Chapter 5 - Alice

“Millie? Millie?!” Alice panting, looking around nervously but unable to find anything “Millicent!”

“Oh, God... Don't worry, she couldn't have gone far or left the house. A little girl like her wouldn't even reach the doorknob...” Thea also started spinning around, trying to find Millie “Uh... Listen. You look down here and I'll go up and look up there. I'm sure we'll find her in no time, okay?”

“Yes, thank you.” Alice nodded, knowing that she shouldn't be so worried, since, as big as that mansion was, Millie had limited places to hide, but still... "I'll look here and, if I don't find her, I'll come up to help you...”

“Uh... Maybe it's better not to...” Thea shook her head, as if that were a bad idea “That wing is... Anyway, I'll let you know if I find her, I promise. But I'm sure she must be around here... I’ll be back in a moment.” The housekeeper didn't seem willing to explain much more, as she just turned and walked up the stairs much more quickly than Alice expected from someone her age.

“Alright...” Alice muttered to herself, walking through the huge entrance room of the mansion, until a whistle sound caught her attention, exactly like the one Hoppy the bunny made when he was squeezed “Millie?” she called, looking up at the stairs, which ended at a fork that led to two hallways “Millie?” Even though she knew she shouldn't, Alice found herself climbing some of the steps, again hearing the whistle, this time coming from further away, but undoubtedly in the same direction in which Thea had gone “Millie! You shouldn't have left Mommy's side! Millie, are you listening? We can't cause problems for Thea...” she continued calling, until she found herself on the second floor of the mansion, facing a long gloomy hallway, also with all the curtains closed “Millie. You know you can't leave Mommy's side, especially in places where we don't know anyone....”

As she spoke, Alice began to walk around the place, not finding much other than some decorations, very old paintings of members of the Bianchi family on the walls and countless locked doors that she knocked on a few times, just to make sure that Millie wasn't there. With each corner of the hallway she needed to turn, Alice became more and more worried, not knowing where Millie could be or if she could meet someone from Massimo's mansion who wasn't as welcoming as Thea...

Until finally, she found her, standing in front of one of the doors that made her look even smaller than Millie was, holding Hoppy in one arm as she jumped to try and reach the doorknob with her free hand.

“Millie!” Alice called, running to pick her up “Millie, why did you leave Mommy?”

“Sorry, mommy, I... I just wanted to find a horse or a pony, I swear.” Her daughter pouted guiltily “This house is so big... They must have a room for the horses too, right? I heard a noise and thought maybe that could be one of them. I just wanted to say hi...”

“Oh, Millie…” Alice sighed “Don't ever do that again. We don’t know where we might end up…”

Her sentence was interrupted when the door in front of them was suddenly opened, startling them both. And, when Alice saw a pair of dark green eyes shining in the darkness, her heart stopped and her stomach twisted.

“What are you two doing here?” the figure growled, but as threatening as he sounded, Alice could only hug her daughter tighter, trying to hide Millie's face as a single word escaped her mouth.

"Massimo."

“I asked…” Massimo growled, and in the next instant, he pushed his wheelchair forward, stepping out of the shadows of the room “What do you think you're doing here? I left clear orders for Thea to forbid you from coming to my wing of the mansion!”

For a few seconds, Alice just stood in shock, watching what that man, the same man who had inhabited her thoughts for years, had transformed into. His hair, previously always cut short, was longer, with waves that almost fell in his eyes. There was a thick beard hiding most of the features of his face and, what had once been clear, cunning green eyes, now seemed to have been covered by shadows, as well as hatred and resentment. Unlike most times she had seen him, he wasn't wearing a suit, but rather loose nightwear. He was definitely thinner and paler, with deep dark circles under his eyes.

And, of course, he was sitting in that wheelchair, gripping the armrest so tightly that she could see every single nerve and vein in his perfectly shaped arms.

“What are you looking at?!” he growled, making her and Millie shiver in fright again.

“We... We're sorry, Massimo.” Alice finally found her voice “Millie was excited to see the house and... We ended up stopping here. It’s… It’s good to see you again, anyway.”

"Good?" he sneered, with a grimace that couldn't be called a smile in any other universe “You think it's good to see me like this?”

“No... That's not what I said...”

“I'm sure you must be very happy to have married the Bianchi's failure after your sister rejected me, right?” the way his eyes flashed with anger disturbed her deeply “Are you happy to be the wife of an unable?! Or did they promise you that I would die soon, so you wouldn't have to bear this humiliation for a long time, just like Amber didn't want to...?”

“Stop it, Massimo!” she pleaded “I know the circumstances of this marriage weren’t the best, but that doesn’t mean I….”

“You Dawseys must feel so charitable, don’t you? Sending a woman to me as if they were doing me a favor. As if I were an old dog that needed someone to put a bone in its mouth...” he gritted his teeth, before looking up into those green eyes that had been part of her dreams for so long, but now seemed capable of causing nightmares at anyone “But now, Alice, you are my wife, do you understand? I joined the Dawseys' surname to mine as everyone always wanted me to do and I won't let that be undone! You belong to Me! And, whether I'm in this wheelchair or in a hospital, you'll still be mine, because that's what those fucking pieces of paper say!”

“Enough, Massimo!” she raised her voice, disturbed “How can you say that kind of thing with a child around?”

For the first time, he looked at Millicent's cowering, frightened figure. Gradually, his eyes narrowed, making Alice think that he was ready to continue screaming, regardless of whether there was a little girl there or not. However, in the end, all he did was raise his finger in their direction, not even needing to look up to face her, since he was tall enough to reach almost Alice's height even while sitting in the wheelchair.

“That’s the only warning I’m going to give you…!” he growled “Stay out of my way and don't you dare disturb me or disobey me! Neither you nor this girl! You understood? I won't be merciful if you ignore my orders and sneak into my wing again! You understood?"