Comes with a price

It was not a typical day in the Winston family, the movement around the house was more hectic than usual,all that commotion was due to the return of the family's second daughter, causing a stir even among the mansion s staff.

Lena Winston was standing in that corridor , leaning against the wall, seeming unconcerned .the servant who was coming out of the study with a tray of tea couldn't help but look at her.

Lena's long hair was partially tied back, while some strands fell into her face,but it didn't hide her well- shaped eyebrows and we'll treated skin.the two top buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing her collarbone , which didn't go unnoticed by anyone who looked at that masterpiece,it was truly sensual,hot and captivating.

Lena noticed the gaze of that employee and was determined to provoke him .

"Are you new here ? I don't think I've ever seen you in this house before ".

The dim light coming from the ceiling reflected the slight smile on her lips , tormenting many people, including leaving that poor boy embarrassed and with red ears.

"Miss Lena...."

Before he could continue, the voices coming from a room further ahead became more evident, capturing their attention.

" Why did the second daughter of the Winston family come back during this critical time for the family?.

" Who could know? Wasn't she always tested when she came back home? She was sent overseas a long time ago , where is her place in this family?".

" I heard there's a problem with the companies, so her granddad decided to call her back to help resolve the situation."

" Help ? Are you kidding me? Don't you know how carefree and extravagant she leads her life overseas ? It's more likely she returned to compete with the third daughter for the family's fortune.

This conversation came from employees who took a moment before the meal to gossip.they seemed to want to speak quietly but it wasn't enough ,as Lena was able to hear everything, and part of what they were saying was true.

In the year Lena's mother died,she was sent overseas by her father and grandfather .she was only seven years old when that happened.at first ,Lena would come back during the holidays, but soon her father remarried,they both secretly and openly and intentionally kept her away.

At first ,a family friend who was a priest defended her,but soon took sides and sided with the new lady of the house .Her father and grandfather became indifferent towards Lena.

Her thoughts and affection for her family faded over time, so Lena began to return home less frequently, distancing herself further from what she could once call her family.

In the blink of an eye, she became indispensable to her relatives, even the employees dared to talk about her behind her back.she heard all those comments and the smile on her face grew cold.

The poor employee holding the tray didn't know what to do, He was about to go to that room and reprimand everybody,but Lena reached out and took a cup from the tray.

" I'll need this."

The finely crafted,flowery cup was held firmly in the young lady's hands,then with a perfect curve,she threw it , landing in front of the door of the room where the voices were coming from, causing the excited gossip to stop.

The employees who were in the midst of gossiping came out to see what was happening, encountering Lena standing with her hands in her pockets , leaning against the wall again.

" Why don't you speak up and say it to my face now? I guarantee the next cup will go straight to your heads".

Everyone was embarrassed, starting to panic as they gathered the fragments,then the office door opened,and the two men came out ,one older and the other middle aged.

" Grandfather, father", she greeted pulling away from the wall.

After so many years of separation , the relationship between grandfather and granddaughter, father and daughter, was simply strange,but in that house , title still had to be spoken and respected.

" What happened here? Why all the commotion ?, the older man asked , seeming dissatisfied.

" It's nothing, just that some people talk nonsense and it annoys me ".

Gerald looked at his granddaughter with a hawk- like gaze,examining her, after a few seconds,he gave an order , seemingly displeased.

" Why don't you dress properly? dress properly before sitting at the table", he turned and walked towards the dining room.

Lena's grandfather made his fortune early on with freight businesses, traveling long distances alone.then he managed to assemble a team and eventually establish a national chain of freight networks. The wealth and achievement of the Winston's family were earned one by one .old Gerald had been leading the family for decades ,with a strong and sometimes arrogant personality.

Lena's grandfather still had the final say in the family , and everyone simply obeyed . indifferently ,she obeyed by fastening her shirt, sighed and followed in the same direction they had gone.passing by those employees and giving them a disdainful glance,she tried to prepare herself falsehood and whatever else would come out during that meal with her family .

While in the dinning room, the employees who had previously talked badly about her behind her back appeared ,all of them feeling awkward and suspicious , Lena still looked at them with an unpleasant look, until someone entered the room, breaking the strange atmosphere that was in that place.

"Dad , I prepared this chicken soup myself ,I added some good ingredients for health,I hope you like it ".

A beautiful and elegant woman came in, carrying a tray with the soup.Her speech was kind and attractive,she placed it on the table and immediately served the eldest, while Lena watched the play wholeheartedly.

"Here, please try it,be careful as it's very hot,she served him.

Lena raised her wine glass, took a sip and observed the woman's actions.she was Victoria,her stepmother,less than a year after her mother's death,her father brought her home .Later,she found out through some rumors that she was Eric's first Love .

The story she heard was that the two families were unsuitable to join in marriage,so they had to separate. After her mother died from an illness, their passion for each other reignited and they managed to stay together.

When Victoria entered the family,she brought along her seven year old daughter, the fruit of her previous marriage. By logic,old Gerald would not agree to it,but nobody knew which trick she pulled to achieve that feat.

After so many years ,she had become the true wife of that household.the daughter she had with her ex husband became known as the third son of the Winston's family.

Lena pondered all of this and found it ironic.

They left a child of the same blood alone in another country ,while the other was raised as one of the family's children and even received that title. She narrowed her eyes and then heard the old Man in the main chair questioning her.

" Lena ,you graduated university three years ago,are you still going to frolic about abroad?.

that tone of voice held no affection or love.it was more as if she were a nuisance in that.but that tone also seemed to indicate a storm was approaching. Lena pretended not to notice ,swirled her wine glass, and responded casually.

" it's actually great abroad, I'm...."

As expected, Gerald interrupted what she was saying , using the same tone.

" what's so good about that ? I think being a member of this family is too easy for you , you're already twenty-four or twenty-five years old.what do you do besides spending money? you simply don't know how to help with the family's responsibilities."

Lena was incredulous at those unfounded accusations. Two years ago, she returned and offered to help with the company , but was ignored. Her grandfather's words were " you've just graduated,what do you know? Don't bother, you can leave ". she was dismissed in that way.How could it be her fault?

No one said anything, and the atmosphere at the dinning table turned icy. Eric's gaze shifted from his grandfather to his daughter. Hesitating ,he stood up and picked up a piece of fish

, serving it to his daughter.

" Lena , your grandfather is speaking for your own good, you've spent so much time abroad ,we the older ones are not comfortable with that . Here ,eat a piece of fish ,I remember that you used to like it a lot when you were a child", he tried to alleviate the tension.

The long lost of her father should have warmed Lena's heart,but it was a pity that Eric's actions and words in trying to portray himself as a " good father" were not at all genuine , and Lena had outgrown the need for that kind of paternal love.

Lena looked at the fish on her plate, gave a slight smile and replied.

" Father,when I was eight years old , I choked on a fish bone .The Nanny wasn't there , you and aunt went on a date, I cried a lot,but none of the staff came to help me. it traumatized me and nowadays I don't eat fish anymore . Didn't you know?".

Eric was taken aback by what his daughter had said ; how could he not remember that? He tried to ease the embarrassment between him and his daughter, but ended up in another awkward situation . Eric felt perhaps because he didn't spend much time with his daughter ,he didn't know her well. At that moment, He sensed a certain sarcasm in the way his daughter spoke ,as if criticizing him for not being a good father.

seeing that the atmosphere was strange again, Victoria looked at her husband and made a signal,as if there was something important to be said ,Lena looked at her grandfather,who still had a scowling expression, trying to understand the situation.

Lena had returned home at his father's request , claiming that Gerald's health was not good at all,and ad his granddaughter ,she should return quickly ,But looking closely at her grandfather and the situation,she realized it was just an excuse to persuade her to return back to the country.

" Grandpa, if there's something you want to tell me , just say it ."

Lena had learned to be direct while living abroad.she disliked beating around the bush and preferred that they just say what was happening.upon hearing what she said, Victoria saw an opportunity to explain.

" The truth is , the company invested in a project some time ago,but there was a large loss in the invested capital. if our family doesn't find a solution, we may..." she hesitated to say bankruptcy in front of the old man , " we've already negotiated with the Hamilton family ,if you marry their youngest son,they will...."

Lena stood up abruptly , understanding at that moment the urgency of her return . Her family wanted to use her from the beginning as a bargaining chip.

Upon standing up like that, everyone looked at her, Lena felt indignant about it ,but wanted to make her dissatisfaction clear.

"Are you kidding me right now?" she asked , looking at everyone at the table .

At this point , it would be strange for her to marry a complete stranger just to fulfill her family's interest , it was impossible.

" we are serious ,why do you think we are joking with you ? " Her grandfather asked .

The Winston family had few candidates for that task,only Lena,who was raised abroad would be suitable for that role. Furthermore, the matrimonial union between two families was only aimed at benefitting themselves ,not the happiness of their children and grandchildren.

The agreement was that the Hamilton family would help Lena's family get out of the Crisis , and in return they would be exempt from any future freight charges,as well as the division of benefits obtained for three years. since the Hamilton family did not oppose the union , they had no way of escape.

" our family has spent money all these years to raise and support you , it's time for you to repay ."

Lena heard that arrogant tone from her grandfather and felt even more indignant.How could he say that? had they forgotten that they hadn't sent her anything since she was fifteen? they left her to fend for herself ,but when something urgent came up, They remembered they had a lost daughter.it made her feel even more like a merchandise.

Lena didn't even have time to eat,she pushed her chair back, making a long,rough noise on the floor, declaring her mood at that moment.

" I am tired from travelling for so many hours,I am going to my room to rest, you all enjoy your meal".

Her grandfather saw that his granddaughter was reluctant about it , even before Lena could leave the dinning room ,he spoke in his deep, cold voice.

" You cannot escape this matter, think it over for two days, then I will contact the Hamilton family to arrange a meeting between you and the young man from that family."

" Grandpa, if you want to see me , I won't hide,but don't involve me in this matter ", she turned and left the room.

Lena went upstairs to the second floor of the house, the staff who noticed that discussion wondered if their second daughter was really going against her grandfather,they hadn't seen her for sometime ,how could she have become so courageous?.

Lena's feet stepped firmly as the stairs,she didn't want to wait until her grandfather had a heart attack . She entered her room and locked the door ,took her phone and booked a flight back to the foreign country the next day .

Since her family abandoned her before ,it was impossible for them to keep her at that moment, expecting her to abandon her happy life in another country to marry someone she didn't even know, and in a commercial marriage?it was ridiculous.

" Dream on! " she complained, looking at the door.

it took her while to calm her anger,so she decided to sleep for the rest of the afternoon and night to rest. The long flight and the time difference had taken a toll on her , She hoped to rest enough to escape the next day with her luggage.

The intention was to rest well , but Lena ended up having a somewhat disturbing dream that night.She dreamt that, in reality she was a character in a book , but the protagonist was her stepmother's daughter.Ava Winston . The name of the novel was something like " How to get Rich" in the dream, Ava entered the book and knew the entire plot, making it easy to gain advantages.

In the dream , her stepsister managed to contact influential people. becoming the wealthiest young lady in the country, gaining countless admirers , while she ended up being a complete opposite.

As she refused the marriage, it gave an opportunity for Ava to meet the young man from the Hamilton family. with this attitude, she caused dissatisfaction for both families and after leaving her house, she began to covet her sister's fortune, learning to flatter all types of people, engaging in unreliable business deals,and ending up in debt, both domestically and internationally.

That nightmare ended with her no longer being able to bear that life and her last days in a rented house. That dream was long and very dark. and when she woke up ,her shirt was soaked in sweat.

The dream had been so vivid. people used to say that the more real the dream, the easier it would dissipate from their memory, but in Lena's case , she couldn't forget. Lena was gasping for breath and sat down, trying to calm her heart rate. Everything still felt so real in her mind that It was difficult to distinguish between the dream and reality.

She sat there, contemplating the dilemma of the dream she had lived for twenty-five years . How could she let herself be disturbed by a dream in that way?As she pondered, she heard a notification arrive on her cellphone.