Authors note: This chapter will have some tea in it. So get comfy and would you like some sugar and milk with you tea?
☕️ ☕️☕️

___________________

Mirabella looked outside the window. The people and the world looked as though it were just one picture as the car drove. She looked away from the window and went to turn on the air conditioning in the car before she changed the song on the radio. "Are we there yet?" She asked Daniel.

"Almost," replied Daniel. Mirabella had asked him the same question four times now. She was fidgeting and couldn't sit still for for than a few seconds. She exhaled a sigh and threw her hair forward and tied her hair up into a ponytail. It was hot and she was hungry.

"Are we going to be staying at a hotel?" She asked him.

Daniel shook his head. Where they were heading didn't have hotels. It was a village with nothing but countryside villas and fields of grapes for wine. "We're going to stay at the villa just like everyone else," Daniel replied.

After an hour of driving down a deserted road, they finally reached their destination. Mirabella rolled down her window and watched as the kids ran around the village town, there were people selling fruit and vegetables, some sold clothes and many other things. They drove a little further down and Mirabella saw people on horses and some walking with sticks as they walked behind goats and sheeps.

They continued driving for a few minutes, and then they came to these tall black and gold gates. Two men wearing dark brown pants, black boots and white shirts opened the gates for them and they drove up a long driveway with high hedges. There were cars parked outside a handsome villa. The villa was covered in light cream bricks and the roof was a darker brown colour. It's large front door was sheltered under a wide porch supported by stone pillars. The french windows were opened a few curtains hung outside of them and danced to the rhythm of the breeze. There were men standing around dressed much like the two men who had opened the gates for them and somewhere in the back was a fountain playing.

The car came to a stop and Mirabela undid her seatbelt before she got out of the car. She closed the door and stared at the villa in awe. They walked up the steps leading to the front door that was wide and made from glass with black iron craving designs on it. Before she had the chance to even raise her hand to knock on the door, a maid with dark, honey blonde that was tied up into a ponytail with a ribbon opened the door. She stepped aside and Mirabella and Daniel entered the villa.

A cold breeze kissed her skin and made chills run down her spine, the air conditioning must be on, she thought to herself as she looked around. The entrance was beautiful. There are two crystal chandeliers handing down from the high ceiling and there were windows above the door. There were two corridors; the one the left led to the staircase and the one of the right led to the kitchen. Daniel and Mirabella walked to the courtyard of the villa and there was furniture sitting outside with plants and lights on the walls. There were three more corridors that were held by stone pillars and you could walk in the corridors and to the courtyard. Mirabella looked at the furniture and felt bad because it was so nice and they'd throw it away if it got wet during a rainy day. But she then looked up and saw that there was a high ceiling going over the courtyard and that it was made from glass. Had me there for a second, she thought. And that's when she saw the upstairs windows going around, bedrooms, she guessed right.

"They're here!" Bianca shouted over her shoulder, before she approached Mirabella and hugged her.

"When did you get here?" Mirabella asked her, as they parted from the hug.

"Two hours ago," Bianca replied. "So? What do you think?" She asked Mirabella, referring to the villa.

Mirabella smiled, but before she could answer Daniel's phone ran and he excused himself. Mirabella was actually happy that he left because she didn't want him to hear her say that she loved the villa. That would just build up his ego even more. "It's beautiful," she said. "I thought that the furniture would be soaked if it rained, but then I saw the glass ceiling."

Bianca laughed. "It's even funnier when it rains and people start panicking because they think they'll get drenched," she said, and Mirabella laughed.

"You're here," Maria said, as she joined the girls. "Finally." She looked Mirabella up and down, taking in her appearance. Truth to be told she never wanted Mirabella for her son, it was her husband's idea and agreement he made with the girl's father. She always wanted Juliette for her son. Juliette was everything she wanted in a daughter-in-law and that was because she watched her grow up before her eyes.

"And where is my son?" Maria asked Mirabella.

"He went to speak with someone on the phone," Mirabella said slowly. Maria simply hummed and looked Mirabella up and down once more.

"Mirabella," Ariana chimed as she joined them in the courtyard. She went to hug Mirabella and then Aurora ran out to the courtyard as well.

Maria watched as her daughter and niece spoke to Mirabella, the happy smiles and light in their eyes told her that they loved her and adored her. She knew there was nothing she could do to make them hate her. Nothing she would say would make them look at Mirabella differently. "We should start preparing dinner," She said and then made her way to the kitchen.

The kitchen was massive with a floor made of stone and marble, a large kitchen island and a marble counter with wooden cupboards that had glass in the doors. The girls were making the food while Maria, Bianca's mother Helena and Ilara who was Maria's husband's sister sat at the table drinking coffee. The three girls could hear the woman as they spoke of gossip and this one and that. They would look at each other from time to time when they heard something about someone that was mouth-dropping.

"And Kristina?" Said Ilara. "She was with Marian and was seeing his cousin." Maria and Helena nodded their heads as they remembered what happened during that time. "And then she left him and ran off with his cousin," Ilara continued.

"Sandra knew everything and didn't utter a word," Helena said, as she raised her coffee cup to her lips and drank before she placed it back down. "Did you hear about what happened with Anna?" she asked. The two women sitting down looked at her with confused looks on their faces.

Ariana walked over to the cupboard where Mirabella was chopping the salad and reached for the salt. "Ooh, tea!" She whispered and then walked over to the cooking stove. Mirabella shook her head and laughed.

"She went to Isabella's house and called out Emiliano saying that he wanted to sleep with her," Helena said.

"Oh mio Dio."

(Oh my god)

"Cosa ha fatto Isabella?"

(What did Isabella do?)

"Isabella trying to act calm about it all and was saying 'Anna, stop there are children here. What are you playing at' but Anna didn't listen," Helena continued. "She even brought up something about gold rings and said that she doesn't owe Isabella anything— because before the argument started she asked if Emiliano could take her on the ferry with him so she could visit her mother in England and he said she'd have to pay for her ticket and then she said 'why should I? I gave you four gold rings so you could put them in the jewellery shop so you could have money.'"

Mirabella and Bianca looked at each other with wide eyes. This woman was crazy and out of her mind, they thought.

"And what? Did no one step in for Isabella?" Maria asked. "They surly thought that Anna was crazy, right?"

"Thought she was crazy?" Helena repeated. "They all sided with her— of course they did, she's Peter's wife so they had to even though Emiliano is their family too," she said. "Some other stuff happened too, but she's completely out of her mind."

Maria and Ilara looked at each other. They wanted to know what happened, and the three girls pretended to look busy with making the food also wanted to know as well. "Helena," Ilara pressed impatiently.

Helena shook her head. "No, it's too much" she said. Maria and Ilara short her a look, begging her to continue and tell them what happened. Helena hesitated for a moment, but knew they'd find out either way from someone. "Isabella grabbed her hands and began to bend and twist them really hard," she said.

"Why?" Ilara asked.

"Yeah, why?" Bianca whispered to Ariana.

"Because Anna began shouting so all the neighbours could hear 'you want me, Emiliano! This— you want this! I saw you anyways! I saw what you look like! I know you! And that's when Isabella had enough."

Maria and Ilara shook their heads not wanting to believe what Helena had just told them. Mirabella looked at Bianca and Ariana, knowing that if the three of them were in a cartoon their jaws would have hit the ground and their eyes would have fallen out. This Anna was insane. "She wanted to steal Emiliano from her," Ilara said. "Just like she did with Apollonia. She seduced Peter and when he died she took all the money. She wanted to do the same with Emiliano."

Maria shook her head in disbelief as she took a sip from her coffee. Helena nodded and then turned to the three girl cooking. "Are you girls done?" She asked. The three nodded their heads and went to set the table in the dinning room.

••••

After dinner everyone had gone off somewhere. Bianca and Andrej went for a stroll, Helena, Maria and Ilara went to sit outside in the garden, Ariana and Mathew were in the living room with Aurora. Bruno had gone out with Diego and Alessio. And Mirabella sat in the courtyard reading a book. It was peaceful and calming. It's been a while since she sat down and read a book without being bothered by anyone or anything.

It's been a while, and Mirabella knew that because she her eyes felt heavy and she couldn't hear the tv playing in the background anymore, she couldn't hear the chatter from the woman outside anymore either and Bianca and Andrej bid Mirabella a good night ages ago. She looked up from her book and looked at her watch, 1:10am read the time. She closed the book and stood up from the sofa.

She walked up the stairs, making sure not to make too much noise. She walked down the corridor and then turned left and walked down another corridor. She looked outside the windows that where on the sides; one side over looked the inside of the courtyard and the other looked over looked the driveway and the front of the villa. The corridor she walked down on was dark. All the lights were off, and the only source of light she had was illuminating off the moon.

She reached the end of the corridor, and opened the door on the right and entered, closing the door slowly and quietly. She went to get ready for bed, changed into some pyjamas and brushed her hair. Mirabella stopped just before she was going to open the door to leave the bathroom, there is only one bed, she thought to herself. Maybe there is a sofa, she thought again and nodded her head at her plan before she opened the door.

She tiptoed out of the bathroom quietly and scanned the room with her eyes. There was no sofa in sight. She cursed in her head and looked to where Daniel was on the bed. She stood there for a moment with her hands on her hips as she thought. For God's sake, Mirabella, you've slept in the same bed with the guy before, she told herself. Get it together.

Mirabella signed and dropped her hands from her hips down to her sides. She walked over to the bed and got under the covers. The covers were thin and the pillow was cold her her face for a moment. She closed her eyes and not even a few seconds later she began drifting off to sleep.