"your eyes are the only labyrinth where losing myself became my only escape"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
celia whispered to Bianca through gritted teeth:
"Tell me that the one at the entrance isn't Rodolfo Larsen."
Bianca tried to run away.
"I think I saw Marcello go in. I'll..."
Celia grabbed her arm with a pinch.
"If you move, I swear I'll put your liver where your stomach used to be; then no doctor in Italy will know why you feel hungry in your gallbladder."
Bianca looked at her in horror.
"Well, you murderous surgeon, I just..."
"Shut up, you knew, didn't you?"
Bianca replied naively, trying to lighten the mood.
"What? No, how on earth would I know? Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm the Rediclauses one now, you****"
"I'm going to tell everyone that you're a corrupt doctor."
Celia gave her a terrifyingly hostile look that silenced Bianca.
"That's why you gave me this wig and these damn blue contact lenses, right ? "
"Celia... I swear it was just a guess, because I know that the Mafia men don't miss gatherings like these with the wealthy for their own personal gain, of course. I really wanted you to attend the party, without fear, so that even if he saw you, it would be impossible to discover your identity. You're wearing a mask, too, for God's sake!"
Celia sighed absently,
Bianca touched her shoulder looked at her tenderly
"I'm so sorry if I bothered you, but I know you need this. Can we just enjoy the party and forget everything?"
Celia smiled gratefully and hugged her.
"You don't have to apologize, sis ." Bianca smiled, then pointed to the painting of the School of Athens, around which many people were gathered.
"Let's go there. I love that painting."
Rodolfo was with Alfredo and his friend Marcus, the businessman.
They were wearing elegant suits and masks, but it wasn't difficult to identify them.
Each of them came for a specific purpose.
Marcus wanted to establish new relationships and partnerships with the businessmen here.
Rodolfo came to buy another painting to launder money, and also to meet with the Mafia men from the allied clans.
As for Alfredo, he came to find love, as he says, after hearing about actresses, models, and noblewomen here... his type..
Marcello was in the left corner of the third floor, watching Bianca after seeing her enter.
She looked absolutely stunning.
Now he was plotting how to apologize for the hundred and one time after she'd rejected all his calls that morning.
Then, a change of plans. He was now thinking of a subtle way to kill that young man who hadn't taken his eyes off her since she'd walked in,
and to kill her too, since she was now talking to him and smiling.
He didn't know how his legs carried him, but he found himself downstairs in front of the painting of the School of Athens.
He pulled it to his side, gave the young man a forced smile, and extended his hand to shake his.
"Marcello,"
the young man looked at him in surprise, then shook his hand.
"Mike,"
Marcello had been squeezing his hand tightly for quite some time.
"Well, Mike, if you don't want to end up in one of the paintings here, take your eyes off my girlfriend "
he whispered with a forced smile.
The young man flinched and withdrew his hand with difficulty, stepping back with a naive smile.
Bianca, inside, was flying with joy; her brilliant plan had worked. Outside, it was the Arctic Ocean.
Can you stop interfering in my life? I'm trying to build relationships here.
She could feel smoke coming out of Marcus's ears and nose.
" If you don't stop this nonsense, I'll make you into a painting, "
"you ****"
Celia watched them and rolled her eyes; she really was beginning to believe the saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."
she decided to distance herself from them when they started arguing and swearing.
She began to wander around the large hall while sipping strawberry juice, as she didn't drink.
Then a painting hanging in the middle of the back wall caught her attention, but there were no people around it.Unlike the rest .
The painting was
"Romeo and Juliet: Balcony Scene" –For the Britishpainter Frank Dixie، She gazed at them for a moment, looking at the details of their faces, the rays of sunlight that were about to break through, the light that would separate them... forever.
On that balcony, they had clung to each other, kissing their final goodbye...
a kiss they didn't know what awaited them, or if they would ever have the chance to kiss it again.
A deep voice, Behind her, whose owner she wouldn't mistake, brought her out of her reverie.
"Do you think their end was unfair?"
In the same tone, and without turning around, her answer was,
"Au contraire, c'était parfaitement logique ; leurs groupes sanguins étaient incompatibles dès le départ. Ce sont eux qui se sont condamnés eux-mêmes à mort. "
She replied in fluent French that the ending made sense because their blood types were incompatible From the beginning.
"I agree with you, although it's the first time I've encountered someone who didn't sympathize with them."
"I do, I'm just giving my opinion objectively. Perhaps if their relationship had taken a different turn, it would have led to the destruction of two entire clans and the continuation of enmity in their descendants to this day."
"I believe that love is not something worth dying for."
Rodolfo spoke with dead eyes, staring sometimes at the painting,and sometimes at the French girl.
Celia smiled.
"I bet your story has a worse ending than Romeo and Juliet."
He bit the inside of his cheek
"Nah , I don't believe in love. So I have no story." ، " Do you? "
Celia nodded with a smile, "Yes, I do."
Then she completed:
"I believe that in this world, there is light and darkness, good and evil, love and hate. Just as there are feelings, there is hatred, resentment, and sadness; there is happiness, kindness, and benevolence. So yes, I believe in the existence of love, and I also believe that it is a stubborn, selfish guest. When it enters your life, it does so unbidden. When it reaches your heart, it doesn't knock; it breaks down the door and enters, penetrating deep within and building itself a warm dwelling. Only then will you realize that you have lost one of your most vital organs. It will never belong to you again, and you will be very happy about that. Indeed, you will gladly give it to the one it has chosen."
Celia said all this while looking at the painting with eyes shining as if she were head over heels in love. Rodolfo's features relaxed when he heard that, and he said,
"It seems your words stem from an exciting experience."
She looked at him, holding back her laughter.
"Nah, there isn't even a cat in my life."
Only then did Rodolfo let out a laugh he had tried hard to hide, which made his dimple stand out
"By God, all that poetry is purely imaginary. so I will stick to my opinion"
She frowned in annoyance.
"No, damn it, there are real experiments، I mean, there are other people who have actually experienced it. ".
Celia said this as she lost every last shred of hope she had gathered in making this iron machine feel
" You describe your love for romantic novels and movies "
He said sarcastically
"Enough damn it, you'll fall head over heels in love and you'll understand all of that."
Looking at the Ophelia portrait hanging beside her, Rodolfo remarked sarcastically,
"I feel they're trying to convince us that the end of love leads to death. All love stories lead to death, like 'All roads lead to Rome.'"
Celia rolled her eyes as she looked at Ophelia, drowned in the pool.
"Perhaps it had indeed led to death, but they had experienced love after all."
Then she continued :
"There is a legend that says if you gaze long enough at Ophelia, you will feel her speaking to you. "
"oh?" ...
Then Rodolfo heard someone calling him.
It was Alfredo and Marcus
He turned to them; they were beckoning to him from above.
When he turned again, the girl had vanished. He looked in every direction, but there was no trace of her.
That mysterious Frenchwoman—how could she have disappeared so quickly?
He couldn't feel his feet, but he found himself searching the great hall until Alfredo, hold on to it,
" you've lost something ? "
"No, just..."
he interrupted him, there's something important you need to know.
He leaned close to his ear..
and suddenly Rodolfo's eyes darkened. He went out into the hall, followed by Alfredo, Marcus , and three of his guards.
In the palace gardens, on the western side surrounded by tall trees, there was a terrace overlooking the city.
Celia gazed at the illuminated city of Venice, She was thinking about her meeting with Rodolfo and discovering this side of his personality when suddenly she heard footsteps of several men nearby.
She took a few steps back to find five men standing around a sixth, whom she saw fall to the groundAfter one of the five men shot him,
she gasped in shock at the horrific sight, her heart pounding when she saw the shooter's identity.
She turned to flee quickly, but a sound stopped her...
"Who's here?"
"Go and check"
Hearing these words made Celia's heart pound violently, and even her breath betrayed her at that moment.
She was struggling to breathe, hearing footsteps approaching her...
.
.
.
.
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༺༽ End of chapter ༼༻