"I'm so sorry... It's not you it's me. You have to let me go I don't want to hurt you but it's the best thing. Please believe me...."
After repeatedly reading his message for the millionth time Mila looked up and she gazed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Tears stained her cheeks, and her grief-stricken expression reflected the raw emotion that gripped her. "Why? Why now?" Mila's mind echoed with the relentless questions, each syllable punctuated by the ache in her chest. She glanced down at her phone again and tracing the words on the screen, feeling their weight like a heavy burden she couldn't shake off. "It's not you, it's me..." She repeated again, the cliché echoed hollowly in her mind, mocking the sincerity she once believed in. She remembered the warmth of Alfonso's embrace, the tenderness in his touch, and wondered how it could all unravel so quickly.
Her fingers trembled as she scrolled through their old messages, each one a bittersweet reminder of the love they shared. The laughter, the secrets, the promises they now felt like fragile illusions, shattered by a few simple words. Tears welled up in Mila's eyes, blurring the screen before her. She tried to hold onto the memories, to cling to the fragments of happiness they once shared, but they slipped through her fingers like grains of sand.
She silently mouthed the last words he sent in a text, "Goodbye Babe..." Time seemed to stretch on as Mila stood there the words hung in the air, heavy with finality. Feeling her legs trembling beneath her, Mila closed her eyes willing herself to believe it was just a nightmare. But this is the end of this chapter, another one she never wanted to close. But eventually, she turned away from the mirror and dragged her feet towards her bed, collapsing upon it.
Just as Mila collapsed onto her huge bed, the bedroom door suddenly swung open with a resounding bang, startling her. "Oh, come on Mila," her sister Anna, barge in like a whirlwind, an attempt to shake Mila from the grip of her heartbreak. "Alfonso Carmelo is nothing but an ass wipe, and deep down you know it. He played you from the very beginning, and well unfortunately, you fell right in his trap."
"Not now Anna....please," Mila sighed, still lost in the echo of his goodbye. Her gaze fixed upon the ceiling with its hanging lights that seemed to dance in a mesmerizing pattern that resembles stars, her only sanctuary she could find. "And must you always be so loud?" She said closing her tired eyes and covered her head with a cushion to block out Anna's voice that cuts through her solitude. In that moment all she wanted to do was to escape and forget about everything, to just disappear into oblivion.
"Yes, I do, Mila." Anna persisted, her voice cutting through Mila's solitude. "You know that's how I am," she sighed rolling her eyes at Mila. "But listen, I know he may be sexy as hell, with a ripped body to die for, and he is tall, dark, and handsome, not to mention those perfectly placed tattoos. But trust me, his personality...it's as bland as a pretzel."
"Anna a pretzel doesn't have a personality."
"Exactly sis, Alfonso doesn't have a personality," Anna replied.
"Stop being mean Anna... Alfonso may not have the most outgoing personality, but he has his charm. He's soft and sweet, and surprisingly funny just when I need him to be, but the best part about him was that he was romantic at heart and that is what I'm going to miss the most....the sappy songs he used to play for me when he struggles to tell me how he feels about me and you forgot about his big brown angel eyes that so captivating that anyone could easily get lost in....." Mila sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the tears welling up once more.
"You are still dangerously in love sis and that's going to get you killed, did you forget what happened last night...?" Mila's heart sank as her sister's words cut through her like an icy blade. The memory of last night is still painfully fresh in her mind.
"Don't Anna, don't.... please just.... just go away, I can't deal with you or that right now." Mila's voice trembles with a mix of pain and frustration as she desperately pleads with her sister for space and solitude. Once again, she covered her head with a cushion, an attempt to drown out the world and its harsh truths.
Anna's voice grew sharper, "I'm not going to leave Mila, you are emotionally unstable, and besides what about your plans to move to Singapore, I want to know when you're going to tell Mom and Dad, have you forgotten that your flight is booked for next week, or are you just going to disappear mmmm.... c'mon tell me."
Mila swallowed hard, feeling the weight of Anna's words pressing against her like a suffocating blanket. "Anna, I said leave me alone!" A surge of anger and frustration propelled Mila forward and with a sudden burst of strength, she pushed Anna off the bed, causing her to tumble backward, landing abruptly on her back.
"Carmila and Annabelle Martinelli, what's going on between the two of you again? Can't you just stay out of each other's hair for once?"
Carmila's body stiffened as she heard her mother's stern tone echoed in her room. "Mother? How long have you been standing in the doorway?" Mila's voice trembled with surprise, knowing very well they were overheard.
The sudden appearance of their mother in the doorway injected a new wave of tension into the room, her stern tone signaling the gravity of the situation. Mila's heart raced as she realized she had been overheard. With a sense of resignation, Mila acknowledged that there was no escaping the inevitable confrontation that lay ahead. The demand for answers only intensified the pressure, their mother's unwavering gaze leaving no room for evasion or excuses. Mila felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Long enough to hear just what I need to," Their mother replied, her tone firm. "Now, get up and stop it, both of you!"
Mila and Anna exchanged a glance. "Yes, Mom.... sorry Mother".... both of them reply their voices subdued as they look down at the floor.
"What is it about Singapore, Mila? And don't tell me it's nothing. I want to know, and I want to know now," her mother demanded.
"It's nothing, Mother, Mila sighed. "Anna is just making up stories."
"Well, we have to see about that because your father wants to see both of you in his office as in right now," the twin's mother said angrily, "and do not hesitate because if I were you, I wouldn't let your father wait, he is furious, and you know what that means...right?"
"Yes mother, yes mom," the twins reply again.
Mila and Anna trudged down the seemingly endless corridor, their steps deliberately slow. Finally, they arrived in front of their father's office, hesitation etched on their faces as they shared a mutual reluctance to open the door.
"Chicken!" Mila teased Anna. "Pussy!" Anna retorted with a mischievous grin. What!!! Mila shouted and angrily latched onto Anna's hair, igniting yet another heated sibling squabble.
Mila and Anna froze in their tracks when the massive black doors to their father's office swung open with a forceful gust of wind. Their father's stern voice boomed through the hallway, commanding their attention. "What in the name of flying fairies are you two doing? Enough of this childish behavior! Get inside my office immediately," he shouted, clearly exasperated with their antics. Overwhelmed by their father's anger, the sisters obediently gathered their composure and silently made their way into his office.
Trembling, Mila stepped forward. "Father, we didn't mean to..."
"Don't Mila," Victor raised his hand to stop Mila from talking further.
Victor Martinelli, the head of the esteemed Martinelli mafia family, regarded his daughters with a mix of disappointment and concern. The pride he once had for his daughters was overshadowed by his worries for their future. "When are you going to realize what you have in your hands and what I'm preparing you for? With those attitudes, you are going to destroy everything! Do you realize the value and what's at stake here? Do you realize that you are the heirs to the Martinelli empire, do you even realize that this...all of this.... that you are making a joke of is a renowned mafia family in Italy!" Victor shouts again.
With that said both the twins lowered their heads in shame. Sorry Daddy.... sorry Father both of them again apologize.
"Go...go sit down we need to have a thorough discussion about a few unfortunate events," Victor said to his daughters with a disappointed tone.
The twins made their way to the two comfortable chairs positioned in front of their father's brown and black wooden office table. Sitting there silently, they could feel the weight of their father's disappointment. Meanwhile, Victor stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out over his expansive estate. Letting out a deep sigh, his thoughts went back to that fateful day the twins were born.