RETURNED

The Russo

THIRD PERSON POV

Alexander Russo, is a busy man, yet he never fails to make time for his family. He wouldn't even be this successful, if it wasn't for his lovely wife and his kids. They inspire and motivate him to work everyday. But what is the use of working hard when you cant even spend time with your family.

Alexander wasn't born with all the wealth he has today. He had to start everything from a scratch. There were times where he suffered huge loss while there were times where he had great profits. But through thick and thin, his family never left his side.

He did have brains, which helped him make a lot of good decisions. But he was far too trusting for his own good. Everybody makes mistakes, and Alexander was no exception.

He trusted a lot of wrong people, which may have caused a lot of loss of money. But this time, it caused him his happiness.

He never thought that one of his best friends would conspire against him, to kidnap his daughter. It made him sick, how someone can break one's family, or in this case, best friend's family, just for the sake of money or business. Is money that important for them. His 'best friend' knew how important his family was to him, how important Violet was to him, and yet he not only hurt him, but his family too in this process.

He trusted a wrong person, and now he along with his family are hurting because of him.

Nothing was same after she was gone. Everyone blamed themselves. Everyone broke the promise they made to the baby of the house, to protect her, keep her away from the cruel world, to let her have the best childhood a kid can have. All that was left now was sweet memories and broken promises.

Memories of her running into her father arms every time he came back home from work, following her mother around the house, having tea party with Carlo, stealing cookies with Lorenzo, running to Giovanni, who would scare off all the monster with famous ninja moves, Niccolo braiding the little girl's hair, cooking with Silvio and drifting off to sleep in Marcello's arms, while he plays her favourite song on piano.

But that's what they were now, Memories.

Now the house feels empty without her.

They never gave up. The younger boys wished every Christmas for their sisters to come back. That one day she will come back home to them so that they can have those tea party and prank wars once again. So that they can scare away those monster and be her hero, so that they can make her laugh at their silly jokes , so that they can read her, her favourite story.

But years went by and there were still no signs of her. This only made them worry. They know that wherever she was, she wasn't that safe how she was here. They were constantly worrying about her. But when everyone gave up, they gave up too.

They thought she was dead. They felt defeated. They all busied themselves. Once a picture perfect family photo was now shattered into million pieces.

His elder son, Marcello, drowned himself in work. He barely made time for himself. His second oldest son, Silvio a doctor, was seen rarely at home. His third oldest son, Niccolo, was rarely seen without his college textbooks. His fourth oldest son, Giovanni, would always get into fights. Both the twins Lorenzo and Carlo barely come out of their rooms. And for his wife, Alessandra....

She was in coma. Its been a three months, since she got into a car accident. This only made the condition for Russo family worst.

No one remembers the last time they came together and had a decent family dinner, when they last had a family vacation.

When Alexander Russo received a phone call saying that his daughter is found, he thought it was a joke. It has to be a joke. It was as if life wanted to have a good laugh from his misery, it wanted him to fall into its trap, just to have his hope shattered. He simply replied the child care services that she is dead and whoever the girl is, is not her daughter and warned them to not call him again. His heart broke every time he thought that her little baby might be dead. But what he didn't know was that his daughter was a tough little cookie, and no matter what shit life threw at her, she was brave enough to face them.

It was tough, but the child care convinced him to come down and see the girl.

Alexander didn't bother to tell this to his family. If only he could call that.

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On the other hand

Violet was ecstatic to know that she had a family. She was nervous, what if no one likes her? what if they hate her? Will they hurt her? But she just shaked away such thoughts even if it was difficult.

She knew it might be difficult for her to adjust into the new family, but the only she kept on repeating the mantra.

Everything will be okay.

After getting discharged, Lily took Violet to her old house to grab the essential. Blood tainted on the walls, which no doubt belonged to the girl in front of her, the house reeked of alcohol, there were broken plates on the floor, making her cautious of every step she takes. Lily felt disgusted with what she saw, only for it to change into sympathy for the little girl. She could only imagine all the things she went through. Yet she never complained anyone about how tough her life was. She was strong, Tough Little Cookie as she likes to call herself, and no one could doubt that.

Violet grabbed every thing she needed. It wasn't much, just some clothes, some basic school supplies, that's it.

Lily then drove to station, where Violet will meet her after for the first time in years. She was the one who convinced Alexander to come see his daughter. He was adamant on the fact that his daughter is dead. Lily could hear the pain in his voice whenever he said that. She was nervous for Violet, as she didn't know if her father would still accept the fact that she was alive.

Once they reached the station, Lily could see how nervous Violet was, even if she tried to mask her nervousness with her smile.

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Alexander was waiting impatiently. He still wasn't convinced that his daughter is alive, but there was still a small part of him who thought that the girl might be his daughter.

He greeted Mr. Adams, who took him where Violet was. His mind was warning him again and again that the girl will not be his Violetta, but when he stood at the door watching at the girl, waiting on the chair for him, tears started to pool in his eyes.

There she was, her eyes holding the same innocence as it had 8 years ago. She looked small and fragile. It took everything in him, to not run and hold her close in his arms and never let her go ever again.

No its just a trick, don't fall for it, you will only break more. His mind warned him again.

He took slow steps towards her, and she just looked at him, with no emotions. Its like her brain forgot to function and she didn't know how to react. He looked oddly familiar to her. She looked him in the eyes and noticed that they both shared the same eye colour.

She didn't exactly looked like her mum, except for some few facial features, nor like her dad except for the eye colour and freckles.

But Alexander knew that she was her daughter. Yet he wanted to confirm it. He knew his Violetta had a birthmark on the back of her right hand. A small clover shaped birthmark.

"Can I see your right hand?" Alexander asked her, his voice thick with all the emotions.

Violet only looked at him all confused, but still she lifted her right hand and almost instantly Alexander inspected to see if she had the birthmark.

She did have the birthmark. Seeing it Alexander brought her into a bone crushing hug. Violet bit her lip, not wanting to yelp out in pain erupting from her still recovering bruised ribs. But after a while, melted into his warm hug. She felt safe and secure, like no one could ever hurt her again. She hugged him back and this made Alexander feel an emotion which he thought he would never feel again. Happiness.

He reluctantly pulled back and gave her a genuine smile, one which he thought was no longer capable of giving to anyone. Violet initially gave him a tight lipped smile, which only turned into a grin seeing his smile.

They both felt happy. A feeling foreign to both of them. Meeting her father, Violet forget all her past pain.

Everything is now Okay.