Chapter 20 Apple Picking
The Morales family who had no idea what the Mafia Don was putting their kin through gathered In their living room because Mr Morales had requested.
“I have news!”, He started.
“What happened father?!”, One of his daughters asked as they looked towards him in anticipation.
“About what!”, Another Morales daughter asked as it seemed like their father was taking too long to reveal said news.
“I have a plan, more like a solution as regards how to raise funds to save Isabella!”, Mr Morales said, unknown to him that he had raised questions in the heart of his daughters.
“Save Isabella?!”
“Is Isabella in trouble?!”
“What's this solution father?!”
“Will this work?!”
“Will Isabella be fine?!”
The girls asked their father one after the other as his sentence was rather vague.
“Girls! Girls!! Girls!!!!
Calm down and let your father speak!” Mrs Morales said, also curious to find out this idea of her husband's.
Mr Morales started, “Alright then! I admit I haven't been completely honest, but I plan to be from this moment henceforth so as to get your sister back.
The Don took Isabella as a guarantee I'm able to pay back a sum of two hundred million Euros!”, Mr Morales said as he saw his family's expression upon hearing the amount he pronounced.
He continued, “I remembered a land I didn't sell at the moment, I thought it was something good to Fall back on! And seeing the situation, it really will become helpful as it is reported to have high yield in crops!
I believe with hard work and consistency we can maximize the profits from the yield in order to get your sister back.
You all have roles to play, thus, I implore each and every one of you to put your best feet forward so we can get your sister back!”
~
Isabella laid in her bed, shivering as she lay under the covers.
She hadn't expected Luciano would order her to stand in the rain, and she certainly didn't expect Madam Paula to be kind to her.
The woman had done nothing but look at her like she had stolen something.
Rather thankful that she didn't get a frostbite, Isabella breathed on her hands wishing she could get more warmth.
She kept reflecting on her actions, wondering why she was that clumsy. But, no matter how clumsy she was, the vase had broken and couldn't be returned to its original state.
Isabella felt bad that she ruined such a beautiful thing.
Laying in her bed, she wondered how she would be treated in the mansion from them on.
Sleep kept luring her, but Isabella remained strong willed as she reflected on her day.
However, the tiredness from maintaining a single position for that amount of time, along with the cold she felt got the better of her and she surrendered to sleep.
~
The days passed slowly in Luciano's mansion with Isabella being more careful and Madam Paula being kind to Isabella.
Per usual, Isabella rarely left the house, unless she was going to sweep the yard along with Mia.
However, on this particular day, Mia had accompanied Madam Paula out of the mansion as it was time to get groceries.
Normally, if the case arrived, both of them would go, leaving no one in the house. But it wasn't the case this time, as Isabella was already working in the house.
“Bye Mia, Bye Madam Paula!”, Isabella said as she watched Madam Paula wave like she was being forced to.
Ever since she stood in the rain as punishment, Isabella noticed Madam Paula had been nicer to her.
She stopped commenting on everything she did wrong, she stopped looking at her with spite and she stopped dismissing her.
Isabella closed the door behind her as she went back upstairs to do the laundry.
She might have broken the very expensive vase in Luciano's room, but one thing was for sure. She certainly could do the laundry.
The laundry she had to do was not so much considering the fact that they did it every five to six days.
She washed Luciano's clothes first, extra careful not to mess things up.
Separating the clothes into batches as the machine ran, Isabella soon sorted the entire laundry into four batches.
She worked carefully and efficiently as she folded the laundry that had been washed, going around the house to put them in their various positions.
On a trip to the store in the kitchen, Luciano suddenly walked into the house, his simple action striking fear in Isabella's heart.
She would never have expected that Luciano would come back so early. His assistant followed behind him as usual, a tab In his hand as he closed the door behind him.
With wide eyes, Isabella immediately stopped in her tracks, wondering how best to escape the situation.
However, as soon as she turned to escape, she suddenly heard, “stop!”
With the basket half filled with napkins and aprons, Isabella did specifically what she was instructed.
“Turn around!”, Luciano ordered as Isabella turned to face him.
Isabella's head remained bowed as she wondered what she had done to offend him.
“Why are you trying to run away?! Go on, continue with what you were doing, I'm not disturbing you!”, Luciano said.
“Yes, yes sir!”, Isabella said as she took slow steps towards the kitchen
She sighed in relief as she entered the kitchen, going towards the store to place the neat napkins and aprons where they needed to be.
As she did this, she heard Luciano talking to his assistant Andreas. However, she couldn't make out their exact conversation as a result of the distance between the store in the kitchen and where they stood.
All she heard was the sound of the door closing again.
Wondering if Luciano had gone upstairs or was the one that left, Isabella took a few more minutes in the store, arranging things that didn't need much of an arrangement.
She finally walked out, taking slow steps, the basket still in her hand.
“What took you so long?!”, The deep voice unexpectedly asked, shaking Isabella to the core.
“Ahhhh!!” Isabella screamed as she dropped the basket out of fear.
She had waited a few minutes, thus she thought Luciano would have gone up to his room.
She didn't expect to see him leaning by the kitchen entrance, his legs crossed.