Ayshe
As Asin left us, I felt he was acting a little different. I nearly chalked it up to me annoying him back on the island, but Marie disagreed.
"I think we need to solve this situation of mine as quickly as possible," she insisted, still watching the door he left through. "Otherwise, my husband will start putting two and two together."
"Do you think he's already suspicious?" I asked, snapping my fingers to gain her attention.
"I want it done for multiple reasons, sister." She fixed me with a deadly serious expression.
I nodded immediately, trying to calm her already fractured mind. "Let's go over to Mother's and see if they've learned something."
"What about work?" she asked.
I sighed, shaking my head. "You're the CEO. If anyone can be late sometimes, it's you."
We spent the ride to their house wrapped in our own silence.
I hadn't thought about it much—maybe I didn't want to—but now my mind kept wandering to the consequences if the truth ever came to light: the secret with Oliver.
Would our relationship be strong enough to survive it? Would he stand by me, even if Asin turned against Marie and their marriage?
No. Of course not.
Asin wasn't only his best friend but his brother and partner. Oliver had already sacrificed a relationship for their friendship once; he would do it again.
As our car pulled up to the house, I kept my eyes on the magnificent garden and the lavish villa. The maids and guards stood ready and willing to do our bidding. Sigh. Material things were never as important to me as they were to the rest of the family, but...
If Marie's past got discovered, or worse, if it reached the media, the Martell family wouldn't tolerate the scrutiny. We would lose everything again, and this time, the fall would crush my sister and the rest of our family.
As the maids led us inside, an unexpected picture met us in the atrium. Our entire family sat around a table, wearing grim expressions.
"Girls, come and let's talk," our grandmother said, her expression extremely serious as she tapped the empty seats beside her.
We exchanged a look of exhaustion. Marie wanted a quick chat, but that wasn't going to happen.
We took our seats, and the same silence from our car ride enveloped us in the presence of our family. No one spoke until my father cleared his throat.
"The entire Pirell family has disappeared."
( BANG )
"What!?" Marie stood so fast she knocked over her chair.
Our mother tried to calm her. "Calm down, sweetie, we did our..."
"Enough, Emine!" My father, already on edge, cut her off.
As Mother was close to tears, Father walked around the table, gently guided Marie back to her chair, and knelt in front of her.
"...They most likely told that girl everything in exchange for some money and left the country, maybe even the continent. At least that is what I think. Our old neighbors and friends say they're on a holiday."
That's a load of bull.
"We spent a fortune to bribe people, but not one person knows where they went. Tell me about that girl again," he asked.
"Dad, we already told you everything we know," I lied quickly. "She is an old friend, and now an assistant to Asin, and..."
"Tell me, Ayshe." Our grandfather cut in, holding and nervously cracking his hands. "What kind of an 'old friend' would dig for such things? For what reason would she have to do that other than monetary reasons?"
I bit my lip. I couldn't answer, even though I knew the truth. It would betray Oliver and our love. Furthermore, Marie would probably lose her mind walking around with such knowledge. She would be burdened with this, and it might induce another episode. Either way, I couldn't tell them. Not all of them. Not now.
Grandfather took my silence as my answer. After a wise nod toward Marie, she told them what we had already explained last Friday.
It looked like I might need to make a choice between my love and my family.
Isn't that ironic, Oliver?
---
Oliver
I arrived at the Sanctuary around midday and made sure the guards kept my presence quiet.
The Pirells sure listened to our words and made themselves at home here. The place was filled with extravagant furniture and brand-new appliances. Bags of luxury brands I knew—and some I never even heard of—were tossed around everywhere.
I heard noises from the kitchen and headed there, until I could hear them talking through the door. Since I didn't knock or announce my arrival in any way, they talked candidly and without fear.
"...How much again?"
Mrs. Pirell sounded excited.
"Who knows? It's the Martell family! They own more corporations and businesses than any other family in the country! Millions, maybe tens of millions!"
Hmm, they sure counted their chickens before they hatched.
"Thank you, Lord, for giving us that ridiculous man and now the opportunity to live like true Queens for the rest of our lives."
As they cackled like witches, I had enough and opened the door.
Cecile Pirell was working on—probably some Konore breakfast special that looked like a mix of vomit and dirt. Her mother was busy dancing with a wooden spoon above her head.
"Khmm... excuse me for the intrusion."
( CLACK )
Cecile dropped the entire pan of green/black stuff and clutched her chest. To my surprise, her mother just made a sour expression, as if I had ruined her greatest fun.
"Mr. Aster... W-we didn't know about your arrival..."
They were sure great actresses.
"Well, that was the plan, Mrs. Pirell. But I'm not exactly here for an ice cream social. Cecile dear..."
She was on her knees cleaning and looked up, hearing her name.
"...would you mind having a private word with me? Outside." I motioned toward the door behind me.
She needed her mother's consent, which she gave in the form of a firm nod.
We walked outside into the fresh air, past the pair of guards, and I immediately headed towards the forest that surrounded the Sanctuary. She was silently walking behind me, not bothering to ask anything ahead of time.
I stopped at a small clearing that allowed a clear view of the house she and her mother shared.
I didn't have time or patience for anything other than the truth, so I got straight to the story I'd been told.
"A few months back, you were spending a lovely night at the Konore nightclub... Poisoned Apple..."
I saw the confused expression on her face turning into a surprised one.
"...There was a sneaky little snake who approached you. She made some pleasant conversation. She was awfully nice and generous with the drinks..."
"Wait... h-how do you..."
"...That girl asked a bunch of questions," I ignored her and continued, louder. "...Eventually, the talk got to the most famous person in your one-horse little town: the recently married Marie Konore, now Martell. Does it ring a bell so far?"
She kept looking behind her, probably wanting the support of her dullard of a mother. But she was alone.
Eventually, she gave me a simple, timid nod.
I closed my eyes for a second and asked myself: Are you really sure about this, Oliver? Do you want to know if everything you heard was the truth?
Asin's happy face floated in my mind. He had suffered so much over the years. What if...
"Mr. Aster?"
I stayed quiet long enough that Cecile found her voice.
"Yes. Tell me everything you know about... Nora Wood."
As the realization settled in, I saw a myriad of emotions running through her face.
Yes. Poor little Nora Wood.
She was the girl who was her and Marie's schoolmate for years. They played and shared secrets with her. The quiet girl whose life was shattered. The girl whose only relative, her grandmother, died in an insane asylum, never believing the lie everyone kept feeding her about her granddaughter running away with some random guy.
The girl Marie drowned when she was but a teenager, and whose body her family probably buried somewhere in the vast Konore desert.
---
Marie
Talking about that day, even if not directly, was... a nightmare. Yet it was needed now. But it didn't make it better. My chest and head had been hurting since we arrived.
"Are you sure that girl... Desiree... can't be dealt with?" Father asked carefully.
Both Ayshe and I knew what he meant. But that was impossible.
"I'm sure, Dad. My husband is very fond of her. He would never stop digging for her whereabouts... and e-eventually... he w-wou... he would..."
I felt a warm liquid running down my finger. I had grabbed the seat edge so hard and for so long, my nails were pushed into my flesh, and a few small wounds now covered my palm.
My own ruby blood slowly dripped onto the ground.
I was vaguely aware of my family noticing it and my mother's voice cutting through the other noises.
"Oh dear! AYSHE GET..."
I kept my eyes on the slowly trickling blood, and I felt the room spinning. The noises faded.
Then, thankfully, the blessed darkness came.
...
I woke up to a bunch of random noise and felt cold liquid running down my face, wetting the base of my hair on the side.
"S-stop... Stop, Mother! I think she's waking up..."
I felt a familiar scent and opened my eyes automatically just as my sister leaned over me.
"Marie? You're okay." She smiled, letting out a sigh of relief while taking a wet towel off my forehead.
"Help me get up," I asked, reaching out and letting myself get pulled up.
All my family had worried expressions painted on their faces, but I only fainted; there's nothing to...
My own train of thought got interrupted by the state of the atrium.
Well, what was left of it. Chairs, plates, plants, and even the atrium's glass walls were smashed into bits. Glass and tableware were scattered all around us.
"W-what happened?" I asked, preparing for the worst.
Ayshe had always more courage than my parents. Even now, when my mother and father could barely hold their tears back and my grandparents both avoided my eyes, she stepped forward, taking my arm.
"Y-You had... a thing," she said, caressing my hair.
A thing. A blackout. A breakdown. I heard people calling it many names since I was six years old.
But I preferred its real name: Syncope. A mental episode.
Just like it was way back then. That day that still haunted me. Haunted my family. Not the day itself, but what I woke up to see after I came to.
I let myself get seated and allowed my mother to smother me with her tight hug. I heard my father's voice above us as he addressed the others.
"S-shou... s-should we... Should we call a doctor?"
"No need, Dad. They would only try and prescribe the same pills she had."
Ahh, the pills.
The pills that kept me sedated for years. It was like being trapped, but for my mind, sitting behind my own eyes. Watching but not being able to control anything. An endless nightmare where one turned into a prisoner... a zombie even. Confined inside my own body.
As the family continued to argue around me, I had a single thought in my broken head: I die before I take those damn pills again.
~
Ayshe insisted on taking the day off.
We called Henny from the car and made sure the work we were supposed to do was done for the day.
My sister was needy, like she always was when I had... a thing.
She sat next to me inside the car, handled the calls to the company, and kept gently caressing my back, which I appreciated all the way until we arrived home.
All that time, and I couldn't utter a word. Not to her or my family. I just wanted more than anything to...
"No, Marie, don't call him now!"
Ayshe was sharp and saw my hand hover over Asin's name in my contacts. She swiftly took my phone and put it away.
"Listen, a few things before we go inside," she took a nervous look at the mansion towering above the town in the distance. "You need to snap out of it now, in case we run into someone. That's one."
I fully agreed and nodded because words still failed me.
"Second: You can't call your husband until you get back to... well, yourself. Okay? He knows you too well not to recognize the change, even over the phone."
She shook her own phone in my face to make the point stick.
Even if I agreed with her on this one as well, I felt his voice alone would fix me, somehow pull me out. The unrelenting fear of losing him made me sick to my stomach.
"Third: I need you to speak and acknowledge all that I said just now. Can you do that?"
Her eyes were filled with an old worry I hoped to never see again. It broke my heart. My little sister.
"I'm here now," I managed to speak, patting her hands, sounding a little hoarse. "I'll be fine. I just thought that it was..."
"I know, sissy. I hoped we were done with this, too, but remember what Dr. Sayid said? It can disappear for years, decades even, but..."
Not forever. It's not something that can be cured, only medicated.
"I remember. Let's follow what you said and try to forget this?"
She immediately agreed, and I felt just like back then. When I came off that medication, the whole family treated me like a bomb they had to carefully handle unless it exploded.
I tapped my face from both sides and let the stinging pain wake my senses.
Ayshe is right. Of course she was.
I can't be stuck on this. I have a few hours tops before Asin or someone from our family will stand in front of me. I can't have them see... a nervous, silent wreck.
"...What did Father say about... everything?" I asked, trying to gain back those minutes when I was catatonic.
Ayshe nodded firmly and explained.
"They will continue to look for the Pirell family and... hope for the best. All they need from us is to act like... act like we always did." she shrugged.
I had a feeling she wanted to say act normal but changed it at the last second not to upset me. I gave her a long hug, surprising her.
I was very grateful. Since in this, since in everything related to this awfulness... I can only count on my sister.
---
Asin
"...so what's your advice?"
We sat in silence with Baban after he patiently waited for me to finish my story. I unloaded all my worries on him without fear of mocking, deceit, reprisals, or empty platitudes.
He put his glass down on the table and leaned closer, taking my shoulder. "So what will you do with them?"
"Huh?" I asked, confused.
He smiled and leaned back. "Let's say everything you think now becomes reality..." He took out his chess board under the seat and opened it.
"Baban, I don't think a game will..."
"Silence, Olume, I'm not finished." He sat up, and for a second, he looked like his old pictures, full of energy and authority. I nodded apologetically and let him set up the board. He only continued when all the pieces stood.
"...What if it turned out they all kept secrets? In fact, let's say they all somehow betrayed you. What will you do with them? For punishment? Shunning them? ...Killing them?"
As he finished, he surrounded my king with various pieces to make a point, and my mind was racing. Never. I could never hurt them. In any way.
He must've seen my expression and guessed my thoughts. "All I'm trying to say is, it's important to know the answer to that question, in case all those fears turn into reality." His smile died there at the last words. "So, tell me, my young son, what would you do with them?"
I was utterly lost. What would I do?
They're all my closest... the ones I would trust my life with. They have my best interest at heart at all times... But do they really?
What if those fears are true? Should I... what? What should I do!?
Baban amused himself, seeing my internal struggle, and finally helped me out.
"It is clear to me you need more..." He smiled, seeing my impatient expression. "More, Olume... more information, more insight into these alleged secrets. More clarity about what must be done... if it's true."
He was right. Obviously. But...
The kitchen door opening took my attention as Maya walked inside, holding a large bowl of... sweet pasta? followed close by Amne, holding edible food on a tray in the form of sandwiches.
"You don't have to do anything, Olume. If they're even related to those trying to betray you, I will personally kill the lot of them."
"Amne! One of those kids is Oliver, remember him?" Maya looked upset, putting the bowl down.
"It changes nothing. If he betrayed your brother, let him bleed with the rest." Amne nodded firmly, handing me the tray and taking a seat.
I exchanged a look with Baban, and I knew we had the same thoughts: That door was useless.
"Amne, I'm not believing they actually... are betraying me." I put down the tray, taking the spoon away and that ridiculous salad from Baban, and handed him a sandwich. "But they are keeping secrets, and it bothers me."
I helped Maya take my warmed-up seat and sat down next to her.
"I agree with you," Maya smiled at a picture on the wall. "That boy could never do anything that would cause you harm. Not even indirectly. He is Oliver, people."
I looked as well and saw our first ever picture taken with the family. We were so young. Oliver smiled awkwardly but was truly happy to be included, but I couldn't be. I was pissed off for some reason; I just didn't remember why now. Baban had to force my head to even look in the camera. Maya was mid-laugh, and Amne hugged her from behind.
"What about those sisters?... I mean, I know you've fallen for that girl..."
Here we go.
"Amne, I hoped we were done calling her... that girl. Please." I took her hand, pleading.
"Fine. Marie, then." She rolled her eyes. "All I'm saying, Olume, is that you got caught up with her pretty fast. How much do you actually know about that girl? Or her past?"
I didn't want to say, but I knew a lot. Her file, which contained most of their known life, was still saved, along with Ayshe's, that Oli sent to me months ago.
"I won't entertain it, Amne," I shook my head while moving a chess piece. "Whatever their secrets are, it must be... embarrassing or just very, very personal."
At this point, Maya noticed something that disturbed her and decided to chastise all three of us for it.
"What's wrong with you all? Eat my salad as well!"
For the next hour, we were force-fed with her original creation, and to be honest, it wasn't half bad.
~
On my way home, I got a call that killed all my good cheer after Maya's salad.
It was one of the guards at the Sanctuary. Oliver visited the Pirells and took Cecile Pirell for a private talk. Twenty minutes later, he left, and she was in tears.
Oliver... Tchtch... what is going on!?
I dialed, and he picked up almost immediately.
"..."
"Brother, something happened?"
"Nah, I was just wondering where you were?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
"I stepped out of the office for a quick bite. I'm heading back now. Wanna do something before tonight's meeting with the kids?"
I doubted he ate with that despicable family, which meant he was lying with ease now.
"Absolutely. Come over whenever you finish."
As I ended the call, my anger returned like an ambush.
---
Ayshe
After we got very lucky—meaning no one from the family was at home when we crossed the mansion—I managed to coax Marie into a little nap.
I asked one of the maids for some chamomile tea with honey, and once she downed the cup, Marie was breathing evenly in a few minutes.
What am I supposed to do here?
She had deteriorated ever since that talk we had by the pool. If it goes on like this...
My phone started to buzz, and as I picked it up, I couldn't help smiling seeing Oliver's name on the screen.
I walked out quickly after checking one last time on Marie before I answered.
"You can sure pick the right time to ca..."
"Ayshe, we need to talk. I'm close to the house. I'll be picking you up in ten minutes."
The sound of the dial tone cut my happiness into little pieces, and a small but very real fear enveloped my entire being. He knows something.
I waited outside the gate for his arrival. I took Marie's phone with me in case she woke up before I came back and wanted to call Asin before I checked on her mental state.
I paced back and forth as my nerves got the better of me.
What if he knows everything? What if he only knows something but not all? What if it's a totally different reason he called?
As I felt that uncomfortable tightness in my stomach, a red sedan pulled up, and a familiar smiling face peeked out.
"Come on. Let's get some lunch. We'll talk." Oliver leaned over and opened my door.
I returned his smile and took a deep breath as he stopped looking at me and got inside. He gave me a quick kiss, and we were on the road.
"How was your day?" I asked, trying to sound calm.
He didn't immediately answer. He wore a strange smile while looking ahead. It made my stomach twist.
"So-so," he finally shrugged. "Spent some time with a few associates... learned something new. Uninteresting, really. You? No work, huh?"
For a second, I thought he would see my sweaty palm or even hear my racing heart, but he paid more attention to the road.
"Marie felt a little under the weather, so we decided to take the day off," I decided to tell the truth, albeit a slightly altered version. "She's having a nap right now."
He nodded slightly just as we closed in on that French restaurant where we had our first dinner.
"I thought you hated the food," I said as he helped me out of the car.
"We're not here for the food. Just the walking strip." He pointed to where we shared his secret.
The bad, nauseating feeling I felt since his call got stronger by the fact we didn't walk hand-in-hand like we used to.
He bought us some sandwiches, and we took a seat in the shadow of a large tree on a quaint bench.
We ate in silence as the happy couples and families passed us by, occasionally giving us warm smiles, as if they looked at a happy couple themselves.
And we were... up until Asin's leadership ceremony and birthday. Was that just last Thursday?
Now, look how fast we had fallen apart. My mind was occupied by the problems I thought we had already buried, and I was already contemplating... something unthinkable.
"So, later tonight, do you guys talk to the crew?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
"We'll probably head there and meet them after dinner. Asin called earlier; we have to give a chance to those who... are not willing to follow us down that road," he answered between bites.
"Hmm," I nodded towards the ground. "What if all of them want out?"
He shook his head, emphasizing how ridiculous that sounded. "Never. But if, by some freak coincidence, all of them leave? Bless them on their journey, and I hope we remain on good terms with all of them."
I had to smile listening to his words. They were good people, Asin and him.
I would be a nervous wreck in their place. What if those leaving would betray them down the road? What if they ran into some financial trouble and instead of turning to them, they would sell their secrets to those who would pay a lot of money for it?
"So... the reason I called you." He dusted some crumbs off his sweater. "I wanted to ask... if there's anything... anything at all you want to tell me?"
"Is... there a particular reason you ask?"
"No. Just, if you had something. I want you to know... you can tell me anything."
He didn't look or sound suspicious, but with the timing of it all, I felt he knew something, or suspected something, at least. I mean, how could he possibly know? Desiree didn't tell him since she wanted something from Marie and me. The Pirells themselves were in the wind...
But this moment...
This was it. My last chance to come clean. To open up to him, like he did when he told me his deepest, darkest secret.
He did trust me back then.
"Nothing, Oliver. There's nothing to tell at all."
But I went down a different path.