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Story: Taken

She would see the way Chiara lights up whenever she talks to either one of them, and the way she feels so at ease with them.
She would see the way our daughter belongs with them.
Our little girl is all grown up now, and she has found her place, even if it is not the place I ever imagined for her.
But for her, I will try to accept it, because she deserves to be happy.
If this is what she wants…then I will be here.
Always.
I will watch her.
And maybe, just maybe, I will learn to let go.
Just like Serena would have wanted.
She is happy,I think to myself, closing my eyes briefly to take heavy breaths.
Chiara is happy, and that is what matters the most.
Chiara
The English air is cool as it bites at my bare skin.
The streets I once grew up on stretch out before me, familiar yet distant all at the same time.
In a few hours from now, I’ll be back in my new home.
New York.
I shiver, but it’s not because of the cold.
Mikhail shrugs his jacket off, draping it over my shoulders, his warmth lingering in the fabric as I feel my body melt into it.
“Are you feeling cold, beauty?”
I look up at him, smiling.
“Only a little, but I was actually thinking.”
Nikolai joins us, standing close enough that our hands brush by our sides.
“Thinking about regrets, darling?”
My smile only stretches wider as I look between them both.
“Absolutely none at all.”
They’re pleased, judging from the way they both breathe a little easier now.
Dario calls my name from behind me, and as I turn around to face him, I see him stepping out from his car once again.
For just a moment, I see the anger crack.
“Be happy, sorellina mia.” He says. “If you’re not—”
I smile at my brother, feeling my chest becoming lighter.

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