The Lost Heiress (Completed)

A Bitter Arrangement

Two weeks have passed since I have moved here and met the family I never knew I had. Rosie and I have bonded as she slept with me almost every night, with some nights of me sleeping in her room when she asked Anne to call for me. Macy was in and out of my room every other day to ask me all the questions regarding who I was and where I came from, she was more than intrigued about life outside this one.

Colton had taken me out to see the rest of the mansion, it became our thing. We talked about everything from my life to his childhood. It was shocking to me to learn about how lonely the Vanderbilts were growing up, no wonder they loved it here at the Monrova's Mansion so much. Their mom was everything but motherly while their dad was more of a businessman than a father figure to them all. They truly did consider Grandpa and Dad their family.

Elijah was mainly always out with his girlfriend, Aria, whom he couldn't wait for me to meet once school starts in a few days. She was the most passionate one about IRIS and what it did, more than Elijah was. If she could, she would have ran for the successor position. Serena and I had brunch and lunch outings a few times when she told me a lot about my dad's side of the family and how I would be appalled by their sense of humor when I'd meet them for Christmas later in the year.

I was grateful that I hardly ran into Wren. He was always busy at the company, as Grandpa entrusted him the most out of the three, or so Anne had told me. The rare times I did run into him, he was eating alone, working on his computer. He would just look up at me and we held our gazes for a few moments before he went back to his work. I was always relieved that maybe the IRIS work load worn him out, making him too tired to bully me with his words.

We were watching a scary movie tonight as a family bonding event reinforced by Serena and Amie, who had said we needed to spend more time together.

"Miss Ariella, Master Wren." A figure in the home cinema room startled us all. We were watching The Conjuring with everyone after dinner, besides Rosie. She was put to bed a few hours ago because she wasn't allowed to watch any scary movie.

Of course, it was not my choice of movie. I was outvoted by everyone. I hated scary movies.

"Mr. Kandra?" I squinted my eyes to see the dark figure.

"The Boss is asking for both of you in his office." Mr. Kandra didn't show any emotion in his announcement. "He said it's urgent business so he demands you both to be there right now."

"We will be right there. Thank you, Mr. Kandra." Wren was quick to get up from the inclined seat.

He walked pass me to the door, showing no intention of waiting for me. I got up from my seat between Serena and Macy to follow him. As soon as I walked out the door, I heard the movie being resumed.

Wren was already way far ahead of me by the time I turned the corner to the hallway that I assumed led to Grandfather's office.

He finally stopped as we got to the set of double doors at the end of the third or fourth hallway we turned to. More and more, I have confirmed that this place was a castle and could fit the world. Walking around here would have taken anyone a few hours if not more.

Wren waited for me before knocking on the doors. Grandfather had said come in after a few seconds. As we entered the office, Grandfather looked up from his cup of tea and smiled at us both.

"Both of you, come over and sit." Grandfather's voice sounded like a booming thunder whenever he spoke, full of power and authority.

Wren nodded before sitting down in one of the sofas across from Grandfather and I followed his lead. The air in the room felt tense and serious, there was no one in here but us three. I couldn't help but feeling nervous of what we were possibly there for.