LOGIN~FIORELLA~“Juliette, get ready for me,” I type on my phone. “I'm on my way home.”Then I press ‘send’ and put my phone into my bag.I walk majestically to my car as other colleagues clear the road for me, enter my car, ignite the engine, and drive off.My girl is waiting for me, and I can't wait to go home and have fun.~~~It takes me almost an hour to arrive home.The electric gates open, and I drive my car into the compound.The gate closes as I step out of my car.The whole environment is quiet, and why not??I stay alone in my own house…. even as a student.I walk majestically to the front door of my apartment, and open it.Then I see Juliette eagerly waiting for me.“Welcome home, Mistress,” she greets me.She's kneeling on the rug in the sitting room, facing the entrance with her head down.She dares not look at me until I say so.I stare at my twenty years old sex slave, with her dark hair falling messily on her shoulders.She's wearing a thin, net dre
~LUCAS~“Lucas…”The voice is faint and distant at first.Like it’s coming from somewhere far away… somewhere I can’t reach.“Lucas… wake up…”Something taps my cheek lightly, twice.“Lucas, please…”There’s a tremble in the voice now.My brows twitch weakly.Everything hurts.My body feels heavy… like I’m buried under something I can’t lift.“Lucas… please wake up…”The voice breaks, and something warm drops onto my face.Someone's tears.That’s what finally drags me back.Slowly… painfully… my eyes flutter open.My vision is blurry at first, everything spinning and unclear.But then… it settles, and I see her.“Stephanie…?”She’s crouched right beside me, her face pale, her eyes swollen and red, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.Relief floods her expression the moment she sees my eyes open.“Oh my God…” she breathes shakily. “Lucas…”Her hand moves to my face again, trembling as she touches me like she’s afraid I might disappear.“You’re awake…”My throat feels dry, raw.My bod
~LUCAS~That’s the first thing I feel is pain.It’s dull, and deep, like my entire body has been crushed and stitched back together wrong.Then it spreads.Every inch of me aches.My chest burns when I breathe. My ribs feel like they’re cracking all over again. My head throbs so badly it makes my vision blur even before I fully open my eyes.A weak groan slips from my lips.And slowly… painfully… I force my eyes open to see the white ceiling.The smell hits me next…sterile… cold… typical hospital.My brows knit together weakly.Hospital…?My breathing turns uneven as I blink slowly, trying to focus, trying to understand.Why… am I here?My eyes move around sluggishly, and all I see are machines and drips.And then, my heart drops when I see that I'm alone…. completely alone.Confusion flickers through me, weak but real.Because the last time….the last time I opened my eyes when I was admitted, Marcella was there.I saw her. I remember her.Her face soaked in tears… her voice shaking… c
~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 too loud. The air feels to
~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 terribly wrong.“What
~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 tell him…” I cry, clutch
~ELENA~I can't concentrate in school anymore after what happened. I keep thinking of how messy things would have been if Alessandro got beaten up by my stepbrothers.“Elena!!!” I hear someone chorus my name and I jerk up immediately.“Snap back to reality” Gianna screams,
~NICO~“You touched our sister,” Vincenzo says, voice like ice. “That was your first mistake.”Alessandro tries to back away, but Riccardo is already behind him, blocking his path without a word.I smile when I see the fear in his eyes.“And your second mistake,” I add, s
Alessandro shouldn’t have come. Every instinct tells him to stay away.But curiosity, or maybe something darker…. drives him straight to the masquerade ball party.After what happened yesterday, he couldn’t stop thinking about them.The triplets.So he did what anyone with too much fear, curiosity,
~ELENA~The room feels hotter now, even with the ice melting on my skin. My body is flushed, damp with sweat and their touch, but they aren’t rushing.For the first time today, they slow down… and that’s worse.Because slow means I feel everything.Nico straddles me first







