or Ro

he sight of modern, diverse buildings. I couldn't help but wonder-how could people live here, so far away

borhood, Maria?" Harry asked, l

ly, "It's beauti

impressed. Ugh, thes

ched a modern, single-story house painted white,

ard of priva

e instead of pulling in, then turned of

d up, and took a good look around. It w

was it in the mid

rushing toward Harry with warm welcomes-men, women, and children alike. They quickly su

d us with curiosity, maybe even suspicion. What, ha

or two older than me, stepped forward. He greete

o," Harry said, motioning to

her before shaking my hand firmly.

re to meet you

," my mother replied

was stunning-one of those homes that made you want to liv

which, thankfully, was at the back of the ho

ever heard

d woman arrived, serving us

rrier between them. The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly d

?" Rio asked, his tone

d, smiling at my mother. "We'l

nd took a sip of my lemonade,

f the time, I found myself glancing around, like a rotating fan, admiring

ked seriously. "I informed him yester

voiding Harry's gaze

matters," Rio finally s

"Paula!" addressing the wom

unch

Please, com

arry do for a living? Is he a retired bu

n my mother has really

discussed the wedding preparations, and Paola kindly offered to help with her daughter

ted about that, but a litt

e saw him before he even entered-since, apparently, anyone passing by the house could see straig

udly, making the young man hal

erence before stepping forward ju

r," Harry said warmly-though Dominic met h

lovin

gaze between the two men with clear conce

t he only stared at her dryly before

ll

ects my mother

im in his tracks. "Show some respect

ompletely and contin

eat, ignoring my mother's plea to le

clenched my teeth and hissed, "You have no

h, he cut me off wit

bigger creatures pass by... u

e shoved me aside and walked away, leaving me fuming, my f

He called

✦

my grandmother. The first girl, Scarlett, was calm and composed, while the twins, Sasha and Suzy G

ith researching supernatural phenomena... ali

her beliefs. Her twin, Suzy, was the complete opposite, though she occasionally helped Sasha for t

ormed between us. Unlike Dominic, of course-who refused to even fetch a spoon! He was the only loser here. Despite my

asked about the wedding, and I never mentioned it. It was enou

ued. Every time we crossed paths, we exchanged the most hostile

") is a perfectly normal height for a beautiful young woman?! It's just that, wit

ther for a month-something she insisted on-meaning my eightee

d to send me an amazing gift, and I was

✦

rarchical, and as it turned out, Dominic was the one managing the neighborhood and handling its a

hile others acted like royalty! I hadn't noticed this dynamic at first, but the more I visit

, dismissive stares people ga

r Scarlett-if not for the intervention of a man named Ralph. I later learned he was a friend of Dominic's

reated everyone normally, even though they clearly didn't like her

n entire neighborhood in the middle of th

.. who

s welcome to live with them if I wanted, but I refused

reminder of the past. And I knew all too well-Harry wanted nothing