SCARLETT'S POV. FIVE DAYS LATER. I groaned as the morning sunlight pierced through the curtains, searing into my throbbing head like a merciless dagger. Oh God, I'd cried all night again and now the effects were showing up with no mercy. Placing a hand to my temple, I blinked away the remnants of sleep and tried to recall what had transpired last night. Memories floated around my head, dancing just out of reach. All I could remember was taking a few glasses of whiskey and that was it. But with the pounding headache and hangover feeling I was having, I realised that it must've been much more than that. With a sigh, I shifted amidst the tangle of sheets and propped myself up on the edge of the bed. As I gingerly stood, vertigo threatened to pull me back into the comfort of sleep, but I forced myself to steady my steps. The least I could do was to face the consequences head-on, as tumultuous as they might be. It was my fault for drinking when I knew fully well how bad the morning aft
LUCA'S POV. The meeting that was supposed to be brief had quickly turned into a full on two hour long debate between me and the other shareholders. They'd all had one idea or the other about how they wanted the company to operate going forward, and even though I disagreed with all their opinions and felt like they were being shallow minded, I still had to indulge them and try to make them understand my reasoning. Finally the meeting concluded with the disagreement still between me and the shareholders and I felt frustrated as I organised the mountain of files on my desk, wondering when I was finally going to go through them like I'd promised Maya. And when I looked at the open drawers and the crumpled pieces of paper all centimetres away from the trash can, I realised that my office was a mess. It was so unusual for it to be that way, and I questioned myself. Was I losing it? Was I allowing thoughts of Scarlett and her father to consume me that I no longer cared to take care of my
SCARLETT'S POV. After a small chat with Grace at the kitchen, I whipped myself some food and then went back upstairs to get ready before Luca got back. He had promised that the meeting was going to be brief, so I wondered why it was taking him so long to get back. When I was seated in the living room, watching a reality show, Luca stepped in, work bag in his hand and a scowl on his face. I shot up instantly and went to stand in front of him."Is everything all right?" I asked, glancing around his face to see if I could get a hint of anything, but I couldn't. "Are you okay?""I'm fine," he said, not looking at me. "So, I see you're ready to go. I'll just go up and get ready quickly, I'm sorry for the hold up, the meeting was more hectic than I expected.""Oh, uhh there's no problem, you can go," I gave him a small smile and he simply just walked out, heading up the stairs. I really wanted to know why he had been mad while coming in, but maybe as he said, it had been because of the h
SCARLETT'S POV."Scarlett dear ... Scarlett, sweetie?" I didn't realise I had zoned out completely until Dad's voice started ringing in my ears. What the hell was wrong with me?"Dad, oh my God. I've missed you so much," I snapped out of it and reached out to pull him into a hug. Dad chuckled as if relieved and said, "Scarlett my dear, I've missed you too. So much. How are you?""I'm fine Dad," I lied, knowing that I was far from that, but I didn't want him to get worried about me. "How have things been around here?"Dad took a glance at Luca before he focused on me again, "well, things haven't been the best but we've survived, haven't we?" I nodded and pulled away from him, going back to mum who was looking at the two of us with a strange look in her face. I knew that there was something up with her, and I had to find out before I got to any other thing. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you," Dad said, eyes bright and delighted. "I hope you've been eaten well and—""That's enough, Ramson
SCARLETT'S POV.The air in the room was tense as Luca and dad sat across each other, looking as if they were ready to go into fight mode if we didn't hold them back. "What is the problem with you, Ramson?" Mum asked, crossing her arms with disappointment evident on her face. "Why did you attack him like that? That was so unnecessary.""Very unnecessary, Dad," I concurred, trying to get Luca to look at me but he didn't, he just continued to frown at Dad. "The bastard deserved it," he defended, snarling. "How can he come to my house and insult me like that?""Yes he insulted you, but you shouldn't have gone all violent on him. That was wrong," Mum said, shaking her head. "He doesn't deserve anything but that," Dad yelled. "He took my daughter away from me just because I couldn't pay him back the money he so generously handed to me. Oh God. I should have suspected it back then when he'd been so eager to help me out.""Yeah, you should have," Luca smirked evilly. " It was dumb of you t
SCARLETT'S POV.My head was spinning and I felt like I could like any moment from now if I didn't get out of the house fast enough, away from those traitors, those literal monsters."Scarlett I beg you please just calm down," I heard mum's voice but I didn't even have the words to say to her. I was beyond disappointed, I was ashamed of her even. How could she know about something like that and be okay with it? I heard her continue to call out to me but I didn't want to face her yet. I needed more answers and explanations before I could burst out of the place. "So you really are a monster?" I went to face dad straight up, watching as he held his head down, grinding his teeth. How dare he grind how teeth? He had no right to be mad. I was the one who was lied to, I was the one who had been fooled her whole life by both her parents. "So you have never been a good man? So..." My voice broke as I processed everything. "So ... you did all that to those young girls? How could you be so cr
LUCA'S POV.Immediately Scarlett walked out of the house, I turned towards Ramson and made my way to stand in front of him. He was way shorter than me, so that helped in intimidating him like I wanted to. I scoffed when I caught the pissed off frown on his face, and the way he balled his fists as if trying to control his anger. What the heck did he have to be angry for? Scarlett was the only one who deserved to be mad here. She was the one who had been lied too and kept in the dark about everything. Heck, how didn't I see it so clearly sooner? The more I looked at the man and thought about everything that had happened here, the more I realized just how much I'd wronged Scarlett. God, I'd wronged her so bad. These people were horrible parents and she shouldn't have had to suffer because of them. I shouldn't have brought her into my revenge plan at all. I'd regretted my actions the more her mother continued to attack her for not supporting her scumbag husband, and I felt like the le
LUCA'S POV.I made up my mind. I was going to tell Scarlett everything about Isabella."Scarlett, there's something you need to know," I started carefully. Scarlett rose an eyebrow. "what is it? What else do I not know about?" Could I really tell her? "Scarlett... Your father—"The sound of commotion coming from the front door had me cutting off and frowning. "You can't go in, ma'am I'm sorry, please step back," I heard the familiar voice of one of my employees, and I scrunched my brows."Ma'am please step back, you can't..."I gave Scarlett a confused look which she mirrored before I went to see for myself what was happening. When I pulled the door open, a deep frown settled on my face as I took in the reason for the disturbance. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked, making sure my displeasure was evident in my tone. Penelope Cruz looked up at me with those crazy long lashes and I wondered how I'd been so crazy about that feature of hers in the past. How the hell had I