"Amalia," sigh, "we have a few things on our agenda for this spontaneous meeting, so you will be quiet and respectful so that I can finish this and get back to more important things." So much for being a priority. "Clearly I had not been clear enough when I went over the rules the first time so allow me to reiterate: you are to respect and obey your brothers all of the time, that means no back talk, rolling your eyes, ignoring us, not giving verbal responses, or needing to be told something twice." His tone was eerily calm, but his eyes were dangerous so mine were on the floor, avoiding eye contact. "Since you were already aware of these rules your complete disregard of them deserves consequences. I have decided to take away your old phone. Clearly your friends back in Wisconsin were a bad influence on you and I think it best to move past those relationships and form new ones here with those of a similar standing in society. You must understand, Amalia, you are no longer some random poor child in the middle of some random small town, you are a member of an upper class family in New York- the way that you were used to living is no longer acceptable. In two days the staff will return and there will be maids and chefs and chauffeurs catering to your every need. I will give you a new phone- one that is connected to mine so I can monitor and control it- that will not have any contacts from your previous life that I have not approved." To say I was shocked would be a gross understatement. He went too far.
"No- what? Absolutely not. Not going to happen in any universe, at any point in time, ever. Are you on high? Mentally ill maybe?" My word vomit was cut off by Leonardo whose eye was doing the creepy twitchy thing again.
"You have no say in this, at all. I am your guardian and if I tell you that something will happen, then trust that it will. My decisions are always not for you to understand or agree with, but they are for you to obey and respect- any other reaction to them will result in a punishment. I have been as understanding as possible but my patience is wearing thin and my tolerance for this blatant lack of respect will soon run out and you will not like the results of acting the way you are. Your brothers and I have every intention of teaching you to be a proper, respectable young lady and we are willing to sacrifice having a typical brother-sister relationship to accomplish it. We may not always show the kind of affection you are used to, but this will be a loving home and you should always find comfort in knowing that anyone of us would give our lives for you. You have not been exposed to our lifestyle, and that is not your fault, but it will be a collaborative effort to help you adjust. Our expectations are high and you will meet them. Our rules are strict and you will obey them. Our family structure is complicated but you will learn and abide by it."
No, I refused to be this powerless in my own life. I'm not inadequate and he will not tell me otherwise.
"I feel that I need to clarify some things that should have been given but clearly were not. You are not going to isolate me from my friends, you are not going to force something on me without an explanation and expect me not to fight back, you are not going expect my respect without showing me any, and you are not going to make this a dictatorship where you have complete power and I have none- we will, at minimum, compromise." Screaming and yelling and having a melt down wasn't going to work, neither was being sarcastic or ignoring the situation- I needed to set clear and reasonable boundaries in a calm manner that would make my temporary stay with them livable.
"I will do whatever I see as necessary to raise you in a way that I see fit. These circumstances are not ideal and it is unfortunate that you were not with us to grow up because if that were the case you would have already understood the way that this household works, because it is a dictatorship and there will be no compromises. If I determine that a relationship would be best left you will distance yourself from them, if I say you need to do something you will do it, without argument or conversation, and you will respect my authority and although I do and will continue to respect you, it will not be as an authority. If your behaviour continues the way it has despite the loss of contact with you old friends, more extreme measures will be taken that you will also have no say in. I would, as I said in our previous meeting, prefer not to resort to other means of punishment. The way our father dealt with us was not particularly healthy for our father-son relationship, but that's what was needed for us and if it continues to prove to be what is necessary for you to show progress, then that is what I will do." He sighed and so did I, "I am now getting this conversation back on track, but to be clear my word is final." I went to the object but couldn't find the strength or will. I never would have backed down to the ridiculous rules and ideas he had been talking about throughout this entire conversation, but somehow I trusted him. I didn't even know if he was my real brother and yet I was still finding myself falling right into whatever he was saying. This must be why he's such a good business man. I wasn't giving up, just understanding that in the future he would give up this whole overprotective big brother act and we could reasonably compromised. Because- even though I would never admit it- I thought his care was sweet, annoying, but sweet.
"Okay, I will try to trust you and your plans more but I need you to understand that this is a huge adjustment and giving me a lot of rules and being cold and strict won't change that, it will just take time."
"Amalia, I cannot promise you anything about my or your brothers' behavior, but I assure you that everything we do is because we love you. Everything. You may not always feel it but we love you so much and because of that we want you to be the best version of you." He was more vulnerable in the past few moments than just about anyone had in the past year. His face may of been cold, lips in a fine line, but his eyes showed the sincerity and honesty of what he was saying.
I bit my lip to stop from crying. I had Jay sure, but this love was so much more than what we had and I just hoped that it would last. I couldn't say it back, not yet at least, no matter how bad I wanted to.
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i changed a bit of the end bc i hated it 👍
YOU ARE READING
don't lie to me
General FictionMia's life has been the same since her mother passed away three years ago. She avoided her stepfather, skipped school, hung out with friends, and went to cheer practice. Her life, however, is flipped upside down following her stepfather's death whe...
