Shopping Spree

"Seriously what have you done to yourself..." Amelia muttered as she rubbed an ice pack over Gianna's swollen cheeks and eyes. Charlie was playing with his toy biting and stretching it to his heart's content.

"You look a monkey right now to be honest!" Amelia exclaimed and Gianna hit her back.

"Just do your job silently." Gianna said and Amelia mimicked silently making faces.

"What to do... we've to go out today with Brinley for an outing..." Gianna said and clenched her dress in nervousness.

"No forget it I'm not going, my foot still hurts, and my back is no better. You also have become monkey so just postpone the outing or cancel it, tell her to go by herself or with her family." Amelia said.

"I am not monkey! And I can't postpone or cancel the outing because this weekend she's getting engaged, and we're going to go shopping for her engagement." Gianna said and Amelia sighed.

"Okay go with her, but I'm not coming. You can put some make up to cover your swollen eyes... if you want." Amelia said but Gianna shook her head.

"It's fine this swelling will go away after a while, don't worry, and we're going this afternoon so till then I don't think these swelling will stay." Amelia shrugged and went in the kitchen to bring breakfast.

"Now tell me what happened yesterday." Amelia ordered.

"Well..." Gianna explained to her how she met Robert Allen and how he came yesterday uninvited and warned her about Moretti family.

"Even I don't want you to go near them." Amelia whispered.

"What? What did you say?" Gianna didn't clearly hear what she said.

"Nothing." Amelia sighed and ate her breakfast.

"I don't know whom I should believe and whom I shouldn't..." Gianna said and ate her breakfast.

"Do what your heart says. I think we shouldn't trust Robert this easily. We've known Moretti family for some time and I don't think they want to harm us in any manner, as far as I've observed." Amelia commented.

"Yeah... that's what I told Robert, they had many opportunities, but they didn't do anything, instead they showed care and kindness to us, when they could've just turned their backs on us." Gianna said making sense.

"Don't let Robert inside next time, tell him if he wants to talk, personally ask for a meeting at a café or something." Amelia said and Gianna nodded.

"Do you want something? I can buy for you, on my way back."

"Bring a few ramen packs, it's been a long time since I had them." Amelia said practically drooling. Gianna hit her head lightly.

"Just a few packs, okay? Eat less junk." Gianna exclaimed. Amelia pouted and huffed, Gianna laughed at her antics and ruffled her hair, messing them up.

"Hey! Don't spoil my hair." Amelia groaned as she fixed her hair.

----

In the afternoon,

"Gianna! Are you ready?" Brinley exclaimed as soon as the main door was opened for her to enter. Gianna nodded and welcomed her inside, but she was in a hurry, so Gianna told Amelia to close the door behind and Gianna took her purse and gave snacks to Charlie before leaving.

"Let's go!" Brinley exclaimed very excitedly. Gianna giggled listening to her excitement.

Brinley took Gianna to a few boutiques and offices of a few fashion designers, but Brinley got disappointed as she was unable to find a perfect dress.

"What happened Brinley? Are the dresses not good?" Gianna asked curiously, Brinley sighed and pouted.

"Well, I am not able to find a dress with a flower concept until now. You like dresses like those, right? I found a beautiful gown in the previous boutique we visited, but the color was very dark, and it didn't suit you." Amelia said and sighed again.

"Wait... wait, are we not here to buy 'your' dresses and accessories for 'you'?" Gianna asked in surprise.

"What? Noo I already have many dresses and accessories and for my engagement, Adam is handling these things, we both have already given order for a matching color dress set to a famous fashion designer, he'll handle my dress and Adam's suit and everything else. I brought you here today to select dress and accessories for you and Amelia, unfortunately she's injured." Gianna gasped hearing this and shook her head instantly.

"Brinley why're you doing this? I can tell Amelia to buy me a dress for the event, why do you have to do it--"

"Oh c'mon Anna! I'm also like your sister, right? Likewise, I can buy you things too, and this is nothing for me, I can buy you the whole store, so you could come and pick any dress whenever you want. Or you don't consider me as your sister?" Brinley said and pouted.

"Oh no, no it's not like that... you're my sister, it's just too much burden for me, I'm older than you, so I should be the one giving you gifts not the other way around, I can't let you buy things for me every time." Gianna said and looked down.

"Again with this, Anna... it's okay for me, and you've to look perfect as you're my fratello's partner, right?" Gianna nodded and finally gave up on arguing because a sudden thought came into her mind, she is slowly getting familiar with how much rich they are, so maybe many big businessmen and guest might be attending the event, and she can't disappoint Moretti family by her fashion sense as she already has a minus point in her, even though Moretti family finds it normal, she sometimes feels that Xavier still deserves a better person than herself.

"Gianna... I'm curious about one thing... did someone slap you recently? You've these slight marks on your cheeks and your eyes are also somewhat swollen... is everything alright?" Brinley asked as she peered closer to have a good look at Gianna's face. Gianna looked away to ignore her sharp gaze which she could feel.

"N-No! No one slapped me, and I was just listening to an emotional movie yesterday, so I cried a lot."

(A/N: Well she can't see... so obviously she was not 'watching' the movie but listening to the dialogues, just informing so that no misunderstanding arises.)

"Ohh that's why..." Brinley said in a low voice, still suspecting and staring at her face.

"Come, let's find you a beautiful dress for you!" Brinley exclaimed and dragged Gianna's hand to follow her.

They went shopping for a few hours before getting tired and resting near a fountain.

"Seriously, you bought a lot Brinley... you didn't have to buy things which were unnecessary, you didn't even let me pay once. This is not fair..." Gianna sighed and looked down.

"Again... I already told you many times, this is alright for me. Just accept it as a gift from this Santa." Gianna chuckled at her goofiness.

"Okay how about snacks treat from me? You've to let me pay this time!" Gianna exclaimed and Brinley had to give up this time.

"Okay, sure." They went to have some waffles and returned home after that.

----

"I'm home!" Brinley exclaimed as she entered the Moretti mansion.

"How was the shopping spree today? Did you find the perfect items for Gianna and Amelia?" Grace asked while she offered tea to Brinley.

"Yeah, it was hard to find, but I managed to get a marvelous match for Gianna and Fratello, also for Amelia and Derek!" Brinley showed pictures of dresses and suits to her mother. Her mother appreciated her choice, but Derek glared at her.

"Why am I Amelia's partner? And why do we have to wear matching clothes!?" Derek exclaimed.

"If you want Gianna and Fratello to be partners, then you have to accompany Amelia, so it's decided that you're her partner! No further arguments, it's my engagement, so I'll decide!" Brinley huffed and folded her arms on her chest stubbornly.

"Hmph, whatever." Derek looked away with a smirk because he actually wanted Amelia to be his partner, he was just throwing tantrums to show that he doesn't care about her.

Brinley picked up a few bags which she brought from shopping around and started going towards her room on the first floor. She met Xavier on her way to the room.

"Fratello? What're you doing here? Are you free today?" Brinley asked curiously. Xavier looked up from his phone and shook his head.

"No I came to discuss some deals and matters with dad. You went for shopping?" Xavier asked and looked at the bags in her hand.

"Yeah, with Gianna." Brinley said and blanked out for a moment, she was thinking if she should tell Xavier about Gianna's cheek marks or not.

"What? Did something happen while you were shopping? I told the guards to be around you all the time..." Xavier said getting curious of her rare blank face.

"No... it's just I noticed some red marks on Gianna's cheek today and her eyes were pretty swollen too, like someone hit her a few times, and she had cried the whole night..." Brinley said in a low voice sounding very serious. Xavier's eyes widened in shock, and he started rushing towards the stairs.

"Hey...! Fratello! Where are you going?" Brinley exclaimed as she got surprised when she saw Xavier so tensed.

"Go inside your room, I'll come back late at night." He rushed outside banging behind the main door, Grace was staring at the poor door which got banged loudly and roughly.

Brinley sighed and went in her room to arrange the things she bought in her wardrobe.