“Actually, she does in this case. Even though she doesn’t inherit for another few months on her eighteenth birthday, the estate is under her grandmother’s care. It’ll only take a word from her to make it happen.”
“But you’re Gia’s father; surely you have the right.”
“Not in this. Adrienne’s inheritance is passed down through the women in her family; husbands have nothing to do with it. I’m sure I don’t know how to undo a couple of centuries-old tradition that has been in good standing for generations.”
“So, what am I supposed to do?” She took the wad of money I held out to her.
“Don’t worry about it; consider it a mini-vacation. You’ve been through a lot in the last few weeks; go enjoy room service and unwind. Watch TV, get your hair and nails done.” She actually looked like she was buying it. Who is this creature?
“Come with me.”
“I can’t do that. What will we do with Victoria? She, too, has had a hard couple of weeks.”
“I don’t care about her after the lies she told either. Little brat.”
“Don’t be like that.” I swallowed my bile and touched her hand lovingly. That seemed to work as she relaxed just a little.
“It’ll only be for a few days, I promise. Go on now. I promise to come to see you soon. Just call after you check-in in, let me know you made it okay.” I got up and walked her to the door with a smile on my face that I did not feel. Each moment in her presence was torture, and it was all I could do not to break her neck right there in the foyer.
I played the doting husband, going so far as to walk her out to the car, held my breath and disgust in check when she pressed her reptilian lips against mine, and smiled as I held the door open for her. As she drove off, I looked back towards the house. It had been some time since I actually looked at the place.
A place that once held all the happiness to be found in my world. It had been Adrienne’s dream house and, at the time, way above my pay grade. I could afford it now, but that too was thanks to the start her family had given us as part of our wedding present. My heart ached at the memory of all that my beautiful wife had brought into my life. The love we’d shared was one for the books. So how had it come to this? How did our beautiful dream become this nightmare?
I saw Victoria moving around in her room through the windows upstairs and sighed in almost defeat. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with her now. On the one hand, I feel a sense of responsibility, and on the other, I’m very disappointed that she sat on the truth she’d revealed only tonight for so long.
I sighed deeply before making my way back into the house, feeling like the whole world rested on my shoulders. The alcohol, for now, was keeping my disgust with myself somewhat dulled, but I knew once it wore off, once life came back into focus, that I’d have to face the truth of my own actions. How am I going to live with myself in the next few days while I get my affairs in order?
I’ll have to do it, though, no matter what. It’s the least I can do to make up for my failures. It’s the least I can do to respect the memory of my wife. I felt cold tears on my cheeks and wiped them away. I don’t deserve the privilege of tears, but knowing how disappointed my wife would be with me was more than I could bear.
By the time I made it up to my bed, I was little more than a broken man. There was no more use for me to be here. I’d failed the one thing I had left to do. With my own hands, I’d brought hell into my young daughter’s life and subjected her to everything her mother would’ve opposed. No, there’s no more need for me to be here.
VICTORIA
Oh good, she’s gone; thank goodness, I thought she’d never leave. Trying to pull me down with her? Fat chance. Like she’d always taught me, it’s survival of the fittest. That’s what she’d always snicker and say any time she reminisced about Adrienne, so she should understand my actions and hold no grudges, though she seems pretty pissed at me.
None of this is my fault, though, so whatever. If she wasn’t so stupid, none of this would be happening. She had one damn job, and she screwed it up royally. If she’d done half of what I told her to, we wouldn’t be in this mess. If she’d gotten rid of the daughter the same way she executed the mother, we both could be sitting pretty for the rest of our lives.
But no, she was convinced that we needed to keep that fool around in order to keep Felix on the hook. She may have had a point the first year or so, but once he’d adopted me and they’d been married long enough that an annulment wouldn’t be possible, there was no need for Gia to be around.
Of course, I didn’t tell her to knock her off right away. I was too young back then to even understand. At five years old, all I knew was that I hated Gia, but I didn’t know why. Just that every time we were in the same space together, I couldn’t breathe. She was always the center of attention, especially for her mother and the other women who praised her even above their own kids.
It’s only a few years later that that hate had grown to such proportions, and by then, I knew a little bit more about life and understood what it meant for someone to no longer be here. Plus, I have the memory of what mom had done that day, even though I had no clue at the time. With age and time came enlightenment. I think I was about eight when I finally got it.
That’s when I first started pushing for her to deal with Gia as well, but she had other ideas. Now that I think about it, she probably couldn’t have held onto Felix without his kid in the picture needing a mother. But what about me? Wasn’t I his too by then? That’s a slap in the face, the fact that she doesn’t see my adoption as….
Oh, oh, now I see. I felt sick in my gut when I figured out exactly why it is that she’d have felt that way. Jimmy: Jimmy is still alive, something I knew but had blocked out like she’d taught me to when I was younger. At that age, I knew nothing about parental consent and needing a parent to sign away their rights, etcetera. But now it all makes sense.
It doesn’t matter that he’s alive; he can’t do anything about it now. Becky had most likely forged his signature, but who’s to say? Besides, I’m old enough to look out for myself, and I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve to make sure my life is as uninterrupted as possible. All these things that have been going on will pass soon enough.
Gabe and Gia seemed to want blood, but it was Becky’s they were after. They’d already got me kicked out of school; hopefully, that’s where their fight with me ends. All I have to do is lay low for now until they all but forget I exist. Maybe they’ll be satisfied with picking over Becky’s old carcass.
All of this is her just desserts anyway, and I won’t feel an ounce of pity for her. She’d been sitting pretty once she got rid of Adrienne. The person she envied most was no more, but I still had to deal with my nemesis in my face every day, living under the same roof. It didn’t matter how much torment I put her through; the fact that Gia was still breathing has always been a bone of contention for me.
Maybe I knew somewhere deep inside that as long as she lived, my life would never be fulfilled. And so, it has happened; it’s finally come to pass. If there was ever a chance of Gabe Russo and I getting together, it was long gone now, thanks to Gia.