Secrets of the Solomons

11. Fiona:

*28 days prior to the murder*

My whole body is so sore. I stayed up all night with mom and then pulled another all-nighter to study. My relatives will start coming at 2 p.m. sharp, and it's already 12. I get up and fix whatever is untidy in my room, then take a cold shower to knock out all the laziness in my body and make it fully active. By the time I was done, I had only an hour and a half to dress up. As annoying and excruciating as it was, I still had to look good.

The only person I am looking forward to talking to is my grandfather, Sebastian Sebastian. He is hard on everyone else in my family except me. I don't know why, but he has always had a soft spot for me since I could walk. He is my favorite person in this whole family. He is the only one who speaks with kindness and logic. He is like my father to me. He has always addressed me as Fio. That is what my grandmother used to call me. But ever since she died, he started calling me that. Their story is truly one of a kind. Although I do not know how their kids have ended up this way,

Don't be fooled by my grandfather, though. As soft as he seems, he is also one of the most dangerous people in my family. He doesn't trust me much either, and I don't trust him either. For us, it's always a give-and-take situation; indeed, he is no different from my father. Cunning and greedy all behind that genuine smile.

I had myself fooled for such a long time as a kid. Puberty might have been the best thing to ever happen to me.

I quickly put on the dress I had chosen the night before and fixed my hair. As I do my makeup, I can't help but notice the eyebags that have formed on my face from pulling all-nighters. It made me look less prettier, and I cursed myself and hid it with some concealer. It works perfectly to hide the eyebags that formed under my eye.

My relatives will use any chance they get to insult me about my face, body, or anything at all in general. That is something I will never let them do. They may find imperfections in my siblings, but never in me. I am and must always be perfect in front of them. I will never give them a chance to insult me in any way.

I go downstairs to see my siblings in the living room, waiting. I scan everyone's outfits and faces. They all look perfect. Except for my sister, her eyebags are a bit visible if you pay attention. I don't say anything to her; if she gets insulted tonight, it's because she wasn't careful. I've gotten tired of nagging them.

I sit in an empty chair and pull my phone from my pocket. What I love the most about this dress is that it has real pockets, not fake ones. May God damn the man who created counterfeit pockets.

As I scroll through my phone, I can't help but notice cars outside the window as they start walking in one by one. They're here. I quickly get up and stand by my siblings. My father opens the door, and one by one, they start walking in while we all greet them. My uncles sit in the main living room, and my male cousins sit beside their fathers. All my aunts go into the kitchen area, while the other females go to the second living room. I entertain some of my cousins, who brag about their riches. I stand there blankly, fake a smile, while barely paying attention to them. My least favorite aunt comes in, cuts her off, and smiles at me.

She says, "Fiona, your birthday is in a few days, right?"

"Yes, Auntie."

"You have grown so big in such a short time. You resemble your mother a lot, but not her background." My cousins stare at her in shock. She just said that while smiling.

My cousins then stared at me, waiting for my response. My aunt probably thinks I should snap and start yelling or something. I calmly smile and look at her in the eyes.

"Oh, auntie. Have you heard that a human sometimes acts like a dog and starts insulting others? Normally, it causes them to be intimidated by others. Auntie, do my mother and her background intimidate you?"

"Are you calling me a dog?"

"But why would I ever call my beloved auntie such a thing? Those who are true dogs know when someone is speaking about them. Auntie, do you believe you're a dog?"

"What did you just say?!"

I quickly smile and say, "Auntie, don't worry, I will get the best psychiatrist to look at you and your corpulent body."

She seems defeated, and my cousins laugh. Seemingly not wanting to humiliate herself, she sits down and starts talking with the other aunts. My cousins continue mocking her, and I excuse myself to check on Mom and see if she needs help with my obnoxious oldest aunt.

My eldest aunt, the oldest of all the siblings, hated my family. And when I once humiliated her son in front of the whole family, she held a grudge because I acted like a victim and cried to Grandpa. Ever since he has been outcasted or more like blacklisted, the main thing she hates most is that it is in front of Grandpa. So that means the chances of my cousin inheriting anything from Grandpa are indescribably low. Oh well, he shouldn't have gotten on my nerves. As someone who has known me since I was born, he should understand better than getting on my nerves, but who cares? No one truly knows me. I was born alone, and I will die alone. This mindset is what will let me survive in society. I may soften with age, but there is still time.

As soon as I enter the kitchen, I hear my grandpa calling me to the living room, so I go there. As soon as I am there, he's all happy. He then calls the whole family to the living room. I feel a bit sick, but I ignore it. As soon as everyone gathers, he says he has a big announcement. Unfortunately, we wouldn't know it until the next gathering. Fuck, he wants to announce it on my birthday.

But he says the main reason for our gathering today is to celebrate our family's latest victory. We are cutting the Wonson family out of existence.

My grandfather is indeed celebrating that he wiped out a family because one of them decided to steal his dead wife's necklace, which costs billions. We all sit down at the dining table and grandpa makes the toast by saying, "Long live the Solomons!"

He does take pride in our last name. He takes pride in the fact that everyone in our family is working to make that name more infamous and famous. Oh, but my sweet grandpa doesn't know I'm not willing to work for that last name of his.

It will probably be his biggest disappointment. But I would rather die than be like them. Killing people is not fun unless I have a grudge, which is a good reason. Oh well.