The Malevolence of a Woman Wronged (PREQUEL)

Chapter 5- The New & The Old

But still, no matter how much I've been through in life, and no matter how much she's put me through, she is my mother. And I hated her. But that was only as a daughter.

As a businesswoman, I respected her, and all the decisions she made regarding her company. If I had put aside my personal feelings for her and worked harder to understand her logic in the business world then maybe I wouldn't be in this situation right now? Maybe I could have protected my company from Donovan despite all the power he had.

But maybe, just for a little while, I can become one of those people that believed it was never too late to fix something. I don't think I had any other choice right now.

"I... Met a man," I awkwardly started, sitting down opposite her, not meeting her gaze as I kept my focus on Milo who was still eating his food.

"Oh?" She croaked, putting her toast down to give me her attention, better late than never. "And, can I ask how it went?" I was hoping she wouldn't ask, but what else could I have expected?

"Not very well. Forget flirting, I don't even know how to make friends... Long story short, I ran away, and he's probably laughing at me right now," I facepalmed at the memory, cringing. I was drunk, but even then, I called him my best friend. And then I slept with him.

When I moved my hand away from my face to look at my mother, she had a regretful look on her face as she stared at me sadly, looking as though she was realising something.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault," She whispered, taking a sip of her coffee.

"It's a bit late for apologies," I raised a brow.

"But still. Being a mother has never been easy for me, it's not that I treated you like a product that would continue on my company, but rather I didn't know what else to do. Business is all I have ever known, from the day I first started speaking, it's all I've ever known..." She sighed as I simply listened.

"I believe that if you didn't know what to prepare for, then you weren't ready to be a mother. I think you should have gotten an abortion; it would have saved both of us from so much pain. But there is no point in saying that now, I will never get my childhood back and there's nothing I can do about it. At the very least though, through everything, thank you for bringing me into this world," Because despite how much pain I've been through, I have seen many beauties of this world, and for that, I am grateful.

A small smile crept onto her face.

"I know it's really late, but I want you to know that I will try my best to make it up to you. I missed a lot, but knowing you, Angelina Russo, there is so much more to come, and I will be there to see all of it," She confidently said as I hummed.

"Then, to start off... Care to give me a few ideas on exactly how I can exact my revenge on a contemptible man and woman?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

She fell into thought not a moment after I had gotten the words out, and I silently continued to drink my coffee as I waited for her to come up with a good idea.

"For starters, you'll need more wealthy and influential people to back you up, what better way is there than to fight fire with fire?" I nodded my head in agreement.

"I've figured as much, but who and what company is willing to back up a divorced woman whose lost her company to her ex-husband? And even if there was a company, will they be wealthy or influential enough to compete against the Ludovica dukedom?"

"Remember, figlia, there is a difference between wealth and influence, and it's important to know how the two can contribute to the reputation of your company in the business world. Some companies will have more wealth than influence, and other companies will have more influence than wealth,"