Precarious

Chapter 27

"Sierra, dear, is that you?" Rosa asked upon us entering. "I haven't seen you in a while! How are you?"

"Hi, Rosa. I'm doing great, what about you?" I quietly responded, slightly surprised that she still remembered me. My brothers looked at me with a confused expression, and I made a mental note to explain to them how I knew Rosa.

"I'm doing alright, but what brings you here?"

"Ma, you know her?"

"Of course I know her."

"Why are you acting so nonchalant about it? Do you like her or something?"

"Why wouldn't I? Sierra's a very polite and behaved girl. She was the one I was referring to that helped Isabella with something at school a while back."

"She's a Rossi, though. It's against the pact as well."

"Santiago Mateo Rodríguez, for the last time, we don't assume what someone's like solely based off their family or social status. Sierra's a very sweet girl, and that pact was more stupid than you at times. There's more to her than her last name."

"Whoa, imagine getting roasted by your own mom," Cole gasped. "That's gotta sting."

"Would you like to be next?" Rosa inquired, causing Cole to shut up. "Good, that's what I thought."

"For the last time, can someone explain to me what this pact is?" Isabella asked. "Why was it created?"

"I'll explain it," Santiago said.

"Can't wait to hear how this is gonna turn out," Gavin yawned. "Mrs. Rodríguez, is there any popcorn here?"

"Just call me Rosa, and yes, there is popcorn." She gave a pack to Gavin, who proceeded to open the bag. Smart decision, especially for what happened next.

"Basically there was a huge conflict a while ago that involved our families. Originally, my paternal great-grandfather and Stefano's paternal great-grandfather were best friends. However, when my great-grandfather had a girlfriend, he was oblivious to the fact that Stefano's great-grandfather also liked the girl. Eventually, a love triangle formed and their friendship got destroyed because of it."

"That doesn't even make sense, why would they let a girl destroy their relationship like that? Couldn't they just move on?"

"As I said before, Isabella, love makes people do stupid things. It causes them to act irrational, and that's what happened with our great-grandfathers."

"What are you even talking about? It wasn't that my great-grandfather liked your great-grandfather's girlfriend, she literally kissed him and tricked him into liking her afterwards. Don't twist the narrative."

"I'm not, and that stupid love affair is why we're in this whole mess. Anyways, Isabella and Sierra, eventually, a war between both families erupted and a pact was made to create peace. To this day, that pact is still here."

"That definitely worked out," Gavin muttered. "I'm sure there was nothing more efficient that could've been done to solve the issue of two bitter men."

"Stefano, shut your brother up."

"I'll shut him up when you stop lying about what happened."

"I'm not lying about what happened, it's true that our grandfathers used to be best friends, and there was a whole love conflict."

"You're not telling them the full story."

"Well, do you have any ideas of how to tell them the full context? Last time I checked, your sister and Isabella weren't involved with —