--Angelina POV--
**CURRENT TIME**
"You look beautiful, dear," My mother-in-law complimented.
"Thank you, and so do you," I gestured to her as she giggled, waving me away.
"We really outdid ourselves with this party, it's beautiful." She sighed, looking around the garden which was cast in a radiant evening glow as the sun had begun to set.
"Yes, I never would have been able to do it alone. Thank you for the help," I went to link arms with her as she laughed, and we walked around the garden.
Lucian was inside, talking to a few business partners of his, and I grasped the opportunity to escape to the garden where I found my mother-in-law.
"You don't need to thank me for anything, I love going out of my way to spend time with my daughter," My chest fluttered at her words.
If only my own biological mother would have given me the same attention...
I was quick to snap myself out of that negative thought process, shaking my head as I went back to smiling at the many guests that turned to look my way.
My mother is trying, and I appreciate that, and I see that. And I'm sure that if she carries on going down the road she's at, I'll be able to be as close to her as I currently am with my mother-in-law.
"I'm thankful to you, dear," She started as we continued to walk.
"Thankful to me? For what?" I asked, confused.
"For making my son happy. Seeing him like this has been a dream of mine for an exceptionally long time. Of course, he had claimed to be happy before he met you, but I don't believe it was truly happiness, he was just content. But now he knows what happiness really is, and I thank you for teaching him that,"
"Oh, I didn't teach him anything at all," I denied, shaking my head.
"Your presence alone is comforting, Angelina, my dear. You've been through a lot in this life. From having your father taken away, and then your company, and ex-husband; to be able to see the kind of person you are today, it humbles me,"
Her words comforted me, they assured me that I wasn't as bad of a person as I had made myself believe I was. She assured me that there was something worth loving in me, and I was truly so grateful for that, I needed to hear it.
"I should be thanking you for your kind words," I breathed out a laugh as she chuckled, placing a hand on my cheek.
"It's just the honest truth," She whispered.
"What are you both talking about in so much depth with so much emotion?" Julia stepped in curiously as I learnt she always did, dispersing the emotional moment.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thanking my amazing daughter-in-law for being so perfect," My mother-in-law laughed, patting my cheek before moving away as Julia gave her a look.
"I bet you would have said the same thing about me," She pointed to herself.
"Oh, hush. I realise now that maybe I had been too demanding of my son to find himself a wife, I was so desperate that I forgot about the simple truth. Not anyone can make you happy, it has to be a certain person, and while you do make him happy, it's not in the way that I want him to be happy, you understand?" She asked as Julia nodded along.
"I'm glad you finally realised," She nodded.
"Now, I'm going to go and find my husband. But you two go and enjoy the party that we all worked so hard to prepare for," She ushered us away as I moved to link arms with Julia, and waving goodbye to mother, we walked off.
"How are you enjoying the party?" Julia asked as we walked.
"It's nice," I sighed happily, turning my head up to look at the few stars that could be seen littering the night sky, it was certainly a beautiful night.
"Well... I'm sure it would be much nicer if those two weren't here. Honestly, what were you and Lucian thinking when you invited them? Putting you in charge of the invitation list was a mistake of my own, I should have been more careful," She grumbled, glaring at both Donovan and Nevaeh who stood in the large conservatory, talking to some other guests.
"It's okay, Julia. I've moved passed them," I assured.
"It still doesn't make what they've done to you any better," She scoffed.
"Don't look at them then. Doesn't the conservatory look amazing tonight?" I changed the topic of conversation, and heeding my words, I saw her turn away from the two people to admire the beauty of the conservatory, and I admired it with her as we walked along the stone path.
LED lights on the ground lit up the pathway, lanterns hung all over the place including the branches of trees, and fairy lights were intricately placed all over the place. It was like a scene out of a movie, unreal. The waterfall was running, the sound of water creating a calming atmosphere along with the water fountains, and I caught a few people trying to catch the birds that were having fun dancing around the place as they tweeted their tunes.
"I'm going to get some more champagne; you want some?" Julia asked as I shook my head, going to sit by the water fountain as I watched her wander away.
And then I heard a quiet meow. And there was only one cat in this estate.
"Milo," I called, standing up as I walked around the fountain, catching him walking away from me and towards the inside of the mansion, so as I often did, I followed him.
"Where are you going this time, you silly cat?" I called with a light laugh, but cut myself off when both me and Milo came to a halt in front of a familiar man, Donovan.
What was he- Oh. In my attempt to catch up to my cat, we had wandered into the main mansion where there were few guests.
Hearing the meow of my cat, Donovan leaned down, picking him up in his arms before standing back up straight, stroking Milo who purred at the touch, as he always used to do back when I was still married to Donovan.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, going to pick Milo out of his hands.
"I was... In the lavatory," Ah, yes, the typical excuse that nearly everyone uses when they get caught snooping around a place that they shouldn't be in.
"The toilets are that way," I pointed out, nonetheless. "You could have asked one of the workers if you were unsure. This isn't your own house where you can freely wander around, I expected better of you," I spoke with cold calmness.
"Yes, I know," He spoke as if unsure of how else to respond.
"Good evening then," I nodded goodbye before turning to leave, squatting down for a moment to put Milo back on the ground as he took the chance to prance off once more. He loved this new home so much more than I did.
"But... This isn't exactly your house either," And I came to a slow stop, wondering if I had just heard him right or not.
"Excuse me?" I whispered threateningly. Was he picking another fight with me? Ever since our divorce, there's not been one conversation I've had with him where it didn't end with me not wanting to beat the absolute shit out of him.
"Just as much as it isn't mine, it isn't your home either, Lina. Just as much as the name Vandenburg doesn't belong at the end of your name instead of Moretti,"
"Are you joking right now? You can't be serious," I scoffed, fully turning around to look at him, and just like the last few times, I felt the anger beginning to sizzle.
"How dare you-"
"You love me... So, tell me Lina, why are you with him right now? Why is that unfamiliar ring on your finger instead of the one that I gave you? What game are you playing with me? You had your fun, it's over. Let's go home now,"
Yes, I was right. He's mad.
"You can't get it through your head, can you?" It started as a silent whisper, one that you could barely hear, but I'm certain that he heard, it was meant for him.
"In what world do I love you? Because it certainly isn't this one. How many times do I need to tell you for you to understand? I no longer have a home to go back to in Rome. We are both standing in my home right now, and if I am the woman of any house, it's this one. So, respectfully, I'll ask you once. Get. Out. Of my home." I seethed.
"Oh, but you see, my dear Angelina, you're wrong,"
The only thing I can see is that my anger is not visible to him. And I was starting to get furious, but I wasn't about to let this man see me at my worst, especially not when he threw me out at my best.
"You love me. You're doing all of this to get back at me for stealing Luxurian, I know you are," And he began to take slow, predatory steps forward.
And I felt my blood go cold. I was scared.
Never before had Donovan succeeded in scaring me, this was a first.
I hated it.
But even now, in my time of fear, the familiar, calming face of my husband, appeared in my mind. How I craved his presence right now, it couldn't be normal.
"You have Nevaeh now, why are you still doing this to me?" I shakily asked, succeeding in taking a step of my own back, away from him.
"Nevaeh is nothing, I thought she could give me something that you couldn't, but now I realise that I was being delusional. You are irreplaceable, Lina. I'll divorce her and send her out to the streets, but you need to come home,"
And he said that like it was an order, not a request.
"Was I so hard to love?"
My voice cracked as I spoke, quickly gulping the lump in my throat back while he came to a halt, flinching back at my words.
"Did you have to cheat on me, divorce me, and steal everything from me to realise you loved me? Was I not enough before that? Was I really that difficult of a person to love?"
These questions have been haunting me in both my dreams and real life, it felt like a weight had been taken off my shoulders as I finally managed to speak these cursed words aloud.
"Lina-"
"Being married to you was like drowning. All day, every day, I had to be perfect. It was suffocating, I couldn't breathe, and when I asked you for help, you ignored me. You were stood there staring at me drown, and then you threw me out to replace me with her,"
He didn't say anything, he couldn't. Because it was the truth.
The ugly, plain, and honest, truth.
I was abandoned. By everyone I'd ever loved.
"But you abandoning me gave me freedom. I can breathe now, I can smile and laugh with no weight on my shoulders. I don't need to be perfect anymore, I can finally be Angelina, and I missed her so much," And I sighed, closing my eyes. I breathed in a deep lungful of air through my nose and my mouth, and I released it, letting go of it all.
I had found a place that loved me for me, and I was happy now.
"It's not that I've changed Donovan, it's just that you never knew me,"
That was supposed to be it, I was supposed to have walked away, and he was supposed to have realised that I will never get back together with him. That was supposed to be it.
So exactly why... Am I being pushed up against a wall right now?
"Ouch," I hissed.
He stormed forward, eyes red with rage as he gripped onto my arm, pushing me up against the wall as he glared down at me with so much rage, I felt my legs quivering in fear, and this time, I couldn't hide it.
Never before have I seen Donovan so angry.
"Don-"
"You really think you can get rid of me that easily? You think you can just sprout some sad words to me, and I'll bow down to them, just accepting them because you said it? No. No, no, that's not how it works, Angelina," He seethed.
I gulped, trying to wriggle free of his grip, but all I got in return was his hands tightening themselves around my wrist.
This wasn't good.
I knew I should have taken those self-defence lessons my father told me about.
"Donovan, let go of me-"
"It's Don, for you, my darling Lina," I blinked, looking at him as he looked back at me, turning my own words from the party in New York back to me. Was this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.
This can't be the Donovan that I fell in love with? It can't... That Donovan was nothing like this.
But I couldn't think about it in much detail, as another hand jumped in from the side, holding onto my free hand before pulling me away from Donovan.
And I had only wished it would be one person. Lucian.
But I was sorely mistaken when I caught sight of an unfamiliar man.
"Has no one ever taught you any manners? You shouldn't treat a woman like this. Please remove your hands from her wrist, and let her go, respectfully,"
He wasn't even a little bit familiar, a complete stranger that I had never seen before. Blonde hair, green eyes, and he dressed in all black. His suit, shirt, tie, and I looked down to see that even his socks, shoes and pants were black, along with all the jewellery on him, that included the black watch, piercing, and sunglasses which were in his free hand.
Who is he, and what the heck is he doing here? Dressed like a grim reaper, no less.
But Donovan beat me in asking the question.
"And who the fuck are you to meddle in my business?" He glared at him, but the strange man returned it with a closed-eye grin, pointing at himself.
"Me? Oh, I'm not anyone important, but if you must, at least, know my name... It's Leandro Gonzalez. And I guess it's not very nice to meet your acquaintance, is it?"
...