The Grand Mistress

Finland

Weather was a bit cold and Simione had double her clothing to be able to go outside. It had been a week when she arrived there, in a small town miles away from the city. The house that she lived in was a regular Finnish house, with a large window overlooking a serene lake and was covered by woodland that was filled with wildberries. Every afternoon, Simione explored the woods but most of the time she just sat there at the edge of the lake, drinking some coffee while missing her friends and the life she left behind.

She wondered what's going to happen with her school now? With her work? She had no time to settle those before she left. A new semester was fast approaching while the work leaves she took in EL Tigre's company would be over after a few days. She sighed thinking all of those were just wasted because of her desire to make revenge on Feather. However, seeing Feather suffer was really a satisfying sight that even until then, it was hard for her to regret what she did no matter how big she sacrificed for it. Apart from that, her revenge gave her some sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, something that she never thought she'd take as a consolation from all that had happened.

What's going to happen now?

Did the Don come home?

Did Hawk Monsanto send men to find her?

Well, the man's anger was inevitable and his connection plus wealth was something one should not underestimate. For sure, he will be able to find her soon but before he does, she'll flee from him again and if there comes a time that she ever gets tired, she'll just let him have her and die in his hands. She owes him that after all because she ruined his life.

Whilst thinking, Simione took a sip of her coffee only to realize that it had dried out and so, she stood from where she was at and hurried back to his house. Lucy had this arranged for her and from time to time, someone comes to check on the girl. Also, this house wasn't that far from the caretaker's house and had a good security system and so she wasn't slightly fearful of her safety. Besides, she's a thousand miles away from Devon City, all those after her will have to search deeper and harder for them to find her.

Simione opened the door and immediately closed it before she pulled her boots off and took some indoor slippers. When she crossed the living room toward the kitchen, something caught her attention. In  a minute then, the hairs at the back of her hair stood as an immediate panic rose into her!

  Something was wrong!

  She is not alone in the house!

Out of instinct, Simione ran toward the kitchen to take a knife but before she could grab one, something covered her mouth and made her feel dizzy. She tried to struggle as she felt someone grab her but her body had gone so weak and sleepy already that just after a few minutes, she succumbed into darkness. 

"Who are you?" She mumbled before she lost consciousness.

***

It was another court day for grandfather Williams and since Simione wasn't around, Gabriella initiated to come on her behalf. She knew how important this case to Simione was and so she vowed to continue fighting for it as she mourned for Simione's disappearance. She had asked Lucy about the girl's whereabouts but the singer refused to tell her anything. She said it was better for her not to know anything rather than be involved in such a complicated situation.

When Gabriella arrived in the court house, she immediately asked around where the trial for grandfather William's was but the recent development of his case got her surprised.

"Miss if you are asking about the embezzlement case, the court had already dismissed it this morning," One of the staff there told her. 

"Dismissed? You mean the case is no more?" Gabriella inquired. She had only limited knowledge about how everything works in the courthouse and so she wasn't sure about her conclusion.

"Yes, If I'm not mistaken the suspect should be released right away," the staff added. "Try going to the prison house, you might still be able to catch up with the release as the suspect's lawyer just recently got the papers. I believe they were heading there now,"

"Alright," Gabriella didn't know if she should be relieved or not. She had seen Simione struggle on winning such a case and didn't understand why it had to go easy this time. Did something happen that they didn't know? Or she should just believe that justice was on their side right this time?

Immediately, Gabriella went to the prison house and checked if what was relayed to her was indeed true. Since Simione was the one handling this case and she wasn't here, she was sure that none from the Tang's knew yet about this recent news. She might be the only one to welcome grandfather Tang as he would get out of prison.

As soon as Gabriella walked in, she immediately caught a sight the old Tang's master near the reception standing alone as if waiting for something.

"Grandfather Williams!"

"Gabbie?" The old man was surprised by her.

"Ahmm…Simione is out of town because of school stuff so I came here to check on you. However I had heard that you are going to be released today. Is this real?" Gabriella took excuses for Simione's absence.

"Oh yes dear, I couldn't believe it. Thanks to you, Gabbie. Simione is really so lucky to have a friend like you," The old man went on thanking Gabriella instead for reasons the latter didn't know. She was actually confused on what grandfather Williams was talking about yet she didn't make it too obvious in order not to ruin such a happy day for him.

"That's good to hear," Gabriella forced a smile. "Are you free to go already? I'll go and accompany you home, Madam Silicia will surely be surprised,"

"I'm just waiting for the papers dear, my lawyer is taking care of it," 

"I see. Should I go and check on your lawyer? Perhaps I should also asked him if there are other things that needed to be done in your case,"

"Well he's here already…" Grandfather looked through Gabbriella's back to acknowledge the person that just arrived. Even when she had not seen his face yet, Gabriella could already smell his perfume and was very sure it was Primo.

  Shit! She should have known! No wonder why grandfather Williams thanked her! Did Primo introduce himself as her boyfriend to  the Tang's master?

"Dulzura…"

"Give me grandfather's papers," She demanded as she slightly turned to him. 

Primo studied her for a while but in the end, handed her the papers she demanded.

"Is this it?" She inquired.

"Yes. He is free to go," Primo said casually, ignoring the fact that the girl wasn't looking him in the eye and not even giving him full acknowledgement. "He's clean…my team had already taken care of everything and if there's some problem that would occur after, they'll take care of it,"

"Thank you," Her voice was short of gratitude. Immediately she turned into grandfather William and changed her tone. "Grandfather, let's go. I'll bring you home,"

Grandfather  noticed the tension and so he just thanked his lawyer and followed the girl. However, before they could hire a cab, a familiar car stopped in front of them. It was a car owned by the Tang's and in a second, Madam Silicia went out teary. 

"Williams!"

"My wife," The old master went to hug his wife tight as she cried in his arms. It was such a touching moment that Gabriella couldn't help but shed a little tear. It had been a while that Simione's grandparents had separated and seeing them reunited again without bars warmed Gabriella's heart. If only Simione was there, she knew she'd be too happy to see such a beautiful touching sight.

"Gabriella is that you?" Madam Silicia noticed her standing just behind her husband. She then went to hug her tightly. "Thank you Gabbie. You had always been kind to Simione and even now, you have helped her with this. We were told it was your boyfriend who took over the case. Oh you child, we didn't even knew El Tigre was your lover,"

"It's nothing grandmother," Gabriella replied politely as she wiped away the little tears she shed. "I'm just glad grandfather is free now. You should take him home, he needed some rest and make sure to cook him his favorite food,"

"Of course my dear, thank you so much again," Madam Silicia smiled at her gratefully but then her attention was turned to the man who was just standing just inches away from Gabriella. "Thank you sir for your great service. This must have caused you a lot,"

"It's nothing," Primo answered and only Gabriella noticed that the young attorney had followed her again. "I'm glad to be of great help,"

"We owe you a lot sir. We know for a fact that you don't handle cases like this,"

"Your granddaughter is my employee, besides, she's also a friend to my Gabriella. This case is of my great concern," Primo answered and turned to look at the girl who had been ignoring him.

"Child you are so lucky, you have found a great partner," Madam Silicia turned to Gabbie again.

Gabriella only faked a smile before she bid her farewell. "Grandmother , you should go. Grandfather is tired. I'll visit you with Lucy one of these days,"

"I'll be looking forward to it dear," The old woman replied before she went back to her husband's arms and leave the place.