Chapter 1 A Mother's Scheme

Chapter one

Mariana stood in front of the massive mansion she had sworn never to step foot into again. She bit her lips and rubbed her sweaty palms together.

She was still wondering why her so-called mother would suddenly call her over for a meal when a maid walked out of the mansion.

"You are here miss." The maid saw her standing outside and walked closer to her."Hi," Mariana said awkwardly."Come in, ma'am. They are waiting for you in the dining room." The maid said, and Mariana nodded before following her in.

The maid led her to the dining before going away, Mariana breathed in and out before walking into the room and immediately all six eyes in the dining fell on her.

"Late as usual, I don't know why you bother to show up when you are this late." Luna, her stepsister said and Mariana rolled her eyes.

"Have a seat." Beatrice, her mother commanded. Mariana bowed slightly to Mr Romano, her stepfather before taking a seat far from Luna.

"Welcome Anna, it has been a long time, since you didn't even visit." Mr Romano said and Mariana faced him.

"I was busy." She said and Luna smiled."Busy doing nothing." She jeered but Mariana ignored her and focused on the food in front of her.

"Let's eat." Mr Romano said and everyone grabbed their cutleries except for Mariana.

They all eat quietly but Mariana's eyes were focused on her phone as she checked the time now and then.

"Why aren't you eating." Beatrice said and Mariana sighed.

"Can we skip this fake gesture and discuss why you suddenly called me over after 3 years of not seeing each other? I doubt you called me here to eat." Mariana said nonchalantly, and Beatrice dropped her cutleries.

"So I can't want to have a meal with my daughters as a family any longer?" Beatrice said and Mariana sneered."And since when did you become my mother? Did you forget what you told me the last time we met?" Marianne voiced out.

"You told me never to call you mom again, you said I should call you aunt whenever I saw and now you are saying I'm your daughter, is this a joke?" Mariana cried.

Luna hits her cutleries on the table angrily."What's your problem huh, you were not forced to show up, were you?" Luna half yelled.

"You don't talk to your sister like that Luna?" Mr Romano admonished and Luna kept quiet.Mr Romano clears his throat.

"Anna stop all this and eat." He said. Anna just stood up and carried her bag.

"I don't know why you called me over but I hope this will be the last time I see your face again aunt. By the way, it's Mariana. Stop calling me Anna like we are close." Mariana said and was about to storm out when her mother spoke up.

"How is that man doing now? He must have aged a lot. My regards to him." Beatrice said and Anna could feel her blood run cold. But, she just walked away without uttering another word.Immediately Mariana was out of sight, Mr Romano faced Beatrice with a serious expression on his face.

"Why did you call her over?" Mr Romano said."We should at least see our sacrificial lamb once more before giving it out." Beatrice said and Luna looked at them curiously.

"What are you both talking about? She asked."Excuse us Luna." Mr Romano said."Dad I...." She tried to talk, but with one glare from her dad, she kept quiet and disappeared into her room.

"Then why didn't you meet up with her outside and tell her, why the hell did you invite her to my house?" Mr Romano said and Beatrice stood up.

"Do you know how much of a benefit it would be to us if we get her to marry into the Esposito family, I will make sure she has no way out so see this meal as a send-off." Beatrice said and walked away from the dining room.4 pm

~~ MEEKHA RESIDENT.Mariana walked into the house and sank on the couch, though her aunt was not that rich, their house wasn't that bad.

She brought out her phone and was surprised by the amount of missed calls she had.

*6 missed calls from Jenny.

**4 missed calls from Caspian.

**3 missed calls from Aunty Meekha.

**10 missed calls from Leonard.

"Oh my God, why is my phone on Silent." She half yelled, jumping on the couch.

"Aunt Meekha, aunt where are you?" She called out, walking towards the kitchen. She saw her aunt cooking, putting on her favorite apron.

"My God Anna, have been worried, where the hell were you?" Aunt Meekha said as she hugged her.

"Am sorry, I didn't know my phone was on silent" She replied hugging her back.

They broke the hug and she turned off the cooking gas before heading to the living room together.

"So tell me, where were you?" Meekha asked and Mariana bit her fingers."Anna, you bite your fingers whenever you are upset and confused, what going on." She asked.

"That woman invited me to the mansion, I know I shouldn't have gone but I just wanted to see her again, I thought she changed but she is still the same, aunt she even dared to talk about Dad." Mariana said on the verge of tears and Meekha hugged her.

"It's fine darling, it's okay to miss her, she is your mother." Meekha said."I'm sorry aunt." She said as they ended the hug, then Meekha smiled and held her hand.

"Don't be." Meekha said. "And by the way, have you called Leo? He was worried." Meekha said."I will Aunt thanks." Mariana said and left for her room.

~~ ESPOSITO GROUP OF COMPANIES ~~6 pm ~

The aura in the office was as cold as ice, a figure could be seen standing by the glass window staring at the city coldly before the door opened revealing a lady in her mid-twenties.

"Sir" She called gently and the figure faced her making her swallow, she couldn't get enough of his handsome face.

"This is the report on the newly produced wine. It's going well." Bianca, Alessandro's secretary said.

"Drop it on the desk and leave." He said calmly and Bianca turned to leave, only to turn to him again.

"Sir, there was a call from the hospital too. Your mother is sick" Bianca informed Alessandro as he walked to his chair and took a seat.

"Noted. You can leave now." He said and Bianca left, but shortly after, Kendrox walked in after knocking.

"Boss, I got a call now and they said the goods are arriving tonight." Kendrox said and Alessandro sighed.

"Get the guys and..." He was cut short as his phone started ringing and he saw his sister's caller ID.

"What is it? Are you calling to try and convince me that mum is really sick and she won't get treatment unless I agree to get married?" He said to his sister over the phone.

"San it's not a joke, mum is dying." Cassie cried over the phone and his eyes widened.He might be a cold-hearted guy but his mum is his first priority, he loves her more than anything in the world. Nothing must happen to her.

"I will be there in a jiffy." He hung up and faced Kendrox.

"I will trust you with the goods, you know how much I hate mistakes right?" He said and Kendrox nodded.

"Good." He said and grabbed his coat before heading out of the office to the hospital immediately.