Chapter 143: Chapter-143. (We Were...Alone).
"Come in." The voice broke my trance as I blinked, looking at the black car standing in front of me. Taking a deep breath, I pulled in the handle and entered the car.
Settling into my seat, I turned to the person sitting next to me with a neutral expression, "Why did you call me here...Matteo?" Even taking his name made me uncomfortable, and here I was sitting next to him in his car.
The driver couldn’t look at us because there was a divider, so basically we were...alone.
He did not say anything, which made me more unsettled. I opened my mouth thinking that he probably called me to discuss Emma, "Look, Matteo, I respect you and all, but pushing Emma into your..."
Before I could complete, he interrupted, "We are going to The Heavens."
I blinked as the words echoed into my ear. ’The Heavens’...Why does it sound so familiar?
Wait, is he talking about my home, ’The Heavens’? As the thought struck me, my head snapped in his direction.
Before I could stop myself, the words left my mouth, "Don’t tell me, ’The Heavens’ means my parents’ house."
He did not seem to even acknowledge my shock; instead, he adjusted his jacket as he replied calmly, "Technically, it was your Grandfather’s mansion, which was passed down to you."
I let out a shaky laugh as I shook my head in disbelief, "That’s not the point, Matteo."
I stared at him with a little hope, which was then extinguished by his silence.
He just leaned back against the seat, his posture too relaxed. His gaze was steady...the kind of stillness that made you want to fidget just to fill the silence.
Meanwhile, my heart was pounding so loud I could almost hear it over the soft hum of the car engine.
When I realized he wasn’t going to explain anything further, I tried again, forcing my tone to sound steady. "Look, I’m not ready for this. At least not today."
Still nothing.
The divider between the driver and us made it worse. It felt like we were sealed in our own small world, as his silence became heavy and unnerving.
"Matteo, I am serious. You can’t just drag me there without giving me a heads up." I said, trying again to agree with me.
His jaw flexed slightly. It was the first sign that he had even heard me, but still, he didn’t respond.
My stomach twisted. I don’t from anger or fear because in that moment his silence felt like a bone stuck in my throat. A bone that neither can be swallowed nor spit it out.
He could not possibly expect me to face them right now. Not after everything that happened. All the accusations, the humiliation, and most of all the betrayal.
The thought of walking into that house again made my palms sweat and nauseous at the same time.
I tried again, my tone a mix of pleading and irritation, "Please, Matteo. I can’t do this today. I’ll talk to them later...just not now. Let’s postpone it."
No reaction. Not even a glance.
I turned my body slightly toward him, waving my hand at him, "Did you hear me? Hello?"
He looked as if he were carved from stone. The silence stretched longer.
Frustration bubbled up inside me, mixing with panic. "You can’t just ignore me like that! I am talking to you, Matteo!"
Still, his expression didn’t change. His gaze stayed fixed on the tinted glass window, on the passing blur of the city outside.
I let out an exasperated sigh, pressing my palms against my knees, "Are you even listening? I said I don’t want to go there!"
The car made a turn, the motion jolting me slightly, but he remained perfectly still...composed, unaffected.
That made something in me snap.
"Are you mad?" I burst out, my voice louder than I intended.
"You think you can just pull me into your car, stay quiet the entire time, and drive me to my parents’ house as if I owe you this? What are you even trying to do?"
The moment all my frustration manifested into words, everything fell into the thick fog of dead silence. I could tell even the driver would be thinking of me as some crazy person.
I might have started to regret it when the unexpected thing happened.
His head finally turned.
Slowly. Calmly, but he actually gave a reaction to my outburst.
And his eyes...those cold, assessing balls were now locked on mine.
The silence that followed felt louder than any argument.
When he spoke, his tone was low and deliberate, "You are not going there as a daughter, Elena. You are going there as the owner."
I froze.
"What?" I did not know what to say.
"You said you wanted to take control. This is your chance," he continued smoothly.
I shook my head, trying to understand his logic. "That’s not... that’s different. I didn’t mean.."
"You meant exactly that," he cut in, his voice quiet but sharp. "You wanted them to face the truth. To see what they threw away. To see who you have become. A one who did not need them."
I stared at him, my breath caught somewhere between my chest and my throat.
Was this what he thought I wanted? It was true that I wanted to gain my rightful assets, but it was not the right time. I was not in my right mind to face them.
What if I broke in front of them? What if I cried my heart out in front of people whom I once called mine? And most of all, what if they started to hate me after this?
My lips parted to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out.
I looked away, turning toward the window, my reflection staring back at me. For a second, I didn’t even recognize myself.
The tense shoulders, my wide eyes, the thin line of my lips pressed together.
"I can’t face them yet...Not after everything..." The words trailed off.
Matteo’s gaze lingered on me, and though his tone softened slightly, the authority in it didn’t fade, "You have already been facing worse, Elena. This is nothing compared to what you have survived."
My fingers clenched around the hem of my dress, "That’s easy for you to say. They’re not your family."
"No," he said quietly. "They’re yours. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? You keep calling them that even after they treated you like a stranger."
His words stung, but was it a lie? No.
I turned toward him again, my eyes narrowing. "You don’t know everything," I said, trying to buy some more time.
"I know enough," he said simply.
And with that, he turned away, signaling the end of the conversation.
I sat back, speechless.
For the next few minutes, neither of us spoke. The only sound was the hum of the tires on the road and the faint rhythm of my heartbeat in my ears.
Every turn the car took made my anxiety spike higher. My mind raced with negative questions.
What if they threw me out again?
What if they refused to even open the door?
What if Matteo made things worse?
My thoughts spiraled faster than I could control them.
When I couldn’t take the silence anymore, I muttered under my breath, "This is insane."
Matteo’s lips curved slightly as he replied, "No. This is overdue."
The car slowed as it turned into a long, familiar road...the one lined with old oak trees that led straight to The Heavens.
My chest tightened painfully.
Through the window, I saw the distant gates. Those tall, black iron, still etched with the same initials I used to trace as a child: "H.K. & A.K." for Henry Kingsley and Anita Kingsley, my grandparents.
They both had their fair share of adventurous love stories. Them falling in love though they were from very different cultures, yet their love reunited them in every other way which also gave me the hope of happy endings, but unfortunately, this was not the case with me.
And then, the mansion came into view.
Even after all these years, it still looked the same...majestic, cold, and heartbreakingly distant.
My home.
Or rather... the home that had forgotten me.
As the car rolled closer, my hands trembled in my lap.
I wasn’t ready.
Not for this.
Not for them.
But beside me, Matteo’s voice broke through my racing thoughts, "Remember."
I glanced at him as he said softly, almost like a warning, "You are not walking in there as their daughter, but as the rightful owner of this mansion."
And as the car stopped before the massive iron gates, I realized that no amount of pleading, begging, or arguing would change his mind.
Matteo Kingsley didn’t take requests.
He made decisions.
And whether I was ready or not, this one had already been made for me. And somehow I already hate it.