Lisa put the phone near her ear and said, “She’s gone.”

Augustus answered. “I know”

Both felt silent after that. The only heavy breathing of them can be heard by phone.

“Lisa” Augustus called her name after a while.

“Yes,” she replied.

“I’m glad you called me,” Augustus said that sentence and hung up the call.

She looked at her mobile absently for a while. Just then Anna came back to her desk. Upon seeing Lisa, she said hurriedly, “My mother called ... I forgot to give her my brother’s prescription so she called asking for it. I am sorry it was urgent. It won’t happen again. Please don’t deduct my salary.” She said in a pleading tone with watery eyes.

Lisa glanced at her and said in a straight tone, “it should never happen again.” She then took her bag and left the hotel.

...

At home, Lisa felt very restless in her heart. Somehow she had started getting attracted to Augustus. After tossing and turning for a while, Lisa switched on her laptop and searched for Augustus Carlos.

A picture of Augustus Carlos appeared on the screen. He was wearing a black cashmere coat. His light brown hair was neatly styled. His blue eyes were deep and cold. His features were really sharp.

Augustus Carlos is the only son of Rheena Carlos and Alberto Carlos. His father, Alberto Carlos is the one who started this hotel business. He owns a chain of five luxury hotels, which are situated in palazzos in Italy’s main cities: (Milan, Venice, Florence, Punta Ala, and Rome)

However, when he died, his wife took over the business. At the age of 22, Augustus took his place in business and got engaged to her cousin, Giovanna. After that, Augustus built 4 more hotels, two in France, one in London, and one in the Maldives.

The Grand Carlos Hotels were elected during the World Travel Awards as Italy’s leading hotel and nominated in the Travel+Leisure 500. Recently, The Grand Hotel Carlos won second place in the Luxury24.

After strolling down, she finally saw the picture she was looking for. A young man wearing a tuxedo looked calm and noble, beside him was a beautiful and elegant young girl, smiling shyly. She was wearing an off-shoulder peach color gown looking like a royal princess. They both looked like a perfect match.

The more she looked at the picture, the more she felt distressed. She closed her laptop annoyingly. She knew she wasn't any match for him but still she felt a bit jealous looking at him with another woman. She shook her head to remove his memory and tried to sleep.

...

The next day, she worked at the hotel peacefully. She didn’t see Augustus all day nor did he call.

On Saturday, she was extremely excited to meet her son, Simon. The whole week she looked up to this one day to finally meet her son.

After breakfast, she took a taxi and went straight to St. Stephen School. She never wanted to send her son to boarding school. But after her husband died, her brother-in-law, Ted Smith started forcing her to marry him. And slowly, things turned to get ugly. She didn’t want her son to see this ugly side of his uncle. So one night, after thinking for a long time with a heavy heart, she made a decision to send him to boarding school for time being.

Her son, Simon is very understanding and an obedient son. When Lisa told him her decision, he agreed obediently and didn’t make any fuss. Lisa felt relieved after sending him away from this dirt.

After some time, when things gradually started to settle down Lisa went straight to take back her son but to her surprise, she found out that She is not his son’s legal guardian anymore. She felt frustrated and tried to take her son back but The Warden refused her strictly. She felt defeated and went back to her home disappointedly.

Soon after, she found out that Ted was behind all of this in order to force her to marry him. Or otherwise, she had to fight legally in court against him to win his son’s custody. Ted knew her financial status very well. She couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer, winning the case it’s just a dream for her.

But Lisa was stubborn. She still refused to marry him and go for a legal fight. Ted was really pissed by her decision. The more she rejected him, the more he wanted to conquer her. After that, Ted kept pestering her, but she kept turning him down.

It was a bright sunny day. The taxi driver pulled the car over at the gate of St. Stephen School. For the last six months, every Saturday Lisa came here to meet her son.

As soon as she entered, a guard greeted her, some Teachers also greeted her while walking past her. She entered the Hostel Building and greeted the Warden. “Hello, Linda Madam.”

“Hello, Miss Lisa Mathew.” The Warden replied back. The Warden was a middle-aged woman with white hair and a curvy body. Her smile is always warm and gentle.

“Can you call Simon?” Lisa requested politely.

“Of course. I’ll go and bring him myself. Just wait a moment.” The Warden excused herself and went up through the stairs.

As this is a high-profile hostel. The rooms in it are furnished, quite spacious. Each has internet access. In common use, there is a laundry, a lounge, and a kitchen. The hostel is guarded around the clock. To promptly solve the organization and everyday issues that students face in the building, there are curators.

Meals in the hostel are organized according to the boarding principles. The cafeteria serves mainly Italian dishes. Sports infrastructure includes a gym, volleyball, basketball courts, and a tennis court. The St. Stephen School also leases halls and fields in several major sports centers in Rome, Italy.

While looking around, Lisa heard the footsteps rushing towards her. Lisa turned around and saw her son Simon rushing towards her with a smile on his face. While the Warden is worried and keeps telling him to slow down and watch his steps on stairs.

Lisa crouched down and hugged her son tightly. “Mommy .. I missed you.” Simon said while pouting his face.

“Mommy misses you too .. Simon,” Lisa said while touching his face.

Simon looked very much like his father, Tom Smith. He was almost carved out of the same mold as him, especially his eyes with extremely long eyelashes.

He was wearing short jeans and a red t-shirt. “Mommy, I want to live with you and uncle Ted. Why don’t you accept his offer.?” Simon asked innocently.

Lisa was shocked by his words and asked, “Who told you about this offer.?”

“Uncle Ted told me, he wants me and you to live with him like a family,” Simon answered honestly.

Since Simon came here, Ted always came to visit him so he took this opportunity to use Simon to make her surrender. No matter how Ted is, he had always treated Simon as his own son and Simon also loved him too much.

“Uncle Ted already has a family. Auntie Mary, Iris, and Victoria. We are not his family. We are his brother’s family. Now that your dad is gone, we both are each other's family.” Lisa tried to explain to her son calmly and felt sad remembering her husband.

Simon felt disappointed and lowered his head. Lisa saw her son’s actions and felt pity for him in her heart. After all, he is just a child, How would he know his uncle’s evil intentions?

“You know what, I have been promoted. I am the new General Manager now. I will earn a lot of money and take you with me as soon as possible.” Lisa said this to cheer her son on.

As expected, her son looked up surprised and asked, “Really? Mommy?” Lisa nodded.

Simon's smile widened and then he said excitedly. “When I’ll go home. I will invite my friends to a party.. Yay..!” He jumped excitedly.

Lisa frowned and asked, “Did you make any friends this time.?”

Simon is a quiet child. He didn’t make any friends. It's very rare to be a friend of Simon. In the last six months, he had never mentioned any friends.

“Yes Mommy, I made 2 friends,” Simon said proudly raising his two fingers.

“Wow Simon.. that’s great. What’re their names.?” Lisa asked.

“Maria and Tony,” Simon said.

“Maria? Isn’t she a girl.?” Lisa asked confusingly.

“Yes.! She is the new monitor of our class. Some kids were trying to bully me and Tony but Maria complained about them to the principal. Her father is very rich so the principal always listens to her words.” Simon explained to her mom.

“Ohh,, it looks like she is a super-rich kid wearing a cape and flying in school.” Lisa teased Simon jokingly. Simon laughed and stretched his arm and ran around her mom.

“Slow down, little fellow,” Lisa said laughingly.

“What about your other friend.?” Lisa sat on the bench and pulled Simon over to sit on her lap.

“Tony helps me in the study, a lot and now he is my roommate too,” Simon said excitedly.

“Wow..! That’s good news.” Lisa raised her hand for a high-five and Simon gave her high-five gladly. She spent the whole day with Simon until it got dark. She then returned home happily and felt very light. After her husband died, Simon is the only true blessing left behind.