CHAPTER 74: – ARE THEY HAPPY –

Viviana came from behind him. "Nikolas, who is it..." Her words trailed off, her gaze landing on a young woman. Raven-dark hair and a pair of blue eyes that seemed scorching cold. She did not look like Nikolas, however, her blue eyes rather something Nikolas’s twin, Lucian, had.

Their sister...?

Nikolas swallowed. "Viviana... this is my mother."

"Huh?" Viviana was taken aback. Mother, as in... the woman who gave birth to them? How could that even be possible? This woman didn’t look anything older than her late twenties. "I-I, uh... n-nice to meet you," she stuttered, having never thought that waking up on a random morning, she would end up meeting his mother.

Now that she thought about it, why had she never met his mother before or even asked about her?

The woman didn’t pay her any heed. If anything, she didn’t even spare her more than a second glance. Instead, she turned her gaze toward Nikolas, who’d grown pale.

"Mom, I–"

"We will have a talk, Nikolas. And you have a lot of explaining to do. I want you at the family house in an hour, and if I get there before you..." Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t say another word, turning to leave.

Nikolas was quick to grab her hand. "Mom, wait–"

"Nikolas, don’t test me."

He paused his step. And watched her leave.

Viviana blinked, clutching her pounding chest. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the woman gave a very frightening feeling. She’d felt like her presence was pressing her into the floor. And it didn’t seem like it was just her. Nikolas looked as pale as a ghost.

"Viviana, I’ve got somewhere to be. I’ll see you later." He slipped off the apron, the smile he’d held on his face completely gone.

———

Lucian scooped Francesca into his arms, twirling her around the room. Laughter bubbled out of Francesca, head thrown back as her curls fluttered.

"Daddy, me next!" Lucia bounced up and down on her little feet, her face wide with a big smile. "Me next! Me next!"

"Alright, alright." Lucian put Francesca down on her feet and kissed her deeply for a brief moment. He lifted his daughter off the floor into his arms, ready to spin her around, but the phone in his pocket rang, vibrating.

He wanted to ignore it, but whoever was calling didn’t stop, causing him to frown. He took out his cell, looked at the screen, and cocked a brow at Nikolas’s name.

"Nikolas?" he answered.

[Lucian, I’m f**cked]

"What?"

[She found out. Did you tell her anything?]

Lucian frowned. "What are you talking about? Tell who what?"

[Our mother? She knows about Viviana. That I married a human]

"That’s impossible. How could she have known? She’s not even on social media."

[I have no idea. But she was at my door a few minutes ago and she looked so mad]

"This is not good." Lucian shook his head. "Where are you?"

[Outside your house. Come out]

He slowly settled his daughter on the floor. "Sweetie, stay with your mommy, alright. Daddy has something important to take care of."

He proceeded to leave, but Lucia grabbed his hand. "Are you okay, Daddy?"

Lucian paused and looked at her. His gaze softened and he squatted down to her level, patting her braided hair. "I’m okay. But Uncle Niko is in a little bit of trouble, and I have to help him, okay? Be a good girl and don’t stress Mommy out, alright? I’ll be back soon, and we can continue where we stopped. Is that okay?"

Lucia nodded heavily. "Will you pinky promise?"

He brought his pinky out and interlocked with hers. "Daddy promises to come back soon, and he’ll buy you chocolates. Is that okay?"

"I love you!" She giggled.

Lucian pulled her into a tight hug. "And I love you more, my girl." Rising to his feet, he cupped Francesca’s cheek, rubbing the spot under her eye. "Will you be okay?"

Francesca nodded. "I will. If something goes wrong, you’ll give me a call, right?"

He nodded and leaned in, kissing her forehead. "My darling Francesca."

Francesca smiled softly, leaning into his touch. "Don’t take too long."

Lucian pulled away and made his way out of the living room to proceed down to the first floor. He beelined for the exit door at the foyer, and upon getting out, he was met with his twin, who, just like he’d said, was outside, waiting for him.

But Nikolas was pacing, and more than anyone, he knew why. Their mother was scary, and she was absolutely the only person either of them feared.

"Lucian!" Nikolas quickly walked up to him.

"Did she–"

"She wants to see me in an hour."

Lucian blinked. "She will skin you alive."

"Doubt that. If she could accept Francesca, why not Viviana?" Nikolas frowned.

Lucian let out a soft breath. "Let’s go and see her first." They headed over to the SUV parked among other cars in the parking lot.

———

Fernando sat on the one-man sofa, a bottle of alcohol in his grip. His room was enshrouded in darkness, with bottles upon bottles of drinks all over the place.

Antonio was standing by the door of his room, staring with a concerned look on his face. "Boss."

But Fernando wouldn’t answer him. He was miserable, pathetic, and drunk-driven. Not only had he lost the deal with Aceto, but his father had gone ahead and stripped him of his spot in the company.

After his years of hard work, the agency was handed over to his sister just like that? How was any of that fair?

Fuming with rage, he threw the bottle and watched it sail across the room to smash into the wall. "Damned bitch!’

Since everything had happened, Viviana was all he could think about. Without a doubt, he knew she was enjoying his misery. She wanted revenge, didn’t she? He was sure that seeing him like this made her so happy, so gleeful.

"Fucking bitch! You think I’m ruined?" He laughed. "I’m far from that! And you’re never going to get that satisfaction. My downfall will never happen, and this... this is nothing but just a little obstacle in my way."

He turned his head. "Antonio!"

Antonio hurried over to him. "Boss?"

"Have you been observing them like I asked?"

Antonio nodded. "Yes, I have. Lady Di-grassi mostly leaves to visit her family’s modeling agency, which had been abandoned back then. It seems she’s attempting to bring the company back on its feet."

"What?" Fernando crinkled his brows.

"Yes, a lot of renovations are being done under her orders."

"What the heck is she thinking?" Fernando scoffed. "A dead agency. She really thinks it can be revived? Well, whatever, I couldn’t be bothered by something that irrelevant. What matters to me is her relationship with that bastard. Are they happy?"