Book One
Aria Rossi grows up is in a family war between her family and the Violante's. This story follows her journey as a young sheltered child through the challenges that arise ahead.
Lies, loyalty, deceit, ambition, pain, trust, love, and fami...
Rất tiếc! Hình ảnh này không tuân theo hướng dẫn nội dung. Để tiếp tục đăng tải, vui lòng xóa hoặc tải lên một hình ảnh khác.
"We prepared the speech for you," Kent says, sliding a piece of paper over to me. "Read through it and see what you think."
I took the speech and read through it, raising my eyebrows. "I'm not saying this," I said, setting the piece of paper down after reading through it.
"I told you!" Kyle mutters.
"Shut up!" Johnny hisses at him, but a smirk rests across his face too.
Kent rounds on them, practically shooting bullets from his glare. "Enough," He snarls under his breath. "What about it?" He asks me.
"It's not that! It's not genuine. If you want-" I pause until everyone quiets down. "If you want people to mobilize around the movement, it needs to be a lot more genuine than this!"
"Like what then, Aria?" Kent presses.
I shrug, tossing the paper on the table. "You said I was just the figurehead."
"So just read it!" Kyle snaps, pushing it back towards me.
"Fine! But it's not going to do anything," I snap back.
"She's got a fire under her today," Johnny observes.
Soon, I am standing in front of the camera, holding up the piece of paper. Johnny counted down the seconds until we were live and then gave me a thumbs up once it was rolling. I glanced over and saw myself on the screen, swallowing nervously. This is directly disobeying Xander and it scares me but it needs to be done not just for my sake but for the sake of others.
~Ryker POV~
"Guys?! Come see this!" Acacia calls from the workroom.
I frown and hurry in. "Is it the software again?!" Fletcher groans, following me.
"It's your sister," She says, turning it up.
Aria stood there, holding a piece of paper tightly in her hands. It was obvious she was frightened because the piece of paper was shaking significantly. She took a deep breath and began to read. "Xander claims to be a lot of things like the ruler of this-" She stops and then puts the piece of paper down, looking directly at the camera.
"My name is Aria Rossi. Xander forced me to marry him a year and a half ago. I was yet 18 and the marriage was under great duress a few days after the premature birth of my daughter. For those of you who willingly follow Xander, how can you condone those actions? How can you condone a man who abuses his wife? He is tyrannical and cruel. Many of you have seen the video that was leaked from his home and were horrified at what happened. That was a day-to-day occurrence for me when I was with him. He threatened me, my daughter, and my family so that I would comply with what he wanted me to do."
"Get this on every channel!" I growl, nudging Fletcher. "Now!" Acacia, Fletcher, and his crew are already furiously typing as they try to do just that.
