Chapter 9- THE DRESS

This was the final straw as Aurora dropped to the floor, with the letter still in her hands. She could almost scream so loud that everyone in the entire mansion would hear her. Tears ran down her face as she realized that Signora Meta was right, people like the Russo's were not to be trusted at any cost.

'You see what I meant my dear?" Signora Meta asked Aurora, saddened to see the young woman that she had raised as though she was her own daughter broken.

'How could they do this to me?" Aurora asked, shocked as she was trying to come to terms with what she had just read in the letter.

'Her assistant leaked this email to me, she told me not to show anyone else other than you because she knew that you are a lovely person. She did not want this to come as a shock to you, signora Mia is not planning on giving you any money for your tuition in fact, after the wedding she plans on sending you away" Signora Meta reiterated what Aurora had just read in the letter.

Although she had read the letter twice, hearing the same words from signora Meta had made it all the more real to her.

'She lied to me"

'Yes she did, I am so sorry my dear but you have to be strong"

'But why did she keep me here if she did not want me?" Aurora asked, looking into the distance as her vision blurred due to the excessive tears.

'Because she wanted— she wanted a friend for Avena, someone to keep her company when she was out with her friends. Now that Avena is getting married, she no longer needed your presence in this house, don't you see"
Aurora shut her eyes, it all made sense. The Russo's were not obligated to keep her after her mother had passed on but they had.

Always be kind. She heard her mother's words ring in her ears, even though she was upset that her dreams was crushed before her eyes. She wiped her tears away and stood up from the floor.

'I have to go and help the other's clean up, I would not want them cleaning up while I sob about the inevitable" Aurora told signora Meta in a calm voice, she tried walking away but signora Meta stopped her.

'You don't have to do any work, just stay here and calm down"

'No! I have to work otherwise I will think of nothing else other than this news" she told signora Meta and plastered a smile on her face before walking away.

**

One day later

Still dressed in her best dress, Aurora played with her fingers. Avena had come home from late I the night, her eyes swollen from crying. Avena had said her goodbyes to Tommasa, she was ready to marry Leonardo and settle down with him.

The entire time that Avena had spoken, Aurora was in her own world, thinking about all the lies that Signora Mia had told her, all her life.

'Aurora!" She snapped out of her own head as she turned to face an already irritated Avena who was fitting on her wedding dress.

'Yes?"

'I was asking you, how do I look in this dress?" She angrily asked Aurora, who studied Avena as she stood on the podium in her mermaid styled wedding.

'You look very beautiful, you would make a perfect bride" Aurora smiled as she complimented Avena, who smiled and continued admiring herself in the mirror. Even though Aurora smiled, her heart still bled.

Avena was celebrating her wedding whilst Aurora was mourning the death of her dreams that had been killed right before her very eyes. She watched as Avena modeled in front of the mirror and smiled for, deep in her heart. Deep in her heart, she was truly happy for Avena because she loved her like a sister.

'Aurora, come here!"

'Yes, Avena I am here"

'I came home last night and my parents were not there, where are they?" She asked Aurora.

'Your mother told me to tell you that they would be going on a trip for a while, they won't be attending your wedding," she told Avena, who seemed unbothered as she looked at herself in the mirror.

'I don't need them, Leonardo has money so everything will be just fine" She told Aurora, who stared at her in shock.

'So you only love him because he has money?"

'Of course, look I don't even know the guy but I hope he saw the letter I sent him"

'What letter?"

'A letter of demand, so I basically highlighted that I would like a few things when I get married"

'Like what?"

'I want my own personal driver, a Bentley is definitely a must and—" Avena stopped talking half way as she stared at Aurora's shocked expression. 'What?"

'Avena that is a lot for a man that you know nothing of, he might be rich but—"

'But nothing! I don't' even know the man and I am only marrying him because my parents insist that I should marry him, the least he could do is make my life comfortable" Avena argued. Her flawed logic on how she viewed the world and people around her amazed Aurora until this day.

'That is—"

'None of your business, you are not rich and you will never be rich. Go over to the men's department and get my handbag, I forgot it there" Avena arrogantly instructed Aurora, who simply nodded her head in agreement and went over to the men's department.

**
'I cannot begin to tell you how much I already hate her at this moment!" Leonardo told his friend over the phone, as he fitted on his custom-made Italian suit.

His night had not gone the way he had planned it, in less than a day he would be getting married to a woman of his parent's choice, so much for ‘freedom to marry whom you want'.

His night was further disrupted by the memories of that pretty woman, the one with the cocoa skin, big brown eyes and full lips.

Oh! Those beautiful lips of hers. Leonardo mentally thought, just the mare thought of her aroused him the entire night. He was ashamed that he had not even asked for her name but under the circumstance, he could not.

She was just the kind of woman he liked but her attitude had thrown him off, her attitude and her dressing was one that stank of rich privilege.

'Ouch!" he complained as one of the needles pricked the side of his ribs.

'Scuse signor, please stop moving" the tailor told Leonardo who rolled his eyes; as he wanted to be anywhere but here.

'Hello!"

'Yes Ricardo, I am here" he responded to his friend angrily.

'What did she do?"

'I have not even met the girl but she had the audacity to send me a letter, listing all things she would like after we are married. Can you believe she asked for a private chef and masseuse because she can't cook and she needs to feel relaxed at all times?" Leonardo told his friend as he gripped his phone in his hand, so tight that he could almost break it.

'I told you she was a pain" Ricardo reiterated.

'And my parents have no problem giving this to her! I live a simple life and I cannot have a woman like her ruining my peace and tranquility. Ouch!"

'Signor you must keep still" the tailor warned Leonardo one last time.

'All I am saying is that you cannot change her, Avena Russo is who she is and most likely will never change" Ricardo told him.

'Wow, is that the best advice you can give to a friend?" Leonardo asked sarcastically.

'What do you want me to do? You refuse to cancel the wedding"

'I don't have a choice"

'Why not?"

'Because, because my mother is sick and the least I can do for her is to grant her this wish" there was silence on the other end of the line, so much that even the tailor stopped measuring as though he had been listening in on their conversation.

'How bad?" Ricardo asked.

'Really bad, liver damaged. As soon as we get back to the United States I would be taking her to the hospital for her check-up"

'Take heart but as for Avena, I cannot do anything for you in that regard. I have to go because the next time I see you, you would be a married man" the call ended.

'That's it signor, your suit is done. I will be right back" the tailor left, leaving Leonardo all by himself, standing on the podium.

As he looked at himself in the mirror, his heart stopped as the reflection in the mirror reflected the woman he met the night before, behind him. Without thinking about his action, he turned around and his eyes met hers.

'You!" both of them said in unison as they stared at each other in shock. Leonardo contained his happiness, finally he had seen the woman who was the reason for his sleepless night had come to him.

He wanted to walk towards her and hug her but he stopped, they simply stared at each other. Her hair pulled back, her floral knee length revealed her long beautiful legs, and just once, he wished she smiled at him.

Aurora swallowed the lump in her throat as she could feel herself sweating, she was familiar with this part of Sicily but she was quite sure that this man was not a residence but now it seemed as though he was everywhere she went.

He is stalking you, one of those rich men that think they can have their way with women. She told herself mentally as she remembered just how close to her he had come last night. Thinking of the way he had cornered her, only made her hate him more.

Without thinking she walked towards the podium, pointed her index finger and looked up at him and quite ready to defend herself against the predator that was the man in front of her.

'You are such an animal, why do you keep following me?" Aurora yelled at him, leaving Leonardo stunned at her reaction.

'What do you mean by that? If I may ask"

'Men like you like who stalk women like me, so that you could have your way with us!" Aurora accused him whilst Leonardo smirked and raised his eyebrow, although irritated with her accusation; he refused to play into her mind games.

'I assure you that I am not here to stalk you, as you can see I am here to buy a suit" he explained himself but Aurora's suspicious glare made him realize that she still did not trust him still.

'Yeah right"

'You don't even know me but you—" Leonardo, looked away from Aurora and turned his attention to the tailor who walked back into the fitting room.

'Signor as you can see this is the final designs—"

'Please, I will answer you now. As I was saying earlier—" Leonardo turned his attention back to Aurora and then stopped; she was gone with no sign of her ever being there. 'Did you see the woman?" he turned his attention back to the tailor.

'Are you talking about the woman that you were talking to earlier?"

'Yes that woman"

'I think she left signor"

'I can see that she left" he told the tailor irritably, got off the podium and looked around the store but she was not there. Just like before, his mystery woman had gone again like the wind.