Is She My New Mom?

~~ LUCIAN ~~

She looked into nothing, streaks of tears running down her cheeks.

She didn’t make a sound.

She didn’t meet my eyes.

She just slipped back under the sheet, pulling it up to her chin and turning away from me.

Again. I watched her disintegrate.

I wanted to pull her into my arms. Let her break down on me.

Let her cry her eyes out. Tell her it was okay to feel hurt, angry, or broken.

Anything.

Tell her that I’d be with her every step of the way.

Cain and I.

She might never get over her dad's death.

She might want to blame herself.

But I wanted to assure her it wasn’t her fault.

Life happened.

She chose to cut ties with her family and picked the man she loved at that time because she felt he was right for her.

She shouldn’t have to hate herself for it.

But I turned away instead and walked out of the room.

I went to my study and took a seat in front of several monitors with CCTV footage playing across the screen.

From here I could watch every corner of my house twenty-four seven.

Especially her.

I didn’t want to lose sight of her for a minute in case she thought of hurting herself.

And every time she chose to do so, I’d be there to save her.

Rhea Rossi.

I was just ten when I ran into the street, starved and exhausted from being chased by thugs who thought I stole their weed.

I lived at a shelter, but the day we ran out of food, I stumbled upon a backpack and only sneaked some burger and beer out of it.

Since I didn’t have money to afford water, I thought the beer would serve.

One minute my mouth watered as I took a bite from the burger, and the next I heard angry voices yelling at me.

Used to living on the streets, I knew one little mistake with the wrong people could get you in a body bag.

I didn’t know what they thought I stole.

Didn't care.

I dropped the stolen food and bolted.

They had guns.

They were firing into the air when I ran into a car.

It was expensive and huge.

I thought I saw my life flashing in front of me until the man behind the wheels pulled the brake, and it stopped in front of me.

It was close.

I could have died.

Elvis Rossi, multibillionaire CEO and founder of The Rossi Group.

He’d felt bad for me. Took me in.

He’d taken me to his house first.

A big, luxurious house. With all the nice foods. Big pool.

His domestic staff avoided me like a plague and called me dirty and hungry.

Then I met his little daughter, Rhea Rossi.

She’d been three years younger but sweet and angelic.

Blue eyes and blonde hair with chubby cheeks.

She fed me. Talked about her day at school even when I never responded and just listened.

She helped brush my hair. Made sure I got new clothes along with her brother every time we went shopping.

She’d read me books.

Kept me company and was always hanging around me even if I barely gave her attention.

She’s been the first person to treat me like human.

Over time I got so used to her. She became my entire world, and my day felt incomplete without her.

Elvis put me in good foster care, but I was allowed to stay with him and his kids, Cain and Rhea, on weekends and holidays.

Then we’d grown up.

And I realized I was in love with Rhea.

At first, Cain and I had a complicated relationship.

Then we'd grown on each other and become best friends.

Even brothers.

He had strict rules for his friends regarding his little sister.

She was off limits. I knew it.

Yet I still wanted her.

But who the hell was I?

Lucian, the poor, dirty, homeless boy.

Her family had saved me.

Gave me a reason to hold onto this miserable life of mine.

How could I dream of having Elvis's precious daughter?

The apple of his eye.

Cain was overprotective of her.

She was his little sunshine, and I dared dream of her.

A nobody like me?

After school and college, I decided I was never going to remain a nobody.

I worked hard. Bleed from hard work.

Built my empire, Foster Corporation, with my blood and sweat.

I wanted to be at least worthy of her.

Then she winds up with this college sweetheart of hers.

Henry was middle class. But from a much better background than me.

She talked about him all the time.

They fell in love and then decided to marry.

Elvis and Cain were against it.

I was too. But for different reasons.

I couldn’t be obvious about it, so I didn't interfere directly.

She seemed happy with him.

Her happiness was all that mattered to me.

I decided to just love her from afar and let her choose whoever she wanted to be with.

When she cut ties with her family, they turned their back on her.

I took it upon myself to help her settle in with her new life.

For years I watched.

Anniversaries came and went.

Then she had a kid.

She looked fulfilled.

I tried to let myself be content with loving her from a distance.

I'd move on. Find someone else and be okay.

But I lied.

I hired a private investigator, Martins to look into Henry and realized she’d helped him start up a foundation.

His company, Reynolds Holdings, was flourishing.

I got worried, but I watched on.

Elvis died some weeks before her fifth anniversary.

On his deathbed he'd called Rhea’s name until he passed on.

That day I’d been just at her driveway, ready to break the news to her.

Cain had warned me not to go.

He said she didn’t deserve to know about the father she abandoned, but I didn’t agree.

Until I saw how happy she was as her husband put a necklace around her neck, announcing to the world how much he cherished her.

Her life looked perfect.

A beautiful marriage. A lovely husband. Her precious son.

So I thought to myself, "She didn’t need anyone from her past ruining her present," so I left without seeing her.

Then ten years later I got intel from Martins that Henry was planning a secret engagement.

He’d plan to hide it from the press and divorce her quietly.

I rushed down to tell her the truth, but apparently I was late.

Fortunately, I came in time to save her from getting mobbed.

“Dad!” Lily, my daughter, threw the door open, running inside.

I looked up from the monitor, smiling a bit as she jumped onto my lap.

“What is it, sweet?”

Her eyes were wide as she pointed at the screen.

“You have a woman over? Oh my gosh. She’s so pretty. Is she my new mom?” She asked, her eyes widening in awe.

I stroked her hair, pecking her cheek.

“No. She’s a friend.”

She drew back, eyeing me suspiciously.

“You know I’m ten, right?"

I nodded.

“I’m not a kid anymore. I know adults don't just have friends over for nothing.”

I dragged my palm down my face, watching Rhea through the monitor.

She got up and moved.

I tensed up, my body reacting in alarm.

“Hey sweetie, give me a minute.” I said, placing her on her feet as I stood up.

“I know what you're doing. You're going to have one of those boring grown-up talk with her. But I'll ask her first.”

Before I knew what was going on, Lily had made for the door, and she was off to Rhea’s room.

No.

I went after her.