Chapter 28- Massimo
The days always seemed the same when Massimo spent a lot of time in his room, but he didn’t give a damn about it.
Before, he was still able to take advantage of the weakness and posthumous effects of surgery anesthesia to sleep for as long as possible. Sleeping, he wasn’t haunted by that feeling of not feeling his legs, as if they just weren’t there, and sometimes he felt them a little, but his brain just didn’t obey him to move thein. He could forget the pain of the many wounds still open on his body, covered by bandages. Of the many pairs that were still spread throughout his body, never
seeming to want to go away.
When he wasn’t awake, he was able to forget that the life he had fought for 27 years was now destroyed.
Now, he was a broken man, inside and out, and who had made the terrible decision to chain a woman to him for as long as his life lasted. It was such a bitter irony that he had spent so many years avoiding an engagement and a more serious relationship with Amber, just because the image of her sister wouldn’t leave his head and, at the worst moment of his life, Kendra Dawsey had offered him on a platter the woman he had been obsessed with since they had met.
It was obvious that she would look for a better life and a better man at some point. Someone who could be a good father to the little angel that was her daughter and who wouldn’t scare Millicent with his tantrums of misery.
His job didn’t want him. The people his father considered his family didn’t want to. Not even the family he had bought for himself, like an idiot, wanted him.
Why did he even bother being there, bothering them all and himself, anyway?
Fuck that. He was going another day without eating in the next morning. There was no way anything could get past the lump in his throat, anyway.
Even though Massimo didn’t really know what time it was, he knew it was night, maybe after eleven o’clock, probably, or maybe midnight already. So, even with his head hurting, he was completely alert when he heard his door handle turn a few times, until it finally opened. His first thought was that Thea or Josiah had come over to try to convince him to eat something after another night without dinner. However, there was no sound of footsteps, just a mess of wood creaking slightly and something falling to the floor, like a chair being dragged or something….
The sound of very small footsteps made him close the mouth he had just opened to tell whoever it was to go away. Feeling a strong and strange discomfort in his chest, he continued with his face turned towards the wall and his back towards whoever was approaching, unable to believe that she was really there, even after he had acted like a madman and scared. However, the moment something soft and fuzzy touched his back, a murmur sounded.
“Don’t worry, Hoppy. I will come visit you every day. But, Mr. Bianchi needs you more.” Millicent said, appearing to be picking up the rabbit to give it one last kiss, before placing it
”
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next to Massimo again “Remember our promise. You have to make him happy. This way he won’t scream or be sad because of that scary woman anymore. When you get it, I’ll give you at cupcake. Bye, I’m going to go back to my room before mommy notices I left. Night–night, Hoppy…” she said, before murmuring even more quietly “Night–night, Mr. Blanchi.”
With her little steps now more hurried than ever, Millie left the room, slamming the door in a way that certainly
close it. However, Massimo still remained standing where he was, waiting until there was no more noise before he could turn around, finding the white stuffed rabbit there, with a multicolored ribbon tied around its neck.
And, even though perhaps anyone else would have just ignored that toy or even thrown it off the bed, Massimo picked it up, holding it up to his face, watching those button eyes until his own eyes began to feel heavy, even though a moment ago he hadn’t had a single trace of sleep.
When the rabbit Hoppy ended up slipping out of his hand and falling onto his chest, Massimo didn’t even care, feeling the almost non–existent weight of the plush that seemed to be hugging him, until he was no longer able to keep his eyes open.
What woke him up, after what he didn’t know if it had been a few minutes or hours, was the loud sound of something being dragged across the carpet sounded, disturbing him. An inevitable grimace made his face contort, but even so Massimo didn’t move a muscle, he just closed his eyes, knowing that something must probably have happened for Thea to need to move something out of place just for a minute.
However, whatever happened, it didn’t come down to one second. Again and again, as his hand rested on the bunny plush, the sound of furniture being dragged continued, closer and closer to his room, in addition to the sound of a vacuum cleaner and curtain straps clicking. Eventually, it got so loud that not even pressing the pillow against his ears was enough, causing Massimo to grab the sheets covering him, throwing them away, taking care to leave. Hoppy on the pillow so he could lean on the head of the bed and sit.
JEN
What was Thea doing? A field mouse had entered the mansion or what? She couldn’t just put some mousetraps around instead of making all that noise. She knew he was in a bad mood. She always knew, since the day his mother had brought him to the Bianchi’s mansion in Italy, when he was 7 years old.
Why had she decided to be so noisy that day?
His arms hurt as he dragged his body off the bed and was forced to practically jump toward the wheelchair, but Massimo refused to stop until he had reached it. According to Lewis, it was this type of effort that caused some of his stitches to break, but Massimo couldn’t care less about that.
If he didn’t make an effort to at least get to that damn chair, then what was left for him? Living lying in that bed, waiting for people to take him places, wipe his ass and put food in his mouth, like a fucking baby?
“Fuck everything.” He growled, moving the wheels of the chair as he always forced himself to do, even with the small joystick at the end of one of the arms, which allowed him to turn on
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Cha
and control the motor in It. It was his request for the chair to be adapted to be mechanical and motorized at the same time, anyway. If he could just make the effort to move those wheels or Just push a button, then he would, to prove to everyone that he wasn’t completely useless.
Even though he probably was now.
Chapter 20 – Massimo
What Massimo found when he left the room and went just a few meters down the corridor was not Thea hunting a mouse or doing her careful weekly cleaning,
No, the one who was there, opening one curtain after another and letting the sun’s rays fill the house, malding his eyes hurt, was Alice.
“What the hell is going on here?” he grunted, making her and Thea stop what they were doing, his housekeeper with a worried look, while his wife didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by his presence there “Do you have any idea how much noise you’re making? And what do you think you’re doing with my house?“le looked around, increasingly irritated to see that the furniture and decorations had moved around, as if Alice wanted to make sure everything looked as different and bright as possible “Put everything back in its place and close the curtains right now!
“I thought you wouldn’t mind since you seemed to have decided you were going to live in your room.” Alice crossed her arms, just as angry as he was “Do you have any idea it’s been four days since anyone in this house last saw your face?”
“And how is that your business? Do you think the way I live my life gives you the right to do this to my house?!”
“If your way of living life is to spend 24 hours just in your room, then what difference does it make if the house becomes cozy and inviting, like a real home?” she challenged him, opening another pair of curtains, letting the sun in “I don’t know if this has ever crossed your mind, Massimo, but being a victim doesn’t give you the right to make other people your own victims.” Her gaze burned him, making him lose his words for a moment.
“You… You… Close that curtain right now!” he grunted, not so much because of the changes in that corridor of rooms, but rather because that woman, even though she was different from the girl he had met years ago, was capable of awakening intense feelings within him that Massimo simply didn’t want to feel “I already make very clear that you can’t just do whatever you want, while you’re here! Now, leave everything as it was or I…!”
“I’m not doing this for me.” Alice sighed, turning to him with her hands on her hips “It’s for Millie. She is afraid to walk in the mansion because of the darkness. And today is officially the beginning of May. In two weeks it will be her birthday, so I’m sorry if you like living in a haunted house so much, but I think my daughter has the right to have a well–lit home, at least during her birthday month.” She narrowed her eyes like a real hand, crossing her arms over her chest “Do you have any further objections, Mr. Bianchi?”
“Is it… Her birthday instinct, Massimo looked towards his 1 where the stuffed. rabbit was still sitting, sitting as if there was a rock in his stomach “When… When is it, exactly?”
“18th.” Alice replied, her expression softening a little “I’m going to make her a cake and sweets. You can participate if you want, but only if you promise me that you will apologize
properly to her.”
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“Millicent will certainly be very happy that you made this conception in her birthday month.” Thea encouraged him, happy and at the same tire nervous, as if she were facing a life or death decision “What do you think, Massimo? Just for this month…”
“Do whatever you want.” was all he was able to mutter, walking away from her without even having the courage to look directly into her eyes … I’ll think about it, so leave me alone.”
Fortunately, Alice made no attempt to stop him as Massimo began to advance down the corridor, disappearing from their sight and their happy murmurs, but stopping when he reached his room. But not for long. Once Hoppy was in his hands, he went through more and more doors, until he finally got where he wanted. He didn’t even have to think much to know that this was the door to Millie’s room, as Alice had pasted several colorful stickers and hung a sign with several cartoon bunnies, which said “MILLIE“.
For a few seconds, he stood there in silence, with his car almost against the door to make sure there was no one inside. Only then did he turn the doorknob and find that room, which, in fact, was not at all childish with its dark carpet and grayish wallpaper. However, even so, Alice had done a good job with pasting Millicent’s drawings on the walls, sheets
making a hut out in the corner of the room, and decorating using papier–mâché and origami.
It was clearly not the first time she had to transform a cold room into a warm environment for her daughter.
Well, maybe he could call one of his architects before going back to his room, but first, he had something to do.
Sliding over to the bed too big for a child, while dodging the toys and papers that were spread out on the soft carpet, Massimo stopped next to Millie’s pillow. Wasting just a few more moments, he tried to straighten Hoppy’s tie and make his grubby stuffed animal a little more presentable, only then laying him down on the teddy bear print blanket where he belonged, which was with his owner.
“Mr. Bianchi.” A soft, shy voice called from behind him, causing Massimo to turn around to find Alice’s daughter standing there.
“Uh… Hello, Millicent.” He replied, trying not to look embarrassed “I just… I wanted to apologize for scaring you the other day. You met my stepmother. She’s not exactly a good person and seeing her always makes me angry.” Massimo tried to explain himself, even though he knew there wasn’t much of an explanation for having exploded like that in front of such a sweet little girl “I promise I won’t do anything like that again or threaten to expel your mother again. You don’t need to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not scared anymore.” Millie nodded, moving away from the door to approach him Mommy told me that angry woman is like my grandmother. I was also sad when my grandmother or my aunt said something bad.” She admitted, stopping when she saw what was on her pillow “You brought Hoppy! Is that why you came here? Because he made you happy and wanted to come back?” she jumped in place, with such an adorable sparkle in her eyes that
Chapter 29 Massimo
he had no choice but to confirm.
“Yes. He told me that you had sent him to cheer me up and, you know what? It worked. Thank you.” Massimo found himself smiling genuinely for the first time in a long time, even if it was just a small crooked smile “He wanted to come back to you, so I brought him.”
“I knew Hoppy would make it!” She smiled even wider, clapping her hands as if her enthusiasm didn’t fit in herself “That means we can be friends now, doesn’t it?”
“I… I don’t think I’ll be a good friend to you, Millicent.” Massimo leaned back, unsure of how he should act “I’m not calm and kind like you and your mother. It could be that my temper ends up hurting you again and I don’t want that.
“It’s okay. If you don’t know how to be a friend, I can teach you. Elmo taught this on yesterday episode.” Millie continued happily, as if it didn’t really matter “The first thing you have to do is find a friend and I’m here! So, do you want to play with me in the garden again today? I’m not done showing you all my dolls.”
“I…” he hesitated, remembering his plans to spend another day in bed in the middle of the darkness, but he doubted that there was any being with a heart that could refuse an invitation made by that precious face, so All Massimo could do was sigh “Okay. But, what do you think about having breakfast first? Or is it too late for that?”
“I already ate this morning, but we can ask Mom or Thea to make more pancakes for you.”
“Thank you, Millicent.” He smiled again, his cheeks even a little hard after not doing that for so long.
“I’m your
friend now. You have to call me Millie. She said, picking up her rabbit on the bed so she could hug him, only then extending her hand to Massimo “Come on! The faster you eat, the more we can play until lunch time! Oh, and, Mr. Bianchi…”
“If I can call you Millie, you can call me Massimo.” He shrugged, making her laugh.
“Thank you for wanting to be my friend, Massimo.”
Today’s Bonus Offer
