Chapter 15

Francesca drove herself to a famous cafe at the outskirts of the Capital. She just wanted to get away, it's not like she didn't understand that her family wanted to keep her safe. Growing up they had told her that she could be anything she dreamed to be, but as she grew older they did things that made her feel like that wasn't the truth.

Francesca looked out at the city as she thought back to how her parents never stopped her from taking acting lessons, but they wouldn't allow her to pursue a career in acting. They also allowed her to take up a business major in University, but they had no plans of letting her have a career in business.

They always told her that they were just protecting her, but it seemed that the cost of their protection was her being unable to live her life. She knew that her parents were even preparing to introduce her to men they thought were eligible and capable of protecting her, in short people who would hold her back and hold her down just as they did.

Francesca sighed as she drank from her warm cup of coffee as she cried. She was never a weak woman, she always thought of herself as strong, but today she just felt like crying. She wanted a life of her own, but her family insisted on controlling even that.

"Francesca?" A familiar voice called out from behind her.

Francesca turned to find Edward Vernon with some friends.

"Oh, hey Edrward." Francesca said as she whipped the tears off of her eyes.

"Hey, you guys go ahead." Edward waved at his friends. His friends eyed him suspiciously but said nothing and left.

"I thought you guys had a family dinner?" Edward asked as he joined her.

"How did you know?" Francesca asked curiously.

"Those guys were friends of mine and Andres. He ditched us for a family dinner." Edward explained to her.

"Yeah, I left early." Francesca said with a shrug.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked as he moved closer.

"Yeah, it's nothing. Just family drama." Francesca explained.

"If you need someone, I'm just here." Edward said as he sat silently next to Francesca.

Francesca sighed and looked to the distance. They didn't say a word for at least ten minutes, Edward patiently sat next to her as he drank his coffee.

"Can you promise not to tell my brother?" Francesca asked as she played with her hair.

"Think of it as employer - employee confidentiality." Edward said with a wink.

Francesca laughed and smiled.

"They want me to quit acting and come home." Francesca said with a frown.

"Do you want to quit?" Edward asked.

"You know I don't, but I can't exactly keep acting if my family won't let me." Francesca said with a sigh as she began to tear up again.

"Your family can't dictate that. There is always an alternative." Edward said as he gently patted her on the back.

"Don't you know who my family is?" Francesca askes as her tears rolled off her cheeks. "They want me to go home and live in the old house again, I mean I shouldn't be complaining right. I get to live life like a princess. But what is living if you're in a gilded cage?"

"What if you ran away?" Edward asked her.

"Aside from the fact that my family will hunt me down? Well I can't survive on my own. I need money, I don't have a job. I wasn't exactly given the tools to survive in the real world." Francesca said as she rolled her eyes at Edward, the rich were too often naive to the real world.

"What if I told you that I'll give your pay in advance and I'll even let you stay at one of my apartments?" Edward asked.

"And what of my family? Do you think you can drive them away? Plus my last name, Rocci, is like a flare attracting all our enemies to me." Francesca threw him a questioning look.

Edward paused and thought for a while. "I have an idea, but it might be a crazy one. So it depends how desperate you are."

Francesca remained silent, how desperate was she? There wasn't anything wrong with her life, she was never hungry and she got almost everything she wanted. Was she willing to risk things for her freedom?

"Tell me your idea and then I'll think about it." Francesca said with a nod.

"We can always tell your family we are getting engaged. We can probably convince them to let you move out and live in my spare apartment. You can use my last name while acting as well, if anyone asks you could be a cousin." Edward suggested casually.

"You would do that for me?" Francesca asked.

"I won't lie to you Francesca." Edward said as he took her hand in his. "I think you are an amazing person. You're smart and brave, I like you, I don't know if I love you just yet, but I would like to get to know you more."

Francesca didn't take her hand away from his, she felt that Edward was truly genuine in his words, she noticed that he paid extra attention to her. At first she thought that it was because she was Andres' sister, but Edward's confession just made things clearer to her.

"Can you give me a night to think about it?" Francesca asked.

"Take all the time you need. The deadline isn't on my end." Edward said with a laugh. "Do you want me to drive you home?" He asked Francesca.

"No need. I'll go to my apartment. Thanks Edward." Francesca said with a sweet smile.

"Let me walk you to your car." Edward said, as he stood up and offered her his hand.

Francesca took it and they walked back to her car together.