she felt as if something was unraveling inside her chest "If that was your plan from the beginning. You made me think this was all my idea when, in fact, you had planned every detail so that I would have no one else to turn to other than you..." her hands started to shake slightly, but she refused to show it "I thought we were helping each other when I suggested that partnership, but... In the en
Austin's words left Millicent so shocked she just froze for a second. However, it was still enough time for him to take advantage of her hesitation to play the video, causing the man in the suit on the small screen to start moving.“Very well.” the recording of Austin’s voice said, out of camera range “Start talking.”“Uh… I'm not entirely sure about that, Mr. Carnby…” the man loosened his tie, clearly uncomfortable."I already told you. I'll pay double what he offered you that day. Triple if necessary. You accepted his money quite easily back then for breaking your security procedures, didn't you? Why hesitate now?"“It wasn’t that simple, either…!” the man seemed to try to argue, but, as he looked over the recording, probably where Austin was, he ended up shrinking, almost as if he was trying to conform "Alright... Five months ago, when the rooms and offices of our hotel were reserved by the Bianchi Group, I was responsible for putting together the best possible security arrangement.
"We know we look terrible, Millie. You don't have to stare at us like we're two abandoned dogs." Cassidy grumbled, rubbing the deep dark circles under her eyes, while Frankie just continued to sip her coffee as if she were drinking water."It's not that." Millicent lamented "It's just... You don't have to go through this. Let me talk to my father. I know I can get you out of Jasmine and Miles' hands...""You spent months thinking you'd lost your project, but you never thought about talking to your father. And now you want to do this just because we lost a few hours of sleep? That's so... You." Cassidy laughed, without much humor "Look, as much as I would love to change positions and have the freedom to tell that bitch to fuck off, Mr. Davis has already talked to me privately. The only thing that annoys me is it took him giving me pity to actually get me close to the promotion I always wanted. I've worked at this company since college, but Jasmine was more relevant than all the effort
Hello everyone!First of all, I would like to apologize for all these weeks of inactivity. I didn't mean to be away for so long. Thank you very much for all the support and kind words from all of you. My father is okay, but he still needs to do some tests to confirm or deny the doctors' suspicions of prostate cancer.These next few weeks will be quite turbulent for me, but honestly, I want to get through them doing what I love: writing. That's why Millie's story is back and, hopefully, this month we will finish it in the best way possible
“Isaac?” Millicent blinked and, unlikely as it was, he was there when she turned, looking as shocked as she felt to see him standing there in the middle of Evangeline Greco's small garden.“What are you doing here?” he asked again, his voice not only surprised but also alarmed and irritated.However, Millicent didn't need much to realize that, even though he was looking in her direction, strangely that question wasn't directed at her.The person next to Isaac looked young, although he was easily the size of three men. Isaac was already extremely tall, but somehow this stranger seemed built like a wall, even though he was Millicent's age at most. He had brown hair and even darker eyes, making it look like his pupils were just two empty spots on his face. It was quite intimidating, Millie had to admit, but at least it wasn't her that stranger was focused on.“Evangeline.” the man next to Isaac said, his voice hard and demanding “Why is there a Bianchi in the house?”“Because this is my