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“It doesn’t matter whether it seems right or not, Andrei did not will anything to his sister, and I’m sure he had his reasons.” He stopped pacing. “I don’t think you should go against that.”
“Maybe,” Olivia had replied calmly and stubbornly. “But I’ve already made up my mind, and past family feuds are not strong enough of an argument to me. So unless you have any real reasons, I’m leaving for Romania soon.”
Mr. Stanley had let out a defeated sigh, massaged his temples, and said in a much-softened voice, “How much are you intending to give them?”
That had caused another argument. And yet, Olivia looked at the two women and felt deeply satisfied that she had defied Mr. Stanley. She did, however, agree to wait for details until he arrived in Romania and could oversee the transactions. Looking at the poor state the house was in, and also Elena’s health, Olivia was sure he would finally agree with her decision.
“This is good coffee, thank you,” Olivia said, not sure how long she’d been quiet. She hadn’t even sipped it yet. The ladies smiled at her and thanked her furiously again. They were so kind. She wondered how she looked to them: some old flame’s daughter, who’d taken money from these poor people when they needed it the most. It took everything in her to hold back the details she had in store for Elena and her daughter:a majority of the Rusu fortune.
She squeezed the mug and finally sipped the coffee. Strong, but not as strong as that Turkish stuff.
“Is something wrong, Olivia?” Elena asked with a look of worry on her face. Olivia placed the mug down and tried to smile. It wasn’t convincing and she knew it. She couldn’t hide the guilt from her face.
“I’m sorry,” she said. Elena smiled.
“Sorry? What for?” Alina asked.
Running her finger over the tip of the mug, the black liquid rippling with the gentle motion, Olivia wrinkled her forehead and remained silent a moment longer.
“I’m sorry about this whole mess with the inheritance. I truly don’t understand how Andrei would cut you out of the will like that. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Elena sighed heavily. “Well, don’t blame yourself, dear. None of this is your fault. We are grateful you are here. We truly are.”
Olivia wanted to ask what happened—how would one have a billionaire relative and somehow end up like this? The question burned on her tongue, but Elena dabbed her eyes with a crumpled pink handkerchief and looked like she would burst into tears.
“It’s not your fault,” she said, the hanky smeared with eyeliner. “It’s a sad story,” she sighed and lowered her gaze. “My brother and I . . . we had a huge fallout many years ago.”
Alina reached for the small coffee pot and refilled Olivia’s mug.
“Thanks,” Olivia muttered.
Elena looked burdened for a moment but then nodded her head. “I think you deserve to know the truth and yet . . .”
“Truth? What truth?” Olivia wondered.
Elena nodded again. “The fallout I had with Andrei,” she answered, her brows drawn together. “It was about your mother, Maria.”
Olivia slid her hand off the warm body of the mug and stared at Elena.
“My . . . my mother?”
Olivia leaned closer, but Elena looked away, blinking rapidly as if she’d said too much.
Olivia exhaled, biting her lower lip as she felt her heart pound. Here she was, close to knowing something about her mother’s secret past—even if it was just a tiny piece of the puzzle—and Elena was being hesitant for some reason.
“I’m begging you, Elena, I need to know this; it’s very important to me, and everybody else who could tell me about her is dead. As I told you in my letter, I have nobody left.” The crack in her was voice evident now. Elena looked at her daughter as if to consult her. Alina gave a short nod.
“All right, I’ll tell you about it. The little I know.”
Olivia smiled and wiped her eyes.Gosh, was I already crying?
“Andrei and your mother, Maria, were married when they were still young. That was a very long time ago, you see.” She shook her head somberly. “The marriage, it wasn’t a happy one. My brother was a troubled man when he was young. He treated your mother horribly. I don’t want to go into details, let the dead rest in peace, but it was not a good time for your mother. By our Lord in heaven, I couldn’t just stand by and watch beautiful Maria ruined by my brother”—she clenched her fist and slammed it on the table, her lips pursed—“even if Andrei was my own flesh and blood.”
The silence hung thick in the air as Elena paused. Olivia held her breath, her head filled with images of her mother crying and the young Andrei hovering over her, yelling. Was the whole inheritance a way to make up for all that? Reparation for his younger self’s sins?
“I confronted Andrei,” Elena said with a hiss in her voice. “I told him to get a hold of himself, told him to stop being a fool. Not every day do you get to marry a woman like Maria Balan, pretty, selfless, kind . . . but he wouldn’t listen. So I convinced her to leave and helped Maria escape to America. It was the best I could do for her.” She focused on Olivia now. “Maria met a nice American man over there. She told me so herself in a letter, which Andrei burnt when he found it. He was furious!”
Dad,Olivia thought and felt a knot in her stomach.
