Broken Bonds

Chapter 45

Reine Parker

Taking one last glance at the scenery in England, I sighed as I took the stairs up the private jet right after Roman went up. We were now flying towards Italy, the place where I had shared both joy and sorrows. The last time when I was here was not a good experience, thus making it harder for me to leave England. 

The two hours ride to Italy felt like a two minutes ride, and I could tell that Roman was not a fan of this arrangement either. He was just putting up with it for my safety, which I was utterly grateful for. It seemed that the Romano had sent their people over to the airport and we were escorted to the car the moment our jet landed. 

The road towards the Romano's mansion was getting familiar as the car drove down the road. It felt familiar as though it was just yesterday that I had ended school and walked down the same stretch of road by myself. We soon arrived to the main gate of the mansion and several men in black suits and servants in their uniform were standing in a straight line, as if welcoming our arrival. 

As I stepped out of the car, I immediately recognised someone who was standing at least 4 people away from my position. Rushing forward, I wrapped my arms around her neck as I buried myself in her embrace. 

"I missed you so much, Avery." Missus Dai sobbed as she pulled me closer into her arms. 

"Me too." I sniffled into her shoulders. She patted onto my back, and pulled away from the hug as she wiped away the tears on her face and smiled, "Come on, you must be tired from the ride. Let's head in." I wiped the tears that trickled down my cheeks, nodding at her words before turning around to Roman to which he moved forward to us. 

"Missus Dai, this is Roman, my brother. Roman, Missus Dai." They both shook their hands and gave a smile to each other, showing acknowledgement. 

"I've heard a lot about you from Reine." Roman smiled politely. A look of realisation flashed through Missus Dai's face, but she proceeded with a bright smile as she teased, "Hopefully all amazing comments." 

Turning around to face me, she hurried, "Come on, Reine. I'll show you your room." 

Stepping into the living room, all of the Romano were seated at the couch area as they all turned their heads towards the door simultaneously the moment we walked in. Roman and Alexander each exchanged a brief nod when they looked at each other. 

The house had not changed at all, all of the things were at the same place as they were back then, nothing had been moved or removed from what I remember. My gaze then landed onto the door, that room. 

I was then snapped back into reality by a voice, it was Ezra, "I hope you have a pleasant stay here, Reine." His eyes looked slightly red, as though tears were accumulating as he looked at me straight in the eyes. I shifted my gaze away as I nodded at his words, not having a response for it. 

Roman was allocated to one of the many guest rooms in the house, which was located on the third floor, while I headed to the room which I had previously occupied. As I pushed open the door, a familiar warmth gushed out and hit me in the face. 

Walking in further into the room, everything was placed in the same way that I had left them to be. Nothing was out of sight. Switching off the lights in the room, darkness instantly engulfed the room as I took a seat at the usual corner, which was by the cupboard. 

I'm back here again.

Mateo Romano

Contemplating with my thoughts, I decided to give in to the latter. It was too late to head back down because I've already knocked on her door. There were no response, so I thought that I should head down since she was probably resting. However, a soft response came and I found myself pushing open the door.

I was welcomed by a pitch black darkness in the room. Not wanting to scare her, I asked softly, "It's Theo. Do you...want me to get out?" 

"No, it's okay." She spoke after a long pause. She was sitting by the cupboard, with her knees pulled up to her chest. I took a seat beside her, not forgetting to leave some distance between us as I'm sure she wouldn't want me sitting so close to her. 

We sat through the darkness while being embraced in silence as I broke the silence between us, "Do you want the lights?" I remembered that she was never a fan of the dark ever since she was young. 

"I prefer the dark." That was her only response. 

"But you disliked it, when you were younger." I tried to keep the conversation going, only to realise that it was not the best thing to say. 

Exhaling softly, she replied, "As you said, that was in the past. People change, don't they? In order to adapt, they have to change themselves so that they can survive." I lowered my head a little as I heard the double meaning behind her words. We were the ones who made her embrace the dark, weren't we?

"What can we do...to make you hate us lesser?" I would do anything in order to get her to hate us lesser, if that was even possible. 

Shaking her head a little, and replied, "I've never hated you guys, not even once, believe it or not." My head snapped up to look at her. "I was just....disappointed and angry at myself. Was I really that lousy of a sister that even my own brothers didn't believe in my words? That was what I asked myself back then. At some point in time, I did try to tell myself to hate you guys for not having trust in me. I tried, but I couldn't, no matter what. So I started believing that I was the one who caused dad's death. Because it's easier that way instead of trying to hate any of you. It's easier to hate myself than to hate any of you."

I listened silently, mostly because I didn't what I could say to make the situation better. But the fact was that there was nothing I can say in order to salvage what we have done. 

"I don't hate any of you, that's all I can say. And that's all the comfort that I can offer to make you all stop beating yourselves up in guilt." She stood up, and left me sitting all alone in the dark.

I was starting to like the dark now. 

updated! first day of the semester and I guess I could say that everything went well? 

Happy reading! -18/10/2022