Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Mafia’s possession: Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 140

Lillian told Justin first. This wasn't what she had planned.The plan was to tell everyone at dinner so it would be a surprise.. Things didn't go as planned.Lillian was making tea when Justin came into the kitchen. He was looking for cereal. Then he saw something that made him stop.He turned to Lillian. Looked at her hand. Then he looked at her face. Then he looked at the ring again."Is that an engagement ring?" he asked.Lillian couldn't pretend it wasn't. She smiled. "Yes " she said.Justin looked surprised. He looked at the ring again.Alex walked into the kitchen with two mugs. The timing wasn't good.. It was also kind of perfect.Justin narrowed his eyes. "You proposed to her?" he said to Alex.Alex looked at Lillian and back at Justin. "I did " he said.Justin pointed at the ring. "And she said yes " he said.Alex said, "She did."Justin stood there thinking. Lillian watched him. She saw the surprise and happiness.For a time the three of them had been like a family. It wasn'

Clara showed up on a Tuesday morning with her private nurse and a bag and a face that said she was very excited, but she tried to hide her expression.Alex’s driver went to pick them up. Alex was in the kitchen when Lilian found him rearranging the drawers. "What are you doing?" she asked him."Checking something," he said."You checked it yesterday," Lillian told him."I know," he said."The day before that," she added.He closed the drawer. Looked at her very seriously. "It needed to be better."Lillian laughed. "No, it did not. You are nervous," she said."I am not nervous," Alex said."You made coffee twice,” Lillian pointed out."The first pot got cold,” he explained."You did not drink the one," she said."I was busy,” he said."You did not drink the one either,” Lillian said.Alex frowned. "I am being prepared," he said."For my mother?" Lillian asked."Exactly,” he said.Lillian shook her head. Smiled. "She is going to like you," she said."She already met me,” Alex said."At

Lillian had been awake for two hours. She finally accepted that sleep wasn't coming.The strange thing was that she wasn't anxious like she'd expected. There was no heartbeat, no crazy thoughts, no urge to pace the room. Instead, she lay quietly under the blankets. Her hands rested on her stomach. She stared into the darkness, waiting for tiredness to arrive. The house around her was silent. It was the kind of stillness that only existed after midnight. Even the city seemed quieter. Everything suggested she should be asleep. Yet her mind remained alert.Tomorrow she would marry Alex.The thought had followed her all evening. It appeared whenever she tried to focus on something. She had spent months planning this day. She discussed details made decisions, adjusted schedules chose flowers and menus and guest lists. Through all of it the wedding felt distant. Now there was nothing left to organize. Nothing left to prepare.Tomorrow had become today.She rolled onto her side. She looked t

By the time the house finally grew quiet, it was past midnight. The celebration was still on late in the evening. They all danced, listened to musics and cracked jokes. Nobody wanted to be the first to leave. They all enjoyed each other's company. The simple dinner turned into stories and stories into conversations that made everyone laugh. Time was on their side.Sam had been persuaded to repeat his impression of Alex. The second performance was more accurate than the first. Lillian laughed hard she nearly cried. Alex looked like a man reconsidering standing friendships.Guests gradually began to leave. Clara hugged Lillian and Alex tightly. Justin fell asleep on a sofa clutching a slice of wedding cake. Sam carried him upstairs complaining about the weight of growing children.The noise faded little by little. Doors closed softly. Car engines disappeared into the distance. The music stopped. Glasses sat abandoned on tables.Lillian and Alex stood in the corridor outside their be

She said his name once and that was all it took for him to notice.She had been standing in the doorway for a few minutes before she opened her mouth to speak. He didn't notice Lilian was standing there until she spoke. The house was quiet and it rained heavily..She had woken to an empty bed and known immediately where he was.At first, she had stayed tucked in the blankets, staring into the dark, feeling the strange tightening low in her stomach again.She felt the pressure. Her body began a conversation she could no longer postpone pretending not to understand.She had done the calculations quietly in her head. The fact that she was breathing differently and began having huge contractions.And then, lying there in the dark while the realization unfolded slowly through her body, she had understood.She pushed herself out of bed, one hand instinctively cradling the underside of her stomach, and walked down the hall barefoot in one of Alex’s shirts. He was still working and working