Episode 17

"Do you know where Angelina is, Mary?" Stella asked curiously as she dried her hair with a towel, sitting in front of her dressing table.

"I don't know. Earlier, she went out with Mrs. Olivia and they haven't returned yet," Mary replied, laying out some dresses on Stella's bed for her to choose from for the evening.

"I'm anxious to see if Dad will let Angelina go to the opening of Pietro's brother's new bar, Romeo. Not that I care about her presence," Stella said quickly. "But Angelina has been up to no good lately, and I think Dad won't let her go."

"Even among the servants, Angelina is spoken of poorly," Mary commented in a whisper, lowering her voice in case someone might overhear from outside the room. "One of your father's soldiers quit. It seems it was because of Angelina's behavior."

"Which soldier?" Stella knew Angelina was involved with random guys, but a mere soldier? That wasn't her sister's style.

"Paco," Mary replied. "That tall, muscular Spanish guy with green eyes that all the housemaids were sighing over when he passed by."

"Oh! Yes!" Stella exclaimed, recalling the man. "Angelina has good taste." She smiled.

"Well, it seems it all started quite innocently, with some touching and teasing jokes from Angelina. However, they started gossiping in the house that the two had kissed and more. So, knowing he would be a dead man if your father even dreamt of that possibility, he quit and disappeared," Mary concluded the gossip.

"Poor thing. Angelina is incorrigible," Stella criticized.

"If it is true, he also took advantage of the situation, Stella. 'It takes two to tango,'" Mary referenced a popular saying, but in Angelina's case, it would be 'It takes two to kiss.' Either way, it was for the best. It would have been terrible for the guy if your father found out about these rumors.

Part of this story was true. The security guard was indeed attractive, and Angelina thought he could help her fulfill her goal of losing her virginity without much difficulty since he worked in the penthouse. Unfortunately, after some advances from her, Angelina realized that the guy was too cowardly and terrified of her father. There was no kiss or more intimate touch, and the poor guy quit.

Later, when Stella was almost ready, Olivia entered her room. She had just arrived home with Angelina, and her younger sister went straight to take a shower.

"Angelina is also going with you, Stella," Olivia said in a calm but firm tone that allowed no room for questions.

"Does Dad know about this?" Stella asked, raising an eyebrow with a bored expression.

"Of course he does," Olivia confirmed. "I see no problem with your sister accompanying you to this opening. If you want, you can even keep an eye on her for your father." Olivia teased, knowing that her youngest daughter was in favor of everything her father did with Angelina.

"I'm not her babysitter!" Stella exclaimed, pretending to be offended. "As far as I'm concerned, Angelina can go and do whatever she wants. She'll be the one getting a bad reputation."

"My dear, be aware that the actions of both reflect on the whole family. You should always defend your sister. As long as the gossip stays between you and Mary, it's fine," Olivia looked at Stella, showing that she knew she was speaking ill of her sister with the former nanny, now governess of the penthouse. "However, once the dirty laundry is aired outside the house, it won't be good for either of you."

For a moment, Stella pondered on her mother's words. In fact, unintentionally, Angelina was her only blood sister. She could feel overwhelmed and inferior, but continuing to encourage gossip about her sister would not bring anything good. Not to mention that lately, Stella was starting to become genuinely concerned about this. Before, she was sure that it was all just rumors, as Angelina had always been in love with Mr. Greco's son. However, after Stella found out that he was engaged to Giovanna Rotolo, she realized that Angelina had truly started misbehaving.

"I'm already ready. Where is she?" Stella inquired impatiently.

"She must be almost ready," Olivia replied and then went to hurry Angelina along.

For this event, both Stella and Angelina had gotten ready without professional help. Because of this, when Olivia entered Angelina's room everything was a mess. Indeed, they had returned late and Angelina had little time to change.

"My goodness, child. What a mess!" Olivia exclaimed, observing the various dresses thrown on Angelina's bed. "Stella is already ready. Hurry up so you don't make your sister late," Olivia urged anxiously.

"Of course, Mom. Stella started getting ready hours ago. I didn't even know I could go today," Angelina said while applying her makeup.

Obviously, Olivia knew that Angelina was referring to her father's prohibition. She couldn't leave the house at night unless Olivia and Joseph were also going, which was not the case for tonight's event.

"Stop complaining and hurry up," Olivia picked up one of the dresses on Angelina's bed. "Use this one. You don't have time to be indecisive anymore."

"I'm not complaining." Far from Angelina complaining about this additional chance, she thought, taking the dress from Olivia's hand.

The dress her mother chose was quite discreet. Black, it went halfway to her thigh, with a front scoop neckline and open back. Since Angelina didn't have huge breasts, the necklines didn't look vulgar or flashy on her. A belt finished off the whole look.

"Quite plain this dress," commented Angelina, pursing her lips as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Darling, anything looks beautiful on you. The dress is great and you shouldn't attract too much attention to avoid new gossip," Olivia warned, looking sternly at her daughter. "Come on, come on, Stella is downstairs, waiting for you."

Taking a deep breath, Angelina said nothing more and followed her mother to the ground floor of the penthouse. The opening of Romeo's bar was highly talked about and everyone wanted to attend. He was a little older than Angelina, had attended a university abroad, and surely this party would be full of interesting guys.