Novels by ni-val

“I hope you understand why I’m doing this,” Luna said while putting a soft scarf around Mariella’s neck. They also put some makeup on Mariella’s face as if nothing happened earlier.Luna’s heart raced when they heard a knock outside.“Coming!” Luna shouted before putting the makeup brush on the table beside her. “Wait there,” she said to Mariella and opened her bedroom door.“Fratello!” Luna forced a smile and deep inside she’s too nervous to face her eldest brother. Though she wasn’t at fault, she knows what will happen if Leo finds out what Lean did to Mariella. “I can’t find Mariella. When did she leave—oh… You’re still here.” Leo looked at Mariella who’s now standing behind Luna.“Yes. I… I asked her to stay for a while.” Luna explained, cannot look straight at her brother’s eyes. “Uhm… I thought you planned something for Mariella’s birth—”“Prepare yourselves. We will leave at seven.” Leo glanced at his wrist watch before looking at Mariella before leaving them to prepare.Luna

“That’s all for today,” Mariella put her things in the bag beside her. “Anything you want to ask before I leave?”“Nothing,” Luna does the same. “Oh… by the way, here.” She hands a small pink box to Mariella who looks at it with confusion in her eyes.“What for?”“I know it’s your birthday today,” Luna’s smiling from ear to ear. “Happy birthday, Mariella!” Mariella feels a little warmth in her heart while looking at Luna’s sincere eyes then eyes set on the small gift in her hand. None from her family greets her on such occasions but instead, a not blood related being took an effort to give her a gift for this not so special day for Mariella. Mariella planned not to celebrate her birthdays. Besides, it is just an ordinary day for her. “Oh my! Did I do something wrong?” Luna worriedly asked while pulling tissues to give to Mariella. “Please… stop crying.” The poor little girl had a teary eye while looking at Mariella’s falling tears.“Oh…” Mariella immediately turned her back on Luna

“This is an unannounced visit, Marchetti.” Enrico said, signaling his men to leave them two in the room.“Pardon. I have an important matter to discuss with you, Mr. Giordano.” Leo sat on a single sofa like a king. He doesn’t mind how intimidating Enrico’s presence is. He is not called Marchettis’ Mafia Boss for nothing.“What do you want?” Enrico asks while lighting his cigarette. “Your daughter Mariella…” “Mariella?” Enrico creased his forehead. He didn’t expect his daughter to be involved with—wait. “Haven’t you moved on yet, Marchetti? My daughter forgot about you. Leave her alone.”“She signed a contract with me.”“Signed a contract? She’s just a f*cking twelve-year-old girl. How can she sign a contract with you in the first place? She’s under my custody—”“But never prioritize her. I get it,” Leo sarcastically said. “I’m just informing you, Mr. Giordano. In exchange for teaching my little sister in academics, I will start the renovation of her old villa which is within your pr

CHAPTER 24“Then… You’re hired.” “Hired?” Mariella asks in disbelief. “I haven’t agreed yet. No, scratch that, I already refused so…” Mariella grabs the box of her half-empty Cannoli, and is about to leave when Leo talks again.“What do you want for you to accept being Luna’s tutor?”“I don’t want anything.” Mariella firmly uttered.“Money? Own a car? A piece of land? A renovation of your villa? Name your price.” Leo starts negotiating. He does not want to let this opportunity slip away from his grasp.When Leo mentioned the villa, Mariella was tempted. She misses the old times, especially her mother. She sighed heavily, her thoughts were fighting whether to accept the offer or be firm on her first decision, ignore it. “I will… think about it.” Mariella said before leaving the bread shop. Leo, on the other hand, followed her using his gaze. He doesn’t know if there is a higher chance that Mariella will accept the offer because her back was on them when she answered.“I really hope t

The night is deep and it is time for Mariella to sleep but she first ensures that the door and windows are locked. Even if she uttered words like she’s ready to die, as a twelve-year-old girl, fear still seeps throughout her well-being that someone might enter her room and hurt her or at worst assassinate her. Mariella heard heavy and in a rush footsteps, and also muffled voices on the ground floor. Seems like they are having a chaos. When she looks through her window, many men in black, probably Giordano's men are going inside the vans. Despite the curiosity, Mariella just let it slide because it is definitely none of her business.The next day came, Mariella’s ready to attend her classes when she heard two of the family servants talking in the hallway.“Are they dead?”“I heard they are in a critical condition but still alive.”“For sure, the family will be thrilled and threatened. It’s an uproar to the Giordanos.”“You’re right. We might get involved if something worse happened.”

One afternoon, Mariella arrived at Giordano mansion after school. She stares at the mansion for a moment feeling a bit uncomfortable since she felt living in a strange house. Noise from the field not so far from the entrance caught her attention. Mariella's cousins are playing around with guns and other dangerous equipment. Mariella's day was disturbed when one of them saw her. "Hey, b*tch! Come here!" Mariella ignored."I said, come here!"She walked faster."Get her!"The man in black grabs Mariella's arms and drags her until they reach the open field. "Let me go!" Mariella tries to free herself from their grip but what can a twelve-year-old girl do against those strong muscled men? Nothing.They throw Mariella in front of the five young Giordanos who are older than her. She's the youngest among their generation. "You," Elio, the eldest and Elmo's older brother, grabs Mariella's collar and pulls her to stand. "Don't look at me like that."Mariella does not notice how her eyes

March 16, 2022Wednesday 7 AMMonths had swiftly passed…“Where are you going, dad?”“I’ll just visit someone… it’s been a while.” He said before leaving their house. The sun rose already and the streets of San Lorenzo came back into life.With an open window, Timotheus felt the morning breeze. He was greeted by the neighborhood. On his way to his destination, he passed by a flower shop. “Good morning, officer! You’re at the right time. Our flowers were freshly delivered.”A white bouquet of gerbera flowers caught his attention. He immediately put it beside the passenger seat. He stared at the flowers for a second before starting the engine.It was a peaceful drive not until he noticed a commotion in the middle of the road.“Again?” He parked his car at the side of the road.“You f*cking j*rk! You’re the one who bumped into my car! Look!”“What? I’m just passing by and you’re—”“Excuse me? What is this all about?” Timotheus asked while checking the damages.“Who are you?” One of them

“...Kuya.” Julsen slowly closed his eyes before his ghost left him.“J-Julsen… Hey, man. Wake up. Julsen!”The night became silent after that bloody encounter. A lot of bodies were lying on the ground… lifeless.Timotheus carefully let him go and looked at the blood in his hand. She clenched his fist and rushed to Danryll to give him a hard blow. Danryll didn’t bother to dodge his attack and just let him.“How could you?!”“Sir, stop it!” Xol went in between to stop Timotheus while Ferran, on the other hand, just watched them because the unusual feeling of pain was forming inside him again.“I will never regret it!”“How will you prove that he really killed the doctor? Huh? You don’t have—”“Of course… I have.” Danryll threw him his phone that was immediately caught by Timotheus. He watched the entire video and Julsen really killed Dr. De Vega inside the laboratory. He unconsciously dropped the phone astounded.“Y-You think you all s-succeed? Even if you revealed them to the whole wor

The Chief just arrived at the place where the real Boss was living. Instead of welcoming him, everyone inside pointed their guns at him. “What the hell is happening?!” His eyes widened when he saw the real Boss furiously looking at him, as if he wanted to kill him from that very moment. “You son of a b*tch! How dare you destroy the laboratory without my consent?!” The real Boss held the collar of Chief’s clothes and tightened his grip. “Everything will not go according to plan if I don't do it, Boss.” Fear was visible to his eyes. The real Boss is the only one he afraids of. No one but him. “You killed Maria! And my granddaughter… my precious granddaughter!” He was shaking with anger and slowly choking the Chief. “I thought Cally’s your only g-granddaughter? Ugh! I just did it to reach our goal. To produce a cure—” He was cut off when he felt the need for air. “You thought… Hah! I don’t care about that damn goal! As long as my family’s not involved, you’re free to do anything but

“As I’ve thought… Got it.”Czaquira ready her pen and paper while Blair was dictating the code they needed to decipher. The letter’s too tiny for them and Blair has 20/20 vision. She could easily read the characters unlike the others inside that special room.“R-O-M-12:12—12|13|14|15 II-C-O-R-4:10—31|32|33|34|35 J-O-H-N-3:16—17|18|19|20|214_2_3_5_5… That’s all.” Blair creased her forehead, not recognizing what the code was telling.Czaquira tried to type it all but it’s too long for a passcode. “Fourteen characters… We only need fourteen characters.” Czaquira uttered.“No… it’s nineteen, I guess?” Xol confusedly said.Minutes after minutes… an hour and ten minutes left. In the middle of the brainstorming on how to decipher the code, Timotheus' phone rang.“Aquiro,” Timotheus said, hoping for good news. “Really? Oh God… thank goodness.”“How’s the search, sir?” Xol asked, hoping for good news.“They found him and…” He looked at Blair who was about to cry. “He’s alive.”Blair’s kn

“Trestan… He’s alive!” Aquiro wiped his tears and went beside Trestan’s bed.“It’s a miracle that he’s still alive after that fall.” The street sweeper spoke before he sipped his hot coffee.“You’re the one who helped him?” Aquiro asked.The man just nodded and put the empty cup on the table near him.“He needs a long rest. I should leave. Take care of him.”“May I know your name, mister?” Aquiro stopped him for a moment.“No need.” He tapped his shoulder before leaving.“Sh*t… so it’s true. He’s alive. Thank goodness.” Ziph sighed in relief when he saw Trestan lying on the bed unconscious.“Damn you, cous’. You scared us. We thought…”“Stop being a crybaby, Aquiro. Haha.” Beor teased him.“F*ck you.”They just laughed at Aquiro’s hilarious face. The laughter stopped when they heard Trestan speak.“Cally…” He mumbled. “Hey, Trestan! Do you hear me? Trestan.” Aquiro slightly shook him. “Cally… Cally!” He suddenly woke up from that deep sleep. He groaned when he felt pain all over his

Heavy rain fell while Ferran was on his way to save Blair. He struggled a bit because he couldn’t clearly see the road. Ferran looked at his wristwatch before stepping on the gas to speed up.“Ugh!” He almost got into an accident if he hadn’t stepped on the break immediately. His chest tightened and his breathing became heavy. ‘Alfarez! Alfarez!’ Real Ferran’s voice echoed inside his head.His heart pounded harder than the first one, as if his consciousness would leave him. Regardless of the frigidness of the atmosphere due to the rain, his body was heating up and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead and neck. “H-Hah… Hah…” Ferran’s head dropped on the steering wheel and his sight became blurry.Darkness filled the surrounding and he woke up in a void.***“It’s been a while… Timotheus Alfarez.” The voice echoed everywhere.‘That voice… That voice!’ He opened his eyes but he saw nothing but darkness. ‘I’m here again… Does it mean…’ He held his head when he felt a sudden pain.

—ALORA EUNICE’S POV—“Ah! Oh my gosh!” I threw the box somewhere and almost fell when I bumped my back at the edge of my office table but Evan quickly caught me.The foul smell of the dead rat inside the box reached my nose and I couldn’t help but feel nauseous and ran towards my private comfort room to vomit.“Alora…” I felt Evan’s hand holding my hair while I was still vomiting in the toilet bowl. After that incident, I felt that it absorbed my strength for the day and I just chose to leave the office and rest. On our way, I received a call from the helper at home. There’s a delivery which was addressed to me and needed immediate attention. I was thinking that it was the same as the one I received in the office and I wasn’t wrong.“Who the heck was behind that?” Evan asked while driving me home but I insisted on staying in a hotel nearby. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to go somewhere that the sender wouldn’t reach me today. “Does this frequently happen?”I shook my head as a resp

—ALORA EUNICE’S POV—Rome De Herrera’s Wife Seen Near Hospital Baby Ward, Sparking Adoption RumorsMy phone almost slipped from my hand the moment I read the article. What kind of rumor is this? They are questioning Archi’s reproductive health. Geez.One of them questioned mine. Spreading that I am barren that’s why I’m here at the hospital, allegedly and secretly adopting a baby. Gosh… these people and their love of gossip. My phone rang and I gulped before hitting the answer button and put the phone on my ear.[“What’s going on, Alora Eunice?”] Grandpa asked in a scary tone. “I…” I couldn’t form a sentence as if something was blocking the words in my throat.[“We need to talk. Come here to the mansion with your husband.”]I looked at the screen of my phone when Grandpa ended the call without hearing me out. I heavily sighed and looked at the little boy, quietly lying on his bassinet. “Thank you for being born healthy. Sorry for coming out sooner. It’s my fault,” I said as if the

—ALORA EUNICE’S POV—““What the hell is a kid doing in my company?!”“Mia!” I walked towards her and reached her as she ran to me. I lifted her and comforted her. “I’m here. It’s okay. I’m here… calm down, Mia. I’m here. It’s okay. I’m here.” I was caressing her small back while her little arms were wrapped around my neck. Everyone was silently watching me, and I felt a little uncomfortable with the situation, especially that Mia isn’t calming down. She’s trembling. She’s scared. Poor little one. I felt Archi’s gaze on me but I didn’t met his eyes for a reason. I know I said I will take responsibility but this is not what I mean. But yeah… I will face him later. After a few moments, she calmed down. Finally! Thank goodness. “I… I’m sorry for the trouble. She’s with me.” I said because I wasted their time. They all waited until the kid calmed down because Archi is so scary and no one can move and interrupt him.The businessmen and businesswomen cleared their throats before going f

—ALORA EUNICE’S POV—I was smiling from ear to ear as I am preparing for work today. I lacked sleep due to the workload that I finished last night but with the thought that Archi and I made up and on good terms again, I was too energized to feel exhausted.I wore the necklace he gave me last night and smiled at the vanity mirror—scanning my overall look before grabbing my hand bag. Archi went to work earlier because he has an early morning meeting with the board. On the other hand, I’m still at home—ready to go to the office.On my way to Escarra Furniture, I almost hit someone. Thank goodness, my quick reflexes are in good condition. I immediately removed my seatbelt and went outside to check on the person in front.“Oh my God! Are you alright?” I was too nervous because she was a pregnant woman with a little girl. I helped her stand and checked on her. Actually, I didn't bump into her thankfully but maybe due to shock, she went out of balance.“I… We… apologize, miss.” The pregnant

—ALORA EUNICE’S POV— “Do you love me?” I asked, facing him with hope in me that he’ll answer. I waited for him but he looked at me with something in his eyes I couldn’t explain. I felt a little sting in my heart as he looked at me so nonchalantly. “Forget it. I’m… I’m tired. I’ll rest.” I turned around and proceeded to go upstairs. He didn’t stop me. He didn’t say anything. He just… let me go. A week passed by so swiftly and just like that, we went on with our busy lives—nonstop and hectic schedules. I felt a little distance between us after that day but I’m afraid to confront him again. This is my fault… I shouldn't have asked him that. He would say it if he wanted to, right? Why did I ask? I don’t know. Maybe… the ‘first love’ thing triggered me but not enough for us to end up like this. “Have you read the proposal we sent to your company?” Archi asked in the middle of our dinner. For the first time in a while, we dined together and talked. “Ah, yeah. I’ll go to your compa

—ALORA EUNICE’S POV— “I miss you, Archi!” Avery said, still hugging Archi—my husband. “Avery, let him go,” Ava pulled the lady away from Archi who's struggling to remove Avery’s arms wrapped around him. It took a few seconds before Archi was free from the lady. I stood in between them and confidently looked at her, trying to set a blank face. “Archi—” “Hi, may I know you?” I suddenly asked, blocking her way to my man. She’s too disrespectful or maybe she just doesn't know who I am. “I…” she stood taller than me but I didn’t budge. “I’m Avery Miranda, Archi’s first love. And you are?” “I’m—” “Oh, his secretary, probably.” She covered her mouth, as if mocking me. “Avery, stop it.” Mrs. Ava pulled Avery to step away from me. “I’m Alora Eunice Escarra De Herrera, Archi’s one and only wife.” I slightly raised my brow and stopped myself from smirking at her because it triggered her ego, I guess. “So? Doesn’t mean Archi loves you.” “Oh, dear,” I smiled at her before snaking my