Chapter 38

The next few days, Alessandro kept himself busy. He goes to his head office early and comes back late. One night, he came home early, just as the others went down for dinner.

"Ali! Your home." Lilani shouted and went to hug him.

"Hello, princess," Alessandro says when he picks her up.

"Do you remember Father and Daughter Day tomorrow?" The little girl asks him

"Yes, that's why I'm home early tonight; I will never forget it".

Lisa watched them as the two talked. She missed him this past week.

She notices he hasn't shaved in a while, but he looks good with the small beard that's appearing on his face. She wonders why he ignores her just after the week they spent together. Maybe he just has a lot of work to do.

Alessandro walks in with Lilani in his arms. "Hello, Lisa. How was your day?" He asks her calmly.

"Hey, it was fine; thank you and yours?"

"Same old, same old." He takes his seat, and Maria brings the food. They start to eat, but Alessandro never says a word during the dinner. It was mainly Lilani and Alice who did most of the talking. After everyone ate, Lisa took the dishes to the kitchen, while Alessandro and Lilani went to the lounge and played for a bit.

The next morning, when Alessandro woke up, he found the bed empty. He wonders where Lisa is. Just then, the bedroom door opens, and Lilani makes her appearance.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." She smiles at him.

"Are you going to get up? We have to get ready for our day at school."

"Yes, I was just about to get ready; give me twenty minutes, and I will be down." Lilani nods and then runs off to find her sister. Lilani found Lisa at the back door, watching in the distance. She wonders why her sister looks so sad.

"Hey, Lisa. What are you doing out here?" Lilani is concerned.

"O hey, Lilani I was just taking some fresh air. Come, let's go and set the table. Do you have everything for today?" She asks her little sister.

"Yes, Ali will be down any minute now, and then everything will be ready." Lisa nods her head, takes Lilani's hand, and walks to the dining room. She thinks she must phone Sophia today and ask her to meet her somewhere. With that thought, she starts setting the table. Alessandro walks in just as the table is finished. He looks around and finds Lisa walking his way with the food.

He takes a seat and starts to speak. "You were up early this morning, Lisa."

Lisa looked at him confused but answered, "Yes, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to make breakfast."

Alessandro just nods and starts putting pancakes on his plate. After breakfast, Lisa tells Lilani to brush her teeth and get her bag. Lisa notices Alessandro wearing denim with his black Adidas t-shirt and white Vans. Lilani comes down and tells Alessandro that she's ready. Lisa kissed Lilani good bey and watched the two of them walk away.

Alessandro didn't even greet her, she thought sadly. She went and called Sophia. After a few rings, Sophia picks up.

"Lisa, hey girl, how are you?"

"I'm good, thank you. I want to know if maybe we can meet somewhere." She asks her sister-in-law.

"Yes, how about we go to our usual place? Meet me there in an hour?"

"Sounds great; see you there". Lisa ended the call and went to get ready.

She takes a shower and then decides to wear skinny jeans with a spaghetti strap black shirt and her black pumps. She put her hair in a high ponytail, decided not to wear any makeup, and went downstairs.

"Maria, I'm going out for a bit if Lilani and Alessandro get back before I do." She informs her.

"Yes, Mrs. Mancini, enjoy your outing." Maria smiles at the attractive young woman in front of her. Maria has noticed the sadness in her eyes. She wishes she could slap Alessandro until next year for treating the poor girl like that. Lisa went to the garage and decided to take the Mercedes-Benz c class. Soon she'll be on her way to meet with Sophia.

At Lilani's school, every teacher is drooling over the handsome man with Lilani.

"He can't surely be her father, can he?" One of the teachers asks

"No way, did you see what her mother looks like?" Another one tells them

"Yes, no wonder he left her; maybe one of us should show him what a real woman is like." They start laughing. Lilani and Alessandro sit down in one of the chairs, waiting for the event to begin.

"O, I see little Miss got herself a father", one of the children mocks.

"No way, he will leave her just like her real parents did", Alessandro hears another kid say.

"Lilani, no one can love you; why are you making a fool out of yourself? A guy like that won't be an ugly girl like your father." The kids started laughing at Lilani. Lilani's heart breaks because of the mean things they are saying to her. She looks up at Alessandro with tears in her eyes. Alessandro notices the tears, picks her up on his lap, and hugs her.

"Don't you dare listen to them; you are a beautiful girl. Lisa and I love you as if you were our own. Do you hear me, princess?" He asked her while wiping away her tears. Lilani nods at him, but her heart still hurts. Soon, one of the teachers announces that the day will start. Each father and daughter are going to bake cupcakes and then decorate them.

Everyone went to a station, and soon the bell rang for them to start. Alessandro and Lilani are having so much fun baking that both of them are full of flour when they are finished. The principal watches the two and notices how close they are. The bell rang again, and everyone stopped what they were doing. Three judges, one of whom is the principal, walked from station to station, then went to the next event.

Lilani enjoys herself so much because, even though Ali's not her real father, he still manages to spend time with her. She looks up to the sky and then says out loud, "Thank you, mommy and daddy, for sending an angel like my Ali. I was sad because all the other kids have parents and I don't; they all say I'm ugly and that no one will love me because I'm an orphan", she cries. "But then I realized you guys sent him to us." She smiles through her tears. Alessandro and some other parents heard what she said and wiped away tears. Alessandro went to Lilani and took her by the shoulder. She turns around and smiles up at him.

"So you're telling me he's been ignoring you ever since you got back from your honeymoon?" Sophia asked.

"Yes, maybe it's not out of spite; maybe he just had a lot of work to do," Lisa tells her.

"O, no, don't you dare defend his actions. That idiot took your V card, and now he wants to pretend as if nothing happened", Sophia says angrily.

"Don't stress; it's not good for baby", Lisa tells her while pointing at her growing belly. Sophia agrees and promises not to get upset.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, and I'm sure as hell not going to run after him," Lisa says.

"You go, girl, maybe give him some of his own medicine?" She suggests. Lisa nods and says she will think about it. They chatted for a while, then Sophia told Lisa she had to go home before Gabriele sent a search party for her. They hug each other and then leave.

Lisa had just pulled the car into the garage when Alessandro and Lilani stopped. "Lisa, this was the best day ever". Lilani excitedly shouts out while running.

"I am glad you enjoyed your special day."

Lisa looks up and starts laughing when she sees Alessandro covered in flour.

"O, you're laughing at me?" He asks her

"Well, did you see how you look? Oh, my word, haha, haha," Lisa continues. The next moment, Alessandro walks up to her and throws her over his shoulder.

"Hey, put me down, you baboon!" Lisa shouts while hitting his back.

"No, I think I'm going to teach you a lesson for laughing at me." He tells her and slaps her ass. The next moment, he let go of her, and Lisa fell into the pool. As she gets up, she looks pissed.

"Will you please help me out?" She asks him sweetly. Alessandro looks at her and shakes his head. He then turns around and high-fives Lilani, but he didn't see Lisa coming his way. Lisa runs and tackles him into the pool. Alessandro comes up and looks at Lisa.

"How the hell did you do that?" He is shocked that a small woman just tackled him into a pool.

"Don't underestimate me, darling." She winks and swims to the side. Lilani, who was watching everything, laughed her head off.

Lisa and Alessandro went to get themselves cleaned.

"Dammit, that water is cold," Lisa says, her teeth clapping against each other.

"Yes, it's almost winter", Alessandro replied. Lilani knocked on their door and went inside when she heard them say, come in.

"So tell me, how was your day?" Lisa asks her sister.

"Ooh, it was fun. We baked cupcakes, we built a dollhouse, we painted, and guess what?"

"You left it at school?"

"No, dummy. Ali and I won the first prize, silly, and Ali told my teacher that Antonio would fetch it". She rambles.

"Wow, I am proud of you, Lilani," Lisa says as she hugs her sister. She turns to Alessandro and says, "Thank you". Alessandro nods, then bends down and tells Lilani.

"How about we order pizza for tonight to celebrate our victory?"

"Yes, thank you, Ali". Lilani turns and runs out of the room to tell Alice. Lisa laughs, shaking her head.

Alessandro orders the pizza while Lisa makes some coffee for them. She thought it was getting colder at night. As they waited for the pizza, Alessandro excused himself and went to his office. An hour later, the pizza arrived, and Lisa went to call Alessandro. As they sit down, Alessandro tells them he has some important news for them. "Lilani, from today on, I am your legal guardian as well." Lilani started crying and ran to him.

"You mean I get to call you my brother now?" She asks.

"Yes, princess, you can if that's what you want." Lilani starts crying and says, "Are you sure you want me?"

Alessandro wipes her tears and says, "I am a hundred and ten percent sure I want you as my family". He assures her. Lisa and the others have tears in their eyes as Alessandro and Lilani hug each other.

"Can I take your surname now?" Lilani was tired of being bullied because of her status as an orphan, and besides, it doesn't mean she will forget her parents just because she changed her surname. In fact, she wants her parents surname as well.

Alessandro looks at Lisa. Lisa nods in approval; she can't take Lilani's happiness away. Her parents would want her to be happy.

"Yes, we can arrange that."

In the meantime. "That fucking bastard took everything I own away from me. I will make sure he pays for this. He just messed with the wrong fucking man." Mr. Lombardi shouts at some of his men. "I will not rest until I get my revenge."