Chapter 122

Christian “So how about that lawyer after all?” Christian spoke as he leaned against the door and watched how Serena drove off.

“Finally opened your eyes?” Cesca commented while Franco scoffed. “I told you she is up to no good. You’re better off without her.”

“Christian, a word, please.” Mare forced a smile on his face as he pulled him away to talk in private.

“Lawyer? What’s wrong with you? All of you!” Mare asked him.

Christian sighed as that was a question he was trying to figure out himself. He never expected things to go that far, but Serena left him no choice. He could not get over seeing Siena just once a week. “Do you expect me to survive 168 hours without my daughter?”

“You count the days?” Marc frowned. He felt awful, and he knew where he was coming from, but at the same time, he knew Christian brought it upon himself from the moment he threatened the Alfonzo’s. “I want you to put yourself in her shoes. You cheated on her, and she’s the one receiving the backlash, and you threatened her family on top of that.”

“It wasn’t a real threat. Christian desperately tried to defend his words. “I was angry, and I didn’t mean it. Don’t you say random things when you’re angry?”

“Yes, but I’ve never threatened to kill my ex fiancee’s family and called them dirty in the process.”

Marc sighed. “Anyway, you need to keep pushing until she’s willing to work something out. Don’t make a case out of this.”

“So you expect me to wait 168 hours, just so that I can see my daughter again? That’s not happening!” Christian made clear. Marc placed his hand on his shoulder and tried to calm him down. “The two of you are being immature, selfish-and being influenced by your families.”

Marc’s words made Christian’s heart hurt. He knew Marc had a point, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t live without Siena. “Do you think Serena is a bad mom?” Mare wondered.

“No, of course not-she’s an amazing mom. I would never question her. I just want to see my daughter!” Christian told him. No matter the case, he would never stop loving Serena. There might have been many women before her, but he only considered her to be his first love. “You want to see Siena, and your family wants to take Siena away from her mom. Those are two completely different things, do you really want.

that?”

“Never.” Christian clarified. “I just want to see my daughter. That’s all I’m asking.”

“Then ask!” Marc snapped. “Ask Serena if you can see your daughter, ask her every day until she gets sick of you.”

“Can’t you understand? I did. I’ve tried everything!” Christian explained. There was not much he could do.

“How about patience?” Marc suggested. “You hurt Serena really bad, so yes, she’s being petty, and maybe you even deserve it.”

Christian couldn’t imagine how hurt Serena must’ve felt, not only by his actions but also his comments but still, it was no solid reason to keep him away from his daughter.

“Think about your dad,” Mare whispered as the two turned around to look at Lucio, who had joined them outside. Lucio was in a good mood today, and Christian knew it was because of Siena. He was thinking. about his father.

“It doesn’t matter because he doesn’t know about it.”

“Because you all took away his phone, which is really terrible, by the way.” Marc chuckled. It was a decision made by all of them. Christian couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen if Lucio would’ve seen the video of the fight between Serena and Gina.

Other than the time Lucio addressed the situation, he had not really spoken about it, and it was mainly because of guilt and memory loss. Even when Matteo Alfonzo stopped by, everyone put on their best acts and pretended as if everything was normal.

Seeing the video and hearing about the broken years’ long worth of friendship with the Alfonzo’s would make it worse.

“All of you will be Lucio’s dead,” Marc told Christian. “Which is a sad statement, considering the fact the man is already dying!”

Christian ignored Marc’s words and stared at his dad. Seeing Lucio in pain and in a wheelchair was something he couldn’t have imagined. He was willing to trade his own life for his father’s if he could.

For Christian, there was no life without Serena and Siena so it wouldn’t make that much of a difference.

Christian took off his jacket and walked to his father with a big smile on his face. “You shouldn’t go outside today. It’s chilly.” He chuckled as he tucked the jacket over Lucio’s lap.

“That’s what I said.” Cesca agreed. Although Lucio had changed, he was still stubborn, and that was something no one could change. He did not want to stretch out his life. He did not want to take his medication-he just wanted to end his life naturally. “Today is a good day. I got to see my beautiful granddaughter and my beautiful daughter-in-law.” Lucio smiled.

Lucio’s memory loss was getting to Christian, and being reminded of what Serena should have been hurt him even more.

“I want you to take me around the garden,” Lucio demanded. Christian looked at his mom and his grandpa, who nodded their heads in approval.

“Sure, if you insist.” Christian sighed and made his way behind the wheelchair. “Siena looks like Serena so much. It’s wonderful. She only has your eyes.” Lucio spoke as they walked through the garden.

“Yes, at least no one can question whether I’m the father or not,” Christian muttered. His family made a lot. of accusations, but that was one they couldn’t make. Siena looked like the perfect combination of the two of them.

“I want to take family pictures.” Lucio suddenly spoke. “I was thinking about preparing a photoshoot for the Lamberti’s and the Alfonzo’s-my last request before I go.”

“What?” Christian spoke, surprised. “It can also just be the Lamberti’s, or we can go to dinner as a family “No, I want the photoshoot.” Lucio smiled. “The best thing would’ve been to see Serena walk down the aisle, but I don’t think I’ll be there by that time. I’m not blind, and I didn’t see her ring around her finger.”

“I’m sorry.” Christian apologized. He didn’t know what to say, and he didn’t know if Lucio’s memory had finally returned to him. “It’s probably just a small argument, don’t apologize. She forgave you for Gina, right?”

“Right.” Christian gulped. “Anyway, I don’t think this family shoot thing is a good idea. It’ll take a lot of time.”

Christian had to come up with an excuse, and he had to do it now. There was no way a bunch of Lamberti’s and Alfonzo’s could breathe in one room after what had happened. There was only so much. they could hide.

“Too bad. I thought it also might’ve been a way to fix things with Enzo.” Lucio sighed. “I’m finally ready to forgive him.”

“Then we’ll do it,” Christian spoke. Hearing Lucio was finally ready to forgive Enzo meant a lot to him as it would to the entire family, and he didn’t want his dad to leave this earth without Enzo by his side.

“Yes, baby Micah should be here this week-so he can also join!” Lucio spoke, Christian was so occupied with not only the family business but also Serena that he didn’t even have the time to congratulate his brother. It seemed like he was not excited for his first nephew’s birth which was not the case.

“Dad, you will have poor Dana run miles to lose the weight.” Christian chuckled as he thought about his sister-in-law, who would most likely not even show herself in front of the camera. “Dana is beautiful the way she is. She doesn’t need to worry about it!” Lucio praised her.

“That’s what I told her.” Christian smiled. It was the same thing he told his mom, his sisters, Serena, and would tell his daughter. It felt strange coming from his mouth, but the one who opened his eyes was Serena.

He could never forget how she had opened up about how much he hurt her with his unpredictable comments. He regretted all of it. He regretted saying she looked like shit when she was scared and pregnant, and he regretted saying her head felt heavy when he would drop everything to hold her heavy head again.

All he wanted was to be a family again.

“Dad, I was talking to Isobel.” Christian started. “And she opened my eyes about the Orlando’s.

There must be a reason why Dario doesn’t like me, right?” Christian asked. “Please think, are you sure we haven’t seen them before?”

Christian knew there was no point in asking his father, but he could always try. “No, but I do know one thing-you have a big heart.” Lucio chuckled. “I’m happy you were able to forgive the Sala’s because I did 100.

“And yet you couldn’t forgive your own son,” Christian whispered as he stopped in his steps. “I’m sorry, dad, ignore me.”

“No, it’s okay,” Lucio reassured him. “I wasn’t able to forgive Enzo because I was incapable of seeing my own mistakes. It was all my fault, Gio and Enzo? It was all my fault.” Lucio admitted his wrongdoings. “I was so put on training you and protecting you. I abandoned them without even realizing it. Enzo wasn’t supposed to turn out like this, all I had to do was show him more love, and I can still do that before it’s too late.”

Christian listened to his father’s words and thought about Serena. If he had only cared about her from the beginning.

“I’m proud of you, dad. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.” Christian sighed. “We’re all a mess without you. You just don’t realize it yet.”

Lucio laughed at his words, but what he didn’t know was that there was some truth to them. The only thing keeping the two families from ultimately killing each other off was their respect for Lucio-but all of that was slowly coming to an end.

“I love you, dad.” Christian smiled. A sentence that was an absolute nightmare to him had become an everyday thing. “I love you too, and I love you for telling me I’m loved every single day.” Lucio replied..

“Of course, I don’t know if I’ll be able to say it in the future-so I’ll tell you now,” Christian spoke. His worse nightmare was his dad leaving this earth without knowing he was loved, which was mainly why he agreed to this photoshoot, no matter how problematic it might become-it was still a way to reunite Enzo with the family and he would’ve done anything to make that happen, even if it meant keeping the Alfonzo’s in check.

“I want you to stay like this for a long time, and I want you to tell Serena the same things, every single day.” Lucio commented. That was all Christian had been doing these past days, but Serena wouldn’t listen.

felt sorry “Do you think Gina is angry with me?” Lucio asked. Just the sound of her name made Christian sick. He for her. He did everything he could to help her-but in the end, she only made things worse.

Christian did not enjoy cheating at all, better yet-he felt disgusted, and it might as well been anyone else. It was just that Gina was there at that moment. “If anything, you should be angry with her. She deceived you.”

“She was hungry for the money, she wasn’t thinking. She must hate me. I’m sure Serena does too-

she didn’t even smile at me today, and she wasn’t wearing her ring” Lucio sulked. This was the exact same reason why Christian did not tell him the truth. He didn’t want him to worry.

“Dad, it’s nothing-Gina is doing fine, and Serena loves you a lot, you know that,” Christian reassured him. Lucio telling Christian to make sure Gina was doing fine made him angry, but he didn’t want to worry his dad, so he did what he had to do and lied about Gina.

He told him that her husband forgave him and that she was doing fine, while that wasn’t the case.

He even went as far as telling his aunt to keep everything a secret, and she agreed. All of the families had decided to let Lucio live his last moments in peace.

“I’m pleased you and Serena were able to work things out-but you need to put that ring around her finger again.” Lucio sighed. “I never told you because I was too afraid you would’ve felt too pressured, but the diamond is made out of the same ring your great grandmother once received from your great grandfather. It’s all the way from Europe.”

“W-what?” Christian stuttered as different images of Serena throwing the ring onto the road crossed his mind. “Yes, it’s very special.” Lucio smiled. “That ring can’t miss from the family shoot, it belongs there. and it belongs around Serena’s finger-

“It’s getting chilly. We should get you inside.” Christian stopped his dad before he could even finish the sentence. Hearing about the ring’s history made him feel awful on top of another issue getting added to his list of wrongdoings. He did not care how or with who, but he had to get that ring back.

“I’m fine. I’m not cold.” Lucio spoke, surprised at Christian’s words. “Yes, you’re cold, and you’re going inside, Christian said in a hurry as he pushed the wheelchair back to the house.

“It’s a wheelchair, not a car, Christian.” Lucio laughed while Christian sped up his pace. “Mom, take him back inside!” He ordered her around before he walked away without saying another word.

Christian was going to get the ring back, one way or another. Christian grabbed his phone and searched for the name of the person who brought him into this mess in the first place, Serena.

He paced back and forth while he waited for her to pick up the phone. “Just pick up the fucking phone.” He cursed under his breath as he almost prayed to god, but nothing happened, so he decided to text her instead. It was a straightforward text, pick up.

Not even a second after, his phone went off.

“What’s it note!” He heard Serena’s voice. Thank god.

“Calling me while I’m driving? Your so lucky hands-free calling is a thing-are you trying to get me into an accident? Is this some evil plan from your grandp—”

“Listen, Serena, I don’t have time for your bullshit-we have a problem, and we’re going to have to work together to for it.”