LOGINAXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.“She’s really not going to call me?” I tossed my phone back to the table frustratingly. “It’s been what? A week?”Rosa poured warm water over the tea bag inside the cup she had, her lips curling into a small smile. She’d been making me drink that for days now.“You’re the princess now,” Viper sneered sarcastically. “The tiara I got you is on the way.”Rosa chuckled. Both of them were on Olivia’s side, blaming me for not making the first move by reaching out.And I was tired of hearing them speak sarcastically like I wasn’t the one left hurting. She’d broken up with me, remember?“Fuck you, Ansel,” I hissed.Dropping the kettle in her hands, Rosa reached for the teacup, stretching it over to me while adding.“If you’re okay with her absence, then you shouldn’t bother about her reaching out.”I reluctantly accepted the cup, the strong smell of chamomile hitting my nostrils.“So, it’s a dead end if I don’t reach out.”“She knows her worth,” Viper chipped in, taking
OLIVIAIt had been one week since Alix went missing and five days since I received that call.The caller refused to state what he wanted in exchange for my baby’s release but kept calling with different numbers, deliberately torturing me emotionally.I’d done everything—everything I could possibly think of: begged, cried, even offered myself in exchange, but…I wanted to call Axel and tell him. I wanted to push aside our differences and work together. There were times where I’d stare at my phone, hoping he’d call me with another number… hoping he’d at least find a way to reach out…But he didn’t. And I didn’t bother to reach out because he’d believed that Alix wasn’t his son. Also, if I needed to heal faster, then I’d have to completely stop caring about him, wondering and thinking about what he was doing in my absence.“He called again this morning,” I said over the phone, stirring my tea even though the sugar had long dissolved. “It was a different number this time… again.”Matteo
AXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.“Maybe I was wrong,” Viper said, retrieving a cigarette stick from its box. “I thought it was Nelly behind the scenes.”I paced around, my thoughts ruminating. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it actually did.“Leonardo is going to die by my hands,” I growled. “I swear.”“Calm down now. You don’t know if he’s really behind the abduction.”I scoffed, dragging my palms over my face. Hearing about his plumbing company wasn’t the only thing that left me surprised; it was the people involved with him.I spun around, ignoring the sight of Viper giving fire to the cigarette pressed tightly against his lips. I wondered if Olivia knew her so-called ex-fiancée was the main suspect behind our son’s attack. And that her sister was having an affair with him.Yeah, I said that.Grant had found more information about Isabella being one of the operation managers in the plumbing company.He’d sent private photos of them spending time together. Intimate photos that
OLIVIA“Where are you going, Red?”Matteo asked as I dragged my luggage out of the house and towards the car. I’d only packed a few things because I wasn’t sure how long I’d be away.“Milan,” I responded, opening the car’s trunk. “I’ll be staying at the penthouse there until I leave for Willowcreek.”“I shouldn’t be asking this,” he muttered. “But why are you leaving?”I sighed, staring at the pink luggage while I hesitated to close the trunk. Things were going south. I’d broken off the engagement, Alix was missing, and my mother…She wanted to see me. After years of being in a coma and responding to treatment, she was finally awake.And with all the emotional stress happening with me, I needed my mother for support.Leaving was the only thing that felt right. I didn’t want to be in the same place as Axel. It would take much longer for me to move on without having him disrupt it with an unexpected visit.I finally found the strength to shut the trunk and walk into the driver’s seat.
AXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.I stared at the ring in my hand, my stomach lurching at the thoughts of Olivia breaking off the engagement.And I hated to admit that her actions snapped something loose inside me, something that would never remain the same… again.My feet almost forced me to move, to run after her, but my mind prevented me from taking any step.She wanted to end things? Fine.I was tired anyway. Tired of constantly saving things and building our relationship while she was out there, flirting at the slightest chance.She’d even gone as far as sleeping with my brother. That pathetic, stupid bastard who’d been nothing but far from my rival.Footsteps approached me as I remained in that spot, completely shaken and confused about what to do next. I knew one thing for sure: I’d never believe another woman again.I heard Rosa’s voice as she got closer. She murmured under her breath, her footsteps echoing through the space before she asked me.“Dov'è Olivia?” [Where’s Olivia?]The ques
OLIVIA O-Kay. I’d brought out the other side of Axel that I thought would never surface again.At first, he was fearfully calm, not reacting at first sight, not throwing hands or yelling. All he did was glance at us, arch his eyebrows, and then walk over to the fridge to get water.And that scared me more than anything.Until he retaliated, grabbed Damien, and threw him over the table, where he crashed onto the ground.Rosa rushed in probably after hearing the loud noises. I was too scared to approach Axel or pull him away. His words were stern, and his eyes blazed with fury when they stared at me.“Cosa sta succedendo?” [What’s happening?] she asked, her eyes widening in surprise as they stared all over the place. “Ace?”She shifted her gaze to me after he ignored her, still panting heavily. My hands flew to my mouth as I kept sobbing, my whole body trembling.Damien struggled to get back on his feet. Without sparing me another glance, Axel walked out of the kitchen, his shoulders b
OLIVIA“I… I can’t do it.”I muttered, breathing heavily. I couldn’t take the gun—I’d never held one before.Yes, I wanted to take Axel’s life like he’d done to my father, but… pulling the trigger on him, locking gazes with him while I did it, was unbearable to even think of.Donatello chuckled, sl
OLIVIA“Why’d you shoot me, Kitty?”I swallowed hard at his question, eyes widening at the sight of him. His shoulder was still bleeding, and he grunted, reaching for me.I flinched away. “S-stay away from me.”His lips parted into a low chuckle. “Why? You’re the one who hurt me.”“You don’t get to
AXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.“What the fuck—”I didn’t finish the sentence. My fists were already moving before I could control myself.The man closest to me barely had time to turn before my knuckles collided with his throat. He went down choking, scrambling across the floor like an animal. I stepped ov
OLIVIAI lurched backward, staring at the two lifeless bodies on the ground—the people I’d shot without thinking twice.Axel’s body sprawled on the floor, not moving, covered in a pool of his blood. And Donatello fell on his back—eyes wide open, bleeding from his head.“What have you done?!” Nelly







