“Are you okay, ma'am?”“Who's there?”, Sofia said fearfully, still in the blindfold.“It's the police ma'am. Are you hurt ma'am?”“I'm fine”.“Where are the men?”“I think they went that way. But they must have escaped by now”The investigator directed his men towards where Sofie had pointed. Some of the policemen helped Sofia out of the ropes and led her to their police truck outside.At the police station, Riccardo waited in a black Sevan with four other escorts including bodyguards.“Signorina!” Riccardo exclaimed as soon as he saw her. They hugged."Oh mio Dio! I thought they'd hurt you. I knew something was wrong the next day when you didn't arrive from the hospital as you promised. I called the police station and that's when the investigator told me you had been kidnapped. What happened?”“It was a false alarm, Signore Riccardo. I was kidnapped”“Come on, tell me everything that happened in the car.”Sofia entered the black Sevan and the two cars of the convoy led the way. They

“I was so frustrated and nothing seemed to be right anymore. I sued the doctor and even sued the hospital. But Rosa didn't come back. It didn't change the fact that she died, Emilio. Nothing could bring her back. You were the only living memory I had of her. The last memory she'd left”Vincenzo took a deep heavy breath in. The atmosphere in the room had become sober and emotions hung loosely in the air.“I'm sorry for bringing those memories Father. I should have never asked”“No Emilio. You deserve to know. Your mother was so special to me, I refused to remarry. But my mother didn't think it was proper for me to raise you alone. So when you turned two, I married Maria, a choice made by my family of course. And the next year, you went missing. Never to be found until more than twenty years after. And boy am I glad to have found you”, Vincenzo said, putting his arm around his son.“Me too, Father”“Imagine if I died without finding you”, Vincenzo said laughing. “Rosa would have killed

Garfy let the escort cars speed past them.“How many kilometres are we away from De Lucasa Gardens?”“Less than twenty sir. There's a park, ten kilometres away from there. Should we park there?”“No. Park here”Garfy obeyed, pulling up by the roadside.“Call a cab, Garfy”Garfy got out of the car and stopped a taxi.“De Lucasa Gardens”“"QuantI di voi? (How many of you)" , the average-aged cabman inquired.“Due”, Asher said, coming from behind Garfy. “You take transfers?”The cabman stared at them both for a while before nodding in the affirmative.“I didn't know you spoke Italian sir”, Garfy said, opening the back door of the cab.“I've been taking lessons, Garfy”.They soon got to the garden. “And as we gather here to remember Mrs. Rosa Rodriguez, we cannot do so without praising God for the life that she lived and the goodness that many testify of because of her”The priest bowed as he ended his speech and a round of applause followed his exit from the small stage. The moderator

The event soon came to a close. People filed out and the whole place was almost empty with most of the people left, not guests, but waiters clearing up the used dishes and event staff taking off decorations.“What was that about?”, Lana asked Vincenzo as he came walking in from the parking lot.“I was just seeing Paolo Salvador off”“You wanted Emilio to get married to Paolo's daughter?” Adora asked.“Yes, err, Paolo and I have been really good friends over time now. We do good business together”“Paolo?”, Lana asked.Vincenzo looked at Lana, puzzled.“You speak as if he is someone of despicable character. Is there anything you find wrong with the man?”“Haven't you heard? He has a series of bad history.”“Lana!”, Vincenzo said with a little chuckle.“She's serious. Heard them myself too, Vincenzo”“I have known Paolo for quite some time now, Adora. He's a good person so far”“I dare say, I heard he has a history of abuse of women”“Abuse you say, Lana”“Yes Vincenzo”, Adora said, no

Luna put on her light green jacket gown. The weather was chilly outside and she didn't want to catch a cold. She ran the transparent lip gloss across her lips, giving it a satisfactory even rub before taking her seat to fix her hair.She brushed her hair and made it into a bun atop her head, curling two strands to stay in front. Just then, her mother knocked on the door.Luna paused.“Who's there?”“Open the door, Luna. It's your mother.”“Oh oh”, Luna said in a tone that suggested that her mother's presence meant trouble.Luna got up and opened the door slightly.“Yes mother”“Can I come in?”“Urr…is there something you want to tell me?”, she said smiling and still standing at the door.“Open the door, silly and let me in. What do you think you are doing?”Isabella pushed herself through. She looked at Luna who was fully dressed with low block heels on.“Where are you off to, young lady?”“Nowhere”“Nowhere? But you are dressed up”Luna remained quiet, avoiding eye contact with her