Chapter 1
1163 Words
Routinee.
Every single morning was the same.
I sat, back straight, hands folded, my dark red hair braided down in a single braid and my stubborn green eyes—as I've been told, staring blankly ahead, with the governess pacing in front of me and my cousins; Olivia and Alessia on either side.
It was just the three of us, tucked away in this grand, stifling room, learning about our “noble heritage” and what it meant to be a proper lady of the Vincenzo household. My grandfather had made sure of it.
“Una donna deve avere grazia e compostezza,” Miss Benedetti lectured, her thick Italian accent filling the room like it always did. “A lady must have grace and composure.”
I nodded, like I did every time. I’d learned early that talking back—or even looking like I wanted to—would just make things worse. I would get a ruler hard across my knuckles or be yelled at.
“Aren’t they only two ladies here? Why is that one nodding?,” Alessia muttered under her breath, loud enough for me to hear.
Olivia’s stifled laugh echoed from the other side of the room. I felt my cheeks warm, but I kept my face blank, staring straight ahead like I didn’t hear them. I was used to this—used to the sharp looks and nasty little remarks. They’d been like this since the first day I came to this house, and I knew better than to give them a reaction.
“Focus girls.” Miss Beneditti said as she continued the lesson, switching from Italian to English.
I could barely do this everyday, the room seem to feel felt smaller every time, and I swear the walls were closing in on me.
It was the same lectures. The same rules. The same endless droning about how a lady should behave, how we should speak, how we should sit, and how we should walk. Nothing ever changed. It was always this way.
And it's crazy because we're in the 21st century, this isn't historical Italy. We're not attending royal balls and galas and all that, so I really didn't get the importance of this.
“Una donna deve comportarsi con grazia e rispetto,” Signora Benedetti said, her voice steady and controlled as usual. "A lady must behave with grace and respect."
I didn’t even need to translate it in my head anymore. The words were automatic, and that’s exactly how everything felt here—automatic.
I glanced at , Olivia and Alessia, their faces perfectly composed as they absorbed every word like it was gospel. I’d never get used to their ability to look so serene and content, as if they thrived in this never-ending cycle of being molded into something they weren’t.
Or maybe they were and I just wasn't and that’s what irritated me the most.
That's why they made fun of me, because unlike them and literally everyone else in this house, only I—Leah, stood out like a sore thumb.
I could barely stay awake through half of the lessons, and when I wasn’t bored, I was angry. Not that it showed. I kept my expression neutral—blank, even—but inside, I was screaming. Why couldn’t I get out of here? Why did it have to be like this? I miss…I miss not being here. I miss my real home.
I was taken from my home in Minnesota and from my mother at fifteen. Yes, just like that.
I had come home from school and just walked in to my mother sobbing silently into her handkerchief, she was seated on the sofa as four heavy looking men in black stood next to her.
When she saw me, she cried more.
I didn't even get a chance to ask her anything, I didn't get a chance to pack or carry anything, I was just hurled out by the men and put in a very dark and black SUV.
At first I thought I was being kidn*pped but they didn't seem like kidnappers. They told me they had been looking for me for a while and I was being taken to my real home.
Never less the less, I was put on a private plane and flown to Sicily, southern Italy.
I've been here ever since and it's been the same thing over and over again.
Soon, I learnt that my grandfather was Don J. Nicholas. Head of the Vincenzo mafia. I'm still terrified till this day. And I never got to see my mother again.
I keep wondering if she'll ever come to find me or if I'll ever have the courage to leave this place. The whole estate was heavily guarded, I could only dream. It's been five years, I'm still dreaming. But it seems like this was my life now.
“Leah,” Olivia’s voice broke through my thoughts, sharp and mocking, her words laced with that familiar cruelty she always used when she felt like poking fun at me. “Can you come down from your lonely imaginations and focus? We know you're miserable and that's the only thing that can help but at least pretend like you belong here and be present.”
I stiffened, but didn’t respond. I couldn’t. If I did, they’d get the satisfaction of knowing I’d reacted to their taunts. And that’s exactly what they wanted.
“Maybe she’s wondering if she can find herself a better future to suit her,” Alessia said with a laugh, her eyes flicking over to me. “Considering the only future she’s gonna have is living here, in this big mansion, being the useless orphan and not fitting in. Don’t worry, Leah, maybe you can still get out someday—if you start being useful to someone.”
“Who needs what? A maid?”
“I was going to say human furniture.”
They both laughed out loud. Of course, the governess said nothing.
I clenched my fists under the desk, my nails digging into my palms. The anger boiled up inside of me, but I stayed silent. I couldn't say anything because in a way they were right, they still had their parents to stand up for them and I was still the weird outsider grandfather brought in five years ago.
So, I didn’t say anything. I took a deep breath and looked forward, my eyes stinging, I wanted to cry but they'd just make fun of me even more, I wasn't going to let that happen.
So, I stayed silent, letting the lessons wash over me like they always did. And as much as I wanted to scream, I stayed quiet. Because that’s what they wanted from me. To be the quiet one. The obedient one. The one who followed the rules.
That's basically the first thing grandfather told me to be as soon as I had stepped into this house.
- Writer
