ARIA'S POV
“Where's the fucking bride??!” Salvatore shouted angrily “this is the height of it all! Never in history has this ever happened and allowing a stranger bring disgrace to the Moretti name!” He said and punched the wall
“What is this?! Luca! What have you brought to this family! father would be so disappointed in you!” Sara, Luca’s sister added “speaking of father, where's father?”
“Father?” Luca managed to ask still standing at the altar waiting for his bride wearing his white tuxedo, his eyes full of tears as he scanned across the room and face looking pale as though his bride disappeared on him, she did.
As whispers from guest started to overshadow the church, a servant barged inside the room panting and everywhere went mute
“What is this?what is going on?” Salvatore rushed to the servant
“The…sir…I” the servant trying to gather his breath and stuttering tried to deliver the news
“If you don't open that mouth of yours I'll blow off your head!” Salvatore shouted as he brought out a gun out of his coat and pointed it at the servant
Everybody in the room started to scream and run out of the church causing a commotion
“Don Marcus has been murdered!” The servant managed to speak
“What?! What you mean father has been murdered?!!!” Luca shouted as he fell on his knees
“Murdered? Fa..father?” Sara couldn't help but pass out
“Find that bitch Aria now!” Salvatore screamed “how dare she-”
“No no no, it can't be possible…..myyy.. my Aria” Luca said in a shaky voice pacing back and forth
“Aria has murdered our Don Marcus! Find her and bring her here, dead or alive!” Salvatore declared and the servant runs out.
One year Earlier
ARIA'S POV
“No…no.. don't leave...mom..nooo” I screamed as I woke up from the nightmare that has haunted me my whole life.
“Aria, you okay?” My aunt, Ms. Elena rushed to cuddle me up in her warmth
“I.. I'm fine” I stuttered as I moved out of the bed
“Aria.. you've been having these nightmares and youve-”
“I said I'm fine!” I said firmly
She stared at me for a moment before saying “okay ma'am”
“Ma'am? You're my aunt for crying out aloud” I said moving to the breakfast on my table
“Come on, I'm your assistant also” she laughed
“I know” I smiled “I'm sorry about being.. weird earlier” I said turning to her
“It's okay, Aria” she said calmly
“Thank you”
“You have a meeting with the board members by 10am and dinner reservations by 7pm”
“Dinner? With who?” I asked sipping my tea
She paused and looked at me
“Who?” I asked again rolling my eyes
“Damon Kane” she said firmly
“Oh come on?Damon?”
“You can't keep going on like this, you'll be 25 soon”
“You're behaving like the typical mom people talk about right now, are you pressuring me to?”
“Get married? Yes baby, you can't keep on declining every guy that comes your way”
“That's because, their either too dumb, too about work, too arrogant, too -”
“Too this too that, I know this list will go on forever” she paused and looked at me for a moment “but Aria, there's always better and no harm to keep trying”
“Even if I want to try, can it not be Damon? He's arrogant, so far I've heard”
“And you can put him in his place if he tries to act like that you” she winked
I scoffed “ fine fine I'll go, but can I at least have my breakfast before it gets cold?”
“Yes ma'am” she said and walked away.
I sighed, preparing myself mentally for what the day would hold for me.
*
“Good morning, everyone. Let’s begin. Our main focus today is the company’s declining sales” the chairperson said
“Sales dropped by 8% this quarter, we need to improve our marketing strategy” I said
“Financially, we can increase the marketing budget by 10%, but we need to monitor the results closely”
“I recommend focusing more on social media and customer retention” the marketing director suggested
The meeting went on for a while before it ended
“Come on, do I really need to go on this date? You could simply tell him something came up, or I.. yes I'm currently sick” I complained for the 100th time that evening
“Aria, you tricks are not going to work on me today, your dress is ready and you have an hour to get ready” Ms. Elena said firmly
“But?”
“Would you like me to call someone to assist you get ready?” she cut in before I had the chance to complain
“ I'm fine, I can handle myself, I don't need to do too much” I said, realizing it was a lost cause
“An hour” she said as she walked out of the room
I stared at the luxury red sequin dress for a while “one more won't hurt” I said to myself.
I put on the dress, did my makeup lightly and straightened my hair. I put on my jewelries staring at my self in the mirrior, I contemplated if I should wear a silver heel or the gold one, a silver bag or the gold one and eventually I decided to go with the gold. I sprayed myself with perfume lightly and stared at myself in the mirror for a while before I heard my aunt call out
“It's been an hour Aria” she said from outside the door
“Give me a minute” I said sipping my champagne
“can I come in?”
“Yeah sure”
“You look absolutely gorgeous” she said as she walked in, her face beaming with smile
“Oh come on” I blushed “thank you”
“Remember, if you don't feel comfortable-”
“I can handle my self aunty” I cut in smiling
“Okay baby” she smiled and stared at me without saying anything
“What?” I asked awkwardly
“Nothing darling, you just look beautiful tonight”
“I always look beautiful, thank you” I said sarcastically and chuckled
“Yes yes ms confident” we both laughed “the car is ready for you” she said
“Okay, I'll be down in a minute” I said as she left the room
I took a deep sigh and looked at myself in the mirror for the finalth time
“One more won't hurt”