Destined For You (The Ludovica Siblings #3)

One | Dreams

EZEKIEL

(Age Ten)

A MONTH LATER...

"Why did you agree to it, Dad?" I asked for the hundredth time, staring out the car window and at the massive mansion before us.

Dad sighed. "Ezekiel, I am sorry. I didn't have any other option. He was not willing to give me any more time and the only other thing I could have done was to accept my death."

No. I don't want Dad to die too. Mom's already gone, I can't lose him too.

"You only have to marry her besides, she will be the one joining our family, not the other way around so you will have a little advantage."

"She is just a baby," I argued.

"So? You are not marrying her right now. It's only when she will turn eighteen."

I did the calculations and said, "I will be twenty-eight by then." It just felt weird, very weird.

"Yes. Shall we go in now?"

I gave him a small nod and got out of the car and opened the door to the backseat for Cyrus who was busy sucking on a lollipop, lost in his own world. He is still not ready to accept that Mom's gone.

Dad grabbed my and Cyrus's hand in each of his and walked us up to the front door and rang the bell.

The door was opened a moment later by Alessandro himself who acknowledged us and told us to come inside. He had invited us for dinner.

He looked a little weak, dark circles under his eyes and his coughing was persistent.

Cyrus finally came out of his thoughts and the lollipop dropped from his mouth when he took in the interiors of the house. Dad caught the lollipop before it could fall and handed it back to him but he was busy staring at the house.

Alessandro chuckled at his reaction and led us further inside. I glared at his back. The man who was responsible for causing all this. He could have forgiven our debt or given us more time, why does he have to be so cruel?

Dad said he is a dangerous man and I really expected his house to look like a haunted one but it was quite the opposite with its sparkling white and black interiors.

We were led into the living room where a tall, dark-headed woman with deep blue eyes greeted us. Alessandro stood beside her and placed his arm around her waist, tugging her closer.

"My wife. Ariella." He introduced us with a smile.

A warm smile spread over her face as she came over to where Cyrus and I were. Her smile instantly reminded me of Mom and Cyrus must be thinking the same for he stared at her in awe.

"Hello, Ezekiel. It's nice to finally meet you."

I could only manage to nod in response and she addressed Cyrus next, asking politely, "What's your name?"

I was about to speak on his behalf because for the past month, he hardly spoke but Dad and I were surprised when he answered softly, "Cyrus." He stared at her as if she was our mom.

"Well, you both have really nice names. You can call me Ari."

We both nodded. She was nice, I had no reason to hate her.

Alessandro was looking at me and once his wife moved away from us, he asked me, "Would you like to see her?"

I knew who he was referring to. His daughter. "She's a baby."

"And...? Is there anything wrong in seeing her?"

I pressed my lips into a grim line and didn't reply to him. Dad gently nudged me in his direction, telling me to go with him.