"Kay........!"
A whimsical female tone floated in the void.
"Hm........!"
"Kay........ wake up......"
"Hmm...."
"You almost slept for a day...... eat something........Wake up......."
I blinked my eyes open to a sea of white—white marble floors, billowing white curtains, and balconies with delicate wrought iron railings framing the picturesque view of the red-tinged sky. Maria Volkner's soothing voice broke the peaceful silence.
"You slept for more than 25 hours, Kay," she said, her divine presence matched the heavenly surroundings. Dressed in a white silk pajama set, her bob in a low messy bun, Maria suggested, "Freshen up; I assume you slept through it all. Go. I'll wait for you in the breakfast hall." Her warmth made me tear up a bit.
Rhys Volkner was indeed lucky, blessed with Maria as his mother.
After spending a considerable time in the lavatory, I ventured out to find Maria gone. The room bathed in the soft hues of dawn, it was almost 6 a.m. My living arrangement felt heavenly, but two realizations hit me hard:
I'd slept for a whole day, missing my flight.I was disconnected from the world; I must get myself a new phone to inform my whearebouts to my office in London.
Rummaging through my neatly arranged luggage, I found a simple pink summer dress—a stark contrast to the opulence of my surroundings. Embracing the simplicity, I slipped into the dress, ready to face whatever the day had in store.
Walking down from the 3rd floor, I realized this house has a few kitchens and dining rooms on every floor.
Talk about luxury!
Some people are way too rich that they have 0 clue what to do with such money. There was a family breakfast hall on 2nd floor, after aimlessly roaming everywhere, a butler helped me to go to the breakfast hall.
Maria was there, cutting her apples. But she was all alone. She smiled at me when she saw me at the door.
"Come! Have a seat." She asked me.
I walked to her and sat in front of her on the table. I was looking for what to say, but before I could even speak, she spoke,
"What breakfast do you want?" There was another butler standing beside her.
I was feeling less hungry, so I asked for just a croissant and a scrambled egg. My brain was still foggy from a 25-hour sleep.
"It has been a long time since I slept like this," I admitted.
"You used to sleep like this?" Maria asked me.
"Yeah, back in my medical school, I slept like this after every exam ended."
Maria smiled back at me. I was thinking that if I ever told Danny's husband that I stayed at Maria Volkner's house, he would either shit on his pants or... would die.
"Your house is very beautiful." I tried to compliment her.
"But this is our official house and we do not stay here often. We live in our home." She smiled at me.
"What's an official house?"
"Well, we use this house as our official residence, but we live on our island, it's on the Lucrene, Switzerland. That's our home. And that's smaller than this place. It's too big and this house does not feel like a home to me." Maria explained.
My mind was blown away. God knows how many houses they have.
The butler served me my breakfast with additional fruits and a full cup of chocolate to dunk my croissant.
"Did they feed Leo?" Maria asked the butler.
"Yes, Madame Nina supervised feeding Monsieur Leonard his breakfast."
"Good, you can go," Maria commanded. The butler bowed a little and left.
"Who's Leonard?" I showed my curiosity.
"Nina's younger brother, he and Nina stay with us. Nina was born and grew up in America, lost her parents when she was 17, and Leonard was autistic and immobile. Both Nina and Leonard went to different foster homes. So, when Nina grew up, became a designer after a few years, and started dating Marco; we found out where Leonard was. He was in the worst condition and almost died. We sort of adopted him, unofficially, of course. So yeah, they are like our own kids. I love my Leo., and Nina, and Marco, he is the son of my sister Monica.... And of course, Rhys. Though Rhys is like my least favorite kid.... We have spoiled him way too much." She started her famous wild waterfall-like laugh.
I was speechless when she told me this. Then a grim realization told me that Maria was infertile her whole life, that was why she was so motherly to all. Rhys was technically her only son, but her brain was set up with the fact that she had 3 more kids.
"What happened?" I asked her.
She was a mind reader as good as Rhys, if not better than him. She knew exactly what I asked her without giving her a single context.
"You are a doctor, you know what a bicornuate uterus is."
"A congenital anomaly, the uterus is divided into two chambers. Placenta can't grow there." I explained.
"It has no treatment," Maria concluded with a smile that hid her pain. I felt a stab in my heart. This woman hid an ocean of pain in herself.
"...But God has blessed me with this family. With Rhys, with Royce." Maria added. But she looked like she was hiding a lot of information from me. Maybe I was an outsider, I did not deserve to learn all these things.
"Do I have to sign an NDA?" I asked her, sensing her intention to hide things from me.
"NDA? For what reason?" She was confused.
"I thought I have to pretend that I am dating your family to save myself from dying at such a young age. So, as an outsider, shouldn't I be signing an NDA to never flash your information anywhere? Though I am very good at hiding secrets, better than Rhys... without a doubt." I sort of mocked her the moment the memories of the past 9 days flashed at me... She was both visibly confused and upset.
"I thought you both were serious, Rhys really liked......seemed like he is in love, with you." Maria was looking for answers.
I wanted to tell her in her face that night what Rhys had told me.
"Your son....is crazy. He needs a psychiatrist."
I declared very calmly, clenching my jaw. I thought this statement would piss Maria off, but she looked very worried.
"I never saw him get that angry." She mumbled under her breath.
Cause maybe he behaved well in front of his parents.
"He is better than Royce in many aspects.... Rhys is the sweetest boy I have ever seen in my whole life; he is absurdly kind. I knew he had hidden anger issues. He always managed to hide his anger away, but that night, the way he blasted, the way he had lost control of himself.... I understand why you are mad at him." Maria looked very worried.
I was wondering whether she knew, or if Rhys told him what he told me that night.
"On behalf of my son, I ask for your forgiveness. Both me and Royce, did not raise him like this mannerlessly. If we had known that he loses his temper like this, we would have searched every way possible to deal with this." Maria begged.
Shit.
Shit.
Maria Fucking Volkner asking for my forgiveness.
On behalf of Rhys?
Shit.
I was screaming in my mind.
"Give this whole thing another chance. Rhys might be quite serious about you. Nobody ever saw him chase a woman like this or kill anyone for a woman... He is very overprotective about you... If you give him another chance, I think he will correct his attitude. I know him, he is very stubborn. I know he will better himself." Maria tried to assure me.
"Why me? Why he wants me so bad?" I asked her, Maria sighed back in reply with a sly shrug.
I also sighed so deeply that the film that coated my hot chocolate in the cup in front of me made a little wave with my breath.
"I... I'll think." I lied to her, as if her nagging was going to work on me. She smiled beautifully in reply. She was so pretty, her hair glowed in the morning sun that was peeping from the window.
I had no gut to tell her that her favorite, Rhys broke my heart, so miserably.
Our conversation halted as a butler came and offered Maria a black box which was approximately 10 inches by 5 inches in size. Maria took the box and gave it to me.
"What's that?" I took it from her.
"A gift." She replied with a childish smile.
"Gift? For what?" I opened the black box and said it was a phone, the same one as Rhys was using.
"You'll use this to contact us, to everyone important to you. It's sort of satellite phone."
I was so confused,
"Sorry, what? A satellite phone?"
"Well, we all use this phone. It's our personal invention. It does not need any cellular network; it uses 7 satellites to communicate. You can call all the phones that are connected to this network. Also, you can make calls anywhere on earth as the satellites will build communications between the phone and the cellular carrier's network tower.... but it will take a few seconds."
"What?" I murmured.
"Only Volkners use this phone, you will be untraceable. Nobody can hack your phone. Your IP and MAC address are hidden. The Internet is also super safe. Also, you don't have to worry about data or call rates." She spoke like a salesman.
"Why are you giving me this?" I asked.
"You don't like it? It's for your safety. You will be untraceable for your phone. But please don't use any commercial devices, it will diminish the purpose of this phone that I gave you." She was worried. I saw the structures of the device. It did not have any camera slots.
"It has no camera. How will I take photos?" I asked her. Maria was confused for a few seconds, then she burst out laughing.
"Oh, you sweetie, it does have cameras. Give it to me." She clumped on some tissue to get her hands clean. Then she took the phone and showed the hidden camera backside and in front. The cameras were behind the glass panels.
"You take a picture with your phone or camera; it will have device footprints. This phone will hide their footprints in the photos." Maria explained when she gave me the phone.
I had 0 intentions to take the phone, but I took it anyway. I needed to talk to my hospital immediately.
"Do you have any plans for today?" Maria asked me.
"No, I need to call my hospital and buy a ticket for a London flight as soon as possible."
"Why do you need tickets?" Maria was confused. I was more confused by her question.
"I need to fly back to my place."
"Oh... you can take one of my planes." She explained.
Here's a revised version of your excerpt:
The term was—'One of my planes.' It blew my mind away. I thought they wanted to reduce their carbon footprint.
"Isn't it bad for the environment? Wasting so much fuel? What about your plea to reduce carbon emissions?"
"All of our vehicles are electric. Including planes," Maria explained.
"I'm sorry, but electric planes? Is it even possible?" I asked her. She smiled a cocky grin.
"Honey... We are the future of advanced technology." There was so much arrogance and pride in her tone. I smiled back at her.
Of course, they were.
"Have you ever seen the Iron Man movie? Or read any Marvel Comics? Have you ever thought about where the whole Stark enterprise idea came from?" Maria asked. I could only smile back at her. I knew the answers.
"But... the question is, do you have an Iron Man suit?" I asked her playfully.
"Hm... maybe, not now. But let's see whether we can make it in the future." She gleefully said and winked at me, making me chuckle.
"Okay, if it's possible, stay for another week. If you stay, we will celebrate Dad and Royce's birthday here, in this residence," she asked me.
"My hospital will kick me out if I waste another day on vacation."
"I'll tell my people to talk to the NHS authority n or your NHS director on behalf of me if you want me to," Maria cheekily asked me, with a smirk.
Truth be told, I wanted to accept her offer. I wanted to know these people so much more. Especially Maria. My merry brain could not digest the fact that Maria Volkner would talk to my NHS supervisor.
In response, I could only smile back at her.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Where's your Beyoncé?" I asked Nina as I peeked through the slightly ajar door of her bedroom, searching for Rhys. She was watching the news on her large bedroom suite screen, with an almost 20-year-old boy with Down syndrome and deformed limbs seated in a wheelchair nearby.
Leonard looked at me and smiled radiantly. My heart swelled with indescribable affection; I'd always adored kids like him. They were like pieces of heaven on earth. Nina noticed Leo's smile at me, then glanced at me and smiled.
"Kay! Come inside."
"I've got work to do."
Nina looked at her brother, took his deformed hand, and said to me, "Looks like Leo wants to be your friend."
Aww, those words brought tears to my eyes. I walked over to the pair and settled between them on the sofa. Leo smiled at me and waved his hand.
I felt a burst of joy inside me when Leo waved. He had scoliosis, autism, Down syndrome, and limb deformity. I guessed that when Nina's mother was pregnant with Leo, she might have suffered from severe malnutrition or had drug-related issues. I couldn't bring myself to ask Nina about their parents, as I leaned more toward the latter theory. That explained why she was so sad when I told her I never received gifts; perhaps she had struggled as a child.
Maybe that was why she was so childlike around people she considered family. She never really had a childhood. Maria and Royce gave her and Leo the home they always deserved.
"What are you staring at?" Nina asked me, pulling me out of my thoughts after I had been gazing at her for a long moment.
"Nothing," I replied, feeling caught off guard.
"Is my beauty too dazzling for you? Do you need sunglasses?" she teased with fake arrogance.
Leo burst into laughter at his sister's antics. He might have been nonverbal, but he understood everything, I realized.
"Where are the Volkner men?" I asked Nina.
"You can't even handle Rhys, and now you want to deal with Marco and Royce too?" Nina countered, leaving me unable to respond, but I laughed along with her. Disappointed by my question, she returned her attention to the TV, checking out what was happening.
"You've been asleep for a day, Captain. If you were awake, you'd know where all three of them went. They didn't come back yesterday," Nina informed me.
"What happened?"
Here's a revised version of your excerpt:
"NATO will not intervene with Anubiah's Junta. It pissed off Egypt and Turkey as the Anubian military was bombing at the Egyptian border. They want war with Egypt. LOL."
"Isn't Turkey part of NATO?"
"Yep. They wanted to help their Egyptian allies. Thus, this whole ordeal began."
"Oh my God."
"So, it has nothing to do with a power change to the Anubian Royals?" I asked her, feeling confused.
"Honey... no. Nobody gives a flying fucking shit about Naseer getting his grandpa's throne back or not. Everyone wants that sweet, sweet lithium from Anubian soil. Junta or not, nobody gives a flying shit about Anubians."
What! What lithium! Who is Naseer?
"I'm sorry, I don't get it," I told her, noticing Nina's visible frustration at my lack of geo-political knowledge. She widened her eyes with distaste and looked at me.
"That's what Rhys saw in you," she declared. Her words almost made my ears bleed.
"What?" I asked in bewilderment.
"You don't care about politics; you don't give a shit about our business. Rhys hates politics. He hated it when he started working with Royce after graduation."
Yeah, such rich privileges.
"It's so hard when you're born with a diamond-encrusted golden spoon, knowing you'll inherit your dad's multi-gazillion dollar business to run. Such tragedies. He had to work so hard to get to be in this position."
Nina laughed at my mocking.
"You don't know Royce. He made Rhys work his ass off when he started to work in the group. Rhys had a degree in aeronautics and a 2-year internship at SpaceX, but he almost had zero knowledge in Business Management. Both Maria and Royce made his life a bit difficult over the past 10 years as they wouldn't sugarcoat his lack of knowledge in the family business. They made him learn things the hard way. Lol."
"Maria asked me to give her son another chance. It doesn't seem like she made his life hard," I admitted.
"These people are very good at keeping family matters and business matters separate. Both Maria and Royce are merciless with each other when it comes to running the Volkner Group. But when they're home, they behave like they just came back from their honeymoon. In the beginning, they made Rhys work with regional managers and learn everything about every aspect of their businesses from grassroots levels. Rhys is also very stubborn when he wants to learn something or achieve something. So, he worked hard, very hard. Just 3 years ago, he was made COO of the group, the third member of the supreme decision-making board in the Volkner Corp. When Rhys started working after graduation, girls thought he was a rich kid who wasted his dad's money. But when they realized Rhys Volkner works his ass off like any other average dude who lives paycheck to paycheck, girls left him."
Nina suddenly started to laugh hysterically.
"...Wish you had seen how he cried every time a girl dumped him," she said, tears of uncontrollable laughter streaming down her face.
I wish you knew what he had told me, Nina.
Here's a revised version of your excerpt:
".... But, you know what, Kay, he is very different with you. He behaves very over-possessively with you. I never saw him get mad in the last 8 years, let alone lose his temper like this day before yesterday.... When he saw you discover his little game, you were gone... He howled like a maniac." Her tone changed as she spoke the last line.
I looked away at the TV; I could not care less. Nina kept looking at me, reading my expression.
"Marco warned him a billion times. Told him to tell you everything. Marco knew you'd figure everything out very soon, all by yourself, and you would be pissed."
Though my eyes were on the TV, I still sighed at her. But I told her,
"Nina, you have no idea how much he had broken me. I hate him."
There was something in my voice that made Nina alert.
"What did he do?" Nina was skeptical.
If I told her, I had to explain why I hated him for telling me all that. And I hate it. I hate talking about my abuses. Every time I talk about these, I feel like I am living through the experiences again.
"You ask him. Where is he?"
"He is in Zurich; today, they will conclude the emergency meeting. Everyone will take a break for a week. Ralf and Royce's birthday is coming seven days from today. Even if the world burns down, nobody will go to work for the next 8-9 days. They are tired of working so hard; Rhys told Marco that he had been sleep-deprived for a few days. Everyone needs rest."
Speaking of both Ralf and Royce's birthday, I realized I needed to talk to London.
--------------------------
Lunch was uneventful as Maria was absent from the palace. Nina and I engaged in small talk about my background, childhood, and how I came to London. I fed her misinformation, fabricating a positive relationship with my parents; they, along with those assisting Rhys in his deceit, didn't deserve my truth.
Our conversation came to an abrupt halt when Marco called Nina. She excused herself, leaving me with a serving of mini tart Tatin with vanilla ice cream.
Delight filled my mouth until Nina returned with a grim expression, settling across from me. Her melting ice cream mirrored the weight of her news.
"What happened?" I inquired.
"NATO won't attack Anubia, but Junta issued a press notice that will fuck up everything," she revealed.
"What press notice?"
"They claim innocence in the Egyptian border attacks, providing proof that the missiles were not theirs but belonged to a militia."
"How's that proof?"
"Those missiles... were made by Volkners."
The spoon slipped from my fingers. This revelation was beyond my preparedness.
"Our weaponry management is regulated and traceable. We haven't dealt with Anubian Military in 50 years or that country since the Junta's takeover," Nina mumbled.
"Who regulates the weapons business?" Shock laced my question.
"Maria," she almost whispered.
I covered my mouth in shock, hoping Maria could navigate this storm. The problem extended to Rhys, who was set to take over the weaponry business. Internal contracts tied him to the blame. Despite my disdain for him, blaming him for such grave accusations was something I couldn't fathom.
"Why is everyone blaming him?" I asked.
"Because he's Naseer's cousin. Anubians want their royals back, pushing Egypt to initiate a war. When the Junta steps back, they plan to establish their own leadership, transforming Anubia into a democratic country. Anubia is known as the 3 headed monster in North Africa."
Wait... Who was Naseer? I had been hearing the name but nobody was telling me anything clearly.
"Who's Naseer? How is he related to Rhys?" I sought clarification.
"Naseer? He's the crown prince, the supposed heir of the Kingdom of Anubia. Naseer's father and Rhys's mother were twin siblings..." Marco replied.
WHAT.
THE.
ACTUAL.
FUCK.
RHYS FUCKING VOLKNER WAS A HALF-PRINCE?
BRUV.
DUDE.
WHY?
WHAT ELSE THIS MAN HAD BEEN HIDING FROM ME!!
God knows what my facial expression was, God knows what I looked like when Nina dumped this vital information about Rhys to me. Nina looked like she had been lost in her thoughts.
"Kay, both you and Rhys are in big trouble."
Nina mumbled under her breath, looking at me with her big black doe eyes.
God knows why I understood what she meant.