Blaze Castelli was a mess.He, himself, wasn’t a mess- in fact, he was always well put together. Organized and dapper, he was clean. He didn’t appear a mess on the outside, but inside... it was as though a tornado had ripped through his soul, releasing the heart he had spent years trying to forget and allowing the feelings he buried to roam free within him, pumping through his veins and fueling him with a strange flutter in his stomach.He wasn’t sure what this feeling was exactly. He was never good with emotions- expressing and at some point, he even had some trouble identifying his emotions, as well as other peoples. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t feel them, he just couldn’t explain which he was feeling. If he was angry, he couldn’t tell anyone he was angry- he would never put it into words or acknowledge the way he felt at all. Instead, he would act out. His anger would take hold of him tightly and walk him about as he threw tantrums wherever they went. He was a constant storm of
Liviana loved the Castelli's.She adored them. They were her family- in-laws, but family, nonetheless. And she loved them.In the months she's been with them, since becoming a part of their family, she had learnt what family really means. And compared to the definition she had before- the standards she previously held for family... It was strange. It was sad.Before she had met the Castelli's, Liviana believed in doing anything for your family, as in you would sacrifice yourself for them over and over again. She was taught that, for family, you should be as selfless as possible. You give up your happiness, your hope, your time and energy, your passion, and you give it all to them- the people you share your DNA with. Because they were your family, and for family, you should do anything, right? Anything that benefited them, too. Because a real family helps each other. A real family puts their family first.At least, that's what her parents said, and of course, she obliged. She put hersel
"Liviana!"The girl in question couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice, turning to greet her darling mother-in-law with a grin. "Elara!" She sings, quick to tuck herself into the older woman's embrace."How are you, my dear?" Elara wonders, stroking Liviana's dark hair as she holds her, pulling back to get a better look at her. "Are you doing well?" She asks, voice going quiet as she assures her that she could tell her."I'm doing fine," Liviana tells, smile dimming to nothing more than a soft curve of her lips. She had been fine- she had no reason to be anything other than okay. And yet, the words felt like a lie. Still, she swore she was. "I promise," she adds, prompted by the woman's prying gaze.Elara nods, accepting her answer and pulling her in once more. "Oh, it's been so long, dear. We need to catch up!" She insists, patting her hand gently against Livi's back, eyes lighting up once more when the door opens behind her, her son making way inside. "My boy!"Liviana sm
“Don’t panic-““Don’t panic?!” Liviana repeats in a hiss, asking if he was joking. “Do you not see me? Already panicking?” She asks, pointing to herself in a show of how ridiculous of a thing he had just said to her. “It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think?!”“Relax,” Blaze hisses back, telling her to take a breath. “You don’t know why they’re here,” he points. “They could just be here to arrange that dinner they were talking about, or to visit, or they’re looking for you- you just don’t know. You can’t panic until we know something’s wrong.”“Them even being here is wrong!” She argues, and she makes a point Blaze can’t exactly argue with because it was true.“You’re right,” he admits. “They shouldn’t be here. But they are.”“Exactly!” She shouts. “It’s wrong. Therefore, something is wrong and I should panic, because something is wrong!”“So we handle it,” he grits, his patience thinning with his own panic as he tells her she needed to pull herself together. “We don’t panic.
For as long as she could remember, Liviana had always had a complicated relationship with her parents. The Santora’s, in general, were a very complicated family full of complex dynamics, as their family was tattered with years of abuse and generational trauma. They were an enigma that not even they could figure out.Ben, as the oldest, was automatically his parents’ favorite. He was their first heir and the next king of the Santora business. And though Drusilla and Alonzo absolutely adored him for those mere factors, they could never show it. Instead, they showed their affection through work, whipping him up into a fine young leader, and turning him into the best man they could ever help him be. It was too bad he never got the chance to be anything more.Tino was the difficult child, often left to his own devices, and his parents’ neglect was their love. They didn’t pay him mind and so he often missed out on all the abuse tactics his siblings faced. Up until his big brother died, at l
The door is pulled open and Liviana, before she could call herself prepared, finds herself face to face with Drusilla, who scoffs.“Finally!” The mother exclaims, taking hold of her daughter’s wrist and yanking her into the kitchen.“Oh-“ Liviana gasps as she’s pulled inside, nearly falling over herself as she’s pushed toward her father, feeling Drusilla’s hands delivering a shove to her shoulder.“What on earth took you so long?” Drusilla complains, cutting Liviana off before she could so much as speak, deciding that it didn’t matter. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. The important thing here, the one that we need to talk about, is this arrest.”This is when Blaze takes his cue, coughing as he steps into the kitchen. “That won’t be necessary,” he tells, and all heads turn to him.Drusilla grits. “What?”“The arrest has been handled,” he shrugs it off.“Handled?” The woman echoes, watching as he nods. “Handled how, exactly?”“What does it matter?” He asks. “So long as it’s handled, the
The in-laws sat quietly, scattered across the Castelli's family room under a thick blanket of tension, just waiting for the moment someone would be brave enough to break the silence that had fallen upon them. Though, no one seemed to have the guts with the way Lucius and Elara loomed over them, supervising them as they stared down at the family like two disappointed parents who were just waiting for their children to give them a reason to punish them. And no one, no matter how upset they were, wished to be the reason.The Castelli siblings - Armani, Blaze, and Leona - all stood in a line behind the couch, continuing to bicker amongst themselves as they had grown used to their parents intimidation and those disappointed looks they wore, having grown up watching them."This is your fault," Leona had muttered to Blaze, who stands between his siblings with an ice cold expression, glaring across the room at his in-laws, both of whom don't hesitate to return his nasty glare.Forcing his eye
Blaze Castelli grew up in a nice house.It was well known for its beauty- something expected of such a high status family, who always accepted nothing but the best. With their reputation and class, anyone who was invited to the manor expected nothing less than something extraordinary. And they were not disappointed. It was a grand home. Beautiful, mystical. It was almost like a castle, ripped out of the pages of a fairytale. And anyone who got to see it and feel its magic wasted no time in giving the family a compliment."It's beautiful!""So majestic!""I love the design.""It's so serene."And it was. Beautiful, majestic, serene. It was a haven, and for the family that lived there, it always felt like a small piece of heaven. It was more than just the outside and all the decor. The gold and the crystals and all the trinkets were nothing more than a little gift wrap. It was what was inside that mattered. A family that lived under its roof with kids who had spent their entire lives