LOGIN~CAMILLA~Oh….this is bad.So bad that it makes me stare at a question paper and suddenly wonder whether dropping out of university and opening an ice cream shop is a better career option.I mean….I know how to make great ice creams, right??I stare at the question again, blinking hard.But there's absolutely nothing coming to my head.My brain is as empty as the classroom would be if Professor Cosmos suddenly announced that the test was cancelled.I read the question again, hoping the words will rearrange themselves into something I understand….but they don't.I look at the second question, but it's even worse.By the time I reach the fourth question, I'm beginning to suspect Professor Cosmos has personally designed this test to ruin my life.I swallow hard.“Okay. Calm down, Camilla,” I whisper to myself. “You know something. You must know something.”I have attended most of the lectures.I've listened…. Well, sometimes.I've opened the course material at lea
~CAMILLA~The moment the cab stops, I shove money into the hands of the driver.“Keep the change!” I tell him.“Miss, you gave me too much,” he says.“I don't have time! Just keep the change,” I say and jump out before he can argue.Then I start running again.I run across the campus with my bag bouncing against my side. My Crocs slap against the pavement.Students turn to look at me, but I don't care.Someone says something, but I don't even bother to know what is being said.A professor walks past me, and I nearly crash into him.“Sorry, professor!” I yell, and keep running.My lungs are burning. My heart is pounding.My hair is probably worse than it was in the cab.But then I reach the building, and I race up the stairs.“Please don't let him start,” I mutter as I keep racing the stairs.Finally, I reach the classroom door, and when my hand closes around the handle, I stop, taking breaths to calm myself down.I straighten my top, fix my hair as much as pos
~CAMILLA~“Shit! Shit! Shit!”I mutter as I sprint down the street so fast that I'm beginning to wonder if my legs are actually attached to my body or if they're simply moving on their own.My bag is hanging halfway off my shoulder, and I'm sure one of my books must be sticking out of it.My hair is a complete disaster. It's flying happily in the air. And I'm still not sure if I actually closed my room door. I might have left it open like before…because I was rushing out. But now, I don't have the time to go back to check properly.I have a fucking school test, and it starts in fifteen minutes.“Oh God! I might actually miss the test, and Esmeralda is definitely going to kill me if I do that,” I say to myself.Okay, maybe that's dramatic.But at this exact moment, it feels appropriate.Okay, I fucking need a car right now!I shouldn't have refused when dad wanted to get me a car.If I had a car, I would have driven recklessly to school to beat the time and no
~LUCAS~Oh shit! Not again!What the hell??I stare at her because no, this has to be some kind of joke.I blink twice, and she's still standing there with that same face, same eyes, same lips, same nose, same beautiful features that have already managed to completely mess with my head twice.My heart actually skips a beat.I look at her again, hoping that somehow my eyes are playing tricks on me.They aren't.She looks EXACTLY like Fiorella and Marcella.For a few seconds, I genuinely forget how to breathe.The woman standing in front of me notices my expression, but she doesn't seem to understand why I'm staring at her like I've just seen a ghost.And honestly? I don't understand it either.What are the odds?What are the chances of meeting one woman who looks exactly like Marcella, then falling for another woman who looks exactly like Marcella, and then, after flying all the way from Scotland to Italy, running into a third woman who looks exactly like both
~LUCAS~Three hours later, I arrive in Milan, Italy.The moment I step out of the airport, I stop for a second and simply look around.I'm actually here in Italy.The thought should excite and disturb me at the same time.It does, in a way.But there's an emptiness sitting right in the middle of that excitement.I breathe in deeply, adjusting the strap of my bag over my shoulder as I look around at the unfamiliar surroundings.Milan is beautiful.Not beautiful in the same way Scotland is beautiful.Scotland has this wild, almost haunting kind of beauty. The cold air, the old buildings, the green landscapes, the dramatic skies.Milan feels different. It feels elegant and alive.There is something sophisticated about the city, even from the little I can see around me.The architecture catches my attention almost immediately. The streets are busy without feeling chaotic, and everywhere I look, there are beautiful buildings standing beside modern ones as though the
~LUCAS~I barely sleep.Actually, calling what I did last night “sleep” would be generous.I spend most of the night lying on my back, staring at the ceiling while Fiorella's words replay over and over again inside my head.‘Goodbye, Lucas.’I don't know why those two words bother me so much.Maybe it's because of the way she said them.There was something final about them. Something that made a cold feeling settle somewhere deep inside my chest.Every time I close my eyes, I see her sitting on the edge of that bed with her phone in her hand.I see the way her expression changed.I hear the slight crack in her voice when she told me she couldn't afford another trip with me.And most of all, I remember the way she stopped herself when she almost said something about a Mafia lord.There is a secret buried inside all of this….I'm sure of it.But no matter how many times I turn it over in my head, I can't figure out what it is.Eventually, I give up trying to sleep
~MARCELLA~I take Lucas to my favorite spot.A slightly secluded corner, tucked away just enough to give privacy… but still with a perfect view of the entire restaurant.It's romantic, quiet and perfect.We sit down, and almost immediately, a waiter approaches us.I smile politel
~LUCAS~The box is the first thing I notice when I wake up.It's there…. right where I left it before going to bed last night.Like it knows I haven’t made peace with myself yet.It's pushed neatly against the wall like it hasn’t been silently haunting me all night. Like
~ELENA~That night, when the house finally grows quiet, reality settles in.Not the fear kind, but the good kind.The kind that hums softly in your chest and tells you this….this moment….is real.The nursery light glows faintly down the hall.I sit in bed, pillows stacked behi
~ELENA~The hospital room smells like antiseptic when I wake again.For a terrifying second, my arms feel empty. Then I hear it.Three tiny breaths. Soft. Uneven. Alive.I turn my head slowly and see them….three bassinets lined up beside my bed, each holding a piece of my hear







