FRANCESCO'S POV ~_______~_______~

I woke up with a throbbing headache. I held my head and groaned, sitting up. Just how much did I have to drink last night?

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, realizing I was not in my bedroom, but rather the couch in my office. A blanket was draped over me. I frowned in confusion, my eyes setting on the glass of water with two pills and a note on the table in front of me.

I put the pills in my mouth after inspecting them, chugging it down with water. I then picked up the note and read it quickly.

Hi, Francesco.

I came to talk to you but you were wasted. So, here you go because I know you're going to have a horrible hangover. Come to my room when you're ready, I still need to apologize for my actions properly, not when you're drunk and won't even remember anything.

-Verity.

I sighed as small parts and memories from last night came in my mind. She held me over the toilet, my daughter saw me drunk. And not a good drunk, a bad drunk. Does that even make sense?

Not even my eldest son has ever seen me in a bad drunken state. I've always been cautious around my children, so that they don't see me like that, so now I felt guilty. My own daughter saw me like that and had to take care of me.

I noticed my office was much cleaner. Did she clean it for me? I groaned and put my head in my hands.

I was so ashamed. I lashed out on my daughter. When she was literally lying on a hospital bed, telling me things that proved a fair point and were mostly true.

I just got angry. So angry that my daughter didn't see me as her father. Angry that she saw somebody else as her dad, angry that she was hugging that stupid Russian assassin boy and was more comfortable around him than she has been around us the past weeks.

And now I was angry that I let myself yell at my baby like that. Angry that I told her she wasn't my family. Angry that I let those words spill out, angry that I didn't apologize as soon as I saw the hurt in her eyes.

I sighed once again and went to my bedroom to take a shower. After freshening up, I looked in the mirror. Shit, my daughter saw me like this? I probably looked worse then, too.

My eyes were red and puffy. Somehow my stubble seemed to be thicker and there was deep, dark circles under my eyes. I sighed and got my suit on, after shaving my beard into a slight stubble and putting eye drops in. My phone buzzed so I picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"..Mr. Moretti? Uhm.. you need to show up to the school. Your child, well- there was a problem. See-"

I cut off the person on the other line of the phone, "I'll be there in 10 minutes."

I hung up the phone and made my way to the garage. My idiot sons can't fucking go one day without making trouble, huh?

I zoomed to the school and burst through the doors. I barged into the principals office, clearly irritated.

"Now what did my idiot son do, I swear to god if I got pulled out of work because of some stupid shit-" I started but stopped as my eyes roamed the room, my gaze falling on the girl before me.

"What the fuck?." I said and my eyes widened. My daughter sat on the chair, a red mark on her cheek. Behind her stood 2 boys and 1 girl. They looked either furious or had a blank expression. Next to her sat the type of girl I'd expect Matteo to bring home.

See I'm not the type to judge, especially not teenagers or women, but this girl was something else. She looked like she was wearing two small pieces of fabric, her hair was obviously died from brunette to blonde- and it was dead as fuck. Her face was absolutely caked with makeup, how does she not break out?

Her nose was bleeding and crooked. Damn girl, that looks like it hurts. Behind her stood 2 girls, who looked like a copy and paste of her.

"Ah, Mr. Moretti. Please-" Principal Richards started but got cut off again as two people came in. A fake blonde woman with fake tits and Botox lips, also wearing small pieces of fabric. Stood next to her was a man, weirdly old compared to her, his hair grey yet he was rocking a rather expensive Armani suit.

Ah. Sugar daddy.

(A/N:: IM SORRY I HAD TO ITS SO FUNNY TK ME😭😭😭😭😭)

"What's with me getting cut off today?!" The principal grumbled.

"I want to press charges." The fake ass woman said, pointing at my daughter, obviously not knowing of my presence in the room.

As I was about to say something, Verity spoke up.

"You can try to press charges, ma'am, but you won't be able to. See, I had reason to do as I did. Bitchney here- I mean, Brittany- was assaulting my friend. She refused to move off his lap, despite him saying 'no', asking politely, then trying to shove her off, expressing obvious discomfort. She latched on like a blood sucking leech. I then proceeded to nicely tell her she needs to respect his wishes and get off, to which she got angry and called me a slut for. She then slapped me on the face," Verity pointed to the red and slightly bruised side of her face, most likely caused by the unruly acrylics on the girl, "so I punched her in the nose. It was an act of self defense. The security tapes should have catches everything, and even if they didn't, I'm sure many students were recording and the video is most likely on the internet as we speak." Verity stated calmly. She talked in a business-like tone.

"Therefore, you can't press charges on me. I had reasonable cause to do as I did. If anything, Bitc- ahem- Brittany should be getting punished rather than me. She should be getting a worse punishment, and if my friend here would like, we could easily press charges on you. Now that wouldn't be fun, would it?"

I chuckled at my daughters antics. Oh how the tables have turned. She was good at this, I admit.

My daughters gaze shifted from me to the fake Barbie. "And even if you did press charges, it wouldn't matter much. My father most likely has the best lawyers in the world," she said, pointing at me, a smirk on her face. Checkmate.

Just about everybody was terrified of me. Francesco Moretti. Rumored to be the don of the Italian mafia (is the don of the Italian mafia), ruthless, rich, and is heartless.

That's not entirely true. I mean, I have a beating heart. The rest is true.

The fake Barbie looked horrified from me to my daughter, realization dawning on her. She just threatened to press charges on my daughter.

The girl who Verity punched got up and scurried out the room, as well as her two friends.

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.." The supposed mother said, leaving with the old man she calls her husband.

Needless to say, I was proud of Verity. She handled that much better than I would have.

After a quick talk, Principal Richards let Verity off because she didn't initiate the fight, she had a good reason, and it was her first time plus she was new here. And partially because I was her father. The same went to Verity's friends, who didn't really do anything but insult the Barbie repeatedly in the office.

-

They were allowed to go home early, so now Verity was in my car and we were sitting here awkwardly as I drove us home.

"So.." I started and she looked over. Her face was blank.

"I just wanted to talk.. about yesterday." I said, taking a deep breath.

"Just yesterday?" She muttered.

"Yea, well.. you know, earlier this week." I said, taking a sharp breath, my grip on the steering wheel tightening as she nods for me to continue.

"Look, Verity. I'm not the best father. I'm horrible, absolutely horrible. I've been nothing but horrible to you. It's just such a big change you know? That day when I got sent the video of you.. being tortured, beaten to death.. it was like something in me broke," I let out a humorless laugh. "Like I was broken. It was my fault that you had gotten taken, it happened under my roof. When I found out you were alive- god, words can't describe my happiness." I chuckled at the memory of me practically sprinting through the house to leave to get my daughter.

"I know this is new to you. I came out of nowhere- claiming to be your father. Then I said some really hurtful things while you were helplessly lying in a damn hospital bed- we still need to talk about that but I'm letting it slide for now- and I have no excuse for myself. The things I said just kind of poured out you know? I never meant any of it." I sighed and parked the car on the side of the street, turning to see my daughter.

"I'm.. I'm sorry." I muttered.

She raised an eyebrow and looked zoned out for a second before looking at me, defeated.

"It's whatever. I'm sorry too. I also said some things that were pretty uncalled for." She sighed.

I smiled at her. This was a shit apology, and I needed to sit down and have a real conversation with her. But right now, right now this was all I needed. She wasn't necessarily mad at me anymore, and that's the reassurance I needed.

This? This was progress. It wasn't a milestone.. but progress. And I'm proud. __________________________________ Word count: 1688

Before you guys bash me on my awful writing , keep in mind it is exactly 2:59 am right now and this chapter is unedited. My insomniac ass couldn't sleep so I resorted to writing. I am woozy as hell as of rn and don't even remember half the shi I typed in this chapter.

Uh alright ANWYAYS LMK ur opinions on this chapter:))

Thank you lovelies, stay hydrated and thank you for being patient w me. <33333!!