HIDDEN

It was the happiest day for Mr. And Mrs. Conti. Their only daughter was not only celebrating her birthday but she was also celebrating her graduation from University. Their daughter was finally a qualified attorney at law, who decided to specialize in criminal law and criminology. Some will say what a coincidence that she had specifically taken up criminal law since it was well-known that her family had often been in trouble with the authorities, but as yet, no cases had ever been brought against them before any court. The happy couple stood there looking at their daughter dancing with her friends, they were glad that now she was finally home to stay. Their daughter was their most precious gift and since she was their only child, they spoiled her to the maximum as money was not an issue for them. They had decided to throw her a special birthday party and invited even her close friends from the University which came as a total surprise for Mia. The place was decorated with everything that Mia liked, pink and white roses, fairy lights, white drapes, and red carpet. The Conti’s garden had been transformed into a fairytale fit for a princess. No one would refuse an invitation to attend a party at the residence of the Conti’s. Though some people think the worst of them, for some they found it a privilege to be able to step foot inside the majestic house of the Conti’s, one of the richest families in Milan. They were not only one of the richest family but one of the most feared family by a lot of people. Though nothing had ever been proven against them or none of the family members had ever been arrested by the police, that surname had often been the talk of the town and associated with nothing but evil-doing. They had been described as ruthless, arrogant, and even murderers. Mrs. Conti was better known as “ The lady”. She has the face of an angel, she walked like a movie star ,but some people say she is nothing but a cold-blooded woman who surrounded herself with dangerous bodyguards who wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on anyone if she ordered them to do so. The husband was also described as an arrogant man but the most feared one was Elena Conti, or as everyone in the Mafia world would call her “ The lady”.In front of people they were always prim and proper, the perfect couple envied by loads of other couples who loved to read about their perfect love story in tabloids magazines. Their daughter came to them and gave them a big hug. Her face was beaming with happiness as she smiles at them. Her smile was as beautiful as a flower opening in spring. “ I’m so happy! Thank you, thank you so much! This is simply the best party ever! Super wow!”, Mia said hugging her mum one more time. “ Well you haven’t seen your presents yet”, her father said with a broad smile. Mia turned and looked at him with excitement written all over her face. At that instant she looked like she had turned five not twenty-five. “ What is it dad ?!”, she curiously asked putting her hands on her hips and doing a little dance. But the look on his face indicated that he wasn’t going to spill the beans until it was time to reveal her gifts. Her dad shrugged his shoulders and then told her that her friends were looking for her. “ Ok, two more songs, and then I want my gifts”, Mia said winking at her mum and she ran off to her friends. Elena and Marcos Conti stood there laughing, their daughter had this bright and bubbly personality. Making friends was not a difficult thing for her, they will see her personality before they will actually know that she was from a wealthy family. Mia was definitely more excited than she had ever been at her previous birthday parties. She kept looking back towards them and smiling, they were pretty sure that she had an idea what her gift would be. She had fallen in love with the latest Range Rover model and she had sent them a dozen pictures of what she wanted if she excelled in her bar exam. Now her wish was at the back of the house waiting for her to take it out for a spin. The Conti’s were joined by a few of their closest friends who had come to celebrate with them their daughter’s achievement. “ Beautiful daughter you have there Marcos”, Alfred said. He and his wife had been friends with the family for a very long time and would often be at the Conti’s residence during the weekend. “ She surely is”, Marcos answered looking at his daughter dancing, swirling around in her custom made diamond dress. He was sure that the stars were envious of their daughter tonight as she was surely shining brighter than all of them. “ Soon you will have to find her a charming young man for her to get married. Paolo is coming back to Italy next week, maybe we could arrange something for them to meet”, Alfred said. “ That’s not a bad idea!”,Marcos said taking a sip of his Gautier Cognac. Paolo was not a bad choice for his daughter. A bright and ambitious young man, whom he could even manipulate into the family businesses. Since he didn’t have a son, he needed a man he could trust not only to look after his daughter but also to look after the businesses that the family was involved in. He knew that Alfred would want his son to take over their steel company. So if Mia marries him, then he could also have a share in that company which he had set his eyes on a long time back. He never told his old friend of his interest so that Alfred wouldn’t know that he had been secretly thinking about taking over his steel business one day. But now since he was proposing marrying his son with his daughter, then he was also inviting him to get closer to his goal. “ A toast to your beautiful daughter’s achievement”, Alfred said raising his glass. “ And a toast that soon our family will be united as one”, Marcos said and Elena glanced at her husband with a serious face and then quickly smiled as she raised her glass to her lips. Alfred patted Marcos gently on the back, he was happy that Marcos was seriously considering giving his daughter’s hand to Paolo. Uniting with the Conti’s is a privilege, his steel company was not doing as well as it used to, but he is not telling anyone about his financial  issues. He had been thinking that Marcos could lend him a large sum of money so that he could put the company back on its feet like it used to be. Money was not an issue for the Conti’s, so lending him some wouldn’t be an issue for his friends. After all, that what it means  by choosing your friends wisely, Alfred said to himself and smiled at his own thought as he took a sip of his Dalmore 62 whiskey. He stood there looking at their jackpot prize dancing on the dance floor. Sometimes everyone has a hidden agenda, an axe  to grind, and it could even be people you are close to and you least expected or someone who had been silently observing your every move. Mia was so happy to have her friends from University next to  her, in a way this party was also theirs. They all worked hard and they came out with good grades. She was happy that her father used his personal plane to fly them in from the UK. She also had her childhood friends and some of her cousins. Unlike her father and mother who had siblings, she was an only child. The Conti and Zario families tried to make sure that everyone stayed close and grew up well together, but it wasn’t easy when you had jealous cousins. Mia glanced around her and only her friends were having a good time most of her cousins were standing in a corner sulking or on their phones. Her mother had always told her that they were jealous of her so pay no attention, but tonight she didn’t need those types of negativity, it was her night and they had to respect that. Mia walked up to her mother and said she needed to speak with her for a moment. “ Good evening Mia. You look stunning tonight!”, Daria Ricci said to her and her husband Alfred complimented her as well. Mia simply smiled and said thank you and then walked away holding on to her mother’s arm. “ Mama, look at my cousins. They are sulking and not even trying to have fun with me. Why were they invited in the first place?”, Mia asked annoyingly. “ Mia how many times I have to tell you to pay no attention to envious people, my darling one”, Elena said gently touching her daughter’s hair.  In her high heels Mia was taller than her and her daughter looked down at her with a soft smile. “ I know, but it’s difficult to ignore them. It’s my night. Look at my school friends they are having fun and thank God I have Mati”, Mia said referring to her best friend Mathilda. They had been friends since kindergarten. She was the daughter of one of her mother’s former employees who worked for the Liquor distillery company. Her father died unexpectedly and her parents promised his wife that they would take care of Mathilda and they kept their words until today. Mia thought the world of her parents and didn’t believe a single bad thing that was said about them. She also said those were maliciously done to bring her family’s name down only because they were a wealthy family. One of the reasons she chose to be a lawyer, so that she could defend her family’s reputation against anyone who wanted to tarnish it. “ By the way honey. Why were you rude to Mr. and Mrs. Ricci? You know they are like family”, her mother said as she smoothed a strand of her daughter’s hair away from her face. “ I wasn’t mean. I did say hi, it’s just, I always have this feeling that they want to hook me and Paolo up and I don’t like it. Paolo is not my type of guy… I don’t like him”, Mia said glancing back towards her friends. “ Honey, about that…”, Elena was saying when Mathilda came up to them. “ They are bringing out the cake!”, Mathilda said in excitement grabbing Mia’s hand. “ Sorry Mrs. Conti, I have to borrow her”, Mathilda added as the two friends walked away giggling. I wonder what she will do when she will find out what her father had decided to do, Elena silently said as she watched her daughter clapping her hands in excitement as the maids wheeled in a large pink and white birthday cake. Everyone gathered on the dance floor, Mia took her place behind the table covered with glitters were the maids had placed the three-tier vanilla cake on a crystal cake holder. The candles were lit and everyone started singing happy birthday. Mia stood there smiling  from ear to ear and she blew a kiss at her parents. Her dad caught the kiss and placed it on his heart and Mia giggled. She bent her head made a wish and  blew out the candles and then she looked up at everyone. She tried to force herself to smile, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was blood. Everyone stopped cheering and stood there looking at her in shock as blood penetrated through her dress. Mia looked down at her dress, she tried to bring her hands up to touch her chest but she fell herself falling….