Chapter Three

Four years later,

The second Furina Dunne opened the front door, she knew something was not right. Her heart told her so before her eyes could see the proof wide open. The whole place was ransacked. Everything was thrown onto the wooden floor. Burglary? No. There was no way it was done by a burglar. Everyone in town knew Furina and her dad Fionn Dunne had no money, they led a very modest life. Without caring much about the rest of the place, she went to find her dad. “Dad? Daddy?”

At last, she found him in the kitchen picking up shards of glass on the floor. “Oh my God, Dad you’re bleeding.” She saw the bloody patch on the side of his head and quickly went to find the first aid box. She kneeled beside her father and attended to his wound.

His father still didn’t say a word. He didn’t even raise his eyes from the ground. His whole face was solemn but without seeing his eyes she couldn’t know what he was feeling. His finger accidentally touched the sharp surface of the glass and he hissed at the sudden pain.

Furina held his wrist and attended to that wound as well. Couldn’t do anything to keep himself busy, he finally looked at her and muffled, “I’m sorry.”

She bit her bottom lip and continued to attend to his wound. She helped him up until he sat on one of the kitchen chairs and she pulled another to sit in front of him. “Are you alright, Daddy?”

“It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” He blamed himself a few more times before telling her that he had taken a loan from a local loanshark to cover his medical bills. He didn’t want to worry Furina who already worked two part time jobs: as a waitress at the diner nearby during the afternoon and as a washer at the local pub. The loanshark had threatened him that if he didn’t pay within the next five days, they would do far worse things to him.

After assuring her father that things would get better, she cleaned the house. Her eyes landed at her small luggage and regret began to settle within her. If only she hadn’t taken the holiday to Paris with her friends, she could’ve used that money to help her dad. She shook her head and continued with the task at hand. Regretting things wouldn’t turn back the time and it would simply waste more of her time to dwell on it.

While she was cleaning the house, she found an envelope that was far too pretty to be in her house. Someone with money must’ve sent it here. Seeing that it was addressed to her, she quickly opened it. It was an invitation to a dinner gala hosted by her mother. At first all she could feel was resentment however it was soon replaced by hope once she realized that perhaps her now-rich mother could actually help her current situation. Married to a billionaire, the amount of her father’s loan would be nothing to her mother, Celeste.

👠👠👠

“You can come by anytime you want, Furina,” said Antoine Neuvillette, her mother’s billionaire husband, with a warm smile. “I am sure that will delight your mother as she often spends her time alone in the house.” He spared one loving look at her wife before focusing back on his step daughter.

In all honesty, Furina couldn’t find any fault in the handsome man standing next to her mother. He was polite and well mannered. She couldn’t even fault his looks. For someone who was already in his late fifties, Antoine still had the dashing, handsome look from his young days that most women were after. His chiseled movie star’s jaw was one of his best features beside his blue ocean eyes. On top of that, he had good fashion sense just like most French people.

“Yes, please come, darling.” Her mother, Celeste Neuvillette, linked her arm around his husband’s. She had that vexing proud smile which seemed to remind everyone that she was above the others in the room. Furina noticed that Celeste had a few jobs done on her face since the last time she’d met her over five years ago. It was crazy how time flew and how a person could change so much, not just on the surface level but also personality wise. “We have so many rooms in the mansion but I have the maids readied one room specially just for you. It’ll be much better than the one in your dad’s house.” She stifled a laughter, one hand covering her mouth as she spoke, “Not sure if I can even call it a house considering it just consists of one room. You know if you’re smart, like me, you would’ve left that dreadful place ages ago, darling. Fionn is a useless man.”

Without muttering a word, Furina held her fist tightly and pressing her lips to avoid shouting at the woman who was supposed to be her mother. To his father’s defense, he became jobless since the accident he’d had last year. The accident who left nothing but mountain of hospital bills. It reminded her of the sole purpose of her coming here.

“Actually, Mother and, um, Antoine, I was wondering if I could perhaps—“

“It’s one thing to be poor but it’s completely another to be useless. It’s like having no will or enough ego to even—“

Furina didn’t wait until her mother completed her sentence before she stood and stormed out of the crowded ballroom. She didn’t care if she was making a scene. She simply couldn’t stand her mother and walking away was better than to do anything violent like throwing her risotto to her mother’s arrogant face.

On her way out, she bumped into someone who had just gotten out of their car. Furina nearly fell backward if it weren’t thanks to the pair of arms who swiftly caught and steadied her. Looking up, she noticed that it was THAT guy. He was that French guy who called her prostitute and asked if she wanted a tip!

“Are you alright?”

Furina was going to tell him to go to hell but then from her right, she could hear her mother’s voice and it seemed that he mother was chasing after her. Without thinking, she glanced at the opened car door and jumped right into his car to avoid her mother…