Chapter 4

I started my day by spending the rest of the morning awake, how does one fold their eyes after what happened in that room during the night?

I couldn't mask to my sister what had happened, she had this ability to read people that scared me... and I was always the target of her readings.

I got up without feeling like it because I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone that morning, but after brushing my teeth and rinsing my face things got a little better for me.

The rush through the house was remarkable, were they already putting things in place for the damn wedding, or had something bad happened? I could hear my father shouting in his study, he was quite irritated.

My sister was not in the kitchen as usual eating her light breakfast and prepared to criticize me for eating compulsively without any fear of judgment.

"What happened, where's Mirella?"

 asked the cook 

"Her sister left early this morning, she said she needed to buy some things for her trousseau."

"And my father, why is he yelling so much?"

 I said now caring less.

"Nobody knows, but it seems like it's something very serious... well.... he's going to end up telling your sister everything at some point or another! You know him..."

"You're right, I'll have a cup of coffee and go over there later to see if he needs anything..."

I did exactly what I said I was going to do, but it took me an hour or so. Taking ant bites out of my bread so that the coffee would never end, and I wouldn't have to participate in yet another drama of a stolen drug shipment or the death of someone who broke some rule.

Mirella came in excited, full of bags, and with a smile on her face that I hadn't seen in a while.

"Where did you go?"

 I asked good-naturedly 

"You could have called me to come with you."

" I wanted to do it alone, I went to buy some married woman things."

She spoke the word MARRIED with such pride that it gave me a little pity.

What were married women's things? What did that mean? Didn't it sound like something strange to say?

"Aren't you even going to ask what it is?"

 she said a little indignantly.

"What should I ask Bea? I don't know... Never mind.

My father emerged from the kitchen, with a very unfriendly and unnerved expression. He looked very disappointed, and this was not exactly his normal state. Considering that he was always a pompous and very proud guy. Right behind him was his mistress, I mean, wife. Madelaine, that was the name she made up and I pretended I didn't know her name was Rita and she had no connection to the pure blood families.

"good morning girls,..."

 said my father with his head down

"Look... Mirella went shopping, what good did you buy dear?"

Said Madelaine rummaging through the bags, Mirella was polite...and she was looking for someone to pay attention to her in this whole wedding thing.

"Yes, I went to buy some women's things...my wedding is coming up soon, and I want to be prepared."

My dad twisted his face a little, he seemed extremely bothered by what she was saying, he didn't even sound like the same anxious expensive guy that was in the salon yesterday.

Crazy to seal a highly profitable union to his pocket and his name.

"What happened Dad?"

I asked interrupting the two clowns exchanging figurines about caved-in panties as if it wasn't embarrassing enough to know that that brat should wear the same kind of clothes with my father in bed.

He was looking away, and when I called out to him he seemed to have been awakened from a trance. It was strange, if I put together all the screams from earlier and now that posture I could only conclude that someone died and he didn't want to tell us.

"Is everything okay with Grandma?"

 I said already with my heart in my hand.

"Your grandmother is fine, she is even coming here"

 He said with a still wistful smile.

This was good news, my mother's mother being there... she was our reference of someone decent, and my father adored his ex-mother-in-law to the point of calling her his mother.

"This is nice, having Grandma here to help me with the preparations...I think I'm living a dream!"

Mirella said, still with a silly smile on her lips, I liked to see her so happy, it had been a long time since I had seen her.

I knew it was for some stupid reason, but who was I to judge?

My father once again rolled his eyes... and that was far from normal. So abnormal that even my sister who was on cloud nine with the news of her wedding noticed.

"Dad, speak up... what happened, you're not normal!"

she said a little more vehemently, that was the benefit of being an older sister.

"Bea...my daughter...we need to talk!"

he said in a very low tone of voice, almost as if he didn't even want her to hear.

"Okay, so talk! I need to know soon...soon I won't be here to solve all the problems you two have!"

 she said even sounding a little arrogant, she looked at me and my father.

I had already figured it out, we were in some kind of shackles... we were chains that she desperately had on her hands and feet, and this marriage was the possibility to kick us in the ass and be able to live her own life, without being my mother... or my father's caretaker.

What Mirella hadn't understood was that maybe I needed all that care at the age of six, but that she was sinning by the measure now that I was a grown woman. I never asked for this excessive care of myself, but I thought it was fair that she was so upset. Who can put up with hell like that for all this time?

"We'll talk upstairs in my office, it'll be better that way...shall we?"

 he said very calmly, this was terrible news.

I felt a little bad that I was never included in these conversations about our family's future, I was the eternal idiot... the eternal girl they had to raise because I was motherless.

But if I stopped to think about it, Mirella was only four years older than me...she doesn't inspire that much more experience.

They went upstairs to the office, and I didn't leave my seat... I was dying to know what they were talking about upstairs, but I decided to let the news come alone.

It would be better that way.

It didn't take long before the screams started again, but now it was Mirella who was shouting at the top of her voice

"THIS ISN'T FAIR! FUCK... THIS ISN'T FAIR AT ALL! I'VE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS MY WHOLE LIFE!

She was screaming and screaming and it could go from a normal chirp to the two of them starting to offend and assault each other in a few seconds, I restrained myself, anyway, it wasn't my problem and I wasn't going to interfere.

"WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TELL HER? YOU'RE GOING TO TELL HER NOW! JUDITH CALL SOFIADOWNSTAIRS"

 I heard another scream and a few minutes later Jud's little footsteps down the stairs denoted the terror.

"Bella, your father, and sister.... they are calling you inside...sounds like something serious...Mistress Mirella is out of control!"

 she said being the gossip she always was, that day I was thankful for the gossip since for the first time I was going into the office to discuss something that had to do with me.

Did they already know what happened the night before? Did I leave a loophole? Did that animal tell me that it was in my room at that time of night? I took the time to go upstairs because I was afraid of the consequences of what had happened? my heart was burning, the air seemed to be short and my whole body was hot.

How was I going to solve this case? I could start crying and apologizing, I think that would be effective...if I pretended it wasn't my fault...and it wasn't, even though I heard that I provoked someone.

I climbed step by step full of patience and in no hurry at all to get to the damned office where the two of them were.

As soon as I entered Mirella looked at me with a look full of hate, damn, she already knew... he told them.

I thought at that moment that it was better to start crying and apologize, but I realized that it wouldn't help so I kept my composure as much as I could.

"What happened, why those faces at me?"

 I said curiously and nervously.

"You managed to get everything out of me...tell her dad! Tell her that not only did she steal my childhood, my adolescence, but now she has stolen my fucking future!"

Wow, how much grief... she wasn't telling me this just because of a visit from her drunk fiancé in my room, my father remained silent. without courage perhaps to tell me what was happening.

"WHAT WAS IT? FATHER?"

 I shouted already with tears in my eyes - I am listening to this piece of shit from Mirella and I don't even know how I should defend myself since I don't even know what I did...

"CONFIRM YOUR FATHER!" she shouted louder.

"Bella my child...a setback has happened...and plans have changed a bit."

 Still, with her head down she refused to face me.

Mirella was nervous about the situation, and the fact that my father could not be clear and took the reins of the situation.

"Congratulations seductress, Petros no longer wants to marry me...he told daddy in the morning!"

My heart cut into a thousand pieces, did it have to do with what happened inside that salon? I decided to keep my mouth shut and act like an idiot

"What are you talking about Mirella? What do I have to do with your shitty marriage? I don't give a shit!"

I snapped, because it was true, I didn't give a shit about that circus.

"Called or not called, I congratulate you for destroying my future! I hate you, Isabella, I hate you too much!"

She finally left the room slamming her foot and the door so hard that I thought I was going to fall apart the moment she made that loud noise.

I looked at my father not understanding anything and he said to me, "Sit down Bella, I'll tell you what happened.