Vincenzo was in the changing room after taking a quick shower following basketball practice, now getting dressed. Tristan then came out of the shower rooms with a towel wrapped around his waist. He walked to a corner and started getting dressed silently.

Tristan envied Vincenzo who was going home to spend the rest of the day under the same roof as Vienna. He was willing to give anything to have such privilege. Why couldn't he be invited to spend time at the Rosario mansion when Letizia was welcome to even be in Vincenzo's bedroom. Why couldn't Francesco Rosario have the same rules regarding Vienna? Tristan's parents were much more liberal. He knew if Clarisa wished it she was allowed to invite boys over to the house. But of course their father was going to keep an eye out but she was allowed to invite anyone. However she had no boyfriend yet. She had been asked many times by Alton and she had told him she might save him a dance at the prom to please Azurine since they were close. But that was as interested as she became. He smiled to himself. His sister may not have been interested in inviting boys but she did not mind having sleep overs with the girls. The next weekend was going to be amazing. He was going to enjoy hanging out with the guys staying over at his home and he was going to enjoy Vienna's closeness in their mansion. It was a relief that he didn't have to hide his feelings for her any more. He wasn't keen on the idea of girls staying over before revealing to Vienna how he felt. But now he welcomed the idea with open arms.

Tristan was brought out of his thoughts as Vincenzo spoke without looking at Tristan pulling his socks up " Do you have to go to your mother again today after school?"

Tristan nodded as he pulled his shirt over his head " Yes. I do actually. Do you want to go instead of me to her office? We can swap. I am ready to make a deal. I go to your home and you go to my mother's office to spend time with her after school. Lets see how grateful you will become for having your mother and not mine in your family. After spending half a day with my mother, you will appreciate your mother for sure."

Vincenzo chuckled as he was wearing his shoes. He didn't say anything back and as he got ready, he walked outside to join his siblings to go home.

Tristan walked behind him exiting the changing room and looked outside the windows in the corridors spotting Vienna and Viggo waiting outside for their older brother to join them next to the basketball courts. He wished he could go with them. Any minute with Vienna felt like heaven. He walked through the corridors and went to his mothers office. He knocked and entered.

He walked in silently and went to the window looking outside waiting. His mother of course was occupied with her work on purpose delaying him unnecessarily so he got to spend less time with his father when they got home. His parents must have had a fight recently to make her become more competitive than usual. She was sitting behind her desk typing on the type writer. She had her own personal assistant, PA Gillian, for that but she sometimes liked to type up her own letters if they were too private. He wondered who she was writing to.

He turned around leaning to the wall as he was looking outside the window silently waiting for Vienna to come into sight at the front gate so he could watch her leave. At the same time he was waiting for his mother to acknowledge him finally. She liked taking her time as usual.

Tristan waited and waited. There was no sign of Vienna yet and his mother wasn't finished either. He looked at his watch wondering when his mother was going to finish. Lucky Trent didn't have to attend because he had saved him from coming to the office as he had asked to stay behind to help Azurine. But of course, him and Clarisa had to attend. His sister was late.

Minutes later a knock came on the door. Tristan watched as Clarisa entered as she was breathing hard obviously after running hard.

Tristan frowned " Are you alright? Did something happen at the cheer leading practice?"

Clarisa smiled " Not really. We got carried away with the practice.... It's going well." Of course she didn't want to praise Edward Blake in front of Tristan to fuel his resentment and hate towards him. Edward was actually quite gifted in every way. Not only he had helped them in lifts but had great ideas for choreography too. Hell was going to break loose if Tristan found out how much time Edward had spent talking to the team including Vienna. They had stayed behind longer as practice was more intense. This meant she was in trouble now for being late.

Sancia looked up at her daughter " Darling ... you are late..." But the threat was evident in her voice. Her voice was harsh.

Tristan didn't like his mother's tone. He argued " Mother, the cheer leaders have some big games to cheer for and the size of the team is bigger now since they have to train the basketball members in their team too. Clarisa came here as fast as she could. You can ask their coach." No one threatened his sister while he was around. Of course their mother was a special case.

Sancia stated " I will ask her. Thank you for pointing that out Tristan."

Tristan crossed his arms over his chest " You are welcome."

Sancia didn't say anything and carried on typing. It was unbelievable how protective Tristan was when it came to Clarisa. When Sancia searched her memories, she couldn't recall any instances in the past that Sergio, her brother ever defended her. So protectiveness of his siblings wasn't a trait Tristan had inherited from her side of the family. He was his father's son in terms of his character mostly.

Clarisa sat down on a chair opposite her mother's desk. She looked at her brother and mouthed a thank you to him. If it wasn't for Tristan, she could be punished. Their mother was really ruthless when it came to dealing with punctuality.

Tristan turned to Clarisa " How are things? Did you have a good day?"

Clarisa smiled at her brother " Sure, I got good grades today. But can you help me with my engineering project? It's due in two weeks time but I need help."

Tristan was glad Clarisa asked him for help. He loved helping her and it made him feel satisfied when he made himself useful as the older brother " Any thing for you. Give you your brief today and I will see what I can do."

Tristan wished his sister always found him approachable to tell him anything. If she didn't trust him, it meant he was doing something wrong. Then he couldn't protect her. Tristan smiled at the window as he saw Vienna. She was silently following Vincenzo alongside Viggo towards the school gates to be picked up by a car.

Tristan felt jealous. He would have given anything to share a car with her. He watched them as he took a deep breath. She walked in the most elegant way he had ever seen. Everything about her was adorable. She was just perfect in every way. He couldn't wait to date her but it wasn't the right time to ask her out. He didn't want to get rejected and he was sure she wasn't even ready to think of him as more than friends.

Vienna had so much on her mind as she was walking to the school exit following her brothers. She was exhausted from the long day at school but she was occupied with the thoughts of Tristan too. Ever since she had found out Tristan fancied her alot had changed. She had confessed to her feelings towards Tristan that she never knew she ever could have the courage of admitting. She did fancy him but she wasn't sure how she could look at her mother and tell her she was going to the prom with him. She worried about her reaction more than her father's. Viggo had already told their father and her father was going to interrogate Tristan for this soon. Maybe her father had already told her mother.

Vienna always expected for her father to protest and grill any boy inside out if they dared ask her to the prom but she knew her mother was different. She liked her to have a boyfriend but she didn't approve of criminals for her as a match. She just didn't. Her mother must have been livid right now if she was told that the heir to Sancia Giovanni and Emanuelle O'Neil, two well known crime families fancied her. She had to speak to her or maybe her mother was going to talk to her first.

As Vienna sat down in the car and looked outside the window she trembled at recognising a tall figure from behind the windows of the main building where the principals office was as he was looking directly at her. He even waved at her. She waved back holding her breath. She felt emotions that were strange to her. She loved him and she knew he did too.

The ride to the house was in silence. Viggo was reading a magazine about cars and Vincenzo was talking to Alexander through the car phone. Vienna was thinking of how to talk to her mother about Tristan and when.

As they reached the mansion, the Rosario children got off the car not noticing their mother watching them behind the window of her office.

Adele was back from work at home having a cup of tea in her office with a book in her hand as she was waiting for her children and Francesco to return so they could have dinner soon. As she was watching her children get off the car, she was feeling uneasy. She was having this nostalgic feeling. She was thinking of her past, what had been and what could have been. She was thinking of how far she had come. As her children entered the house, she turned and put the book and cup of tea on a table. She started walking around her office as she looked at the photos of her children in her office. It was like yesterday that they were gifted to her. She remembered how exactly it felt to hold each one of her children in her arms.

As she was looking at the photos in the room, she felt unease as she looked at Vincenzo's childhood photos. He had changed so much. There was no sign of the son he used to be. Now she hoped maybe Letizia could make a difference. Maybe she could calm him down. The meeting she had with Letizia last night had changed her views. Now Vincenzo had a girlfriend. She never thought he could manage that. That was a breakthrough that brought her hope that his son had a heart.

Adele walked to one of the cupboards in the corner. It was a locked one. She unlocked it and reached inside one of the drawers and took out a tiny baby blanket. It was Vincenzo's first blanket. Adele smiled at the thought of how tiny Vincenzo used to be. That tiny baby boy was a bundle of joy. The day he was born she had seen Francesco cry.

When Vincenzo had entered their lives as their first child, their lives had changed. Their family felt complete. Now she wished she could turn back time and could experience that complete feeling again.

To Adele and Francesco Vincenzo, was still the same adorable baby boy who had lightened up their lives as their first born. She hugged the blanket to her chest and took a deep breath inhaling the scent that was still on the blanket. She just wished she could turn back time and could protect her son from who he had become. He was different from her other children and she could sense it. She wished he could be like Vienna and Viggo who were more open with her.

Tears came to her eyes. She missed the old days. She really did wish she could revisit the days when all her children were toddlers. But she knew even by turning back time she couldn't fix anything. When they were younger it was easier to protect them. Now they had a mind of their own. She put the blanket back in the drawer and closed it. She then opened another drawer pulling out a pink and a blue blanket. They belonged to her twins, her shining lights. She couldn't describe her feelings when she looked back to the day they were born. A girl and a boy. It was amazing. Angelo, her brother always guessed she was going to have a twin since Angelo and Adele were twins. But she didn't think much of it. All she cared for was having a child who lived. As long as she was gifted with a child, it didn't matter if she had a girl, a boy or twins. She put back the blankets and smiled sadly. She loved all her children. She was blessed but she had this unwelcome feeling in her heart that her son was getting more and more distanced. She didn't tell Francesco truly how heart broken she was. Francesco was going to be really cross with his son if he heard of the depth of the cold treatment his eldest son was giving Adele. She just couldn't do it. She was afraid of what Francesco was capable of when it came to protecting her and caring for her. Besides what was the point of Vincenzo being forced to apologise by his father or being forced to spend more time with her or be kinder to her. She wanted to him to stop his harsh treatment of her sometimes which he mostly did when Francesco was away on trips. He was worst when away from his father's sight. She didn't mind getting hurt but she wished she could tell her son how much she loved him and cared for him even if she wasn't happy with his behaviour and reported him to Francesco. Vincenzo hated nothing more than being told off by Francesco and almost always Adele was the cause of it.

There was a knock on the door and Adele wiped her tears as she spoke " Come in."

It was Vincenzo who entered. He saw his mothers tears and he was taken back. He froze.

Adele hadn't noticed that it was obvious she had been crying even though she had wiped off her tears. She whispered " Hi Vincenzo. How was school?"

Vincenzo frowned and closed the door behind him as he was staring at his mother " Who has made you cry mother. Tell me." He sounded demanding but almost caring.

Adele sighed " I am fine son."

Vincenzo slowly walked to his mother " Well, you don't look fine. Give me a name mother. Who has made you cry?"

Her son was standing in front of her staring at her with hardened eyes and he was taking no prisoners when demanding answers when he asked questions just like his father. He wanted a straight answer which Adele couldn't give.

Adele smiled weakly "It doesn't matter. Why don't you get changed? I will get dinner from downstairs soon..."

Vincenzo narrowed his eyes " Mother.... It's me again. Isn't it? You think of me and my actions... That's what keeps upsetting you..." His tone was accusing but Adele could surprisingly feel some concern behind his words.

Adele looked away " It doesn't matter ..."

Vincenzo put his hands on his hips staring at his mother who was avoiding his gaze " Mother... I am sorry."

Adele gasped and looked at Vincenzo. Had she heard right?

Vincenzo stated " I am sorry for being the cause of your pain. It's unintentional. You choose to worry about my actions when you don't need to, mother...."

Adele was shocked. He never apologised unless Francesco ordered him to do so.

Vincenzo spoke in frustration " Why do you feel hurt because of me? I can't change. I am sorry. This is who I am. I am sorry I can't be like Viggo. I wish I could be but I can't. I am sorry." He then walked away to the door without a word and left the room leaving Adele deep in shock from his sudden apologetic approach. It had never happened before without Francesco's interference.