ARIANA’S POV~
Her Eerie voice sounds like where all happy things go to end.
“Tomas, come here at once!” she called out with a stern voice.
Mrs Maria Rinaldi, my beautiful stepmother, the pride of the Rinaldi family, married at 18 to the widower mafia lord, Don Rinaldi as a breeder for his heirs.
The frightened child quickly ran to her side, she looked up at me, with hate clear and visible in every corner of her face.
I saw Mateo slip through, a hateful grin plastered perfectly on his smug face.
and soon he was gone, leaving me to fend for myself.
“And what are you doing here? Who invited you to this party, I most certainly did not!” she said as she looked at me intently.
I maintained eye contact with her, my therapist said I needed to assert dominance over every stressful situation.
“My Father invited me, Maria, I don’t need any invitation to come back to my own home” I replied as her eyes widened at the reply I returned,
She moved close to me, her, long sharp red nails looked like digging claws, she leaned closer to my ear, I could see her well moisturized skin and the smell of her cologne that depicted the opposite aura she exuded, and then she whispered.
“I should have put a pillow around your neck the day your miserable mother died, you are nothing but a leech and you will remain so, nothing but a withering branch holding on to this family like poison”
Her words stung but I had to maintain my composure while I was here, I didn’t want any incidents to occur like last time, I just wanted to be done and over with this party.
“Like I told your daughters Maria….”
” Mrs Rinaldi to you!” she interjected, moving away from me.
“Mrs Rinaldi” I corrected myself for peace to reign “as I told your daughters I’m just here for the party, I’m leaving in the morning”
“Good news, I would like to sleep tonight, with the assurance that by dawn tomorrow, you will be out of here, to wherever the hell is farthest away from my family” she said before relaxing her face and holding onto her son’s hand.
“Come along now Tomas, let’s leave your sister to freshen up, she has a long night ahead and an even longer one soon.”
I watched her walk away with her terrified son, I took another deep breath, I’d lost count at this point.
This is going to be a long twenty-four hours but I have to maintain my composure and go back to that date that was promised to me in Malta.
I eventually reached my room, thankful to not have met my father. I quickly unpacked, I needed to catch some sleep before this party.
My mind wandered to Matteo, I’ve not seen him since that day, that horrible day he did what he did to poor Chiara, I knew that day the kind of monster he was.
My mind boiled as I thought about what I would do if I saw him again.
The plan tonight is to avoid everyone possible, stay in the most out-of-sort places and just stay hidden.
My stepsisters didn’t make sleep desirable with constant knocking and shouting over my room door.
But I was able to get an hour of sleep undisturbed, I got up and stretched then I walked to the bathroom lazily, every step I wasted from attending this party gave me all the joy I needed to strengthen myself.
I spent 2 hours in the bathroom, soaking myself away in my big bathtub, my only solace in this grey world of bricks.
I soon dressed up, and left my room, on my way I met my step-sisters, and their mother walking by closely behind.
Serena stopped me in my steps and smiled, “Wow, I like your dress, so simple, it fits you, are you going for the virgin look, do you think ours is slutty?” she asked looking at her sister who was looking down at her bare chest that was visibly open to expose the fullness of her breast, she wore a sultry looking red gown that showed her curves.
“No Serena, you both look good, I’m just on my way to the sitting area to wait for the party to start,” I said trying to move ahead when her sister Luna stopped me
“Mom, I think Ariana is brushing us off, and acting like a prude to gain Father’s favour” she said.
I looked at her amazingly, the things this girl made up scared me to my bones.
“No, you both look Good, I just prefer this style of clothing, it’s not a big deal okay?” I reassured
“Oh so you are brushing it off, so you do think my girls are slutty!” their mother retorted
I retook deep breaths.
“Take it off, give it to Luna, I want her to wear it,” my stepmother said softly but clearly, made me wonder sometimes if she was on some sort of meds, I held my anger inside as I clenched my fist
“Excuse me?” I asked looking at them, “no that’s not going to happen” I retorted.
Luna moved to my back and started to unzip my clothes slowly.
Serena soon joined her and together they helped me undress until I stood silently in the hallway with my undies.
The humiliation of it was nothing compared to what I had endured in the past, I took a deep breath and watched Luna go to the bathroom across the hallway to change before coming back to toss her red dress at me.
“Let’s see how you rock that prude” Luna said laughing as she and her sister moved past me.
“Best hurry up, it’s almost midnight the guests have started to arrive, sweety, welcome home” Maria smiled moving past me gently, the smell of her choking French cologne filled the air
I stood there transfixed, unable to move from the sheer humiliation I just endured, tears started to run down my face. I shuddered in pure rage, I wanted to hold Maria by her neck and claw her eyes out with her nails.
Then I heard voices, I quickly bolted with the red dress in my hand and hid in one of the corners, I peered from the corner and saw my father walking into the hallway, someone was with him, I’m fucked how do I explain this.
I peered again, I saw him walking off into another room, I bolted to the open door opposite where I hid.
As I ran my eyes caught something, someone, a man, his greenish eyes scanning my body looked familiar.
Oh my God was that Mateo!
I quickly put on the red dress before my father saw me, just as I thought, too small!
My boobs looks fuller and they popped out like cherry, the lower side was tighter than I’m used to.
But I didn’t have time to change, it was already midnight and the guests were already at the door.
I walked out of the room and met my father in the hallway, he looked at me with utmost disgust.
“You dress like a whore today of all days, you spend a year in Malta and you think you can do whatever you like! and dress like a whore? In my home! you are lucky these are not the old days, you would have been stripped and flogged mercilessly!” my father thundered,
I shivered. his deep intimidating voice always made me feel unworthy since I was a child.
like I was not his daughter, yet he would not leave me alone. He has always been this way, Mom said before she died, even Maria and her daughters were scared of him.
Vile and ruthless, I looked at him, he was an average-sized man, he was burly and always in a perpetual scowl, he had never smiled at me in my life, and probably never will.
I was quiet, I did not want to anger my father any more than I already had,
“I’m sorry Father, It will not happen again” I replied without protest.
“Shame,” he said passing me, I heard his footsteps recede into the main room.
“I thought that was you bambino” I heard a voice say coming from the direction my father had come out from, he then laughed and came closer to me, I watched as he came closer to me and taking my hand, I took it right back.
“Mateo…” I cursed under my breath.
“Hello again, sister” he smiled.