"Ciao, mio figlio." Lorenzo greeted. He sat down across from Samuel and ignored the guards cuffing his hand to the table. "I see you have grown into a successful young man."

"Cut the crap, Lorenzo. What do you want?" Samuel stood up and walked towards the door. He leaned against the wall and stared at his father. No. Not father. Sperm donor.

Lorenzo shook his head and chuckled. He leaned back against the seat and smirked. "Why must you always assume that I want something? Can I not see my only son?"

Samuel felt anger course inside of him. He walked towards the table and slammed his hand down on it. The noise echoed loud and made Lorenzo wince. "I know you. I know you always want something. And news flash Lorenzo, you are not my father."

"Then what do you call the person whose blood run through your very own veins. The man who gave you life?"

"A sperm donor. A mistake. An abomination. I despise the blood that runs through my veins. If I could, I would spill every single drop until there is no trace of you inside of me." Samuel hissed out.

"I never knew you felt so strongly about that." Lorenzo looked deep into Samuel's eyes. "Have you no love for the man that gave you life?"

"None."

"I see." Lorenzo looked towards the guard and nodded his head.

The guard came in and uncuffed him. He placed Lorenzo's hands behind his back and started to steer him away.

"Did you call me here just to waste my time?" Samuel said.

"No. I called you here because I missed my son. But clearly, he died long ago." Lorenzo muttered before walking away with the guard.

"Stop."

The guard held Lorenzo back.

"What is it?" Lorenzo said coldly, not looking back.

"I want this to be the last call you ever give me. I want you to never contact me or my family ever again. If I see you near any of them, I will not hesitate to tell Antonio the truth." Samuel sat back down on the chair, not looking at the man whose blood run in his veins.

"Very well. I wish you the best of luck."

Those were the last words that Samuel ever heard from his father. And it was the last time that he saw his father alive.

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Samuel held Ashley's hands in his own and looked down at the little notebook on her lap.

He picked it up and turned it over, looking at the engravings on it. His hands tenderly ran through the engravings and he smiled to himself.

As he looked up at Ashley, a small smile made its way to his face when he saw her fast asleep.

He placed the journal on her night stand and stood up. Standing up, he pulled the covers up to her chin and kissed her forehead softly. A chuckle left his lips when her hands reached out and clutched tightly to a pillow, murmuring incoherent words.

He walked out of the room, a happy smile on his face, and started to walk towards the kitchen.

A hand reached out and slapped him across his face.

Shocked by the hit, Samuel staggered back and bumped his head into the corner of the cabinet.

Spots filled his vision and he held onto the counter. His head started to throb painfully as his eyes tried to push past the blurriness.

His hand went up to his cheek and glared towards the person that he barely made out. "What was that for?"

"You cannot come back here and ruin Ashley's life." a familiar voice shouted. A finger poked at his chest and probed deep into his skin.

His vision cleared up and he glared at Elena. "I'm not here to ruin her life. I'm here to protect her from the bastard that left her."

Elena scoffed and rolled her eyes. She smacked him across the back of his head. "Don't you dare lie to me, mister. I know that you're only here to make her life more miserable. Her life is bad enough as it is. She doesn't need you to come back in it and ruin it even more."

"She's my sister! I would never hurt her." he defended. He stalked forward, a feeling of superiority passed through him as Elena started stepping backwards. "She is my sister Elena, and I will protect her until the day I die."

"Stop your lies, Samuel." Elena stared deep into his eyes. "I will not stand by and watch her get hurt. I will tolerate you for now but if I see you treating her any different than the way she deserves to be treated, I will not hesitate to kill you. I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy."

"Well, i guess we can agree on one thing then." he replied coldly before leaving the kitchen.

As he walked up the stairs, he felt a feeling of pain tugging at his heart. He was not accepted here, he knows that, but with everything he had in him, he wishes that he would.

His whole life, there were rarely any times where people accepted him. Ashley was the only one who did the moment she saw him but he only hurt her and pushed her away. A decision that he would regret for the rest of his life.

She was his sister and he had hurt her. Hurt the one person who was there for him in his darkest times.

Who, despite his ill treatment towards her, still cared for him. He knew that she hated him when they were kids but also couldn't help caring for him. It was the same for him except she didn't let that hatred consume her and drive her actions while he did.

He passed by Antonio's office but stopped in his tracks when he heard Antonio call for him.

Turning into the office, Samuel looked at Antonio.

The strong urge to make Antonio proud of him was strong. Samuel hated his father and the only close thing he ever had to a father was Antonio.

But he knows that Antonio would never be proud of him. Nobody ever would.

"Yes, Antonio?" Samuel asked with a monotonous voice.

"I have a meeting today with a lawyer from America. I would like for you to come with me and learn some techniques." Antonio pulled the papers together and placed them in a file. He looked up at Samuel and raised his eyebrows. "Or is your schedule not free?"

Samuel shook his head. "No I can go. May I ask why though? You have never interested me with your affairs before."

Antonio continued to look at him with no expression displayed on his face. "Seeing as Ashley cannot run my company any time soon, I would like you hand it over to you when I retire."

Shock coursed through Samuel's body. He pointed to himself and uttered, "Me?"

Antonio crossed his arm over his chest and leaned back against his chair. "Is there anyone else in here besides you Samuel?"

Samuel shook his head, still feeling shocked. "Why would you hand it to me? You hate me."

Antonio shook his head. "I don't hate you Samuel. Dislike? Yes. But not hate. I also know that you are capable of doing this and that you're trying to change yourself to be a better brother to Ashley. I want to give you this chance to prove yourself to be worthy of being in my family."

"I don't know what to say." Samuel muttered. "Antonio, I'm really sorry for any trouble my mother and I have caused to you and Ashley. I was blinded by jealousy."

"What were you jealous of?"

"Ashley. She had a father. Someone I had always wanted to have. I saw how you looked at her. It was a look that my father has never given me before. When he looks at me, all I can see is disgust and hatred." Samuel poured out his heart to Antonio.

He knew that there was no point in hiding his reasons now. It's time for him to be honest to those who he cared about.

"You know that's not true. In his own sick and twisted way, Lorenzo did care for you." Antonio clapped his hand against Samuel's back.

"That's not true."

"He called me on his deathbed. He apologized for what he has done to our family. Though the words did nothing to fix what was already done, I forgave him. And you should also."

For the first time in forever, Samuel saw a smile on Antonio's face.

But not just any smile. It was a smile directed towards him, and only him.

The realization of that caused a surge of happiness to fill his whole body. Right then and there, he swore to himself that he would never let Antonio down ever again. He has done so much without having too.

"Do you really believe I can do it?" Samuel asked, looking down at the ground.

"I don't believe, Samuel. I know." Antonio sat back down on his chair again and looked at the files.

"Please go get ready. We leave for the company soon." Though his voice was stern and demanding, Samuel could still hear the smile in his voice.

Samuel grinned and saluted him. "Yes sir. I swear, I won't disappoint you."

"I know you won't."

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.

.

They told me that I would be okay again. Told me that I would be able to move past this. That time will heal everything that I have felt.

But they are wrong. I will never heal from this. The physical wounds, they will heal but will always leave behind a reminder. The emotions that had consumed me will remain and the fear will never leave me.

Those were the first two paragraphs that Ashley had encountered in the journal. She closed the book after and started to pant.

Her heart raced in her chest and she grabbed on her nightstand. She stood but sat back down when a searing pain hit her stomach. Her hands clutched onto it and she winced in pain.

Her eyes started to blur and her heart continued to race even faster. Fear coursed through her brain. She opened her mouth to call out.

To anyone.

To anything.

But no matter how hard she tried, the only sound that came out were her inconsistent panting and gasps. Tears flooded her already blurred eyes.

She clutched the bed sheets, her knuckles starting to also hurt from the force. She closed her eyes shut and tried to call out for someone again.

"Papa." She shouted.

A scream left her lips as another searing pain went through.

"Samuel!"

She continued to scream out their names.

"Elena! Frankie!"

She fisted the sheets with one hand, and with the other, clutched her stomach tightly. She began to pray that there was nothing wrong with her babies. She would never be able to live another day if something were to happen to them.

"Ashley!"

She heard a voice shouting before everything went black. The last thought in her mind was, "Please take me and not my babies."

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