“Liviana?” The knocking persists and the woman in question sighs.Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Liviana tilts her chin up and plasters a smile on her face. “Coming!” She calls before turning to open the door, greeting the woman on the other side and praying she couldn’t see past her wide smile.. “Hi, Elara!”The mother-in-law couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Do not take that fake enthusiastic tone with me, Liviana.” She warns, strutting past her into the girl’s bedroom. “And don’t think that overcompensating smile is going to fool me into thinking that you’re alright, when I know that you’re anything but.”Liviana sighs, letting the door fall closed once more than she turns to face the older woman. There’s an inner battle of debate on whether to feign ignorance of having no idea what she was talking about, continuing her act of being perfectly fine, or to give Elara a peek behind the curtains to find her true vulnerable self that was riddled with anxiety, intimidated by ju
A smile that wavers is a smile of false of promise.The wise words of Drusilla Santora. Her version of never let them see you weak, though a much more shallow take, Liviana had to admit.Her mother's version of the uplifting saying, was one almost as superficial as the person who says never let them see you without your face - another one of her mothers most popular phrases, and unluckily for Liviana, it fit in perfectly with her mothers favorite lecture."Drop the grim expression, Liviana. You can't let them see you as anything less than promising. And what have I always told you about a wavering smile?""That it shows false promise." Liviana would mumble as she bows her head, avoiding her mother's eyes as she gets belittled in yet another of her parents' routine rants."Exactly." Her mother would agree. "And nobody likes a fake."Liviana wasn't sure why this conversation was replaying in her mind tonight. She knew it by heart- of course she did. It was a common "conversation" in her
The Castelli family was a masterpiece. A piece of art held at the highest standards, while everyone stood around admiring them. In every detail, they were the ideal. Every stitch, every shot, every stroke of their brush was all done with such craft that it was nothing less than a picture of perfection.Their reputation was one of the best, with not a single scratch to ruin their image. It was pristine, and it was something they all made sure of.Elara Castelli was the queen. A ruler who wore her heart on her sleeve- a sleeve that contained a dagger. With a strong mind and loving heart, Elara had a perfect balance between kindness and cruelty. She was an angel whose wings were made of hellfire. They sparked, and she would watch as they fall, turning those around into ash. And if you were lucky, if you were kind, she would do you the honors of helping you rise from the ashes and become better. She was gracious, understanding, caring, and a killer. And as much respect as she was given, s
The room is filled with a silence that raises tensions; the family sitting around with bowed heads as they sat before the angry woman, waiting for her to speak- or more so, yell.And that’s exactly what she did.“Do you have any idea of what you’ve done?!” Elara shouts, wagging a finger in her daughter’s face as she lectures. “Do you?!”“I know exactly what I’ve done.” Amara says with a shrug.“Is that so?” Elara scoffs. “Because I really don’t believe that you do-““I was doing my job.” The daughter declares, a smug smile on her face as she turns to look at the ‘happy couple’ that’s been the hot topic ever since they announced their engagement. And from what she was seeing, in the uncomfortable way Liviana sits and the glare Blaze gives, after tonight, they weren’t going to be happy or a couple for much longer. “And as far as I can tell, I’ve done a pretty good one.”“Oh, I’m sorry? Your job?” Elara scoffs, spinning around to share a look with her husband, who can see the dangerous l
Blood is thicker than water.It was a very popular saying, conveying the message that those who you share blood with are your family. And to most, that was the truth. DNA is what links you to love- a familial love you can only find in one place. And that's those you're related to. Parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents. That's your one and only family.It's the black and white way of thinking, the thought being that the ones you're born with are the only ones who will love you all the way to death. The ones you share the same blood with are the ones who brought you into the world and the ones who will be there for you when you leave it. They're the only ones you can count on, to love you, to comfort you, to see you through thick and thin.To those who share that thinking, they believe that family is only blood. You can have friends, spouses, strangers you look up to from a far. You can know them your entire life, you can love them with your entire being, and you ca
When Liviana was a child, she was the type of girl who truly relied on her imagination. On the sad days, the happy ones, the lazy days and even the exciting ones, the good days, but especially on the bad days. She was a girl who wasn't just a dreamer, but someone who loved to conquer up the greatest delusions, and whether they would be considered a daydream or a nightmare... Well, that was up to her fragile mind. For a girl with a wild imagination, every day was a surprise. She didn't know if, when she woke up, she would find herself in her bed or an imagined cloud. She didn't know whether her toothpaste would be toothpaste or some sort of pasty poison planted by the enemies she knew she didn't have - just another figment of her imagination. If her cereal was soup or a hotdog, a sandwich- something she would wonder as she imagined those tasty foods in place of the stale salad she was forced to eat. She'd wonder if the rain pouring outside her window was the tears of giants or the th
When Liviana was a child, she had this dream. It was common, she believed, as she thought it was something everyone would have dreamt of at least once in their lifetime. It wasn't typical, as in it wasn't for the job people would dream of or for fame and money, nor was it a dream for a love so great, it would go down in history as a tale for romantics to fawn over for eternity- letting their love live on and on and on. Instead, it was much simpler than that. Liviana's dream was for the perfect life. Everyone's definition of perfect was different, and for Liviana, it simply meant balance. She didn't need everything to be perfect all the time- she knew that in this world, constant perfection was near impossible in this world, right next to flying with your bare arms and the idea of true immortality. She didn't need to be a millionaire or a genius or to be considered beautiful. Mansions, money, cars, jewelry, reputation, fame- in her eyes, it was all as overrated as it was shallow. And
From the moment her very existence was decided on, Liviana Castelli has had her entire life planned out to the perfect tee. From the moment she was born, her life had been written out in front of her, just waiting for her to flip through the pages and read what life had in store for her. And with great hesitance, she did. She turned the pages, reading each word a hundred times back and reading between the lines, looking for some sort of hope hidden on the pages or chance living beneath the ink. She searched, and she hoped and prayed, and she found absolutely nothing. How could she when there was nothing but deception in the words they had written? Each sentence, every word, each and every letter was all chosen with purpose. They were selected with careful calculation and written in strive, done with such precision that not even the world's greatest lawyer would have been able to find the loophole of the life Liviana was meant to lead. She was stuck. Or so she thought. Life is a r