For The Famiglia: Arranged Devotion (Complete)

Drama at lunch

Every day the arguing never ceased it seemed like each time we would see one another the words from our mouths were more vile and hateful than then the last, our words laced with venom at every turn. Our talk before I left to have the endless lunch with the woman of his family wasn't much better with me wishing for a divorce only making our argument worse. I wondered if our marriage would eventually dwindle to complete and utter disdain of one another. “So Catarina how are you enjoying our Santos’s company?” one of his aunts giggled between sips of her wine pulling me from my train of thought. The woman always insisted on lunching which was always somewhere fancy and included a lot of day drinking. They were always dressed up, I did my best to fit in but wasn't one for so much makeup and jewellery

“He's always been such a closed-off young man” one of his cousins commented. I felt tongue-tied at the question especially with all the woman's eyes on me.

“Leave her be or shall we dive into gossip on all your marriages?” Loretta scolded the woman before shooting me a wink. She was one of the few I enjoyed spending my time with. The attention was quick to disappear however when Dominica stood up.

“Where are you going dear?” one of the aunts questioned.

Dominica scoffed, she was always rude and cold and it only had become worse since finding out she was pregnant “I have things to do” she simply stated not bothering to elaborate before storming off.

“No doubt meeting one of her lovers” one of the cousins whispered.

“Vegas w***e. What will she do if the baby turns out not to be Marcos” another cousin commented.

“Won't matter he will tear her to shreds no doubt” they all shrugged about it before continuing their gossip.

“Would he really if he found out the baby wasn’t his?” I asked. Infidelity was common especially with the men in our world family gatherings were for family and wives as with formal events but parties and gatherings a lot took their girlfriends. I wondered if Santos had one considering everything it wouldn’t have surprised me if he did.

Loretta let out a sigh “those sorts of things aren’t viewed on kindly as you should know. I don’t know what my grandson would do” her gaze settled on me those same cool mint eyes as Santos “why are you concerned?”

“Me?” I almost choked at the sudden accusation “I was just curious... I certainly would never—“

“Calm down, dear” Loretta laughed “I was teasing you are not that sort of girl. Neither of you is” her gaze shifted from mine to Fia who held a stiff smile. I knew my cousin well and watching her trying to cover her nerves made me concerned especially knowing how awful her husband was. When Loretta excused herself to the bathroom I was quick to turn to Fia, she was staring at the wine glass in front of her I hadn’t noticed until now the faint bruise under her eyes covered with concealer.

“Fia, is everything okay?” as soon as I asked the corner of her lips twitched.

“Everything is fine” she spoke with a tight-lipped smile. Her whole body was tense.

“Fia—“

“I have to use the restroom” she quickly excused herself. I waited till Loretta to return before taking my opportunity to follow right after Fia by the time I got to the bathroom she was standing by the sinks of the pearl coloured room staring at herself in the mirror.

“Fia, are you okay are you having an affair? You acted strange when they were talking about it..” I asked cautiously stepping closer. She looked at me through the reflection of the large mirror her large eyes holding nothing but sadness.

“I’m not...” she let out a sad laugh “I would be dead, Rin.”

“Then what?” I wanted her to say it... I wanted her to tell me all the problems even if I couldn’t fix them she was struggling and I could practically see it radiating from her eyes but she turned away began reapplying her lipsticks lathering a thick layer of a red glossy colour. I opened my mouth to speak again but she quickly turned a smile widening on her face, the corners twitched uncomfortably.

“You need to stop all your worrying, Rin” she was quick to rush away leaving with more concern.

:::

After my afternoon classes the next day my worry for Fia only grew. I knew her marriage wasn't going well whose really was in this world, I didn't remember much of my aunt's marriage since I was only a child but I remember some things... Her hurt, her fear... How broken she seemed. It's what I was seeing in Fia and it scared me all over again. I stood at the door of the townhouse. I hoped her husband wasn't home as I knocked as soon as I applied force however the door creaked open, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach as I edged it open further. The air felt heavy and each breath I took seemed to be a struggle as I crept inside. Our world was a dangerous one and I didn't know what I was about to walk into. Perhaps the door was just left open but somehow I didn't buy it, that became more clear however when I got to the dining room, it was like I became frozen. The realities of what our lives were really like had always been there but I had never had to face the reality and now it was in front of me. Fia’s husband was on the floor, his eyes still open yet so vacant, blood was pooling across the wooden floors till meeting the edge of the mat. Reality set in when I quickly began to look around for Fia. It was hard to get around things chairs had been knocked over, things smashed over the floor “Fia!” I shouted at this point I didn't care if it was a hit, if a cleaning crew was soon to return I could only think about Fia while I stumbled through the place somehow it now felt like an endless for such a small place, every room I felt like I checked three times over panic was setting in till I finally heard it a wheeze, a gentle barely audible wheeze. I gently pushed open the door of the bathroom hesitant about what I was going to see.

Fia was slumped against the bathtub, her chest rising and falling in a sort of shaky manner. Her white dress was badly stained and her skin slick with blood “Fia...” I hurried closer, her head was lolled to the side almost hitting the wall. Dread was settled in me “what happened..” I practically said to myself but almost jumped from my skin when she turned to me, her usually neatly done hair was matted and bloody, eyes barely partially open.

“He’s gone, isn't he... He's finally gone” she almost smiled before giving in and letting her head rest against the cold tiles of the wall. I sat there stunned utterly saddened at her clear relief. Unsure of what to do before finally figuring out what I could do. Pulling the phone from my pocket I hit the number on my contacts my eyes could barely waver from Fia however as I listened to the call ringing through. In a normal world, this would be a time to call the police... An ambulance but it just wasn't how things worked. Finally, there was an answer I let out a shaky breath before finally talking “Santos... I need help.”