Chapter 142

“Mom.” Christian called out. We entered a room, and Cesca was on the phone. “I’ll call you back later. Something funny came up.” Cesca spoke as she glared at me.

It started off great.

“I thought you were going to bring me Siena, but you brought her instead,” Cesca spoke with a fake smile. on her face. It was almost as if she was refusing to say my name.

“I came here because I want to talk to you,” I told her, hoping it would explain things. “Talk?” Cesca laughed. “What do you want to talk about?”

She was not very friendly, and it reminded me of the first time I met her. I was still confused as to what I had ever done to deserve this kind of treatment. “I want to talk about everything. Christian and I made up. so we should probably do the same-”

“This is not a game, Serena” Cesca rolled her eyes while Christian, who had been quiet for a while, had enough. “Mom, stop disrespecting her-please.”

“Do you need a reminder of what happened the last time you refused to talk things out?”

The look on Cesca’s face had slowly changed. How could she not remember that? It was the day Christian fost it and went against his brother for me. “No.” Cesca sighed. “If she wants to…talk things out…I guess we can do that.”

That’s what I thought,” Christian spoke. I would’ve been lying if I said that Cesca was not a scary woman, but having Christian helped a lot.

“Can I get you something to drink or something to eat?” Cesca offered, but I shook my head in response. “No, that’s not necessary-I just want to talk.”

“Okay.” Cesca smiled and sat down. “Please talk.”

The look she gave me made me nervous, and she had no issue showing me that she was only doing this because of Christian’s threat. “I uh…I’m sorry for everything, but I don’t know what I did wrong It went quiet for a few seconds before Cesca let out a loud chuckle. “You don’t know what you did wrong?”

I was trying to find an answer, but I didn’t have one. No matter how much I went through the situation in my head, I still couldn’t see where I was wrong. “No.”

“When you drag Christian’s name through the dirt, you drag all of our names through the dirt-and I’m not even going to mention that horrible video-”

“Mom,” Christian spoke while I was confused by her words. I looked at Christian and felt regretful for what I was about to say, but it was the harsh truth. “Christian, leave,” I whispered. I still had a lot to complain, and I didn’t want him to hear it. “What?” Christian asked.

“Please leave so that I can talk to your mom.”

“I agree. It’s for the best.” Cesca nodded her head. “If that’s what you want.” Christian sighed as I patiently waited for him to leave the room.

“He cheated on me while I pregnant and locked up in a safe house, and if it weren’t for our families being childish, I’d be willing to take him back, so he actually got away with it pretty easy.”

“Yes, I know my son. He used to be terrible, scum, disgusting-but he has changed a lot, and you know that.” Cesca spoke. “And there’s no reason to defend him, but I will defend the family’s pride.

There is this issue with you, Serena. The issue is that you do too much. You don’t talk a lot, but you’re doing too much.

“W-what?” I stuttered.

“You should’ve come to me, instead of going that girl’s house and losing control like some animal-

you should’ve come to me, and I would’ve stood behind you,” Cesca explained. “Trust me, I know what you’re going through, and I know that you feel betrayed and angry, but if you were planning on leaving him, you should’ve done it in silence.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged.

“You hurt me a lot because I thought you were like my daughter, and I thought you were better than that.” Cesca shrugged. “All the tips I gave you about all the girls from the other families, how you should behave, dress and everything else? I did it for you. Maybe you aren’t cut out to be part of this family,”

“You did it for the Lamberti’s. You did it so I wouldn’t ruin the family’s name…but Christian ruined his own name-I didn’t tell him to cheat.” I stood by my point. A lot had to change, and I would be the one to do it. After getting the name ‘neighborhood thug and ruining our families’ bond, I understood where Cesca was coming from, but accepting a disloyal man and letting him get away with everything was not me. Maybe it was time for me to return so I could change things around here. It was time to show everyone that I was indeed cut out to be part of this family.

Maybe it was time for me to become the head of the Lamberti household.

The idea of Christian’s uncle faking his own death and running away from this twisted family seemed like a good theory to me, but I wouldn’t be like that. I would be the one to fix this twisted mindset.

“You’re right,” Cesca sighed. “You never told him to cheat, but ruining the family name and not letting. Christian see his daughter? That’s on you.”

“On me?” I chuckled, surprised. I didn’t do anything wrong. I handled the way I should’ve after Christian threatened to hurt my family.

“Do you know how much I had to do to make sure none of this mess reached Lucio? You could’ve at least let that man rest in peace.”

Her words made me angry, but I kept my calm. We wouldn’t let Lucio rest in peace, the poor man lived in a lie, and everyone was too scared to tell him the truth. Everyone was too afraid to tell him that his decision of making Gina, Christian’s assistant, had backfired so badly that we were all a mess.

It wasn’t as if he had done it on purpose, and he regretted that decision, so it was beyond me why we couldn’t tell him every little detail.

“Well, I’m sorry for not coming to you first, and I’m sorry for not letting Christian see Siena-but his actions and words hurt me a lot.” I smiled as I tried to remain classy. I only felt sorry about not letting him see Siena, and that was it. I didn’t do anything wrong.

“I understand, and please know that I gave Chris a long speech about how he embarrassed all of us, including you because all I ever wanted was for the two of you to live a happy life,” Cesca spoke. “Does this mean the two of you are getting back together?”

“Yes.” I decided. Christian didn’t know that yet, but that was my decision. This family was toxic, and a lot had to change, and I would be the one to do it. Even if I didn’t love Christian, I still would’ve returned to fix this mess.

“I do feel like you also owe me an apology, and so does Christian’s grandpa. Me being with Christian means we’re almost at the same level, so it would be a bit weird to disrespect me.” I told Cesca.

Cesca seemed shocked by my words and blinked with her eyes, but I was right, and she knew I was right. She was the one who taught me that.

I was free to do whatever I wanted, and nothing could change that. Christian attempted to leave the family business several times, but they were so put on keeping him there because no one else was capable of leading the family the way he did. They were even defending his cheating, which meant no one could touch me as long as we were together. I was the new boss now, and things would be going my way.

“Sure.” Cesca rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry for everything, and since you’re obviously here to stay…I hope we can get along from now on.”

“I accept your apology.” I smirked as Cesca gave me an offended look. “You enjoy glaring at people, don’t you?” Cesca chuckled. “Those eyes will ruin everything for you, be careful.”

“Or what?” I frowned. “Do you also think I’ll be Christian’s downfall?”

“No.” Cesca sighed. “It’s just that I’ve seen it happen before-so trust me or not, I’m just looking out for you.”

Her words seemed sincere and made me curious. “Where have you seen them before?” I asked.

Apparently, the way I looked was also becoming a problem, so perhaps I should just close my eyes.

“I’ve seen that look in the eyes of the woman who used to live here before me, and now I’m warning you that it will not end well,” Cesca warned me. “Being buddy-buddy with Christian’s enemy and thinking you Cown the place and that no one can touch you…it won’t end well.”

Woman who used to live here before?

“Wait, do you mean Christian’s uncle’s first wife?” I asked as Cesca furrowed her eyebrows. “How did you know-”

“Are you guys finished?” Christian asked as he burst through the door. He seemed so nervous about the thought of Cesca and me having a private conversation and probably expected the worst.

“Yes, we’re done-come here.” I smiled at Christian and stuck out my hand. As the new woman on top, I would be the one to fix this family, and I would do it so every single Lamberti who was used to giving me dirty looks would crumble.

“Why?” Christian smiled and grabbed my hand. “I want you to come over tomorrow so we can have a talk with my dad.”

“Talk with your dad?” Christian spoke, confused. Having this talk with Cesca was a good wake-up call not to let anyone walk all over me. Those days were over.

“Yes, so we can tell him that he has no choice but to accept our relationship and that I’m coming back home.”

Christian smiled at me, and I felt bad for having the wrong intentions, but it was meant well.

Christian got babied by his own family and it bothered me. I would not only protect Siena but also him from this mess.

“Accept our relationship?” Christian asked. “Does that mean we’re getting back together?”

“He didn’t even know,” Cesca muttered under her breath. I knew people had a change of mind and did not want to see us together, but that only motivated me to prove them wrong. Christian and I belonged together and neither one of us were puppets.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“It’s time for me to come back home.”