A Treacherous Matrimony

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s e r a f i n a

NEWS HEADLINES: OIL SECTOR IN SHOCK AS MAGNATE PASSES AWAY

‘It has just been reported that Luigi Conti, CEO of Conti refineries, is dead…’

Wait, I know Luigi Conti. He is my father, and I spoke to him last night.

I lose grip on the bottle of water that I am holding, and the bottom of the bottle connects with the ground. Water spills everywhere, the bottom of my dress included but I could care less.

My brain immediately stops processing, and the rest of what the reporter is saying sounds like white noise.

I pick up my phone and go straight to my calling app. I see that I have missed a plethora of calls. The calls are not even from specific people. They are from random people. I am trying hard to not believe what the reporter said because this is not the first time that reporters have said bad things about my family on the news. They may simply just be trying to get more traction for their company. This is something that I am trying so hard to force myself to believe.

I dial the number of my father’s personal assistant. My heart rate tripling, my brain going into autopilot. She picks up on the first ring.

“Ms. Conti, we have been trying to reach you for the longest but…” I cut in before she can complete her statement.

“Is it true?”

The line goes quiet but I know that she surely did not cut the call on me.

She takes a deep breath and God knows that I am not ready for what next she is about to say.

“Unfortunately.” Her response comes after a while.

My phone immediately drops from my hand and hits the floor.

This can't be true. I literally spoke to him last night. He told me he was taking the week off because he had a business deal that he had to finalize in the coming weeks. He wanted me to come back home so damn badly but all this while, I have been working. I was supposed to return to Rome, Italy next month.

All these thoughts float in my mind and I am trying to tell myself that it isn't true.

My palm against my face, tears begin to trickle down my eyes and I give in. I lose myself, crying and asking myself a million and one questions in my mind.

If all of these things that they are saying are true, then right now, I am an orphan. That fresh thought makes me break down once again because this is not even fair. How am I supposed to cope? What am I supposed to do?

…

“Ms. Conti, we are very sorry about what happened to your father. It is very unfortunate that it happened but I want you to be rest assured that we are not taking this situation with levity in any way. Investigation has begun and everybody is a suspect until the criminal who committed this heinous crime is brought before the law.” Massimo, one of my father's closest friends tells me.

He stares at me for a bit and I can tell that he is waiting for a response from me but how can I possibly have something to say when I am numb. I have spent the past couple of hours crying. I have cried to the point where my head hurts so bad. I haven't even gotten any sleep. How can I even sleep?

When he does not get the response that he wants from me, he clears his throat and stares at me once again.

“As you know, the show must go on. Your father was a man that hated it when things did not go according to plan or when people wasted time when it came to handling business. You happen to be the only offspring of Luigi Conti and that automatically means that new responsibilities would be assigned to you.” He says to me and I just look around me. I take my time staring and all of the people that my father called his friends and they stare right back at me.

This is not right. My father died yesterday and his body has yet to even be buried and they are already talking about business.

“My father just died yesterday. Can we at least mourn him for a little bit before talking about business?” I ask Massimo, a drop of tear falling down my left eye. I am in shock that my eyes are still capable of producing tears.

One of his other friend hisses and looks at me.

“Luigi should have listened to me when I told him to get a more fertile woman pregnant so that she could give him a son. His late wife bore just one child for him and the child is not even interested in continuing her father’s legacy. What a shame.” The man says and those words go straight to my heart. They open a fresh dam of tears that seems as though it was in reserve and they begin to trickle down my eyes. These men have no sympathy whatsoever and I have nobody to call to come and rescue me.

“Well, she has no choice.” Massimo shrugs and stares at me.

“As you know Serafina, your father hated it when things were not going according to plan. He has always had a plan. He is dead now but he has a plan and that plan is going to involve you. You are going to take the reins from here, Serafina.” The man tells me and that just instills fear in me. I know nothing about my father’s business. I knew from a young age that I was not cut out for it so I pursued modeling and I happen to be very good at that.

“Serafina, you are going to be the new Ceo of Conti refineries and all the businesses that your father owned but you are going to follow the protocol in order for you to get the position.” A new person begins to talk and I turn to look at him. This one sounds calmer and not as harsh as the other men that spoke.

My head is hurting from all the information that was just passed across. I don't know what I am going to do.

The man clears his throat and continues to speak.

“Your father’s will will be read right after the burial. There is a little stipulation there and I am going to announce that now.”

My heart rate multiplies by ten and I swear, if this meeting does not end soon, I am very certain that I am going to get a heart attack and die. All of this is just too much for me to handle. I do not even have a support system because the men told me that outsiders were not welcome here. It had to be just me.

“Luigi thought you would have a family of your own by now. I mean, you are twenty-nine years of age. You are not little at all. In order for this to work, he created the perfect plan.”

“Which is?” I ask, swallowing a knot that forms in the back of my throat. I am nervous.

Two men dressed in black suit walk into the room, one about four inches taller than the other with an evident scar on the right side of his face and tattoos that run from the top of his neck and disappear into his shirt that has the top two buttons undone.

The man looks scary. Beastly, if I may say.

“In three months, you will be getting married to Lorenzo Guisseppe and the both of you are going to run your late father’s empire together.” The man tells me. I become short of breath but before I know it, the shorter of the two men—the one who looks less scary walks up to me.