Childish!

"What!!?"

Sammy exclaimed, clearly displeased at the answer he got.

Alessia giggled, before swinging her legs over the side of her head and standing up. She made her way to the closet, humming as she began to rummage through it before pulling out a pair of silk pajamas.

"Don't worry, Sammy. You know what they say, the higher they climb..." She trailed off, hinting to her friend her plan, as she changed into her pajamas and tucked herself back into bed.

Sammy laughed out loud, his voice loud against Alessia's ear, finally understanding her plan.

" The harder they fall! You're good, sis. So you're going to wait until they are built all the way up, before tearing them down! Hey, remind me to stay on your good side, haha!" Sammy's mood was immediately lifted, relieved that his good friend wasn't giving up.

Alessia snickered, before bidding her friend goodbye and snuggling into her covers. She was absolutely drained after the stressful day and needed to rest before . Soon after hanging up, she fell into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Alessia finally woke up, she felt refreshed and ready to take on the dinner that was coming in a few hours. She laid in bed playing on her phone for a few minutes, before she had an idea. Flopping over on her stomach, she pulled up Matteo's number. She stared at it for a long time, not knowing what to write but knowing she wanted to text him badly. Her cheeks warmed up to a beautiful rosy color as she thought about the man that she considered her savior. As she mustered up the courage to text this man, a message came through.

<Home safe?>

Alessia's eyes almost bugged out of her head as she stared at the message. It was Matteo! She could hardly contain her excitement and a silly grin made its way across her face, as she typed out a response without even thinking.

<I made it home safe! Still feeling a little weak, but nothing too bad! Thank you for the concern!>

She added a cute sticker to the message before sending it off. But as soon as she sent it, she felt regret well up. She groaned in embarrassment.

That was so childish! Matteo Conti was the most feared business man in the city, and while Alessia wasn't scared of him, she also didn't want to disrespect him.

Did she come off whiney, or maybe too familiar?? She didn't know him in this world, so was she too forward??

"Why did I do that??" Alessia whined to herself, mentally kicking herself. She glanced back at her phone and felt discouraged at the lack of response. She reluctantly rolled out of bed, and made her way to the bathroom to freshen up before dinner. No matter how down she felt, she still had a role to play.

After showering, Alessia made her way to her vanity, and put on a bit of powder to make her seem a little paler than she actually was. She examined herself in the mirror for sometime before nodding in approval. She looks weak and delicate, which would work in her favor.

While Caterina wouldn't be tarnished in public for now, she would be tarnished in the eyes of Grandfather, who was the most powerful person in the family. Without his goodwill, Alessia was interested to see what Caterina would be able to do.

After taking a deep breath, Alessia began to make her way to the door. Before actually leaving the room, she hesitated for a moment. She then ran back to where her phone lay, hope filling her chest. But the hope was quickly deflated when she saw no new messages. Disappointment filled her eyes, as she tucked the phone into the pocket of her mid length white dress, and she finally left her room.

When she made it downstairs, everyone was already seated around the dinner table. Well, almost everyone.

Kneeling behind Grandfather was Caterina and Nicolas, and standing behind them were Nicolas' parents.

Caterina was kneeling weakly, her legs shaking, as tears silently streamed down her face. Nicolas supported her body with his arms, his eyes full of worry and concern. To outsiders, this scene looked very picturesque, but for Alessia, this image was vomit inducing.

Alessia repressed the urge to roll her eyes, walking up to the table very timidly, offering her family a wavering smile. The smile caused a pang of pain to reverberate through grandfather's heart, which in turn solidified his heart against his other granddaughter.

He smiled back, ushering Alessia to sit beside her at the dinner table. After she was settled, Leonardo called the servants to bring in the dishes. Alessia's eyes widened as she saw all of her favorite dishes brought out to the table. She looked at her parents beside her with gratitude.

Her mother smiled softly before adding food to her plate.

" Eat up sweetheart you are going to need your energy."

Her father and brother followed suit, piling food high in Alessia's bowl. A small giggle escaped Alessia's lips, breaking the tension at the dinner table.

For the next half hour, The family of five ate together harmoniously, ignoring everyone else, even Caterina's parents who sat on the other side of the table. Caterina looked on with anger and jealousy in her eyes.

Once again, Alessia stood at the top while she was left kneeling at the bottom. The hours after the confrontation that morning were excruciating. She was being called names all over social media, and her pictures were being broadcasted everywhere. Just thinking about the humiliation that she faced was enough to make her angry enough to start shaking.

Mistaking those shakes for shivers of weakness, Nicolas felt a surge of rage course through his body. Standing up, he pointed an accusatory finger at Alessia.

" You are more cruel than I thought! Can't you see your cousin here suffering. Yet, you sit there comfortable. Where is your empathy?!"