Too Broken To Be Healed

Alessia Father and Mother sat on one of the couches, wearing forlorn expressions on their faces. His arm was draped around her shoulders as she sobbed into a wad of tissue. From an outsider’s perspective, this was just a normal grieving family. From my perspective, however, this was all a performance. Nonna’s death meant nothing to them. If anything, they were glad. In silence, I moved to sit on the couch in the farthest corner of the room. Father’s phone began to ring, and he lifted it to his ear. “What?” There was a moment of silence before he rose abruptly, ended the call, and tossed the phone onto the couch. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Mother sniffed, standing up. “Bad news. Why now, of all times?” Father exclaimed, crossing his arms and tapping his foot in agitation. “It’s the lawyer. The call came from the hospital. He was in an accident on the way here, and he’s undergoing emergency surgery.” “He doesn’t have a replacement to come read Nonna’s will?” Stefano, that we

Alessia Four Years Later The electric bell rang inside the school building just as I parked the car in the school driveway. Finishing the last of my iced Americano, I pushed the door open and stepped out. Other parents were getting out of their cars as well—some housekeepers, some nannies, some chauffeurs, assistants. It was a large variety of people, and that was normal. After all, this was an excellent kindergarten where many parents with corporate jobs were too busy to come pick up their children themselves. I counted myself lucky that I could give my kids all the time and attention they needed while still paying our bills—all thanks to working from home. Across the driveway, children were already pouring out through the doors, noisy and excited to be done with the day’s activities. My job as a weather content creator and article writer had taken off so suddenly—and so well—that my bank account had overflowed in no time. I had been heavily pregnant when the first thousand do

Alessia’s POV After finally securing a ride for my children and me, I hurried back to where I had left them. But the moment I got close, my steps slowed… then stopped completely. My light brown eyes fell on a man I never wanted to see again. He was standing there—unapologetically handsome, broad-shouldered, with well-defined abs and deep blue eyes that once brought me nothing but pain and humiliation. And to my horror, he was smiling warmly at my children. Smiling with them. Of all days… why today? Why would Matteo Rinaldi choose today to reappear in my life? A storm of emotions crashed through me as my eyes betrayed me and traced his face again. Then, almost against my will, my gaze dropped to his left hand. There it was. A wedding ring. Not the one we once shared. A different one. I let out a bitter breath. I should have known better than to ever be fooled by good looks. A smile almost formed on my lips—until the memory of his betrayal slammed into me

Alessia’s POV Settling into a new place was proving to be one of the hardest tasks of my life. It wasn’t as fun as it sounded, not with four little ones to manage and boxes still unpacked. Looking around at the beautifully arranged house, a small smile tugged at my lips. Everything was perfect… almost. All that was left was one final step to make settling in feel complete. I moved to the living room and sat on the sofa near the window, letting my gaze linger on the orchids climbing up the terrace. Their wild beauty calmed me, if only slightly. I picked up my phone and dialed, and after a few rings, a warm, welcoming voice came through. “Hello, Miss Smith speaking. How may I help you?” I smiled. “I need to hire a nanny for my children,” I said, answering a few questions before ending the call. My kids deserved the best, especially with me so busy here in Italy. I wouldn’t let them live in dirt or disorder. Darkness fell quickly, and I went upstairs to the children’s rooms. The

Matteo Rinaldi’s POV As I descended the stairs, my eyes landed on the venomous snake seated comfortably in my living room, eating snacks taken straight from my pantry. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked coldly. I hated disrespect. I hated lies. And this woman had done both—repeatedly. “Oh, Matteo,” Giulia replied lightly, licking salt off her fingers. “I was hungry, so I helped myself.” Staring at her, a thousand ways to ruin her life crossed my mind. “You know how this works, right? The mother and—” “Shut the f**k up and take your nonsense somewhere else,” I cut in sharply. She laughed. “You don’t believe me, do you?” I squeezed my eyes shut in frustration. Why was this woman pushing her luck? “Giulia, I have too much on my mind right now,” I said through clenched teeth. “And I’d be eternally grateful if the universe would just make you disappear.” Her presence was suffocating. I couldn’t think—especially not about Alessia Conti. Giulia was a walking remi