Leila resumed her school in the next morning. As usually, she was greeted by stares and glares. Like every other time, she ignored them and tried to focus on her studies.

Adriano stared at Leila from a distance. He could see that there was something about her that has been changed. She did not look gloomy instead she had a small smile playing on her lips. It made him take a double take at her.

'Is she really ok?' He asked himself.

Alexander glared as usually as his eyes fell on her. Leila looked up at him, catching his glare. After a moment of staring, she looked away unbothered.

The action made Alexander clench his teeth. He stood up from the chair and started to storm towards her.

Every student in the class quietened down and watched the scene with curious and excited eyes.

Leila did not see him but she felt his presence. His dark aura reached her first.

She almost shuddered, feeling his hand wrapping around her wrist. In a swift motion, he had pulled her out of her seat.

Leila looked up in his eyes, meeting his glare and hatred.

"What do you want?" She asked with a displeased tone.

"Who the hell do you think you are, bitch? How dare you ignore me?"

She could not help but raise her eyebrows at his words.

"Do you really not know me, Alexander King? For your kind information, I don't care about your petty presence. Does that answer satisfy you?"

She taunted slowly. She knew if she got scared from him, he will only find more reasons to make her fear.

It was not like she needed to fear him.. she knew he was all bark but bite.

Alexander for the first time, flinched back. His hold around her faltered. The silence in the room was so intense that you could practically hear a pin-drop.

"I will fucking break this attitude of yours! You don't know your fate, Leila! Your fate is to be the King family's slave! You will serve me and my family like a pretty little bitch!" He growled.

Leila did not pay any mind to his words thinking that he was just bluffing.

He released her wrist and looked at her face with furious eyes. It looked like she did not seem to believe his words at all and Alexander will make sure that she regrets this move in future.

She was not allowed to smile and one day; he will make sure to engrave this in her mind.

As the teacher finally arrived in the room, Alexander stormed out of the room, completely unbothered of his presence. The time to put their plan into action was coming dangerously close and Alexander sure could not wait for it.

****************

After the tiring day at school, Leila arrived back home. Just as she finished having some snacks, Angelo arrived in her room unannounced.

"Get dressed. We are going out." With these six words, he was out of the room.

Leila stared at the closed door with a small frown on her face. She wanted to refuse but could not bring herself to argue with Angelo. Their relationship was still somewhere rocky.

With a small sigh, she stood up from the bed to get dressed. She wore a full sleeved red top and paired them with a pair of black jeans.

She took a full glance at her appearance in the mirror and gave a small nod of approval but almost hesitated.

She looked at her long hair that was easily reaching down her butt. She bit her bottom lip and stared at herself.

Now with a determined look in her eyes, she crouched down and shuffled through the cupboards. She grabbed the object she needed and stood up.

Leila looked at the mirror once again and nodded her head. She needed to change.

"This brat is sure taking her time." Antonio grumbled under his breath.

Zach looked up at him with a small roll of his eyes.

"She's a girl. Don't you know girls take 'some' time to get ready?!"

"But she's just a kid. Angel kid." Luciano pouted almost childishly.

"She's no longer a kid, Luciano." Vincent corrected their younger brother.

Xavier, Carlo and Angelo ignored their younger brothers. Carlo and Angelo were talking about some business matter while Xavier was checking some texts.

They all looked up at the sound of heels clicking on the tile floor. The younger four took double take while the older three just stared silently at Leila's new appearance.

She had trimmed her once long hair to shoulder length. This look actually suited her more.

"Woah." Luciano was in awe as a whisper left his mouth.

"You look nice, Leila." Vincent said while quickly covering Luciano's mouth if due to his unpredictable behavior, he was going to comment something rude. But judging his awe-struck expressions, it did not ook exactly like what he was going to say.

"Why the change?" Unsurprisingly, it was Angelo who asked that.

Leila froze, a little self-conscious.

"I-I thought I-I umm--."

"Why does it matter? It was her choice and hair afterall." Antonio grumbled.

"We should head out now. Vincent, Luciano and Antonio will go together. Carlo, Angelo and Leila, you three will be going in the second car while I and Zach will be following you in the other car. I don't want fights or arguments on the way. Luciano! You won't be driving today. All of you know the rest of protocol." Xavier instructed his siblings while motioning at his brothers with the last sentence.

Chorus of yes rang and nods were seen and just as everyone started moving, Xavier again spoke.

"You look beautiful as always, Leila."

And, with that he left his siblings shell-shocked.

Thank you for reading... I hope you like these chapters.... Do comment if you have any suggestion... Check out my other works if you have time or interest...

You can get early access of 'The Missing Piece' upto chapter 75 on my Patreon account. Link is in the profile...💖❤