Chapter Two
628 Words
Serena held a drunken Giulia Rossini firmly as they approached the elevator doors. Heels in hand, loud laughter and noisy babbling echoed in the hallway.
“Antidote for breakup pain?” Serena announced, trying hard to steady her slightly drunken self. “Expensive liquor and unplanned decisions!”
Giulia grunted, eyes blurry. “You forgot to add heartbreak, shame and faking a marriage to your brother.”
Serena let out an accomplished laugh, pulling her through the hallway. “That’s a trivial issue. You are welcome. Now, go to bed before your emotions overtake you.”
Giulia mumbled incoherently as Serena pushed her into a dimly lit bedroom. Unknown to Giulia, she was shoved into Dante’s room.
Giulia staggered to the bed and collapsed into it pulling the duvet over herself. She scarcely took note of the room due to the darkness. She slept off in seconds.
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After an hour, the door flung open.
Dante De Luca stepped into his room, removed his suit, his expression remained emotionless. He turned a lamp but reduced its brightness. Everything was the same way he left it; except the rhythm of a body under the duvet.
He paused as if he had heard something. “Luca?” He called calmly, assuming it was his, probably his assistant, but didn’t get any response.
He rolled his eyes. He wondered what Serena was up to this time around. Whatever it was, he was too tired to be bothered. He returned his cufflinks to their box and stepped into the bathroom for a shower.
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Giulia awakened in the middle. Disorganized and sleepy, she sat up. The pain of heartbreak flooded her mind again. She remembered how Vincenzo showered gifts and attention on her. Siena, on the other hand, showed immense support to her relationship with Vincenzo. How they ended up cheating on her was something she could not wrap her head around.
She was jolted out of her thoughts at the sound of the shower. Startled, she moved quietly to the bathroom. “Serena?” she whispered, trying to open her eyes. No response.
She walked cautiously to the bathroom door and slightly opened it. As she took a step in, steam from the water heater embraced her. She squinted through the foggy steam. She saw a figure, but her sight was blurry. Then, it became clear.
Under the shower was a man, completely naked. Every part of him dripped with soapy water.
Giulia lost her balance as she screamed. “Oh my God…”
The man turned quickly at her startled scream. Time paused. Her eyes popped out wide. His wider.
Then, she lost control and fell.
“Stop there!”
She quickly covered her eyes. "Are you not the family driver?" What are you doing in my bathroom?"
"Excuse me? You are the one invading my privacy, yet you insulted me by calling me a driver?" he snapped.
"You're not… oh my God! She gasped. "You're the real Dante De Luca?. I'm so s-so-sorry, I didn't mean… Serena misled me." Giulia’s face burned red with embarrassment, scrambling to her feet.
He hid himself behind a blurry compartment in the bathroom, wiping the water off his face. "How did you get here?"
Giulia swallowed hard as she attempted to speak. "Serena said I could sleep here, I had no idea it was your room!"
"How convenient!" His face formed into a smug. “Not only are you my fake wife, you were also ‘accidently’ pushed into my room. What a calculated coincidence!”
Giulia was so humiliated, she bolted out of the bathroom. Has she now been reduced to a coin tossed to and fro with no sense of dignity?
It felt like the ground should open to swallow her.
- Writer
