Chapter 7

• "Four thousand dollars a month?!"
• I threw myself to my bed as soon as I have finished telling Olivia everything about what I have been up to for the past days and about Kieran Tiziano-Vetrelli as my client for the agency I signed up for. She looks at me with widened eyes and widened smile as she scoots closer to where I was lying down and repeats the words, "Four thousand dollars?" She smacks me on my thigh playfully, "That is a lot of money, L!"
• "I know right?" I answer with a doubtful smile as my mind thinks about the words he had told me during the client meeting. "The amount seems too good to be true."
• "Well, first and foremost he is the Kieran Tiziano-Vetrelli, the rich and powerful owner of TIZELLI. And secondly, he is Kieran Tiziano-Vetrelli! Does that even make any sense?" She says it while laughing which causes me to laugh too.
• "No?" I answer, chuckling under my throat.
• She giggles as she smiles widely at me, "All I am saying is, his name itself sounds big fucking cash. Of course, his offer is huge."
• "I know." I sounded hesitant and sad.
• She looks at me for a second, "What is with that look?"
• "What look?"
• "That." She gestured her hands at my face.
• I scoff, "Are you saying I look ugly?"
• She laughs, "No, silly! You do not look like you are interested in it."
• "I am." I tried to sound convincing.
• "Whatever the job is, I would do that for four thousand dollars a month, you know?" She encourages me as she lies down on my side, "Who wouldn’t?"
• "Um…" I press my lips together, "Me."
• Her eyes widen in surprise before turning her attention towards me as her smile faded, "You did not?"
• I answered her with a nod, "I did."
• She gapes before smacking me on my arm.
• "Ouch!" I whined.
• "You rejected four thousand dollars?!" She shouted at my face aloud.
• "N-No… I mean not directly." I scratch the back of my head and the way she says it makes me feel guilty and regretful about what I have done.
• "You stupid!" She smacks me again.
• "Ouch!"
• "What did you tell him then? I mean how did you say it?"
• "I… I told him that I needed to think about it because I… I have always wanted to try… Ugh, the internship."
• "What about it?"
• "What about it?" I mocked her.
• "Yeah."
• "The internship is such an important thing to me Liv and you know that." I pull myself up from the bed and felt like I was making a wrong decision but still feels right. "I have always wanted to be a part of that because it would not complete my university life."
• "Hold on." She says while gesturing her hands. "Let us... Let us rewind a little bit. So you are turning down a four thousand dollar salary over a stupid fucking internship?" She makes it sound like I did something wrong. "You do know your sister needs therapy, right?"
• I answered with a nod.
• "And you do know that the longer she will not have any of that, the more she will not be able to walk." She stated clearly. "You know that better than anyone, right?"
• I groaned inwardly, "I can juggle the internship and as a nanny and a tutor."
• She scoffs sarcastically, "What are you, a fucking robot?" She mocks. "Let me remind you that you still have remaining classes for the semester. You can not, I am emphasizing on the words can not, juggle all of that, L."
• "I can." I defended.
• "Can not. Let me ask you again, what are you a freaking robot?" She scolds like a mother.
• "No." I moaned in disappointment.
• "Even if he allowed you to have your internship, the company you are eyeing for is a thousand miles away." Olivia speaks senses to me. "The good ones in this city have been full even before. Commuting would cost a lot of time and money. Plus, you are looking after kids for God’s sake. You are going to wear yourself out."
• I swallow hard as I feel my head aching whenever I think more about what I have done.
• "You have to grab this opportunity and save money as much as you can. Not all people get offered that amount of cash you know. Women are selling their bodies for cash, so do not overlook this opportunity that is laid out for you." She continues as she stares at my troubled face.
• I sighed heavily.
• "Oh, L." She grabs my cheeks with both hands as she adds, "Accept the job opportunity for now and worry about your internship later on then ask about the extra classes for internship replacement tomorrow."
• I groaned again as I lie back down on the bed contemplating about life, "You really think I should have those extra classes?"
• "Yes of course."
• "There is something else I worry about."
• "What is it?"
• "If the salary is that much, then that means he is wanting me to look after not only one child. Right?"
• There is silence.
• "I mean, that is four thousand dollars we are talking about. He is not expecting me to look after an orphanage right?" I questioned as she chuckles at me. "I am serious Liv."
• Olivia smiles, "I can not answer that."
• "Why not?"
• "I do not know a lot about him aside from the fact that he is a snack in those pictures and the ones my mom told me before. Let us search how many kids he has anyways so your thoughts are going to be at ease." She grabs my laptop as I face my stomach against my mattress while she types the words ‘Kieran Tiziano-Vetrelli kids’.
• "Is there anything?" I asked instantly as soon as she finished typing.
• "No pictures." She answered.
• "What? Really?"
• "I guess he is that powerful to have been able to pay people not to take photos of his kids."
• "How many does he have?"
• "Let me check." She takes before exclaiming, "Ah-hah! Jackpot." She states as she clicks on the article as it sparked my interest too. "Kieran Tiziano-Vetrelli takes his kids to a private getaway in Italy to celebrate a much-secluded summer vacation." She reads as she looks through the entire article, "Wow, eat the rich." She mocks. "Here." She points at the screen. "Lincoln and Lukas were spotted fishing with their father for the first time after the death of his estranged wife." She reads the piece of the article. "Two kids." She stated.
• But something else struck me.
• "Wife?" I chimed as my brows creased, shocked by what I have heard. "What?" I muttered in confusion as I look at her.
• Olivia looks back at me confusedly, "You did not know?"
• "Know what?"
• "He was married."
• "Married?" My eyes widened in total shock. "Then what about that heiress he is dating?"
• "You seriously do not know much about him and his previous marriage?"
• I shake my head sideways to respond. "You know I only care about work and earning money."
• "Well, yeah. But it was all over the news. Actually, I think we were only thirteen when he got married at twenty-one so that is probably the reason why you have no idea about it."
• Eight years apart, damn he is that old.
• "But anyway," She interrupts. "His first marriage was very much the highlight of the year, knowing his family’s background, power, and his soon-to-be wife back then. It was all over! From what I have heard from my mom, it was the grandest wedding of all that many women envied. He married none other than Anastasia Russell, the heiress of the Russell International Corporation and she is basically the owner of the University of Rushton before it was given to her younger brother Garrett after she died."
• My eyes widened, "D-Died?"
• She answered a nod at me as I watch her type the words ‘Anastasia Tiziano-Vetrelli death’ on the search bar then answers eerily, "She killed herself."
• "What?" I gaped.
• My eyes landed on the headline that states, ‘What drove Anastasia Tiziano-Vetrelli to jump off the hospital’s rooftop?’
• "A lot of people speculated that Kieran had been cheating on Anastasia with her best friend for years during their marriage. I mean, why would they be in a relationship now, right?" Olivia spurts out. "That could possibly mean they have been a thing even years before."
• I gaped, "You mean to say that the hotel heiress whom he is engaged to now was his wife’s best friend?"
• Olivia answers with a nod, "Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Yes! Awful right?"
• "What the hell?"
• "Anastasia found out about the affair, got heartbroken, and committed suicide."
• "That is really terrible," I say intently as I feel sympathy towards the wife. "Basically, he was the reason why she killed herself."
• "More or else, yeah." She answers nonchalantly. "People would even say that Kieran and Emery have a secret love child that they have been hiding their love child for years now. Based on the news I read before, Anastasia found out about Kieran’s illegitimate child with Emery after she knew about their affair. She had too much of the betrayal which drove her to end her life. That could possibly be his youngest child now."
• My brows creased, "So that means he has got three kids?"