LOGIN~MARCELLA~Time passes… I don’t even know how much.The car door opens again somewhere nearby.I don’t react. I don’t move. I barely exist.But I see Daddy Vincenzo step into his car.His face is as cold as ever… unreadable… controlled.But there’s something in the way he moves.Something heavy, and something final.He must have been inside handling everything, paying Lucas’ bills, taking care of things I should have been there for.My chest tightens painfully.One by one, the engines come to life.Daddy Vincenzo drives off first.Then Daddy starts the car.And behind us, Daddy Riccardo follows.And my car…my car stays behind, parked, alone and abandoned.Like the life I’m leaving behind.Like the girl I was before all of this.“I want to go home first,” I whisper weakly, my voice barely there.Daddy glances at me for a second, and he understands.He doesn’t argue.~~~The moment I step into my apartment, everything crashes into me all at once.The silence is
~MARCELLA~“Vincenzo is here,” Daddy tells me. “He wants to see you.”A cold dread spreads through me.I look back at Lucas… at his still, unmoving body.Why do I feel like something is wrong??Did something happen to Stephanie??From the look on daddy's face, I know instantly that something is wrong.Something is very wrong.I lean down quickly and press a soft kiss to his forehead, my lips trembling against his skin.“I’ll be back,” I whisper gently. “I promise… I’m not leaving you… I’ll be right back…”I don’t know that I’m lying.I don’t know that this might be the last time I see him ever again.I pull away reluctantly, my fingers lingering in his hair for a second longer before I force myself to stand.Each step away from him feels wrong and painful.Like I’m tearing myself apart.~~~~~They’re waiting for me outside.Daddy Vincenzo, and Daddy Riccardo.And my daddy steps beside them, completing the circle.The moment I see their faces… I know.Something is t
~MARCELLA~My greatest fear is here!“No…” I shake my head, backing away slightly. “No, that’s not…..no…”“Marcella…” my daddy’s voice is behind me now.But I don’t turn.I can’t.Because if I do…If I face this…It becomes real.“That’s not him…” I whisper, my voice trembling violently. “It’s not Lucas… it can’t be Lucas…”But then the doors swing open briefly just for a second, and I see it.Doctors surrounding him, machines, wires, and his body…too still.“Flatline!” someone shouts.My entire world shatters.“No!” I scream, lunging forward, but strong arms grab me before I can reach him.“Let me go!” I cry, struggling violently. “Lucas! LUCAS!!”The doors slam shut again, and he’s gone from my sight, but not from my mind.Because I heard it.That sound.That horrible, endless beep.“I told you…” my voice breaks into hysterical sobs. “I told you… I told you he was dying…”My body gives out again, collapsing as the pain becomes too much to hold inside.“I didn’t
~MARCELLA~The drive feels endless.Too fast… yet not fast enough.My hands grip the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles ache, my entire body trembling as I follow behind my daddy’s car.He’s driving like a madman.The car swerves dangerously, tires screeching as we cut through traffic like nothing else matters.And my Lucas is in there.Not with me.And it feels wrong…..so wrong.“Come on… come on…” I whisper under my breath, my voice shaking as I press harder on the accelerator.The distance between our cars feels like a knife twisting in my chest.What if something happens before we get there?What if he stops breathing?What if… I wasn’t there?“No…” I shake my head violently, tears blurring my vision. “No, no… he’s fine… he has to be fine…”But my heart doesn’t believe it.Because I saw the blood.I saw how still he was.I saw how close I came to losing him before, and now I'm about to lose him now.A sob escapes my lips, and I quickly wipe my face with
~MARCELLA~My daddy grabs Xavier’s collar, lifting him like he weighs nothing.And then, he throws him hard and violently.Xavier’s body crashes violently against the wall, a pained groan ripping out of him as he collapses to the floor.“SHOOT THEM!” one of the remaining men shouts desperately.Guns raises, and everything happens at once.And I feel sorry for the men who just made the worst mistake of their lives.Daddy Vincenzo and Daddy Riccardo don’t even move from where they stand, but two men drop dead.Stephanie screams again, her body jerking violently against the ropes.“Oh my God….Steph….”I rush toward her, my legs weak, almost stumbling, but I don’t stop.I can’t.I reach her, my hands fumbling with the ropes.“I’m so sorry… I’m so, so sorry…” I choke out, tears blurring my vision again. “This is my fault… I’m so sorry…..”“NO….!” the third man shouts, reaching for his gun, but he doesn’t even get the chance to lift it.A bullet hits him straight
~MARCELLA~The air changes the moment Daddy Vincenzo gives the order.“Kill them.”It’s like the entire room inhales at once…and forgets how to breathe.Fear spreads instantly……thick, suffocating, and alive.I see it in their eyes.Every single one of them.The men who had been so confident…so cruel just seconds ago…now look like prey.Their hands tremble. Their feet shift back. Their breathing turns uneven.Because they know.They know exactly what those two words mean.No one is walking out of here alive.My eyes shift, and that’s when I notice Albert.Standing stiffly near the wall, his face pale, his confidence completely gone.His eyes lock onto my daddies, and I see it.I see the recognition…. pure, terrifying recognition.His man standing beside him recognized my daddies first.“Shit…” he breathes under his breath, dragging a shaky hand through his hair. “This…this is bad…”His gaze flickers between Daddy Vincenzo, Daddy Riccardo…then finally lands on my fa
~MARCELLA~The moment I say it, “Shall we?”I expect him to move.To play along.To follow the script.To keep everything neat, controlled, believable.But Lucas doesn’t move…not immediately.Instead… his grip on my hand tightens.Not subtly or gently, but tight enough to m
~LUCAS~I stare at the phone in my hand long after the call ends.My chest feels heavy.God.I feel like absolute garbage.I drop the phone on the bed and run both hands down my face.Why did I just talk to her like that?Marcella’s voice echoes in my head.Soft, bright an
~MARCELLA~“Hello?”Lucas’s voice comes through the phone.And my brain completely shuts down.Every single word I planned to say evaporates instantly like smoke.My mouth opens… but nothing comes out.I sit there frozen, staring at the phone pressed against my ear as if it sud
~LUCAS~Stella's the last person I expected to see in my house.For a moment, I genuinely think I'm imagining things.“You finally came home. I've been waiting for you.”The room goes very still after Stella says that.For a moment I just stare at her, trying to process w







