LOGINARIELLA Leon leaned closer, practically climbing onto him. “What is it, Daddy? Can I see it?” Asher finally blinked, like he was pulling himself back from somewhere far away. Slowly, carefully, he turned the object in his hand so the faint light could fall over it. It was small. A little wooden
ARIELLA Later that evening, Asher came back earlier than usual, about half an hour before dinner. The moment Leon saw him, he ran straight into his arms. “Daddy! Let’s go! You have to show me the secrets of the stump!” Asher blinked. “I told you to ask Sia. I don’t know any secrets.” “But Sia
ARIELLA My eyes instinctively moved around the table, searching. “Where is Maria?” The question slipped out more naturally than I expected. Not sharp, not loud. Just… there. Maria should have been at the table with Leon. She wasn't but Sia was, why? Sia’s smile didn’t falter, but it softened ju
ARIELLA The next day, Leon and Asher were up bright and early. They went through their morning routine and by the time I woke up, it was already around eight. I took a shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs, wondering why they still weren’t back. They had left at five in the dark of the morni
ARIELLA Her grip tightened slightly around the glass. “He’s the consigliere. His family is powerful. He is powerful. He’s going to marry someone powerful and fly in that circle. Why would he want me?” She let out a breath that sounded almost like a broken laugh. “He is a man that everyone in th
ARIELLA “What the hell is going on here?” Asher asked. Maria dropped the pillow immediately, Like she had just realised we were there. She stepped back quickly, wrapping her arms around herself, her eyes avoiding all of us. “Luca,” Asher said, his voice harder now. “What the hell is going on?”
ASHER I just sat there, staring into nothing, my heart aching so badly it felt like it had hands squeezing it from the inside. My stomach hurt too. I hadn’t eaten since last night, and the whiskey I’d been drinking since morning was burning its way through me like acid. And then it hit me. Ariell
ASHER Mrs. Costa knew the truth about Ariella and my father.... She has to. “What do you mean?” she asked on a swallow. “I want to know what happened.... Six years ago,” She took a death breath. "Ariella is gone. She died. And when she died, she made sure to pull my husband with her. That girl
ASHER I moved quietly, too quietly for a man coming home to his wife. Maybe deep down, I already knew what I was going to see... And then I saw them. My brother. My own blood. And my wife, tangled in sheets that weren’t meant for betrayal. Her hair spilled over the pillows, her body arching in wa
ASHER “That’s not gonna work for me, I’m afraid,” I told her flatly. Her sobs grew louder, desperate, maybe for effect, maybe for real, but I didn’t care to measure the difference anymore. “I’m tired,” I added, dragging my words like I was done with every piece of her. “I want to go inside, take







