Chapter 1 An Invitation

"Hey, girl! What are you doing here?! You can hear the screams of a man in the distance who was approaching. Isabella turned around in surprise. Didn't I tell you not to come back?! " Shouted the subject just a few steps away from her.

"I... I am sorry... I just came by the mail. She babbles nervously, a little scared. "

"By the mail?!" The man looked her up and down and saw some envelopes in the girl's hands. - I don't know what you're bothering for, I'm sure those are claims for payments and more unpaid bills. The man growled. Isabella didn't answer, she just clenched the papers in her hands, with an expression full of sadness. "Good! You already have your mail and now that the bank officially owns this house, it won't come again, so don't worry about coming back..." The man looked around, noticing that some people on the street had stopped to look at them. "Now go!" That with that indigent look you run me to the possible clients who want to buy this house, then they will think that this area is full of beggars. The man murmured, his jaw clenched, looking at Isabella with contempt.

The girl took the small suitcase, in which she carried the four changes of clothes she had, which was all she had left, and returned to the shelter for the needy in which she had been living for the last few days.

Just a few weeks ago, that house from which that man had kicked her out was his home, the place where Isabella grew up, however, now it belonged to the bank, all her things, both the house and her belongings, had been confiscated due to the enormous amount of debts that the young woman had been left with for the expenses made by her mother's illness, who had recently died.

Isabella entered that huge old building full of small rooms and walked quickly to the tiny little room she had been living in for the past few days, locked herself in and sat on the cot she slept on, looked around and sighed heavily, now this was the only roof she had and although it was not easy to live in that shelter, because there she lived with a lot of strangers, many evildoers and ill-intentioned people, who had already tried to rob and abuse her on a couple of occasions, even so, she was grateful to have a roof over her head and not have to sleep outdoors, as she had already had to do before.

The young woman placed the bag under her bed, she had already gotten used to carrying it everywhere, because her roommate, Jade, had recommended it to her to prevent her things from being stolen, because she was another homeless girl, who had been in the shelter much longer than Isabella and already knew better the rules of survival of the place.

Jade had befriended Isabella in the few days they had been living together, so it was easy for Isabella to deduce that if she wasn't in the room, she had probably gone out to get some money or food, begging on the streets. So, Isabella took advantage of her moment of solitude and intimacy to review the correspondence, which she had brought from home, a last memory of her old life.

With tears of anger and helplessness, Isabella verified that what the man from the bank who had kicked her out of the house said, was true, all the envelopes were full of unpaid bills and notices of last payment, the young woman was crumpling each of the papers, without stopping crying, Why had life been so her? Why did she have to lose her mother and be left alone, with nothing, if she, all her life, had tried to be a good girl, a good person?

Isabella kept asking herself these questions, while, in frustration, she tore up the rest of the envelopes of the correspondence that she no longer bothered to open. One by one, he tore each letter to pieces and just when he reached the last one, at the moment he took it in his hands, lifting the envelope, ready to tear it in two, something caught his attention.

The paper was different from the others, it was thinner and was not addressed to his mother, like the rest of the correspondence. This envelope, bearing her name, was addressed to her, to Isabella Sinclair.

Surprised, Isabella read the sender. Margaret de Sinclair had sent her that letter, and the young woman knew who it was, for that was the name of her paternal grandmother. A strong hunch invaded the girl, the tears and anger began to diminish and be replaced by curiosity. Quickly, Isabella opened the envelope and began to read the letter inside.

"Dear Ms. Isabella Sinclair".

Receive a cordial greeting from the entire Sinclair family.

We are hereby pleased to invite you to our next family reunion, which will be held on a two-week cruise beginning on the fifteenth day of March of this year and will sail at ten o'clock in the morning.

We hope that you will take all the necessary precautions to be able to attend, it would be especially pleased to have your attendance.

Without further ado, we thank you for your attention.

Sincerely, Margaret de Sinclair"

Isabella reread that letter over and over again, trying to understand her, completely astonished, she could not believe that this invitation could be true, because never, but never in her life, Isabella had had any kind of contact with that family, in fact, the young woman knew very well, that her father had been banished from the prestigious Sinclair lineage, and now, after so many years, do they send you an invitation to a family reunion?

Albert, Isabella's father, was the eldest son of William and Margaret, the main heirs of the prestigious and ancient Sinclair dynasty, the second richest and most powerful family in the entire country. However, Albert, the next heir of the family, fell in love with a humble woman, Patricia Soler, a young foreigner who came to the country alone, looking for a new life and opportunity.

Albert's affair angered his father, who ended up disinheriting him and banishing him from the Sinclair family when he learned that his eldest son, his pride, had secretly married the insignificant and poor woman, Patricia, who was surely a careerist.

Since then, Albert led a humble life with his spouse, changing his life completely, but being very happy, despite the fact that his parents, his brothers, and the entire Sinclair family exiled him and forgot about him completely.

That's why Isabella would never have expected to receive an invitation like that and even less from that family, people she didn't know, who never looked for her or reached out to her, people she saw on the news and on television and seemed unreachable, a family that despised them only because of their mother's humble background.

Isabella reread the letter one last time and detailed the signature at the end, "Margaret de Sinclair", that was her grandmother, the young woman remembered having seen her only once in her life, she was just a child and she had seen her from afar, a few meters away, but she would never forget that day, because it was at Albert's funeral, his father, who would have died in a terrible accident.

What could these people want from her, after so many years of oblivion? The young woman weighed with a certain feeling of rage, because despite all the money and power of that family, never, not once, did they reach out to her.

She threw the letter and the envelope aside, from which a pass for the cruise slipped, which explained all the amenities they would have on the trip: food, drinks, spacious suites, swimming pool, different recreational activities, boutiques, among many more and at the end some words became very striking: everything is paid.

There was no denying that the offer was more than tempting, two weeks on a luxurious cruise ship with everything paid, although she would be living with people she did not know, it was definitely much better than living in the shelter, where she was in the same situation, surrounded by strangers.

Of course, it was not something eternal, Isabella understood perfectly that after finishing the two weeks of cruising, she would have to return to the life of poverty in the shelter, because she would probably continue to be an exile from the family because she was her mother's daughter, however, if there was a free boutique, at least she could get a couple of decent changes of clothes that would allow her to get a good job to support herself.

Isabella took the pass for the cruise in her hands, she definitely had to go, possibly this was her chance. His mother always taught him to be a good person, she told him what good things happened to those who were good in life and perhaps, life finally had something good for him, prepared.

The young woman looked at the address well, then checked the date once again "the fifteenth day of March of this year", she realized that that date was that same day, she got up from her cot, hurried, rereading the rest "which will set sail at ten in the morning" only had one hour, before the cruise ship set sail.

She had to hurry up and run, otherwise she wouldn't be there in time. She went to bend down to pick up the small suitcase she had stored under the bed, when a loud knock on the door frightened her. Isabella assumed that it was jade, it was time for her friend and companion to have returned, so, as her friend had already taught her, she asked before opening.

"Yes, who is it?"

"It's me, Jade. " It was heard from the other side of the door.

Without much hesitation, Isabella went to open the door and was paralyzed when she discovered that her friend was not seeing alone but was accompanied by a couple of men. Isabela knew them very well; they were the same ones who had tried to rob and abuse her before.

"I'm so sorry Isabella, it was you or it was me. "