MasukArianna"Don't say that, Arianna. Give me time. It's not easy for me, but I swear I'm going to improve.""Maybe you will, but you'll always be this way, and it's not fair for me to ask you to change—people are who they are," I say, repeating the words Ilaria told me."I only want to protect you both, and I'm not going to apologize for that." He cups my face in his hands and brushes the hair away from my forehead. "I almost lost you, Arianna. I’m still terrified. The only thing I want is to take care of you, so don't ask me not to."I let my head fall forward and rest my forehead against his chest, letting out a long sigh."I’m not asking you for that. I understand you're afraid; I am too." I lift my face and look at him again. "But I need my space, Enzo. You can't always be breathing down my neck.""You like it when I breathe down your neck," he responds suggestively, giving it a double meaning, and I roll my eyes."Why do you always have to sexualize everything?" I ask, my tone a cle
AriannaMy heart is racing at a thousand miles per hour as the doctor moves the probe inside me and watches the screen intently. Enzo grips my hand, and the pressure he exerts tells me he’s just as nervous as I am."Well, the gestational sac looks good," the doctor informs us, and I release my trapped breath. "Everything looks quite good, actually. Definitely, this baby wants to hold on to mama," he concludes with a smile that I return.Enzo kisses my forehead, and I can feel his tensed body finally relax."Now, let's see..." the doctor continues, searching for something. "There it is," he points out with excitement.I don’t think I fully understand what he means until the most perfect sound I’ve ever heard in my life fills the room, flooding my eyes with tears.Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump."That’s it." Enzo’s words are choked, smothered by an emotion I’ve never seen in him."Your baby’s heartbeat," the doctor confirms.And just when I thought I’d seen it all, I am surprised
Arianna I run my hands over my head because it has started to ache."I’m very confused, Ilaria. I don’t even know what I want.""And that’s okay too. Give yourself time; you don’t have to make a decision right now.""Do you think he’ll be willing to wait? Enzo isn’t exactly an example of patience.""He will. He’ll do it because he loves you.""I wish I could be as confident as you are.""Well, now that’s his job—to earn your trust. Let’s hope he knows how to do it.""If I decide not to go back... do you think he’ll let me go?"She lets out a long sigh before answering:"He’ll go crazy, there’s no doubt about that. But I think so—I think he would let you go. If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I’d have my doubts. But after everything that’s happened, I’m sure he would respect your decision.""And if he tries to take my son from me?"The mere idea terrifies me, but I have to think about all possible options."No, he won’t do that. As long as you allow him to be a part of the ch
AriannaI sob, curled into a ball on the bed, my gaze vacant and my hope fading. It seems as though God, fate, or whatever pulls the strings of our lives doesn't want me to be happy or to find peace. There is always something haunting me, a latent threat, and perhaps it’s time to accept that it will always be this way because of the world I was born into."I know it’s hard, but try to calm down," Ilaria tries to comfort me, stroking my arm in a motherly way. "This isn't good for the baby; you need to rest and stay relaxed.""Rest and stay relaxed?" I ask rhetorically, turning to look at her. "Tell me how one achieves that in this world of shit I had the misfortune of being born into."My words come out more bitter than I intended; after all, it’s not her fault. She only wants to help."You gain nothing by lamenting things that cannot be changed, Arianna. I understand your life hasn't been easy—not with your parents, and not with Enzo. I know better than anyone how you feel after what
Enzo"I know, and it was stupid of me to say something like that. I was just scared—scared of feeling exactly what I'm feeling right now.""And what are you feeling?""An atrocious fear of losing you both, of them hurting you, of them harming you. Arianna , look at yourself! Look at what they did to you because of me. I almost lost you; I almost lost both of you. How do you think I feel knowing you both almost died because of me?""I was born into this world, Enzo. With or without you, the threat has always been there.""Yes, but being my wife put you in a much more vulnerable position, and the fact that I love you the way I do paints a target on your back. You are my damn weak point, cara, and now they know it."I swallow hard to get past the knot that has formed in my throat, and he touches my belly again."And now there’s him, or her," he adds, a faint smile appearing. "And all that fear doubles. Now it's not one target; it’s two."I can't help but feel empathy for him; however, he
Arianna I hear their voices all around me, their mockery, their disgusting provocations, their laughter as they touch me. I hug myself, bringing my legs to my chest, hiding my face, turning into an insignificant little ball in the middle of them—in the middle of pitiless bastards.I ask my son's forgiveness for what is going to happen. I beg him to forgive me for not thinking, but I did everything to protect him—to protect him from the man who was supposed to be our defender, but who, if he found out about his existence, would become our executioner. I ask him to please hold on to me, to hold on to life; for him, I will endure this and more.Suddenly, the lights go out. I submerge into a deep darkness, into an infinite void where neither crying nor pain exists. A feeling of fullness invades me and a bonfire wraps around me, dissipating the inclement cold that has seeped into my bones.His voice, his arms, his warmth...I love you so much.The cold returns, the pain returns; the tears,







