Cinderella's Secret Fling
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Michelle Douglas
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16
PROLOGUE
My darling Audrey,
I know this is going to come as a great shock to you, and I’m hoping you do not blame me too much for not revealing this to you sooner, but I know how much family means to you. And this is not a secret I can take to the grave. The decision for how to proceed is yours, my dearest girl—not mine, not your father’s and certainly not your mother’s.
My mother? I can almost hear you ask. Yes. She is not who she claimed to be and I have discovered her true identity. I’m sorry to tell you she passed away many years ago, and it was a brief news item reporting her death that prompted my suspicions and subsequent investigations.
Rather than being a poor orphan, as she always claimed, she came from a very old, very powerful and very wealthy Italian family. And apparently, you have an Italian grandmother and a plethora of cousins.
Your aunt Beatrice is now in possession of all the associated documentation, and she has been in contact with your maternal grandmother’s lawyers. Your grandmother’s name is Marguerite Funaro, and she wishes to meet you. If you wish to meet her, you can now do so. The choice is yours.
Wishing you all joy and every happiness and a life filled with love and family.
Your ever-loving Nonna
AUDREY STARED AT the letter in her hand and then up at her aunt Beatrice. Aunt was an honorary title, but Nonna’s best friend had always felt like family. For the past month she’d been in Lake Como staying with Aunt Beatrice, and yet all this time she’d had a family she’d never known about? ‘This says...’
‘Yes.’ Beatrice nodded.
‘I have...?’
‘A family? Si, Audrey, it would appear so. Your grandmother wanted me to make contact with them first as she did not want you getting your hopes up if they did not wish to recognise you. On the contrary, though, they very much want to meet you.’
A champagne fizz of excitement bubbled in her chest. And something deeper. Something that made her catch her breath.
If she was being brutally honest—and she was always brutally honest, at least with herself—she’d not fully regained her balance since Johanna had died. Losing a twin... It felt as if she’d lost a part of herself.
She’d been finding her feet again, though, slowly, every step hard-won. Then her father had made the shocking announcement that he was marrying and relocating to America. She hadn’t even known he’d been seeing someone!
Then Nonna had died. Her throat thickened. She doubted anything could fill the gap that now yawned through her. It took a superhuman effort to swallow the lump stretching her throat into a painful ache. Her family, never large, had suddenly dwindled to her, her cousin Frankie and her aunt Deidre.
But to now discover her mother’s family... A grandmother and a plethora of cousins. She’d been searching for something to anchor her, a safe harbour. Could this be it?
‘Would you like to meet them?’
It felt as if the sun had come from behind a cloud and bathed her in light. A big extended family? She clasped her hands in her lap. She wanted that more than she’d ever wanted anything. ‘Yes, please. How soon can it be arranged?’
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