In the heart of a modern city, two rival families hold the power. Valentina, a fiercely loyal daughter, and Matteo, a cunning and determined son, find themselves on opposite sides of a dangerous feud. But when their paths unexpectedly intertwine, th...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I finished getting ready and quietly stepped out of the bathroom. Matteo was still asleep, his breathing steady and soft as he lay tangled in the blankets.
I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to disturb him, but something made me pause.
I heard the front door open, the sound of footsteps echoing through the quiet house.
The second I saw my dad walk through the door, I wasn't expecting anything bad. He was always calm, always the one to smooth things over.
But today, something was different. His face was hard, eyes narrowed, and I could feel the tension roll off him in waves.
"Valentina," he snapped, his tone sharp, nothing like his usual self. It made me freeze. "What the hell is going on with you?"
I blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" he echoed, his voice getting louder. "You've been skipping classes. Your teachers are calling, telling me you're failing. Do you know how bad this looks?"
His words hit me out of nowhere, a harshness I hadn't expected. He was usually the easygoing one, but now?
He sounded... disappointed. Angry. I wasn't prepared for it, and the shock made something inside me snap.
"Since when do you care about my grades like this?" I shot back, raising my voice. "You've never come at me like this before!"
"Because I didn't think I had to," he fired back, taking a step closer. "But you're not taking this seriously. You're failing, Valentina. Failing. Do you know how that looks? You couldn't even graduate high school? Do you know what that means for you? For this family?"
I crossed my arms tighter, my voice dripping with frustration. "You already knew I was failing, Papa. Why do you think I'm even in summer school? It's not like this is new information."
He clenched his jaw, his face hard. "I knew things weren't perfect, but I didn't realize it was this bad."
My jaw clenched, my heart pounding in my chest as my own anger surged. I wasn't going to just sit there and take it. Not this time.
"I'm not proud of it!" I spat, crossing my arms over my chest. "Do you think I want to be failing? That I'm happy about it? You think I'm not stressed enough?"
"You think this is about you being stressed?" He shook his head in disbelief. "This isn't just about you. It's about what this does to our family. Do you know what people will say if they find out my daughter couldn't even graduate? You'd be a failure, Valentina, and you're making us look like one too."
A tear slid down my cheek, but I wiped it away quickly, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Wow, sorry I'm such a failure, Pa. That must really suck for you, huh?"
His eyes flashed, his mouth tightening. "You think this is some joke? That failing out of school is something to brush off?"
"Do you think I'm happy about this?" I yelled back, feeling my frustration boil over. "Do you think I wake up every day thinking, 'Wow, I love being a disappointment to my parents'? Do you have any idea how hard I'm trying?"
