Her cousin when he threatened to kill me wasn't making an idle threat caused strong emotions. He was relaying the message sent to me from his father.
The thing is that until the inheritance hearing - it is appointed 6 months from now. Because she needs to be officially 21 to receive everything.
What a stupid rule. Eliana wanted to hate her parents for doing this to her. But she missed them terribly. Her anger was overshadowed by the feeling of loss whenever she thought about her biological father and mother.
But they were wrong. They made a wrong decision. Simply because they didn't take into account that her insane uncle will try to murder her before she reaches age 21. Just to make sure everything gets to stay in his hands.
Eliana thought about it for half the night and finally fell asleep with zero ideas on how to save herself. There was no way she could find solutions to her problems. At least that's what Eliana thought.
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Casey her lovely but troublesome sister appeared at home early in the morning as if she didn't disappear for a whole night without being reachable or giving any sign if she was alive or not.
Casey Jenkins. She and Eliana weren't blood-related but they were sisters. She was someone Eliana wanted to take care of just like Casey's parents took care of her. She wanted to return the favour.
Casey's parents died tragically like Eliana's and if you think it's an insane coincidence you aren't alone. Eliana thought so too. They died three months before Eliana's 18s birthday. As soon as she turned 18 she tried to get custody of Casey. The only reason why the court granted her temporary guardianship was a strong bond between her and Casey.
The other reason might be because her sister was a little terror and she was kicked out of every temporary house she was assigned to.
The breakfast we ate in silence, neither of us really wanted to talk.
"Milk's out," Casey grunted.
"Bread's out too," Eliana replied sipping her morning black coffee as if it were a cure for all her problems.
"They kicked me out of school," Casey said, casually. Eliana choked on her coffee and went into a coughing fit.
"What? Why don't I know anything about this?" Eliana jumped right on her feet. Oh no, I can't panic she can't. She was panicking, wasn't she?
"I'm telling you right now," Casey said as if she didn't understand what her problem was. She dared to look slightly bored meanwhile Eliana was one step from pulling out all of her hair.
"The principal tried to contact you, but what was I supposed to tell her? That your crazy ass cousin came here and threw your phone against the wall when you tried to call the police on him?" Casey shrugged and popped a grape in her mouth, completely relaxed.
"At what time am I supposed to be at school?" she asked with her face in her hands.
"At 9.00"
"Jesus, I will be on my shift and I can't lose my job"
It was not a problem for Casey.
"Don't go then" she gave me shitty advice.
"I can't ignore it! Can you kindly explain to me what the hell is going on? What have you done again? "Eliana hissed, getting carried away.
"Nothing, they rail against me for no reason"
"Who?!"
"Everyone," Casey replied, "You also need to meet that old bitch, the social worker because I'm sure she has already written somewhere in the papers that she has to start bothering us more"
"Casey, I can't do this anymore," Eliana whined. Casey gave her a blank stare
"Then let social services take me, you will have no troubles then"
As usual, that was the end of the discussion with Casey. Eliana knew that she was scared too. Casey was just showing it differently but I still wished it'd be easier to communicate with her.
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The next day social worker showed up and the conversation with her really left Eliana shaken. She warned that this was serious and if anything else happens that garners her attention Casey will be assigned to a foster family that will be able to control her better.
When the world collapses, it collapses from all sides, her wounds were not healing very well, perhaps due to the small amount of food that I was providing to her body. She couldn't sleep due to injuries. Ethan's fist marks change colours, they got less and less visible, and yet what he did to her mental state seemed to be far more damaged than the physical one. Eliana didn't remember when in her life she cried so much, it must have been the period after her parents died.
What should I do? Every time Eliana asked herself this question her mind went blank.
Eliana was desperate. At the same time, she had zero funds for doing anything at all. She wasn't even thinking about getting a simple gun, or even some good anti-burglary door to her apartment, it was an expense not in her pocket. Speaking of doors, Ethan broke the lock and I can only replace it in a week because I lack funds.
Eliana did something I always do whenever I am in crisis, I used Casey's phone to call her friend, Eva, who showed up at her house an hour after her call. She was really someone I could count on. Actually, the only person I could count on at the moment.
"I can't believe he did this to you," said Eva angrily, "Now what?" she asked a rhetorical question knowing Eli had no answer.
"I don't know," she moaned in tears, taking a sip of red wine.
"Okay" Eva sighed as if she had made some important decision "I need to get more wine, wait" she snatched her car keys from her kitchen counter and disappeared for 10 minutes, more or less.
She bought two bottles of the cheapest wine convenience store can offer. After half of the second bottle, they were completely drunk.
Suddenly in Eva's head, a "brilliant" idea appeared.
"I know what you need. A husband"
"Me? A husband? For what?"Eliana completely didn't understand what Eva meant by that, how would having a husband help in anything?
"It's not about getting involved permanently or starting a family," Eva waved her hand dismissively. "Think. Marriage could help you with getting permanent custody of Casey. If you're married your husband has the right to inherit after your death. Marriage would solve the problem of both social workers and Harvey"
She was right. Holy shit Eliana needed a husband, of course. And she was drunk, ah what the hell "Do you know any candidates? Which male wouldn't mind an arrangement like that?"
"Well, not in person, indirectly. Maybe "
Her eyes widened. What?
"Remember how I went to that school for the rich kids, right?"
"Yeah. Of course" Eliana said getting herself mentally ready for plan-making.
"Well, there was a family there. They were helping to solve problems in exchange for favours or money, I think it depended on what person wanted from them"
"But it was a school-specific situation, right?"
"No. They weren't doing it just in school. This was something their family does. Some of my friends from that time still hear about them now and then and they're still powerful, capable of doing things most people aren't that's why when you have a problem like that you go to them for protection. So we could perhaps contact one of them and ask if they know someone who would be fine with this temporary marriage arrangement in exchange for cash"
"But how do you want to contact them?"
"I don't know yet. I will need to ask around"
"You went with them to school, right? Let's recap what you know about them then maybe it will be easier to find them"
"Their names were Rafael and Lorenzo Vincenti. They were driving expensive sports cars as soon as they got their license and anyone who did as much as looked at them in a wrong way was brutally beaten up"
"Holy shit. But it's just high school, right? Mean kids at high school can be totally mediocre in adult life" Eva shook her head impatiently as if Eliana wasn't understanding what she was trying to say.
"They weren't mean. It was power. They knew they will never get in trouble with the law no matter what they do. That's because their family wasn't normal. I don't know how to be more clear about this Eliana. They were from the mafia, okay?"
"How do you know this?" Eliana asked, now concerned about her friend.
Eva remained quiet for a while as if she was trying to figure out if she should tell me her secret or not. Then she sighed heavily to prepare herself to speak.
"My father was working for the Vincentis. He never spoke about the business but I knew that things he does for them aren't legal. I don't think I ever mentioned the cause of his death - he was shot by the enemy"
âI don't know what to say Eva... this is... a lot"
"Yeah, I know. There's a reason why I'm telling you this now. We should find the Vincenti brothers and ask them for help"
"But if they're dangerous doesn't that mean I'm just getting myself in more trouble than I already am?"
"You still believe that Harvey won't follow up with his threat, after what Ethan did? You still think Harvey will hold back because you're his niece, right?" Eva asked softly looking her straight in the eyes.
"Yeah" Eliana admitted reluctantly "Because how can a person kill someone? If he came to me to talk... we could split the money I don't need all of it I just need a little to-"
"But that's the issue here, don't you see?" Eva said in exasperation. "He wants all of it. He doesn't want to share or talk to you. You either give him all of it or you die. That's how he thinks, he's not a good person Eli"
"But I don't even know how to make a contact with people like that and I'd be too scared to try to seek them out"
"But if you had an opportunity to meet them, would you do it?"
"Maybe?"
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Dear Readers,
Please leave a comment or a vote to let me know if you like this story or not. It would really mean a lot to me â¥ï¸