CHAPTER 1: D'Angelo's plight.

At Campolon go Hospital in Milan, Italy. ~

Isabella's heart ached as she entered the sterile, dimly lit hospital ward. Her younger sister, Angela, already sat there, her eyes red-rimmed and teary. In the center of the room lay their father, unconscious and vulnerable, his once vibrant spirit now reduced to a frail figure on a white hospital bed adorned in a blue patient gown. A nasogastric tube snaked from his nose, a lifeline to a body that had been gravely injured.

The somber ambiance of the room was punctuated only by the persistent beep of the blood pressure monitor and the echoing footsteps of nurses moving in and out tending to the patients. It was a scene laden with uncertainty and despair.

"Please Dad, don't leave us," Isabella pleaded, her voice quivering as she clutched her father's frail hand, her eyes filled with tears.

"Dad, you've never broken any promise to me, right? You won't break this one. You promised to stay with us forever" Angela implored, her voice trembling with anguish. Her youthful face was a canvas of sorrow as she leaned over her father's bedside.

The news of their father's accident had devastated them. He had set out on his motorcycle that fateful morning, his routine delivery run taking a tragic turn when he collided with a truck. Now, his life hung in the balance, and his daughters' world had crumbled.

In the suffocating silence, the heart-wrenching moment arrived when the monitor's beeping tragically flatlined.

"Papà! Puoi sentirci (*Dad! Can you hear us?)"

"Dad!"

"Dad! Dad! Can you hear us?" Isabella's voice quivered with desperation.

************

With a heavy heart, Isabella made her way to the doctor's office later that night, her face etched with sorrow. She wore an asymmetrical top and a checked-patterned skirt. The doctor, a gray-haired man in a white coat, sat behind a desk, idly tracing his fingers across its surface while stroking his beard with the other hand. He greeted Isabella with a courteous smile and gestured for her to take a seat.

Seated in front of him, Isabella felt a sense of hopelessness as she realized that her father's life now rested in the hands of this middle-aged physician with a disconcerting smile.

The doctor's gaze locked onto her tearful eyes, her face red and swollen from crying. Yet, even in her grief, her beauty remained undeniable.

"You requested to see me," she managed to say in a shaky voice.

"Yes, I did," the doctor replied with a grin.

"I regret to inform you that your father may not make it unless you can secure the funds for his surgery in time. He needs intensive care, and you're aware of the costs."

"I will find the money for his operation. I'll do whatever it takes. Just please, give me some time. I promise," Isabella implored, hoping to elicit some compassion from the doctor.

"You understand how expensive it is, I'm sure."

"Sì, certamente. (*Yes, I do). That's why I'm asking for more time."

"Time is running out, Isabella. Your father has until next Monday to live if you can't secure the funds," Doctor Matteo reminded her, adjusting his spectacles.

"Please, I'm begging you. Save him. Don't let him die. He's all I have," Isabella pleaded once more.

The doctor stood and approached her, his actions taking a sinister turn, his intentions far from medical. "That's only possible if you're willing to cooperate with me."

He cleans her tears with his palms and holds her jaw as he looks into her beautiful blue ocean eye, caressing her beautiful soft flawless skin while he runs his fingers on her collarbone.

"I - I don't understand what you mean?" A confused Isabella asked, looking straight into his eyes.

"You said you would do anything to get the money for his surgery."

"Yes! But I don't understand what you mean by cooperation??" She gulps down and looks into his dreamy brown eyes which were now filled with lust as he looks down to her chest.

"Just one night with you honey and you don't have to worry about the money for his surgery. How do you see that?"Doctor Matteo suggested with a smirk.

"What do you mean by that? You're old enough to be my father. Have you no shame??"

A shocked Isabella retorted while Doctor Matteo claps and smirks at her courage to talk back to him.

"Have you forgotten your father is fighting for his life?"

"He's in a life and death situation darling. Should I remind you?"

He caresses her and approaches her while she takes her step backwards till she stops at a wall.

"Just a night with me and your father will be alive and back to the way he was. Don't you want that?"

"No-no! Stammi lontano. (*No-no! Stay away from me!!)"

"But why darling?" Matteo questioned foolishly, approaching her with a grin.

"Because you're trying to take advantage of my situation."

"Who says I am?" Matteo, filled with lust, caresses her neck down to her chest.

"Don't you dare touch me!!!" Isabella warned, giving him a glare. If there's anything she could do to save her dying father, giving him her precious body was the least on her mind.

He grabs her butts, tilts his head and kisses her cheeks passionately, trying to move to her lips when a slap lands on his face. He held his cheek and chuckled like a possessed monster as he threw a long gaze at her eyes and looked down to her curvy attractive shape. He couldn't resist her. Her body was tempting and he was falling for it.

"Don't you dare try to touch me! I warned you! At least consider your status. You know how my father trusted you."

"I don't care Isabella! You know I've always asked you out but you keep refusing. I've always waited patiently for the day I can make you mine. Now I have the chance, I can't let it slide." Matteo said without thinking and a slap followed again immediately on his left cheek.

Out of anger and obsession, he drags her and pins her to his couch, fondling and stroking parts of her body while she lets out a scream as she tries to free herself from his painful grips.

"Lasciami andare!!!. (*Let me….go!!!)" She screamed as she saw his fingers running on the buttons on his white coat.

He knelt between her gorgeous thighs, trying to unbolt his belt when she hit his head with a small vase that was on the stool near the couch.

He fell to the ground, groaning and holding his forehead as he watched her leave.

"I will get the money for my dad's operation. I don't need your filthy help with it!" She said confidently and slammed the door angrily behind her.

"*******

Returning home that night, Isabella was still shaken by the ordeal at the doctor's office. Upon entering the house, she heard her sister's sobs and labored breaths.

"Angela, stai bene? (*Angela! Are you alright?)" she asked, rushing to her younger sister who had buried her head in her lap.

Angela raised her tear-filled eyes and puffy face. "You don't have to cry Angela. Everything will be fine. Please, don't dwell on it. I believe Dad will be alright."

"But can everything ever be alright?" Angela scoffed, lifting her head to face Isabella.

"Cosa intendi? (*What do you mean)?"

"Read this." Angela handed her a crumpled letter, and Isabella smoothed it out to read the contents. It was from Mr. Roberts, their landlord threatening eviction if they couldn't settle their overdue rent.

"Plus, Dad's condition is still unresolved. How do you expect us to handle all these problems? We might end up as orphans soon."

"No, Angela, don't say that. Dad won't die and we won't become orphans. Please, don't say that" Isabella implored, tears filling her eyes once more. The sisters embraced each other finding solace in their presence amidst their overwhelming challenges.