Chapter 1 1

"Bye, Matteo," she chirped and waved her hand to her friend standing in front of her. He smiled warmly while adoring her and replied, "Bye, Martina," he said and went forward, passing her house as she entered inside.

"I'm home, Mom," Martina said as her mother replied, "Welcome, dear. Now go and freshen up. Let's eat lunch together; your father is coming after a few minutes." Her mother finished her sentence as Martina looked at her while frowning her eyebrows together.

"Dad will be here for lunch?" Her father didn't come for lunch due to work, as he is a brilliant lawyer, but he had enough time to spend with his wife and daughter. "Yes, dear, he said he had something to tell us that's why he is coming and in the meantimehe will also have lunch."

'Then it must be important,' she thought in her mind and went inside her room to freshen up. After taking a cold shower, she came out of the bathroom wearing a comfortable pair of clothes. She dried her long black hairs with a towel and let them open for a moment.

The sound of a horn indicates that her father came. She smiled consciously and went outside her room to open the door. "Welcome, Dad!" Her father hugged her and patted her head softly as they came inside. "How lucky I am to get such a sweet daughter as her, right, Isabella?"

He asked his wife, to which, in reply, Isabella rolled her eyes at his antics and said, "Yea, yea, such a sweet daughter, and what about your wife? Isn't she sweet?" She asked while walking towards the couch in which the father and daughter duo were sitting.

Martina chuckled. "She is also very good but just a little less than my daughter," he said, and then they both high-fived their hands together, making Isabella shake her head at them. Martina and her father love to irritate Isabella until she becomes furious, and then they both have to face her wrath together.

She joined them "How was your day, Vincent?" Isabella asked her husband as he said, "Well, it was nice, but in the evening there is a business event where many rich and powerful people are going to come, and this is being hosted by one of my important clients." The ladies listened to him quietly.

"Ohh, then you will be busy tonight, right?" Martina spoke as her bright face got dull and a small pout formed at her rosy lips. Her father's chest got tight as he said. "Hey, hey, little miss, don't be sad; my client had invited all of us" he said as her brown eyes got filled with excitement.

"But--" both looked at him curiously and said at the same time. "But what?" their voice sounded with a hint of desperation "As I said, there are going to be rich and powerful people along with some mafias, and I really don't want you to get involved in this, so you people are not goi--" "Dad" Martina didn't let her father finish his sentence and whined loudly.

"Let us go to the event, please," she said as her father sighed. "Try to understand, Martina; that place will be filled with many dangerous people," he spoke softly as she shook her head. "But you will also be there in between those people," she argued. "No means no," he spoke with a little hardness while glaring at her, making her chin wobble.

"Mom," she pleaded with her cracked voice "No, Martina, listen to us." Her mother's stern voice made her look at her lap, accepting the defeat. "We don't want to risk you, baby," her mother cooed as Martina silently nodded. "Ok, after this event we will go to a family picnic, ok?" Her father said that, trying to cheer her up.

"O-okk." A tear slid down her face as she wiped immediately, but the couple noticed it as they glanced at each other. Martina always cried whenever her parents raised their voice at her; that's why she always does what they told her to do. She has been sensitive since her childhood. Her life just roamed around her friend Matteo and her parents.

But she always wanted to attend formal events like this. Due to being introverted and shy, she never attended a simple party in her nineteen years of life. But today she had gotten this golden chance, and moreover, there would be her parents also, but she wanted to go to the place where many dangerous people were going to come.

Her father's chest got tight as he sighed before saying. "Ok, ok, don't cry; we will go." She glanced at him to confirm if he was lying to make it up for her or actually telling the truth. When she assured herself that he was not lying, a smile got coated into her face as she spoke.

"I promise you that I won't leave your side for a second." Her mother was still a little hesitant but nonetheless nodded and said. "Ok, ok, now let's eat lunch, or it will get cold due to your emotional blackmailing." The atmosphere transforms from tense to light by her joke as the daughter and the father laugh hysterically.

After the lunch her father went back to his work and told them to be ready by 8pm. Martina helped her mother with dishes and went to her room to take a rest. She glanced at the clock as it ticked to 3:38pm while yawning and stretching her hands up.

Martina

I sank to my bed and closed my eyes while positioning the duvet over myself. My hair was still wet from the shower, so I let them open. A thought of today's event crossed my mind as some strange feeling washed through me, which was a little different from the excitement.

How many people are going to come there? Anxiety starts eating me from the inside as I take some deep breaths to calm down my racing heart and tensed nerves. I'm not comfortable with many people around me, but still I have to overcome this fear of mine.

I shut my eyes tightly and consoled myself that I can do it. Slowly sleep starts consuming me, and I drifted into my dreamland as the faint sound of the fan rotating over my head echoed in the room, making me comfortable, but I couldn't shake off that strange feeling from inside.