𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

CHAPTER 5: Cinderella's stepmother

"Every day, I look back at what I had and regret every single thing I did to let it end" ~ Anonymous

"Adriano?" I whispered.

"What happened to you, Alice? You are sweating! Did you have a nightmare?" he sounded worried.

Oh god, what do I tell him now? He is clearly going to question me more if I say don't say anything.

"Why are you here?" I was quite sure he heard my screams as he looked baffled and concerned but I didn't know if he was the only one to hear them.

"I heard you scream when I went to grab some water and if you don't know, you, I and Jane all have our rooms on this floor."

I sigh inwardly, that would mean my parents and his parents wouldn't have heard anything as their rooms were on the floor below us.

"What's wrong Alice?" he asked again.

I opened my mouth to reply but then Jane appeared behind him. "I heard someone scream," she said and then looked between me and him.

I sighed "Yes I had a nightmare. It was about me pushing you guys down the cliff but somehow my foot got stuck and I tripped and fell from the cliff too. So you heard me screaming because I was busy falling down that stupid cliff" I said and smirked again.

Jane sighed and moved her head disapprovingly.

"It's 2 AM Alice. We need to get up early. The guests will be arriving tomorrow for the wedding, so please sleep and let us sleep too" she said and walked away but not before telling Adriano to follow her to sleep. It made me jealous. She had everything I ever wanted and craved for.

Though Adriano nodded at her but didn't move to follow her instead he stayed at the door, in front of me and stared at me. Not once did his eyes left mine during the whole conversation. I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to say something.

"That was a very lame excuse Alice. I know you're lying." He replied.

My eyes almost got widened but I stopped myself from doing so. I did not expect him to say that. As I was so good at masking my feelings, I changed it into my signature smirk and replied "oh! You know so much about me. I have to say I am impressed! But, shouldn't you be with my sister rather than me or do you still have a spot reserved for me in your heart?"

He clenched his jaw and he balled his fists. He took a step forward toward me. I held myself from stepping away. He was too close for my comfort. His jaw ticked in anger and I knew he was clearly not going to take my shit. "You have the nerve to say that after everything you did? And if you don't remember, this is my house you are staying in. You are just a guest so behave like one. And as your father had already told you, we won't be tolerating your shitty behaviour in this house. If you even think of disrespecting me or any of my family members in front of anyone, I won't let you go easily, Alice. Keep that in your fucking mind." He glared at me with such hatred, which just made me want to cry in front of him but I, fortunately, didn't do so. He watched me for a few more seconds and then turned around to walk away.

I took a deep breath which I didn't know I was holding and closed the door behind me.

"His family", "a guest"

They don't consider me a part of their family, just a mere guest and they are making it very clear to me that I don't belong here and clearly am not welcomed.

*********

It was the next morning and we were all sitting at the dining table as the breakfast was being served. I am eating this sort of luxurious food after 6 whole years and I don't know if I would ever be able to eat something like this again. So I decided to enjoy my meal. We were about to start when one of the guards came from the doors. "Mr Angelo, the guests have arrived."