FRANCESCA'S POV 5 YEARS AGO "I miss you mom." I sighed deeply, my hands on the gravestone that had her name boldly encrusted on it. "I miss you so much, even if it's been so many years already. I feel so alone all the time, hoping someone would finally fill that space." I sighed hopefully. Maybe one day, I would finally have such a person in my life. That person who would never be okay seeing me shed a tear. That person who would always be there for me, no matter what. That person who would love me unconditionally. Seeing that I was already thinking far off, I sighed and gave an apology. "I'm sorry mom." I smiled. "I know that today is just supposed to be for us to spend quality time together. Here." I dropped the chrysanthemums on her gravestone. "I brought your favourite flowers, freshly picked by the florist just this morning. It's afternoon already, so it is not soooo fresh anymore." I chuckled at my own words. This felt lonely, but satisfying at the same time. I sighed and

MANUEL'S POV I blinked furiously as I came back to consciousness. I looked around the dark room and frowned. Where was I? The next minute, I tried to get up and walk, but nothing. Rather, no movement. Why the hell couldn't I move my body?! I wanted to talk, but realized I couldn't. Nothing was shutting my lips, I could feel it. So why then, couldn't I talk? Slowly, the events of earlier flooded my mind, and I found my anger intensifying. What the fuck was this about? Who had taken me, and what did they want? I continued trying to struggle in the dark room, but to no avail. I literally couldn't even move my muscles, I felt like a vegetable. Fuck! I was in deep shit, because that was when I realized what was going on with my body. I may have been shot a high dose of sedative, now I couldn't feel my body. The moment I realized what situation I found myself, I quit struggling and waited for whomever had taken me, to show up. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, waiting for th

MANUEL'S POV We came back from the hospital, and I found it difficult to smile. That witch doctor; Luigi, just ruined our plans. What did he mean by 'she is not in the right state to travel long distance'? "Baby stop frowning. I'm also not happy that our plans were spoilt." Bianca pouted. "So, we wouldn't be able to..." "Is that trip more important than my health?" She cut me off, and I shook my head in negation. "Exactly." She sighed. "We have to be more careful for the sake of our baby. After this baby is born, we would have many more weeks to elope together and spend some quality time alone. For now, we have to remain home with the rest of the family, taking care of this little angel." She pouted, rubbing her belly lazily. I released a sigh and nodded in agreement. She was right after all. Our baby came first. After I got discharged from the hospital, we decided to wait two more weeks for the shock of uncle Dante's death to get lighter, before we travel to Moscow. When