For as long as she could remember, Liviana had always had a complicated relationship with her parents. The Santora’s, in general, were a very complicated family full of complex dynamics, as their family was tattered with years of abuse and generational trauma. They were an enigma that not even they could figure out.Ben, as the oldest, was automatically his parents’ favorite. He was their first heir and the next king of the Santora business. And though Drusilla and Alonzo absolutely adored him for those mere factors, they could never show it. Instead, they showed their affection through work, whipping him up into a fine young leader, and turning him into the best man they could ever help him be. It was too bad he never got the chance to be anything more.Tino was the difficult child, often left to his own devices, and his parents’ neglect was their love. They didn’t pay him mind and so he often missed out on all the abuse tactics his siblings faced. Up until his big brother died, at l

The in-laws sat quietly, scattered across the Castelli's family room under a thick blanket of tension, just waiting for the moment someone would be brave enough to break the silence that had fallen upon them. Though, no one seemed to have the guts with the way Lucius and Elara loomed over them, supervising them as they stared down at the family like two disappointed parents who were just waiting for their children to give them a reason to punish them. And no one, no matter how upset they were, wished to be the reason.The Castelli siblings - Armani, Blaze, and Leona - all stood in a line behind the couch, continuing to bicker amongst themselves as they had grown used to their parents intimidation and those disappointed looks they wore, having grown up watching them."This is your fault," Leona had muttered to Blaze, who stands between his siblings with an ice cold expression, glaring across the room at his in-laws, both of whom don't hesitate to return his nasty glare.Forcing his eye