MELTING A FROZEN HEART

Prologue - HIM

Third Person POV

14 years ago

The sky was clouded over, bringing the evening to early darkness. The cool breeze swept over, caressing and enveloping people in a peculiar melancholy.

The Marino Mansion was as noisy as ever, maids bustling around to serve the needs of the kids of the house and their mother.

Claire Marino, the madame of the house, stood by the huge window, curtains drawn aside, overlooking the vast garden and the endless sky.

Wearing an oversized gown, one hand on the window sill and the other delicately placed over her matured pregnant belly, she frowned at the bleak climate.

"It's been cloudy for a few days now. I feel restless.", she mumbled to herself.

"Mumma"

The sudden voice startled her.

She turned around and looked at her 9 year old second eldest son, Theodore.

"Mumma, look I've completed my homework.", he grinned, bouncing on his heels, ready to dash out to play.

Claire smiled and walked to the bed. Carefully sitting on the bed, she looked at his homework and was satisfied with his work.

"My baby is so smart.", she cooed, pulling him into a hug.

"Mumma", Theodore whined for calling him a baby.

Claire chuckled and let him go.

He dashed out of the room to the gaming room.

"No running inside the house, Theo. And only 30 minutes of playtime.", Claire called out.

She shook her head, hearing no reply.

She then looked at her youngest three, a soft smile adorning her beautiful face.

A four year old Dylan was busy playing with his remote control truck and the three year old twins, Ashton and Ace, were playing with random toys chaotically spread around them.

It was the children's playroom she designed with utmost care and excitement.

After receiving the news of her first pregnancy, she waltzed around a variety of shops and scrolled through innumerable designs to make a perfect playroom for her kids.

Her husband was a busy man who ran the biggest underground organization and she compromised on his absence in many events of their life.

She had worked all on her own on designing and overlooking the preparations. The room was her first gift to her firstborn.

The memory curved her lips into a fond smile.

At that moment, loud thudding footsteps coming closer to the room surprised her and she stood up slowly to find out what was going on.

Before she could take a step towards the door, it burst open, the head maid, Sofia, walking in hurriedly, looking at her with evident panic.

"What's -", Claire was cut off mid sentence.

"Mam, the young sir-", Sofia gulped, unable to find words.

"Vince? What about Vince?", Claire asked, worried, walking to the door hastily.

"Mam-", Sofia couldn't complete her statement.

Claire didn't wait for any answers and rushed towards her eldest son's room. Her pace was considerably slow due to the ripe pregnant belly.

As she reached his room, she twisted the knob, but the door was locked.

Frowning, she knocked loudly.