ANMELDEN~ArianaMy mouth felt like sandpaper. I battled against the weight of my eyelids, failing terribly to keep them apart. The pain in my chest increased with each breath I took and I could feel my strength diminishing with each attempt. Different objects appeared and disappeared out of my sight. Voices drifted in and out of my ears. Everything was a cacophony that further disoriented me.After sometime, I realized I was being wheeled on a bed to somewhere. I didn’t know why and I couldn’t understand how I even got there to begin with. I tried to scream but I couldn’t even move my body. Then, one distinct scene came into my vision.It was Sal hugging a blonde woman. And the next thing, they started kissing. After witnessing the scene, I didn’t try to fight the heaviness anymore and I just let my eyelids shut out the sight. ****I did not know how long I had been asleep but even when I woke up, I felt like I hadn’t been asleep for a long time. The pain all over my body was unbearable.
~SalvatoreI hesitated for a moment. “But Ariana?”My question caused my mum’s frown to deepen. “You’ll see your love very soon. Let’s sort this out first.”Her emphasis on ‘my love’ rubbed me off the wrong way but I let it slide. I followed her to her car and she insisted on waiting for her driver even though I keep telling her I was very capable of driving.After waiting for another ten minutes, I let out a heavy sigh. “Mum, can you please get in the car so I can take us to the hospital. We’ve already wasted enough time waiting for your driver to show up.”Even though we had two drivers for each person in the house and they all lived with us, you could never find a single fucking driver when you actually needed one.“Relax. He’ll be here in a minute.”I resisted the urge to glare at her. “You said this ten minutes ago.” Usually she would have been the one complaining and probably have the driver fired once he eventually arrived but she was suspiciously calm now.“That’s what he tol
~SalvatoreI felt a sudden pain in my chest even though it was Ariana the bullet hit. I had been so caught up in the chaos, I didn’t realize I hadn’t pulled her under the table with me. Her eyes dropped to the bullet wound in her chest before they drifted shut and she dropped to the floor beside me. Tears blurred my vision and before I knew it, I was beside her screaming her name. In the process, I got hit by a bullet on my left arm. My brain didn’t register the pain and I immediately pulled out my gun to put an end to the idiot that shot her. But my men were finally handling it and they had managed to gun down all the attackers. I don’t know where they were earlier when Ariana was getting shot but if anything happened to her, they all would be dead too. I carried her in my arms and rushed straight for my car. I ignored everyone that tried to talk to me on my way out. I made sure she was securely strapped into the back seat before I took the steering wheel and started driving. I
I followed behind him, hoping to calm him down before the whole thing escalated. “Salvatore!” he called the moment he got to where Sal was seated with that blonde woman leaning against him. “Father?” Sal responded, sitting up in his chair. “What is the meaning of this nonsense?” Carlo shifted his glare between Sal and the blonde.His glare caused the blonde to shrivel away from Sal. “Father, I—”“I don’t want to hear it. Get this woman out of here and I only want you to be seen with your wife for the rest of this event.” “I can’t . . .” Sal started speaking but his father walked away, signaling an end to their conversation. I stood awkwardly by the side, aware of Sal’s glare on me. “I’ll leave,” the blonde said, causing Sal to break his glare. He turned to her, his eyes softening significantly as he stared at her. “No, you’re not going anywhere.”“But your dad—”“I said you’re not going and that’s final.”She nodded and he smiled at her. He fucking smiled at her. The dull ache
1 year later‘Be ready by 7’.I dropped the note back on the red dress with a sigh. That was the only way Sal communicated with me for the past one year since we got married. Through notes and only when it was necessary like for the event we had to attend today.I had tried my best to get back the old Sal, the Sal who cared about me. But all my efforts so far seemed futile. It felt like he was even more distant than he was at the beginning of our marriage.I rubbed my stomach, remembering the last time we were intimate. He had come home drunk and for a moment, I got a glimpse of the old Sal. He was gentle and loving and paid attention to what I wanted and how I felt.This time I didn’t bother trying to stop him when he went too far. And the result was a missed period. I went to the hospital and got the confirmation I needed. I was one month pregnant. No one was aware of the pregnancy yet. I intended to inform them this evening. I was especially eager to tell Sal. At least this was t
I quickly scanned the room, searching everyone’s expressions. Firstly Sal, then his mother. Both their expressions were as stoic as ever. My eyes trailed to his brother who bent his head down and fixed his eyes to the ground. The rest of the men in the room either avoided my gaze or stared at the blanket covering my body. They didn’t need to imagine what lay underneath the blanket, they had seen everything on the large screen. My gaze sharply returned to Sal and I didn’t know whether to yell at him or hit him. Considering who he was and the fact that every single person in the room at that point was a cold blooded murderer, I chose the safer option. “Salvatore!”He yawned and rolled his eyes before shifting them towards my direction. “What?”“How could you? Why did you—what is wrong with you!?” The tears now rolled freely down my face. “What is wrong with me?” Sal replied as though my question made absolutely no sense to him. “Exactly, what is wrong with you!? Because you must be







