Bad-Bedded Blood

Chapter One

(2 months before)

Vanessa's POV

It was time for breakfast and it was a norm to have it in the dining room with my father and Sophia, my sister. It was really nothing much, nothing truly fancy. Just boring small talks over lukewarm tea and egged waffles.

“Good morning, Young Miss.” A servant greeted, bowing low to me.

“What is so good about this repeated morning?” I asked as if she was to know.

She kept silent nd let on smiling.

“And why can't you bow lower?” I shouted at her in fury, before stomping off to the dining room.

“Why the unnecessary notice so early, Vanessa? We have not even had breakfast.” He asked as I walked into the dining room.

Breakfast was something he cherished for reasons only he knows, but I could only care less because I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

“That lowly servant cannot even have enough respect to bow fully to me. She is literally challenging me, dad!” I sulked in irrelevant exclamation.

“Still, such noise is not appropriate for a young princess like you.”

I took my seat beside Sophia, my elder sister, barely listening to my father as he went on and on about how much of a precious little princess I was.

I could not even care less about what he was saying, because I had heard similar words over and over, all my life.

“Fine. I will try to be more modest in scolding her disrespectful ass next time.” I replied to end it.

“Language.” Sophia suddenly added.

“Why does it matter to you what language I use?” I turned to face her, holding a knife firmly in my left hand.

“Let us not get into this so early in the morning, Vanessa.” My dad simply said with a tone of finality that made me glare at Sophia one last time before turning back to my food.

We began the repeated tradition of eating. There was no joy in it, because it was more like a job.

“What time will you get to the office?” My dad suddenly asked, still cutting at the meat in his plate.

“As soon as I am done with my food, I will get going.” Sophia answered just as fast.

“Good. You need to meet with the legal consultants of Aden Pharmaceuticals, they plan to press charges for last month's trouble.” He stated.

“Charges?” She paused and asked, staring at him in supposed disbelief.

“Let us talk about this after breakfast.” He replied, watching me with a side eye.

After the routine of boring breakfast, I walked myself out of the dining room and back into my room, leaving them to have their grown, business chat.

Sophia was the one our father took to be most worthy as his successor, and as much as I tried to push it aside, the thought of it made me annoyed.

While I was constantly being pushed to the corner as the little princess who had the weakest bones, Sophia was often paraded around as the strong one who could handle absolutely anything.

A knock on my window broke me out of my vexed train of thoughts. I turned to see Diego's blonde hair pushing firmly against the glass panels.

“What the f**k?” I crawled over to the window and unlocked it to let him in.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here? And how the heck did you get in?” I asked with a smile, shutting the window back.

“What do you take me for?” He dropped down on my bed, and lay flat facing the ceiling.

“An absolute idiot.”

“You know I can break through anything right?” He joked.

“And you know my father can put a bullet through anything right?” I teased.

“Yeah, yeah. That changed nothing.”

“But seriously, why risk your head?” I asked, lying shoulder to shoulder beside him on the bed.

“Because I knew how down you would be feeling right now. I literally felt it through my spirit.”

“What the...” I burst into fits of laughter.

“Am I wrong? Were you not beginning to over think as usual?” He turned to stare at me.

“No! I was only getting some rest to allow my breakfast digest.”

“Lies, I can snuff them through your tone.” he charged again, turning away from my face.

“What is really up with you, Diego? If I clearly remember, you always hated the idea of breaking into my room because of what my dad would say and do.”

I knew something was up with him, and it was really only a matter of time before he spoke about it.

“Its nothing to worry about, Vanessa.”

“Diego!” I sat up straight on the bed and he followed suit, picking up a random hair clip from the side of the bed.

“Look at me! You are my best friend and I know very well when things are going well. And the fact that you came all the way here, it definitely means there is something to worry about.” I stated, as a matter of fact.

He sighed and stared into my eyes in silence, for long minutes until he finally spoke.

“I really just wanted to come here and get my mind off things, but you will not drop it...It's my mum again.”

“Whats up with her?”

“She has been neglecting her drugs for almost a week now, and her condition has gotten worse. The doctor came by and ran some tests... He said she wouldn't live much if she does not get a surgery.” He finally opened up, tweaking the hair clips between his fingers.

“Surgery? But he assured you that she would get better, after the first surgery? What the hell!” I shouted in shock.

I could already feel the hairs on my arm standing in support to my voice.

The whole situation was beginning to seem so unreal. How could she still need a major surgery to keep her alive after the first one?

I put the hair clip away, held his hands and stared into his eyes. Boldly engraved was courage and resilience, but stealthily hidden behind those, was fear of the unknown.

“I need funds, Nessa. Huge funds.” He said.