Entwined With the Villainous Guardian
Chapter 390: Thanksgiving Day(Part I)

Chapter 390: Thanksgiving Day(Part I)

It was Thanksgiving!

"Careful..."

Angelina helped Viviana in placing the turkey on the counter. Gabriella was setting the table.

"That smells good, Signora!" Martha was excited.

"No running!" Gabriella shouted at her naughty nine-year-old daughter Mirabelle.

"Let her run," Viviana chuckled.

Lionel and Gabriella married a year after her wedding. Gabriella had trouble conceiving, but just like Viviana had a miracle baby, she did too after six years of marriage. It was a geriatric pregnancy and so, the doctors tried to scare her off, but Gabriella braved through it and had a healthy baby girl.

Lionel rose to a legendary class director in Hollywood with all his movies becoming blockbusters. He tried to branch out to other genres too and found success in horror. How someone who could make cheesy romance movies could make horrific thriller movies, Viviana couldn’t guess. But Lionel was so talented. He at times makes romance movies too but he was more interested in horror movies.

"I’ll check on Vic," Angelina’s eyes ended upstairs.

"His pacifier!" Viviana gave the sterilized pacifier to Angelina.

"Thanks," Angelina smiled and went upstairs to check on her third son.

Leonardo proposed to Angelina a month after Viviana’s wedding. Angelina fell pregnant as they were arranging for the wedding. Angelina was pregnant when they got married and they had a son—Vincent.

Their father died when Vincent was six months old. He was sick for a couple of months before that and he knew he would die soon. He called them and talked to them to make sure that they were feeling content with what he gave them. He made them promise that they wouldn’t drift away and maintain their relationship and pass on it to their kids.

For a man who had lived his life his way with no care for others, and lived as if his motto was earning money, his last wish was not that his kids shouldn’t squander off his money. It was for them to get along in his absence.

Leonardo and Viviana took their promise seriously. They get together whenever possible and their kids are getting along not as cousins but as siblings. She was glad about that.

Angelina wanted their second child to be a girl. Leonardo wished for the same too but their second child was also a boy. They named him Valentine because he was born on the fourteenth of February. Leonardo gave up on having a girl but Angelina insisted. And they had a third son—Victor.

Angelina still hasn’t given up. She is 100% sure that her fourth would be a girl. Viviana wished for her wish to come true. Leonardo didn’t think so though. He didn’t want Angelina to go through another pregnancy when she was forty. He was content with having Ziya as the only daughter of the Vitale family.

Leonardo had given up most of the illegal business they were doing. Viviana didn’t know whether it was her influence or Angelina’s, but she was glad. Angelina was the best thing that happened to him. He had many businesses that earned him a lot. He had no need to use lowly means to add to his wealth.

More importantly, the Vitale family no longer was famous for what they did to women. Thanks to Angelina’s and Viviana’s charity work, the Vitale family nowadays is known as a philanthropic family.

Viviana smiled. She was thankful for a lot of things. Her family is the most important thing for her and thinking about it always made her happy. She has everything she ever dreamt of and some more.

She does have some regrets. Helena’s children were one of those regrets. She learned that Helena died only a year after her wedding to Leon. She immediately tried to find her children. She got angry at Leon for letting them live in the St. Michael’s Orphanage.

They were not orphans! They still had their aunt and uncle. Why should they live in an orphanage?

She met with them. The eldest daughter snapped at the sight of her and tried to kill her—literally. The youngest looked pitiful as she was tied to a wheelchair; she was paralyzed after an accident.

Viviana learned more about the accident only after that. Only then did she learn of the incident that happened on her wedding day. She was mad at Leon for hiding the truth from her. He was not even apologetic and told her to stay away from those girls. He also told her that the eldest was Evander’s. The reason Nicholai Palatini was doubtful of Helena throughout their marriage was her suspicious pregnancy. Apparently, Helena swore the baby was his and even manipulated the DNA test results Nicholai initiated.

But Nicholai knew something was going on with his wife. He doubted she was with Leander Kastello but the truth was she was continuing her affair with the other brother well into her marriage.

Viviana didn’t like what Helena did. She betrayed her husband and cared only for her happiness. Nicholai was not a saint either. She didn’t feel bad for either of them. She worried for the kids though. They are the innocents in this.

She tried talking to the girls but she only ended up getting hurt. The eldest said many hurtful words that she almost took to heart. The youngest stuck to her sister even though she knew her sister was in the wrong.

Leon didn’t approve of her meetings with the girls. She tried her best to bring the girls to her house to raise them. She could understand Magdalene—the eldest, was poisoned with the bitterness in her heart. She empathized with her because she too was once like that. Thanks to Leon’s love, she could get out of those dark feelings that only sucked the life out of her. She wanted that child to enjoy life. There was more to life than vengeance and bitterness. Love is better than anything else.

She thought that she could make the child see love, just like Leon helped her see love.

She brought Ziya with her once thinking Ziya could convince them. She saw the murderous aura around the eldest. Magdalene pushed Ziya into a moving car. Thankfully, Ziya was unharmed.

Viviana washed her hands off those girls after that. Not everyone can be saved.

Still, she couldn’t stay away for long. A year after that, she started to financially support the kids. They were still in the orphanage. The eldest looked calm as she grew up. Viviana didn’t want to show up in front of her and bring out the evil side of that child. She wished only good for those children.

She regretted not listening to her husband. He’s the smartest one among the both of them. She should have known. But what can she do? She still lets her heart win the argument against her brain.

Still, she could rest easy knowing that she tried. She tried and those kids didn’t accept her. She couldn’t take any responsibility for their actions.

She decided to focus on her family and those who were waiting for help. Why waste her empathy on those who didn’t need it?

With Martha’s help, Viviana set the table. She and Leonardo used to host Thanksgiving on alternative years but then they decided to host it at Lemon Heights each year. Viviana was interested in cooking and everyone liked the ambiance in their home. This year Lionel was free and he joined them with his family.

Viviana was the happiest seeing the long table with the plates set. The more the merrier!

"Ziya!" Viviana called for her daughter.

Her daughter has been keeping her head inside the books the entire holiday. She was preparing for her entrance exams. She was surprisingly studious from a very young age. Even after Leonardo tried to tell her that she didn’t need to study that hard, she didn’t give up.

She wanted to be a surgeon.

Viviana was reminded of Father Flanagan. He used to tell her that he wished for her to become a surgeon. She couldn’t as her life took a different path. And now seeing her daughter getting interested in the same field touched her heart. She helped her daughter in any way she could and at times worried that she was too serious. She needed to have fun But Ziya was that way. Learning was the most fun for her.

"Is dinner ready, Mom?" Ziya asked from upstairs.

"Yes, get down! Your uncle was looking for you!" Viviana shouted back. She wanted her daughter to spend some time with the family.

"I’ll get dressed first!" Ziya shouted.