Second Chance: An Heiress Reborn

And just like that, Caterina's entire aura changed. Her previously dead eyes, filled with tears, and her lips began to quiver. She stood up on shaky legs and took a few steps before stumbling before Alessia's feet, next to Nicolas.

Nicolas couldn't keep composed at the sight of his lover on the ground, and momentarily forgot himself. He reached over to help Caterina sit up, but she weakly pushed her away, before pushing herself up to a kneeling position.

"Cousin, please forgive me! I never meant to hurt you like this. Nicolas and I, w-we love each other! I was blinded, cousin, and because of that, I betrayed you. I know what I did wasn't right, but I had no control over loving him. I beg you, please, forgive me cousin! Grandfather, please allow us to be together! I'll give everything up to be with him."

Caterina's voice was so sorrowful, and humble that Leonardo was taken aback. Nicolas looked into her face, touched that she would truly be willing to leave everything behind for him. Alessia forgotten, Nicolas straightened his back to look at Leonardo.

" Sir, I apologize for what I did, but I'm willing to take responsibility for your granddaughter. I love her!"

Amara scoffed, glaring at the young man on the floor.

"Which granddaughter? The one that you betrayed or your accomplice?"

Victoria, tears forgotten, quickly stood to defend her daughter.

"How dare you talk about my daughter like this? It was definitely your daughter who stole Caterina's boyfriend, forcing this to happen! Criticize your own child!"

Victoria turned to Leonardo, softening her voice,

"Father, I understand that what has happened is shameful, but there is nothing else we can do. If the two youngsters love each other, that is the only thing that matters. We also have the problem of public opinion. No one knew about the relationship between Alessia and Nicolas, so the best way to handle this is to announce an engagement between Caterina and Nicolas."

Leonardo hesitated for a moment, taking in what was being said. What Victoria said made sense, but at the same time, he couldn't allow Alessia to be walked all over. He looked at the tear stricken face of his granddaughter, who sat there silently during the whole exchange, before reaching over and patting her hands.

"I won't let you be disadvantaged, Alessia. You can decide what to do about this situation, and I will support you."

Alessia smiled weakly towards her grandfather before standing up shakily.

"Thank you, Grandfather. Could I have some time to think about this. I'm feeling very tired"

Noah immediately stepped forward, steadying her sister, and after a nod of approval from his grandfather, leading Alyssa out of the family room up to her room

Nicolas' father coughed awkwardly, embarrassed at the situation, and furious at his useless son. He had walked into the situation feeling high and mighty, but now he had to humbly accept fault.

"Leonardo, perhaps it would be best if you made the decision. Your granddaughter seems very emotional, and we need to thing about our rep-"

He cut himself off, after seeing that heated glare in Leonardo's face, deciding to shut his mouth. After sweeping the room with one last scathing look, Leonardo left the room without saying a word. Alexander stepped up making an announcement.

"It's been a long morning for all of us. Hopefully by dinner tonight,my daughter will have an answer for us. Until then, feel free to say here. Miss Ledissa, please, make our guests comfortable"

Disappointed and angry, he turned around and left the room with his wife. Bodyguards covered the exits of the room, making it clear that the request to stay wasn't just a request.

Sebastien sweeped the room with his cold eyes, landing on his daughter in the arms of Nicolas. He then gazed at his wife in disgust.

"All you had to do was raise our daughter correctly. You couldn't even do that correctly."

His voice was low, but Victoria still shivered, putting her head down and refusing to look her husband in the face.

Nicolas' parents were very uncomfortable, but could only endure it. They were also disappointed at their son's failure, but an almost guaranteed alliance with one of the most powerful families in this city was a great investment for the future of their own family business. They had no choice but to ingratiate themselves with the head of the family.

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

Noah helped his sister lay down in bed, before heading back towards the door. Hand on the door knob, he hesitated.

"After today, don't cry anymore."

With those parting words, Noah left the room, closing the door behind him.

Not being used to expressing his own emotions, he had no idea how to comfort his sister in her time of need. Fortunately, Alessia could feel his sincerity and his care for her. She smiled softly, listening to her brother's footsteps until they disappeared completely.

She waited another minute before sitting up in bed, her eyes no longer tearing up and vulnerable. Instead, her eyes were full of contempt, and her lips curled up into a smirk.

Alessia didn't expect her cousin to bounce back so quickly. With just one statement, Caterina managed to find a way to escape. But this didn't deter Alessia.

In fact, she would use this to her advantage.

Picking up her cellphone, she called Sammy. In just one ring, he answered the phone call.

"Heyo, sis! I've been waiting on your call. Did everything go the way you wanted?"

Alessia explained the situation to her friend.

"That sucks! If you want, I can probably hack into your home system, and release the video of them trying to cover it up at your expense online. That way, everyone will know who your cousin really is!"

Alessia shook her head, before responding,

"I don't want to implicate the rest of my family or the company. Releasing the video would help me but could really harm my family."

"Then, what are you going to do then?" Sammy asked, not liking where this conversation was going.

Caterina had turned the situation on Alessia, essentially backing her into a corner. If Alessia didn't agree to letting Caterina and Nicholas go public as a couple, then she would be responsible for ruining her own family. However, if she did allow them to go public, then Caterina's reputation would be salvaged, and an engagement would be arranged between the two traitors. Sammy was worried for his friend, not liking her choices.

However, Alessia wasn't worried or even frustrated at the wrench thrown in her plans. Caterina played a smart move, but Alessia was willing to play the long game if it meant that she could bring even more suffering upon the treacherous couple.

Alessia smiled mischievously, her eyes filled with determination and cunning, as she held the cell phone up to her ear.

"What can I do but concede?"

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