“What a lovely surprise.” Florence was the first to break the silence between them, plastering her face with a sycophantic smile that Millicent knew very well “When could I have dreamed I would have two of the loveliest young women in High Society grace my ball? Oh, Alessia, darling, it's been so long since we've seen each other. You look stunning, as always.” Austin’s mother approached, running her hand through Alessia’s long and strawberry blond, almost red hair.“Thanks, Florence. It's always great to come here. You throw the best parties.” Alessia laughed “Although, I hear the real action has been happening outside of the galas thanks to your son, right?” “That… It was nothing more than a misunderstanding. It's a shame you heard about that horrible episode from the wrong people, but as soon as I have some free time tonight, I promise I'll tell you what really happened.” Florence forced a smile, clearly eager to end the conversation “Anyway, it's great to have you here, my dear. A
If Jasmine's goal was to make an impressive entrance, she certainly succeeded, because many of the guests several feet away from where they stood had turned their necks to look at her. Perhaps not only because no one expected Austin's mistress to attend an important event like that, but also because she hadn't chosen a dress that was the least bit discreet for the occasion, with a long dark red skirt covered in sparkles and a large ruby necklace on her neck that would not let her go unnoticed in any way. On her face, there was a convinced little smile, as if just by being there in front of Millicent she had already won something.However, that confidence only lasted until the moment when Florence seemed to recover from the shock.“What…” she panted, furious “What is this woman doing here, Austin?!”“Mom, I…” Austin stuttered, his gaze at Jasmine not at all soft or romantic “I… I don't know, but I promise I'll sort it out right now.” he growled, lunging at Jasmine to grab her arm. “I
“You look quite adorable, you know?” Isaac murmured in her ear as they danced, making the skin on her neck crawl.“Huh?” she asked, trying again to put her thoughts aside and focus solely on dancing.“The way you look whenever you say something to put Austin, that girl, or anyone else in their place. Your cheeks turn pink and you become lost in thought, as if you were in disbelief at yourself for having managed to do this.” he said, with an amused tone and more detail than she expected “Or… Maybe you were really upset to see your ex-fiance and his mistress still together?” His good-natured expression gradually disappeared after each word.“Of course not!” she growled, disgusted by that thought “I may be far from having forgiven him, but all tha
“Mother…” Dante muttered, clearly surprised that this woman had come to him first.“What a lovely family reunion!” Florence said, either unable to read the tense mood in the air, or just ignoring it so she could focus on gaining Emma's favor “You see, Emma? Your son just wanted to talk to you. Aren't you glad you accepted my invitation? I said that besides talking about the business proposal my husband has for you, we could all get together. The Bianchis are yet to become one family with the Carnbys, I tell you…”"Get out." Emma cut her off, her voice still thin and merciless as Millicent remembered, even though she hadn't seen that woman since she was a toddler.“What…?” Florence stammered, trying to maintain her posture.
“What do you want?” she growled, not at all friendly, as the Carnbys surrounded her, cutting off any path she had to get out of there.“Please, Millie, don’t be so harsh with us.” Florence asked, approaching cautiously as if she were a wild animal “We just want to talk to you and this is the first opportunity we've had to do that in weeks. But clearly a room full of people was not the right place.”“So you guys decided to wait until the perfect time to get me alone, away from my family?” She crossed her arms against her chest.“You’re looking at this the wrong way, Millicent.” Evan sighed “I know what Austin did was terrible, but you've been like a daughter to us for a long time. Even before you started dating our son. Don’t you think that should be enough for you to consider giving us just a minute of your time?”“I thought all this time would also be enough for your son to have some loyalty, but apparently, I was wrong. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”“Austin made a mistake that he will r
“Millicent!” Florence was the first to gasp, holding Austin's shoulders as if afraid of what his reaction would be to Millie's words “Did you even hear yourself? What do you think your parents would think if they heard you saying something like that?!”“You will regret standing by Isaac just to get to my son, Millicent.” Evan growled “He’s going to use you and abandon you the first chance he gets…”“The idiot you treat like your only son has done much worse.” Millie replied “Why not give the other one a chance? Besides, if you guys hate Isaac that much, then just seems like another reason to trust him.”“You… You fucking bitch…!” Austin shouted, breaking free of Florence's hands with a violence that wasn't
“I think this sums up the changes that Ms. Poulin has asked to be made to the scripts approved so far.” Millicent said to the team, taking the slides she had prepared for that meeting off the projector “I ask you all have the utmost perfectionism when making these corrections. Remember, it wasn't easy to convince Mrs. Poulin to give us a vote of confidence. We need to prove to her that we are capable of meeting her expectations if we really want to receive her confirmation to begin pre-productions…”“Thanks, Miss. Bianchi.” Austin cut her off, clearly irritated after being forced to spend so much time just listening to her talk “As the leader of this project, I will take over from now on. After all, I'm sure that if Mrs. Poulin has finally decided to be a little less merciless towards us, it's because the requests I made to her have taken effect. So you can be sure that I will be able to do it again if nec
It was still impressive to Millicent that she had wasted so much of her life worrying about what other people were thinking about her. Now that she had simply accepted most of her co-workers thought only the worst about her, everything seemed easier and more predictable. Still cumbersome, no doubt, but much easier.“Look at her, thinking she rules over all of us, just because Austin’s brother is here today.” one of the secretaries grunted, probably not even imagining that Millicent could hear her from where she was in the break room “So, What does it matter if this man has money? It's not like he owns the company! I've heard people on the team comment that his frames have caused even a gentleman like Austin to lose his temper lately. I hate knowing we're all in the hands of arrogant idiots like them and that woman, Pauline or something. She thinks that, just because she has a few Oscars at home, she can walk around like she owns everything and everyone.”“Well, it seems like she’s been
"Why did you come back?" Millicent questioned, frustrated "You clearly left not only your name and your life, but also your entire past behind. Anyone can see that you got the happy life you wanted, alongside your husband. So... Why now? If you didn't come back for so many years, even knowing the kind of person you had left Isaac alone with... What changed?"“I always wanted to go back for Isaac.” she stated, shrinking "But... Circumstances were never favorable enough... Until he became an adult and it seemed to be too late. But, I never left him helpless. Neither he nor my brother." Imogen chewed on her lower lip "I shouldn't have been surprised that Vincent suspected I was alive. He was always good at seeing more than other people were capable of. That was one of the reasons I left Isaac. I knew his uncle would protect him, especially after he turned 18. I just didn't expect Vince to involve him in his damn revenge plans!" Imogen growled "He should have left Isaac alone! Help him go
“You can start talking.” Millicent snapped, after several minutes had passed, lengthening that terribly uncomfortable silence between them “That's what you came here for, isn't it?”"Yes, I..." Imogen's voice shook, almost breaking "It's just... I think I spent too much time trying to forget the past. Talking about it isn't as simple as opening your mouth and letting the words come out." She massaged her own throat for a moment, as if it were actually a physical pain “How much… How much do you know about what my life was like, when I was still Imogen Carnby?”“I know what your son and your brother told me.” Millie sighed "I know your relationship with your father wasn't good and your marriage with Evan was terrible. But, I still don't think that justifies it..." “Terrible is quite a kind word for my situation at that time.” Imogen interrupted, with a dark smile "It's not like I blame Vincent for not knowing how to tell my side of the story properly. He was preoccupied with his own pro
"That's why I'm going to take action, Millicent… Millicent? Millicent!" Laura’s voice gradually rose on the other end of the call, until it pierced Millicent’s thoughts “Can you hear me?”"I'm sorry, Laura, I..." Millie sighed, supporting her head with her free hand "I'm just a little distracted. Today was... A long day.""You've been saying that all week. Frankly, Isaac Carnby isn't worth that much that you're losing sleep over him." Laura grumbled and Millicent had to bite her tongue to keep from admitting that, besides him, her mother was also haunting her all the time lately. “Did you even hear what I said?”"Yes. Uncle Dante had already mentioned at our last dinner that he received an invitation to Emma's ball. Not that it's a surprise. It's been like this since I can remember: they fight, he moves away from her and then Emma tries to get closer. I think she lives in eternal denial that her son has completely moved away from her." Millie sighed “But… I admit I didn’t hear the part
"Take a sip of water and pull yourself together, Ms. Bianchi. I don't think either of us are going to get out of here anytime soon if you keep sitting there shaking, instead of talking."Millicent tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she looked up to see Isaac's uncle placing a glass of water on the table in front of her, before sitting down on the sofa, his hands folded on top of his cane dismissively. He could have let her in, but his manner wasn't exactly friendly. She had hoped that he might simply shatter her theories the moment she mentioned her sister's name, whether by sending her away or yelling at her for mentioning Imogen Carnby's name out of nowhere.Yet there he was, completely silent and staring at her as if he were waiting for a confession. And honestly, Millicent was indeed feeling like she was being interrogated, even though they were both silent.After all, how exactly was she supposed to say she had seen his dead sister, without sounding crazy?“I… I’m sorry f
Millicent had promised herself that she would no longer approach Isaac. And, theoretically, she was fulfilling her promise. She was back in the building where they had met so many times to make love, spend the day together or just talk. Not even she was in denial enough to say it didn't affect her, especially after the cold and indifferent way Isaac had treated her days ago... But, what really mattered was that she wasn't in danger of finding him there at any moment. She had made sure of that…Even if it meant joining forces with someone else she hadn't yet forgiven.“Everything is clean.” Sage said on her side, typing message after message to her team "His car is already miles away. And, if by any chance he decides to come back, I'll make sure you have enough time to get out of here safely and discreetly."“Thank you.” was all Millicent replied, without much enthusiasm.Being around Sage again reminded her of the friendship the two shared. Or rather, she thought they shared. Knowing
Millicent’s heart beat so fast that, for an instant, she thought it would escape her chest. A terrible shiver seemed to run through her body and into her veins, and for a second she felt almost as if she were about to faint. But, fortunately, no one there seemed to notice her condition.No one but the woman named Dasha Nikolaev, whose eyes kept darting back and forth in Millicent's direction nervously, almost as if she were afraid of something.“Oh, what a lovely piece.” Mrs. Davis praised, taking the small pearl between her fingers “So simple and yet so charming…”“Thank you.” Dasha cleared her throat, turning her face to the side as if to avoid Millicent's gaze at all costs "I got them from my husband a long time ago. It was terrible that I lost the pair, ages ago..." she hesitated, as if she had lost herself in thought for a moment "But, Mr. Sokolov sure did a fantastic job. It's as if I have the original pearl with me again. Vasily will certainly be impressed too. He has been insis
Millicent had been regretting many of her decisions lately, there was no denying it. And, the moment she had removed Sage from her position as head of security, a part of Millie had always known that she would bitterly regret it at some point.But she didn't imagine it would be that much.“You shouldn’t be here, Ms. Bianchi.” James Moore, the new head of security that her father had personally appointed for her, repeated for the hundredth time as they walked through the small garden of the Greco estate “It’s not safe.”“But you’re with me, aren’t you?” Millie said, trying to sound friendly, although he was starting to get on her nerves with all that inflexibility "Your team is all spread out and I'm not delusional enough to think you didn't send our location to your backup. So please relax, Mr. Moore. I just want to visit a friend..."“Whoever your friend is and why she is here, it is still a situation that needs to be reported to your father.” he said, not as a question, but as a stat
“If you’re too nervous to attend this meeting, then I can make up some excuse for you to go home.” Laura muttered under her breath, sitting in the chair next to Millicent.“This is absolutely unnecessary.” Millicent snorted and, for what seemed like the hundredth time in just the last hour, squeezed her knees under the table, trying to calm the nervous movement of her leg "I'm the manager of two of this company's main projects. Why shouldn't I be present during the monthly accounting with our investor?" Her teeth ground together before she could even hide it.“Your father spent the whole dinner yesterday talking everybody ears off about you being confined in a room with Isaac Carnby today.” she sighed, with a mix of annoyance and a bit of what seemed to be... Worry, perhaps? "Frankly, I still think it's a little ridiculous that he would have that kind of concern about a woman his age, but... I have to admit that I've never had children. I don't know what it feels like to worry 24/7 abo
“Vincent…!” Isaac tried to react, but the other son of a bitch had already jumped on him too, holding his arms behind his back hard enough for him to feel the bones in his wrists creak, as if they were about to break."Oh, don't be so worried. I used to discipline my new partners in much worse ways in the past. You can ask his uncle later." Ugo laughed, his almost disappearing under the strong wind around them and Vincent's grunts of pain, while Ugo's bodyguard continued to punch and kick him without mercy, not giving him even the slightest opportunity to try to get up from the ground "He's going to be fine. You probably don't know, but your uncle has been through much worse...."“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Isaac twitched, causing the grip on the man's hands holding him to falter, only for the next instant an