SHE ALSO BOUGHT THE PLANE TICKET TO GO TO SWITZERLAND on September 29th, and go back on October 8th, after her, her siblings', and her parents' birthday have passed. When that time comes, she wants to be left alone, away from anyone she knows, alone with the unbearable pain and sadness that she knows will take over her, since it'll be her first birthday alone, without her twins, without her mom, or her dad. Away from Italy, from her home.
And Chiara also intended to deal with the will of her parents alone, and that would be handled in a bank in Switzerland, with two lawyers of her parents' trust, who have their last wishes on their hands. Then she would take care of the money and properties while she's there. That way, no one will be able to interfere on it.
At least, on the meantime, she left the villa to get her British drivers license, and as she already knew how to drive, it was a quick process. Chiara didn't tell her father's family about her travel either, as she planned to tell them a day before, so they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She also bought a Jeep Wrangler black with her money, not to need their help for transportation, because that would be an annoyance to her.
Not only was she taking care of her father's company, as she was monitoring all of her father's family's digital activities through the digital cryptic plugs she used on their stuff to connect them to her set-up, without their knowledge. Which was definitely illegal, but it was something she felt the need to do, since she didn't trust them 100 percent yet.
Thus, she was directly tuned when Kingsley received a call from none other than Nicolae Scarlat, catching her attention instantly.
"Morning, frate," [brother in Romanian]. "Can we talk now?" Nicolae asked in a calm tone, surprising Chiara with how deep his voice sounded. "You're in London, right?"
Oh, wow, he has quite the strong voice.
"Don't call me that, idiot. You know I don't like it. And yes, I'm in London. We came for K's birthday, and we are still here. Yes, we can talk. It's 6 in the morning, they are all sleeping after going to bed late," she recognized her uncle's voice right away. It was already tattooed in her brain, and she was annoyed by it.
"Good, good. Did she come too?"
She? Who? Now I'm curious! She leaned forward to the small black speaker at the side of the computer in the center. The song gone.
"Becca?" A nod came from the other line. "No. She insisted in staying back in the villa. Rufus passing is still fresh, and she's still trying to find a way to deal with the loss of her four family members."
Becca? Ew. He's talking about me! How weird, it'll take me time to get used to getting called that in here. But… why is Nicolae Scarlat asking for me? What could he possibly want? She clenched her jaw, wary.
"That's a pity, we have been all anxious to meet her. But I understand. She's only 17, poor kid. And she was the one who found them at that, it must have been traumatizing to say the least. I would be traumatized if I had found my best friend like that, I can't imagine how it was for his daughter!"
Chiara crunched her nose. He has zero idea of how I feel.
Her uncle clicked his tongue, "None of us can. But I've seen how ghosted she is. I think she's showing strong signs of depression, always locked up in her room, avoiding contact, eating almost nothing… I can only hope she won't stay like this for long, or it'll get really worrisome."
Why are they talking about me? I don't like it!
"When will you be coming back to London, frate?"
"At the end of September. I'm hoping that she'll spend her birthday with us, in London, to change the air!"
Hah, that ain't happening, zio, sorry. I won't even be in the country when my birthday comes! She rolled her eyes, relieved that she prepared it all beforehand.
"Does she know?" Nicolae asked sounding worried.
Know what? What is that for me to know? Is it about he and papa being best friends? Because now I know. Though it was not through papa.
"No," Kingsley exhaled tiredly. "She has no idea. We haven't gotten the guts to tell her yet, because we are afraid she might freak out. Rufus didn't tell her either, which is probably because he knew the daughter he had better than anyone."
Chiara gulped, feeling suddenly out of breath and suffocated. What does he mean by that? What didn't papa tell me? What are they hiding? Why the hell would I freak out if they told me? She asked herself, clenching her fists, her leg restlessly hitting the fluffy black carpet in a clear sign of her anxiety.
"You have to tell her, frate. She needs to know, especially because we'll be meeting in October. If possible on October 3rd, the day after Rufus' birthday!"
Why do I have to meet them? Is it because of papa's will? Do they think papa left something for them? Is that it? She tried to come up with something reasonable, but for once, her mind was blank.
"I know. I know. When we get back to Birmingham, we'll seat down with her and tell her everything. We tell her about the deal, about what she'll need to do, and how everything will be happening!"
Nicolae sighed, "I thought Ruffy had prepared her for this."
What deal? Prepared me for what? Damn it. Why don't they say it loudly so I can know what is it? I'm burning with anxiety now. I hate not knowing what will happen, it's s terrible feeling. She tried to steady her breath, but it was hard.
"Me too, but he hasn't. She's totally clueless about who you are, or your relationship with my brother. About our families' connection. He really left her in the dark. I tried knowing if she knew something, but it was fruitless. She never even heard the surname Scarlat, Nicolae."
Oh, now he's lying to him. But I get it. It's not like he'll tell the dude I know all about him and his famiglia because I hacked all I could about them. Using many illegal means.
"That will make things hard. But we'll manage, frate. She'll have no option but to go through with it, and I'm sure she'll adapt and get used to it after a bit of time."
She frowned. I don't like where this is going. I don't feel good.
To her dismay, her uncle agreed with Scarlat. "Indeed. We are counting on that. How will be the dinner?"
"Madalina is preparing it all with mami," [mom], "soacră," [mother-in-law], "and the girls. It'll be a grand dinner for both our and your familie," [family] "so, Kevin can bring Nairi, and Khloe can also bring Everett to accompany them. All the kids with be bringing their partners too. So, at total, with Rebecca, we'll be twenty two."
Chiara swallowed her sudden nausea. I have a terrible feeling. Why are they organizing that without telling me what is happening? Why are they doing this at all? Don't they understand I'm grieving? Can they just leave me alone? Damn it. I just lost my parents and my twins. Do they expect me to get over it in a snap of my fingers?
"Sounds amazing!"
No, merda. It fucking doesn't.
"We'll keep in touch. Tell me when you tell her all about it, okay? Then we can start out preparations!" Nicolae sounded smiley.
Preparations? What is this stronzo talking about? Prepare for what? Ugh. I hate this. Why aren't they mentioning straightforwardly what they are necessarily talking about? Chiara put down her eyeglasses, which she only uses when she's working like this or reading at home not to tire her eyesight, since she has some difficulty seeing from up close, and passed her fingers through her hair in pure annoyance. Starting to feel angry about it, just as a headache was slowly spreading around her skull.
"I will!"
As the call ended, leaving Chiara curious, anxious, angry, and extremely frustrated with staying in the dark, she got up abruptly and kicked the chair away, making in fly near the balcony.
"Porca puttana!" She yelled to no one. "What the fuck are these testa di cazzo hiding?"
Someone knocked on the door, startling her, who let out ten curses in the same instant. "Miss Rebecca? Is everything alright in there? Is there anything we can help you with?" A woman asked worried after hearing such a loud and angry noise coming from Chiara's room.
Inhaling sharply, she held herself the best she could, not to throw her anger on the innocent woman. "I'm fine. Don't worry. I was just reading a book and got too wrapped up on it!"
Oh? The Miss was reading. What a relief. For a second I thought the worse. "I'll go, but anything you need, Miss, you can just ring the bell and we'll come to your aid!"