They Called Me Difficult, So I Left the Family

I've been a stickler for getting things right since I was a child. Whenever anyone is vague, I keep asking questions until I get to the bottom of it. At the children's home, the director used to say that the crying child gets the candy. I asked, "Why doesn't the quiet child get any? Does a child have to cry to get candy?" The director had nothing to say to that. After I became a lawyer, my supervisor assigned me a case she claimed was guaranteed to win, despite there being no evidence. I asked, "With no evidence at all, how can we possibly win?" "That isn't for you to worry about. Just show up in court on time." I put the file back on her desk. "If I can't get the full picture, I'm not taking this case." After that, none of my colleagues dared dump another hopeless case on me. That changed when my birth parents brought me home to the Rossi Family and threw a belated banquet to formally acknowledge me as their daughter. Bruno, the butler, brought out a case. Inside was a Browning pistol with the Rossi crest set into the grip. "This is the keepsake the Rossi Family commissions for each of its children. Your three brothers each have one. So does Letitia." My father took aim at a vase worth a million across the room and fired a test shot before sliding the pistol toward me. "Yours. " I picked it up. Neither the magazine capacity nor the curve of the grip had been designed for my hand. I couldn't hold it securely. I looked at him. "Father, was this made specifically for me?" "Of course." I lifted it again with my palm up so he could see the gap between my fingers and the grip. "Then why was it designed for a hand smaller than mine? "If I had to use this pistol in the field, the sharp edge at the base would snag when I changed magazines and cost me my best chance to fire." I turned the pistol over so they could see the tiny letters engraved inside the chamber: L.L. "More importantly, those are Letitia's initials." I looked at Letitia. "Or did you swap mine out?" chapter 1 Both sides of the long table went quiet. Letitia bit her lip. "Fiore, you're Father's biological daughter. I thought the pistol should go to you. I thought you'd like it." I asked her, "You didn't want this pistol because you aren't Father's biological daughter, so you shoved it off on me?" The color went out of Letitia's face. Vito, my eldest brother, frowned. "Fiore! Do you have to be like this? It's just a pistol. So what if Letitia switched them?" I answered, "Maybe not. But Father said each pistol was custom-made. Why did I end up with Letitia's used one? "If I accept this pistol and take it on an operation, then it jams during a reload and gets me killed, what's the real loss? My life, or the Family's reputation?" Vito had no answer. My mother stepped in to smooth things over. "That's enough, Fiore. Letitia was trying to be kind. Stop picking at every detail." "I'm not picking at details." I looked at her. "Father said this is a Family keepsake and every child has one. Is that right?" My mother nodded. "Then why is Letitia's pistol in my case? If both of them are hers, where is mine?" Letitia looked at me through her tears. "It's my fault. "I'll go accept my punishment right now. I'll kneel in the courtyard until you're satisfied." Her eyes red, Letitia shoved her chair back. Perhaps she was too distraught. She caught her foot on a chair leg and struck her knee on the rug. My mother jumped up and helped her to her feet. "Letitia, you aren't well. Don't get worked up." Lorenzo, my second brother, planted himself protectively in front of her. Rocco, my third brother, rounded on me. "Happy now? You've ruined a perfectly good banquet." I looked at them calmly. "All I did was ask for what belongs to me. How did that become my fault?" Rocco's face darkened. "You know how sensitive she is about her place in this family. Why would you mock her for not being Father's biological daughter?" I was confused. "I never mocked her. She's the one who said it. If she said it herself, why am I being blamed for it?" Rocco opened his mouth, but no words came. Letitia suddenly clutched her knee, her voice thick with tears. "I'm sorry, Father, Mother. And I'm sorry to all three of you. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have come to the banquet. "I'm not your biological daughter. I had no right to come. I'll leave right now." She turned and limped away as though the fall had badly injured her. My mother and all three brothers went after her. My father sat at the end of the long table and gave me a heavy look. "Fiore, I'll have another pistol custom-made for you. "Letitia may not be my blood, but she is a daughter I have raised for twenty years. You need to learn to get along with her instead of humiliating her in front of everyone!" "I only wanted to know the truth," I said. My father brought his hand down on the table. "Enough!" I nodded. "All right." He blinked. In the year since I'd returned to the Rossi Family, this was the first time I hadn't pressed until I got an answer. chapter 2 Less than half an hour after the banquet ended, trouble hit the Family. Police raided an important Family outpost in the north district and a shipment was lost. My father was furious and ordered an internal investigation. Everyone was confined to the estate until the rat was found. At one in the morning, Letitia stood barefoot outside my father's study, cradling her cat and sobbing so hard her shoulders shook. "Father, it's all my fault... I took my cat to the emergency vet that night. We passed the outpost, and the cat meowed a few times. Maybe a patrol officer heard it..." Lorenzo pulled her close at once. "How could this be your fault? You were trying to save your cat! Father, Letitia is timid. She didn't mean it!" Rocco looked worried. "I took her to the hospital. She's been under tremendous stress for the past two days and keeps having nightmares." My mother pulled a tissue from the box and handed it to her. "It's all right. Stop crying. Who could have expected a coincidence like that? The police weren't waiting there just for you to walk past." I leaned against the door and listened to all of it, then asked, "What is your cat called?" Letitia sniffled. "P-Prince." I continued, "Is Prince a purebred Maine Coon or a Ragdoll?" Letitia said, "A... Ragdoll." I pulled out my phone and ran a quick search. "Ragdolls meow at about forty to fifty decibels, and not continuously. Normal street noise is above sixty. "You expect me to believe a few meows in an alley caught the attention of an officer two streets away? Were his ears surgically enhanced, or does your cat come with an amplifier?" The room went silent. Before they could answer, I turned to Vito. "You handle Family security. You told me last time that every police patrol route and noise complaint is logged. Right?" Vito looked away. "Fiore, this... can wait." I shot back, "Wait? Father just lost a fifty-million-dollar shipment. We have evidence in front of us. I have no reason not to pursue it." Letitia buried her face in the cat's fur and cried harder. "It's all my fault. Fiore is right. I'll leave right now..." My mother wrapped her arms around Letitia. "Sweetheart, don't do anything rash. You'll always be my precious daughter." Then she turned to me. "Fiore, do you have to get to the bottom of everything? Your sister has a weak heart. She can't take this kind of pressure! "You keep pushing and pushing. Will nothing satisfy you but her fainting?" I answered calmly. "Mother, I'm investigating a missing shipment. You all think I'm bullying her, but I'm not. "Instead, it looks like the six of you are ganging up on me." A flicker of unease crossed my mother's eyes. "Letitia is timid. It's normal for her to make a mistake. You only just came back, and some things..." "What is normal about it?" I asked. "She passed the outpost, her cat meowed a few times, the police showed up, and the Family lost fifty million. You call that normal?" My father's eyes sharpened. "Enough! This matter ends here. I'll cover the entire loss." He paused a few seconds and went on. "Fiore, you will go with them to tomorrow's deal." By custom, every child in the Family had to participate in at least one stage of an operation. Every time I had asked to take part, they told me I was not familiar enough with the process. Letitia gave a soft laugh. "You've been back so long, Fiore. I'm glad you're finally getting a chance." I asked her, "Why finally?" Her smile froze. "I'm happy for you." "But you said finally. That means you know why they kept me out. Can you tell me why?" Letitia wouldn't meet my eyes. My mother cut in at once. "Fiore, stop interrogating her. This is your first operation together. Go prepare." I made sure I had it right. "Vito, Lorenzo, Rocco, Letitia, and I are all going?" Vito nodded. "All of us." Rocco leaned back on the sofa, impatient. "It's just a single deal. How many times do we have to say it?" "Until it's clear," I said. "I don't want to miss the chance I've waited so long for." Letitia's face went pale for a moment. My mother took my hand. "I promise you. All of you are going." chapter 3 The deal my father meant was a consignment of arms at the east dock. The sum involved made the last one look like nothing. At the meeting, my father opened the file. "Letitia will liaise with the buyer. Vito will handle security, Lorenzo will run backup, and Rocco will escort the shipment. Fiore..." He paused. "You stay at the estate and keep the communications lines clear." I looked at him. "Someone is already assigned to communications, Father. This is a major deal. I should be on site." Rocco scoffed. "You, on site? If you question the buyer into silence, who will ever dare do business with us again?" "That is basic security awareness. I have to judge whether a buyer can be trusted. Or is it that you simply don't care whether the deal is safe?" Rocco's expression changed. "You're splitting hairs again!" "I am not. I am confirming facts." Letitia spoke at just the right moment. "Fiore, my health is poor, so all I can manage is the easy job of liaising with the buyer. If you want to participate, you can take my part. I'll stand beside you and carry your documents. I don't mind." I looked at her. "Are you helping me, or reminding everyone that I'm deliberately taking your job?" Letitia's eyes immediately filled with tears. "I-I didn't mean that..." "Then what did you mean?" I pressed. "You said you'd give me your part of the operation. Why add that you'd stand beside me carrying documents? If you truly wanted me to take charge, you'd step away instead of staying there to watch me." Tears spilled from Letitia's eyes. My mother slammed a palm on the table. "Fiore! That's enough! Letitia meant well, and you won't be satisfied until you make her cry?" "I didn't make her cry. She chose to cry. Every sentence makes it sound as if she's being wronged and sacrificing herself, and then all of you follow her lead and turn on me. She used this trick at the banquet. She's using it again, and you still can't see it." The room went dead quiet. My father finally broke the silence. "Meeting adjourned. The plan stands. Fiore stays behind." When I woke the next morning, daylight flooded the windows. I looked at the clock on the nightstand. Nine in the morning. Before bed, I'd confirmed that the team was supposed to assemble at ten that night. Knowing my father, there would be a short pre-operation briefing around five that afternoon. I didn't need to be up early, but habit told me to inspect the equipment in the communications room first. I went downstairs. The living room was empty. Bruno stood to one side and inclined his head. "Good morning, Miss Fiore." "Where is everyone?" "Your father left at five this morning with your mother, Miss Letitia, and your brothers." That early? I turned immediately for the communications room on the ground floor. I pushed open the door. The room was empty. The main radio was gone from the desk. So were the backup handhelds beside it. The wall-mounted monitoring panel had been stripped out. I turned to Bruno. "Who removed everything?" He answered carefully. "Miss Letitia said before leaving that she was taking it all with her to ensure smooth communications at the site." "Is there anything spare in the house?" Bruno shook his head. "No, miss. That's the only set on the estate. Miss Letitia said you should take the day off and not trouble yourself with the deal." I called them one after another. Only my mother picked up. I told her what had happened. "Mother, someone removed every piece of communications equipment from the estate." She was silent for a few seconds. "Letitia was worried reception would be poor at the site, so she brought the equipment. Don't worry. The team up front will handle everything." "By 'they,' you mean Vito, Lorenzo, Rocco, Letitia, and Father. Is that right?" "That's right." "Anyone else?" "Who else?" My mother sounded puzzled. "Me," I said. "It was agreed that I would go." "Fiore, Letitia was trying to protect you. She said this was your first operation and worried you might panic and slow the team down. She thought you should get used to things at the estate first and wait for our good news." "Get used to things at the estate? There is no communications equipment here, no monitoring feed, and even the files on the target are gone. Mother, did you leave me here to let me adjust, or because you never intended to take me?" My mother lost patience. "Why do you have to question everything? Letitia was worried about you. She barely touched her breakfast. She was afraid you'd panic and make a mess. She was thinking of you." "I don't need—" My mother cut me off. "Enough! Fiore, stop. You're not the only person in this family. "If I could choose, I would rather not have you for a daughter!" I ended the call, then turned to Bruno. "What do I need to do to have my name struck from the Family?" chapter 4 Bruno told me that the council had to approve any removal from the Family. I reached for my phone to call the council. Bruno held out a hand to stop me. "Miss Fiore, take a moment to calm down." I lowered my phone and looked at him. "I'm perfectly calm. Tell me, does my mother love me? If she does, how could she say that?" I would rather not have you for a daughter! Bruno stood frozen, his lips parting. "Madam may simply have spoken in the heat of the moment..." "Words said in the heat of the moment are supposed to be regretted later. After she hung up, did she call back? Did she text to ask whether I'd eaten? Did she send anyone to say a single thing to me?" Bruno said nothing. "Did she?" I pressed. He lowered his head, and his voice was barely audible. "No." I waited two seconds and he did not speak again. I called Elder Leo. "Elder Leo, I am applying to be struck from the Family." Elder Leo asked, "Miss Fiore, do you understand what that means? "You would be surrendering your inheritance, your territory, the Family's protection, and every business privilege and armed resource that comes with the name. Have you thought this through?" "I understand." Elder Leo sighed. "Come to the council chamber in half an hour." The council chamber stood at the far end of the estate's west wing. I pushed the door open and Elder Leo was already seated at the end of the long table. A heavy leather-bound register lay open on the table, the Rossi Family crest embossed on its cover. Elder Leo turned the bloodline register to the page bearing my name. "Removal requires your own blood. But before we proceed, Miss Fiore, Family rules require you to confirm three things. "First, are you leaving the Rossi Family of your own free will?" "Yes." "Second, do you understand that once you leave, you will no longer be under Family protection and the Family will bear no responsibility for any action taken against you?" "I understand." "Third, are you willing to surrender all Family assets and inheritance rights?" "I am." Elder Leo opened a drawer, took out a dagger, and slid it toward me. "Place three drops of blood on the blade, then score a cross through your name." I cut the index finger of my left hand. Blood welled from the cut, and exactly three drops fell onto the blade. I took the knife and drew a dark red cross through my name. Elder Leo closed the register, removed an acknowledgment form bearing the council's seal from the drawer, and filled in my name and the date. "The removal is complete." He slid the form toward me. "From today on, you no longer belong to the Rossi Family." After packing my things, I wheeled my suitcase downstairs. At that exact moment, Letitia walked in with the whole family clustered around her. Her cheeks were rosy, and she held a cup of hot chocolate. Her steps faltered when she saw my suitcase. "Where are you going, sister?" "Moving out."