*kindly remember that this is a sequel to 'infatuation of darkness' and is a dark romance.*
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She had closed the door shut on their faces and stood behind it.
Her mind was completely blind and she could not even process the words that they had said. The only words that roamed around in her empty head were now dead and father.
Her father had died? After twenty years of risky business where he could have been shot in the middle of the night or he could have been poisoned he chose to die days before his birthday?
A shaky gasp left her mouth as she covered it. It was so hard to believe. For a second it just seemed to be all normal. It was like a soldier had brought a message from her father and with her maid was escorted to her room. It was like any other morning their father had gone for business.
"He'd come back." She murmured to herself softly as the door opened and closed into the background.
"Oh my love," a hand caressed her hair and gently pushed her towards the bed. She felt the mattress dip underneath her as a weight was brought upon it.
She slowly turned her eyes up from the floor and to Maria's face. "Maria . . ." She croaked out, "did it really happen? Is he really dead?"
Maria nodded, her lips stretching into a small and sad smile of her own.
"But. . .he said. . ." She sniffed and barely controlled her tears. For the past 20 years of their life, her father had never bothered to take a vacation from work and this time after her heart had been broken he had promised her to take to France, Paris no less.
He was gone.
"You need to get dressed and change, baby," Maria's soft and sympathetic voice reached her ears, "if anything your family members are going to be here soon, including your stepmother.
Stepmother. The bitter word.
"Where is she?" Evelyn half expected her to be on some kind of tropical beach enjoying herself on her father's money but afkos now that her father was there she was going to come here with a crocodile tears.
Maria answered her, "she is—was in South Korea. She has been informed and has taken the first flight here."
Slowly the reality settled in and so did the dread along with the sadness of only family members passing away.
"What now?" She whispered, staring at the picture beside her door of her father and her. "What will happen now?"
"You know it." Maria's answer was immediate. "You wait until they all come and then we decide from there. If you don't know it already then you must know that the soldiers are on your side. Whoever you decide, they decided to follow."
But not her.
She looked at her closet before getting up and going to visit. Black was her least favourite colour even though it meant powerful and ambitiousness along with beauty and elegance but for Evelyn it was simply not the colour she would like to wear.
Her entire closet was filled with colours, especially pastel one's which were his favourite and had a special place in her heart. She pulled out a black shirt along with a black trousers. Stilettos went well with them.
Her face was kept bare. There was no hint of liner or even lipstick there. No concealer was put under her eyes to hide last night's events and the dread along with the fear that her eyes held now. She did not even try to cover the sadness and the most eyes for her father's death.
She stepped out of a room with Maria behind her and there was already someone standing in the living room along with her father's second in command, Antonio.
"Good morning," she greeted the man and then gave her a slight hint of a smile on his face.
"Good morning Evelyn." He said, "I am very sorry to hear what happened to your father."
She lowered her eyes for a second before glancing at him again and nodded her head in appreciation of his condolences.
"Thank you. However there will be time for the wake for his funeral." She kept her voice neutral even though it was difficult when she was talking about her own father's wake. Her father's funeral. It had always seemed like such a forbidden topic for her that she now has to talk about it with everyone.
"I am not here for that," the man shook his head, "Evelyn bianchi, I am Angelo D'alessandro and I have something for you." The man said as he pulled out a stack of papers and held it out to her.