MasukHello lovely readers!❤️ Who do you think is walking towards her? The boring, handsome guy? Or the second guy??
~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 tear
~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
~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's hand 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 st
Somewhere across Florence…A crystal tumbler of whiskey shatters against the wall. Two men are kneeling and begging for their lives.“What did you just say?” roars Don Luciano Bianchi, his voice shaking the windows of his office.The two men flinch, trembling and shivering at once. One of them is s
~ELENA~I continue to stare at Alessandro's lifeless body, still in shock.I suddenly can’t breathe again.The world around me is a blur. Alessandro’s lifeless body lies sprawled across the floor, his eyes frozen wide open, staring at nothing.My fingers shake uncontroll
~ELENA~I don't even know when we get home. I just feel someone pulling me out of the car and leading me to my room.I feel numb. My body, my senses, my mind….they all feel numb.The door to my room opens and I am led inside.“Take your bath and rest. We'll come to chec
~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,







