Broken Bonds

Chapter 25

Vincenzo Ricasso

Looking down to the small blue box laying on my bed, I lifted its cover and looked at the bracelet. Grazing my fingers through the small beads of the bracelet, I looked at the letters 'V&A'. 

I scoffed drily at the letters staring at me. It was no longer V&A, just V now. There was no more story to us, or whatsoever. No chance for me to tell her what I feel about her, how much I like her, more than what a friend would do. 

It was only when she was taken away, that I realised how much pain she was in. The way how she looked so lifeless. The countless number of 'I'm fine.' whenever I asked if she was okay. The small smiles she gave whenever her family was mentioned. They all clicked in my head now. 

But it was too late of a realisation, no?

Would she have been saved if anyone had noticed her pain? 

Would she....have still been alive now? 

Lorenzo Romano

Drowning myself in another bottle of whiskey, I felt as though I was numb. More numb than the time when Ari was taken away with mum, no that bitch. She stopped being our mum when we found out how she was married to dad because she wanted revenge on something he had not done, and how she shot him dead despite the fact that she knew he wouldn't have pulled the trigger on her. And how she made us hurt Avery for so many years. 

The thought of Avery made the dull aching in my chest start again. The look of disappointment which flashed in her eyes before Felix fucking Parker stabbed her could not be erased in my head. I couldn't imagine the hatred she had for us, for me. 

I don't care if she was going to be angry at us, ignore us or just beat us as much as she wants. I just want her to come back to us. I just....wished that she was alive. 

Pouring down the scotching liquor down my throat, I smashed the empty glass on the ground in a fit of anger. Missus Dai came into the kitchen looking all frantic, only to realise that I had smashed the glass. She had been crying ever since she found out about what happened to Avery, but she still maintained her professionalism and kept the house in order. 

As much as I had grew distant from her, I still respected her as one of the elders in the family, especially when she had practically watched us since young. Though I'm sure that she was much disappointed in us too. Just that she couldn't say it out loud. 

She took a broom and a dustpan to clean up the mess which I had created and tossed them away within the blink of an eye. After clearing up, she sighed as she took out a bottle of honey and mixed it in a glass of water and placed it in front of me. 

She stood in front of me and began,"Whenever you come home all drunk during Ariana's birthday, Avery was the one who would help us to get you back to your room. She would always make sure to make you a cup of warm honey water and some hangover pills for the morning."

My eyes looked up and I found Missus Dai had her eyes brimmed red already. 

"She don't hate you, and I mean all of you. If anything, she loved all of you as much as when she was young. She hadn't changed a bit. She would never be able to hate anyone of you, she could never do that." Her voice got softer as she got to the last part, with a slight tremble in her tone as she sniffled in silent. 

I took over the cup of honey water and stared at it in my hand. The memories of countless mornings when I woke up to a cup of warm honey water and hungover pills were all prepared by Avery. A lone tear slipped out of my eye as I felt my nose stung. 

"She was hurting, in fact, more than any of you do. All of you think that you've lost your parents and Ariana in one night. But Avery lost more than that. She lost her father, her twin, and all of her brothers. She had lost everyone she loved." 

More tears came flowing down my cheeks at this point. Missus Dai wiped away the tears she had and stepped forward.

"Lorenzo, let out your feelings instead of drowning them through alcohol. No matter how much pain you're feeling now, there's nothing you can do to get her back. But at least don't forget that Ariana is still here, and she had lost her twin once again. She needs her brothers now. Care for her, love her, that's something Avery would want to see instead, not all of you drowning in your sorrow and regret." Missus Dai sighed softly. 

Seeing that I had no response towards her words, she gently patted me on the shoulders and left me alone in the kitchen to think about her words. 

Alexander Romano

I had informed the rest about the therapist, and they too, wanted to tag along, much to Mason's dismay. Even Lorenzo wanted to go, much less the rest. 

This morning I had checked up on Ari, but she was still staying in Avery's room. Her eyes remained puffy and red, which broke my heart when I saw the haggard state she was in. Good news was that she was on talking terms with us now, though her attitude was still rather cold. Talking to us was already a big step to begin with, so we should not rush the process. 

We were now on our way to the therapist, along with Mason in the car. At first when our cousins heard about it, they wanted to pay a visit too. Along with Uncle Ezra. But Mason stopped them because he was fed up with all of us and decided to only bring us there. 

Upon arriving, the receptionist seemed to recognise Mason and let us in immediately. As he knocked on the door, we walked into the office and a woman who seemed to be in her early 40s appeared in front of us. With a scowl on her face, if I may add. 

"Mason, why did you bring them here?" She glared at us while talking to Mason, clearly showing that our appearance was unwelcome. 

"Dr Rosaline, they wanted to know about Ave's sessions with you. I had no choice but to bring them here." 

"Our sessions are clearly confidential and I have no obligations to reveal them to any of you here, brothers or not. Moreover, Avery would not want me to that either." At the mention of Avery, we all stiffened but remained silent. 

"Dr Rosaline, about that, I have something to tell you." Mason got to a side and told her the truth, as her face morphed into shock and sadness. 

"What do you mean? No, I don't believe you." Her voice could be heard even as we stood at the other side of her office. Lorenzo was seemingly quiet for once, given that he had not made any unnecessary comments. 

After a while she seemed to have calmed down more, as she walked over towards us and calmly stated,"I will tell you what happened during our sessions. Remember everything and let them engrave in your thick skulls." She glared at all of us before heading towards her seat and we took our seats before she began. 

I could tell that we were in for a ride in hell.

update! have been seeing multiple comments for regular update JNWDdnkwdnjkwQ 

so sorry about that as I've been busy with work hence that explains the irregular updates but will try my best to find time and do updates! 

and I'm super thankful for all the votes and comments that you guys gave! much love <3

Happy reading! -23/9/2022