جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 90

[ARIETTA’S POV]I froze at what Pierce said. "Ari, I don’t want to break up with you. No. We can fix this, please..."I thought it would be easier to break up with Pierce earlier, but it seems like it’s not."Ari, I know you’re suffering, and I’m suffering too. But I won’t let Dad or anyone else succeed in what they want to happen. I will protect you and your family, just don’t do this to me. Ari, please.""Pierce, please understand me. You’ll protect us, but we don’t know how far they’ll go just to hurt us." I took a deep breath. "You don’t understand me because you’re not in my situation."I took a deep breath again, trying not to cry too much.I walked up to Pierce and cupped his face. He furrowed his brows as if he had no intention of accepting my decision."Pierce, listen to me..." I began. "Maybe this isn’t the right time for us. Maybe this is happening because…” I’m choking on my own words. “We’re not meant to be together."I had long accepted that Pierce and I came from differ

[ARIETTA’S POV]My eyes widened, and my heart raced. I couldn’t understand why we were here together. I felt a chill run down my spine. This is how I always felt whenever I heard about Margot... all because of Aunt Giovanna’s kindness."Sometimes, I take care of things here. We have so many memories here, Margot and I. I believe that even though it’s been years since she left, our memories will always remain here."I followed Aunt Giovanna into the kitchen and saw her cooking."Sorry, I didn’t expect you to come so early. I wanted to cook for you instead of ordering food. I hope that’s okay?"Aunt looked at me, and I felt a sense of relief hearing those words.I walked over to Aunt Giovanna, washed my hands, grabbed a knife, and started chopping some ingredients to help her with the cooking."It’s okay, Aunt. I’ll help," I said. It felt like a mini bonding moment between the two of us. I wanted to wash the dishes afterward, but in the end, Aunt stopped me."Just leave it there, Ari. S

[ARIETTA’S POV]The storekeeper gave me directions, and I made sure to remember them well.I ate, took a shower, and got dressed. I was planning to go there now. I know it’s not a good idea, and the Grimaldi family might see me, but I really want to go.It was eight in the evening when I left the house and got on a cab.I was wearing sunglasses and had tied my hair so that I wouldn’t be easily recognized.I reached the outside of the chapel. The security was tight, and only family members and close friends of the family were allowed inside.I held my chest tightly because of the weight I felt. I still couldn't believe that Aunt Giovanna... was going through this.I thought of a way to get inside. I didn’t realize that while I was focused on that, I bumped into a man.My sunglasses fell, and I immediately picked them up.I was nervous that someone might see me and recognize me."Arietta West," the man whispered.A chill ran down my spine, and the hairs on my body stood up. I wanted to

[ARIETTA’S POV]He abandoned you.It was as if a voice whispered in my mind during those moments. His sudden abandonment of me earlier came rushing back.Pierce’s just hurting, isn’t he? He’s suffering in this situation too.I was still kneeling, silently crying. It hurt so much that no matter what you do, people still won’t believe you."Get back on your feet. No matter how much you kneel, nothing will change about your situation."I looked at him and saw one of Pierce’s cousins, Luca. His hand was in his pocket as he looked toward the door. We weren’t talking before, so it was strange that he was speaking to me now."You have one last hope, the driver of Aunt and Hector, to be witnesses and help prove you’re innocent, despite the authorities having your prints on the murder weapon."I remembered Aunt Giovanna’s staff. I had thought of that before, but I didn’t know how to reach out to them. Didn’t they tell Mr. Marcello what happened?"Unfortunately for you, they were caught in an a

[ARIETTA’S POV]I had just found out that I wasn’t the child of the man I had called my father, and I didn’t belong to the family I had grown up with.I don’t know what to feel, my heart feels numb. With everything that’s happening, I’ve gone numb. Should I be emotional right now? Maybe if nothing too serious had happened to me and I found out this news, I would’ve cried. But now, after crying so much, no more tears are falling. My hands are trembling, and I guess that’s enough to show them that I understand what they’ve said.Mrs. Romano stood up and sat next to me, hugging me sideways. I could hear her soft sobs."Ari, we will get you out of here. I don’t care if we’re going against the Grimaldi family, I will find you a good lawyer. We will make sure you’re freed." She pulled away from the hug. I slowly looked at her, my eyes blank of emotion. "When you’re out of here, you’ll come with us, okay?"She hugged me again, this time tighter, full of love compared to earlier. When I felt