What is family?

Chapter 100

Third Person POV

"Ms. Marino is gaining consciousness, sir.", the maid informed.

Vince and his brothers stiffened and stayed rooted to their place.

As much as they wanted to rush in and check up on their sister, it was impossible to convey the truth to her.

The elders, on the other hand, were relieved and rushed to Aria's room.

Fio was the first one to snap out of the daze.

He looked at his three elder brothers and clenched his eyes in guilt.

He blamed himself for being careless during the beach visit, thereby causing things to turn out the way they have.

He fisted his palms to compose himself and opened his eyes.

"Aria is awake, guys. You should go and check upon her. She'll be waiting for you.", Fio said calmly, but firm enough to snap his brothers out of their thoughts.

"I'll inform the others too.", Fio said and walked away.

Theo left without saying a word, leaving his eldest brothers alone.

Vince and Aurelio stood in the living room in silence, each of them at a loss of words and drowning in their own reasons of guilt.

"You asked a few of your men to discreetly tail behind Angelina, didn't you?", Aurelio asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm.", Vince replied.

"And you also asked a woman to infiltrate the Reece mansion as a maid.", Aurelio stated.

"Hmm.", Vince replied in a monotone.

Aurelio chuckled dryly.

"If you want to let go of someone, you should let go of them completely. Hanging in between will only hurt you more. And if you can't let go, you should hold on tightly.", Aurelio said calmly.

Vince composed himself and walked out of the living room, not gracing Aurelio with an answer.

On the other hand, Aria was struggling to gain consciousness.

The effect of medicines made her head uncomfortable and her eyelids heavy.

The doctor had already dimmed the lights so as to make it easy for her to open her eyes.

The elders walked in first, followed by Theo.

The doctor was administering Aria's pulse and indicated to them to stay calm and not pressurize her to wake up.

Just then, Vince and Aurelio stepped in.

After struggling for a while, Aria finally opened her eyes weakly.

Vince felt relieved and took a step forward, but Nina rushed to Aria before him.

"Oh my god, Aria, you're finally awake. I-I was so worried.", Nina said with tears, gently taking Aria's hand in hers.

She caressed Aria's cheek gently and smiled through her tears.

Riccardo staggered in relief and walked to his daughter.

He gently kissed her forehead.

"We were so worried, princess.", he said in a thick voice.

Aria looked weakly at her aunt and her father who were standing on either side of her, but averted her eyes behind them, trying to search for someone.

Vince was looking at his aunt and the way she cared for his sister, but what he didn't notice was that his sister's eyes were searching for someone else when their aunt was showering her with love.